10 ways to reduce your impact on the planet July 30, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Environment , trackbackOver at The Coffee House they’ve been trying to put together a list of ways in which ordinary people can reduce their impact on the planet. They’re all good ideas, though I’d change them to emphasise Reducing, rather than reuse or recycling, and to include some points which are not for consumers, but for citizens.
At the moment, their list is:
1. Walk, cycle, use public transport & lastly, carpool
2. Reduce, reuse, recycle
3. Reduce useage of lights, heating & gadgets
4. Buy Fairtrade & Organic
5. Buy energy efficient products
6. Protect woodlands & green spaces
7. Reduce useage of fossil fuels
8. Conserve water
9. Use more renewables
10. Buy local, reducing product miles
My 10 points are:
1. Organise your life to reduce the distance you travel as much as possible.
- Make your home a place you want to be
- Work as close as you can to home, or at least try to work at home some days
- Make friends with your neighbours
- Then walk, use public transport, cycle, carpool in that order.
2. Reduce the use of gas and electricity in your home
- Put your desk beside the window
- Wear jerseys inside in winter
- Insulate, and get good curtains
- Open the curtain in the morning, rather than switching on the bedroom light (in the summer, at least).
- Go to shared places, such as cafes and libraries, in the winter
- Buy an electric blanket and turn the heating off at night
3. Buy fewer things.
- If you’ve money to spare, buy a service from someone, rather than a thing. Rather than a shirt you may only wear once, how about a pedicure?
- Borrow and share things, especially tools or toys you don’t use often and gadgets.
- Get simpler gadgets – a glass lemon squeezer rather than an electric juicer, a kettle that sits on the stove rather than an electric one
4. Encourage green space.
- If you have land, cultivate a garden rather than creating a patio or carpark.
- If you have a patio or carpark, replace it with a garden
- If you have a balcony, a terrace or other space, plant things
- Volunteer at local wildlife reserves
5. Be mindful of the impact of all purchases
- Select products for less transport, simpler manufacturing, less packaging, but be careful of greenwash marketing
- Encourage fair trade and organics, but not at the expense of excessive product miles
- Buy things which can be used in many ways. If you have a good computer, do you need a stereo or a TV?
- Buy services from eco-friendly suppliers
6. Reduce your meat intake. Set yourself a goal of eating meat no more than twice a week, and make it a treat, eating good quality organic meat cooked well.
7. Get your electricity from a renewables suppler, such as ecotricity, if you can’t generate it yourself. Consider using this sort of electricity rather than gas.
8. Become involved in local politics, encouraging your local council to reduce the environmental impact of their activities, and improve community facilities.
9. Actively protest against high-impact activities. Check planning requests, and submit against any requests to increase carparking, concrete over land, or anything else that will have a negative environmental impact.
10. Evangelise the need to reduce our impact on the earth whenever you can. Ask for tapwater in restaurants, complain about the amount of packaging when you buy something, if you’re buying a new thing, ask the retailer to take back the old.
Comments»
Hi Camden Kiwi,
Nice to see you expanding on the TOP 10 theme! Like the extra detail and ideas that you have created. Agree whole heartedly.
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Camden Kiwi,
All of these are excellent ideas, point 10 – enavgelise the need to reduce impact. This is surely the biggest point, for you, me and many others it is not even a question as to wether we should implement these simple steps. However the vast majority of people do not care – the only thing that will swing their minds (for all the wrong reasons) is the monetary impact these steps can have. I am sure most people will switch to ideas like these – but only when oil is $150 a barrel – hopefully it won’t be too late by then, at least until then we can feel less guilty about our own impact ? – Thanks and keep it up – Dennis
Hi Camden Kiwi
I like your list.
I agree with many of your ideas but I wonder why you prefer public transportation for cycling. I’ve always thought of cycling as rather eco-friendly and I would like to hear your reason for putting it after public transport.
Moustgaard – if you are able to cycle, and the places where you cycle are reasonable safe, then I agree with you. Personally I am very scared of doing it, particularly in London if you need to be away from the cycle lanes. More reasonably perhaps, it is difficult for people with even quite minor disabilities. Public transport can easily cater for a much wider range of people, and ideally both cycling and public transport would be well supported by local governments and the like.
Hi Camden Kiwi. I guess I’m spoiled rotten – I live in Denmark, everybody has a bike so the streets are equipped for bicyclists and there is great awareness about safety for cyclist. Thanks for your response – I get the idea.
Camden Kiwi. yes I am stumbling!! Thanks for the list . Is a perfect piece to send to others. To the point without data not necessary. Folks will follow just because its the “In thing to do” We started this movement in the sixty “s and learned alot. Just could not get alot of takers on the idea we are using up the earth . Like all other human reaction- to everyone doing a little -adds up to =making the difference, some have to do extra to cover for some who just cant see it..and thats ok…the best teacher is by example..and we just dont have an option at this point…thanks again….if Opra can have a book club so successfull-think what you can do without paper by putting information on the webb we can all send to out family and friends…best information transport we have now days . Your friends will read just because you sent to them…gotta start somewhere…sooner the better.
Camden, do you mind if I use your list in a (free) newsletter? I work for a non-profit serving low-income families, and I’ve been working on expressing the ideas of greener living to the families through the newsletter that goes to them monthly. Your post would make a great article.
If you are okay with this, how would you like to be credited?
Good to see that Kiwis don’t loose their clean green environmental conscience when they leave the country. I am in the process of establishing a sustainable and eco friendly farm / lifestyle with the intention of reducing my own impact on the planet and assisting other through education and offset.
Nice one CK, some things there that we all know we should be doing but don’t always think about.
[...] Come to think of it, I did this once before. Have a look here. [...]