THE GREEN POUND

Shopping doesn’t have to be an entirely selfish pursuit, contrary to the rather clichéd belief widely expressed in the media. Of course it’s nice to spoil yourself every once in a while (but not every day, or it stops being a treat and becomes an addiction), but in this day and age shopping also offers many opportunities to have a positive impact on the environment. This begins with the obvious – purchasing environmentally-friendly products which have been produced ethically, organic food or energy-saving items, but includes other aspects in terms of packaging, transport and lifestyle.

If you have shopped in a supermarket recently, then it is likely that you have encountered the concept of a “bagless checkout” – where once you have put your items through the checkout you do not put them into readily supplied plastic bags, but into a “Bag For Life” (something which has been around for some time now) or into a bag that you yourself have brought. It is now fashionable to take with you a fabric bag, lessening the need for a handful of plastic bags which don’t biodegrade when disposed of, causing a real problem in the environment. For the shopper a bag like this has the added convenience of being easier to carry – it can be slung over your shoulder, ending the problem of heavily-filled, thin-strapped plastic bags which cut into your hands.

Many people now are doing their shopping on the Internet. This is helpful to the environment in a number of ways, from something as simple as grocery shopping – multiple deliveries in a single van is much better than several individual cars sitting in traffic jams en route for the supermarket – to one-click shopping at online stores which saves the customer a potential wild goose chase to find a single item and may well necessitate them starting and stopping their car several times in a few hours. This also allows the customer time to consider their purchase, being a much less rushed process. While many people complain about the expense of green products, being able to shop around on the Internet allows them to find a better deal – better for them and better for the world.

GREEN GIZMOS

“Green” and “gadgets” are not two words that you would immediately place together. It’s fair to say that the impression that people get when they hear the word “gadget” is somehow more to do with shiny little boxes that make life easier for the owner, helping them to switch on their stereo or TV (or both at once). Convenience is a fashionable thing, and given that the latest mobile phones allow the owner to not only make calls, send texts and take photos, but now allow you to download music and get directions to a postcode in another part of the country, it’s safe to say that many people either don’t view Green issues as a major influence on their gadget purchasing, or if they do put it quite low down on their list of priorities.

There is, however, a completely natural synergy between convenience and ecology, perhaps most succinctly summed up in the phrase “saving energy”. The benefit for the user is that they can perform a task with a minimum of fuss, while the environment benefits due to the decreased demand on resources. One gadget doing an excellent job for the consumer and the planet is known as the Bye Bye Standby, a motherboard into which all household electrical equipment can be plugged and, at the touch of a remote allows you to power these items down in one go.

There is also a new generation of solar rechargers which allow you to top up the energy required to use a number of gadgets. Very often you’ll encounter someone who has their mobile phone constantly plugged into a charger running from the wall socket. Some people don’t realise just how much energy is being used by such a small piece of equipment, but given that an hour a day of charge will be more than sufficient to keep the average mobile phone running, a solar-powered recharger will cut down on senseless waste. Along with a reappraisal of the use of wind-up technology – chargers, media players, torches and digital radios among other items are all available in wind-up form – these innovations in renewable energy makes waste more avoidable every day.

EAT YOUR GREENS

Eating Green isn’t all about organics and vegetarianism, although these do, of course, play a part for many people. There is more to it than that, and you can make a big difference to how Green you are by making certain simple changes in your eating and shopping habits. Many of these changes are hardly noticeable, and some will surprise you with how much you prefer them. If you shop around, you will also find that eating and drinking green can be easier on the pocket than the alternative.

The first thing to do if you are concerned about helping the environment is think about where your food comes from – and I mean that in more than one sense. If you shop in supermarkets, for example, you should take a close look at the packaging on what you’re buying. Firstly, how much packaging is there? Often supermarkets will package goods in lots of plastic wrapping – how often, for example, do you see a packet of tomatoes on a plastic tray, wrapped around with a few feet of cling film? This is wholly unnecessary, takes up space, uses energy and has very little practical benefit.

Another consideration ought to be where in the world your food was grown. Some fruit and veg are not grown nearby and if you need to buy – for example – a pineapple then it is hard to find locally-sourced tropical fruit if you live closer to the North Pole than the Equator. If possible, however, it is extremely beneficial to buy locally-grown fruit and veg. The reasons for this are simple. Firstly, if potatoes have just travelled two-and-a-half miles in a van, their impact on the environment is much less than if they’ve travelled from overseas by air or ship. Chances are you won’t have to pay as much for them, as well.

Buying food grown locally needn’t be any hassle. If you have a farm shop near you then why not check out their deals – the relatively low overheads these shops have enable them to keep prices low. If you don’t have a farm shop, then your local greengrocer will have a wide selection of locally-sourced fruit and veg. Next time you’re in, ask them – it’s better for you, better for your wallet and better for the planet.

“We’re All Going On A Green Holiday…”

When it comes to going on holiday, no-one wants to compromise on comfort. Having worked for months to even afford to go away in the first place, many people will have only one consideration when it comes to setting off – “how quickly can I get there?”

Often this consideration results in getting on a plane and flying somewhere hot. Can you really be bothered with environmental matters when sometimes you’ll only get between ten days and a fortnight off all year? With so little time off, priorities may become skewed, or at least compromised in some way. Obviously sunning oneself by a pool can be a very attractive proposition when you’ve been hunched over a desk for the preceding eight months.  Getting there as quickly as possible is also to be desired.

As our world develops technologically, it is getting smaller by the day. Obviously flying is the quickest way to get to another place.  That it is not an ecologically desirable way is not in dispute, but some airlines are looking at ways to either decrease or offset the impact that the aviation industry is having on the planet. Some remain nakedly unconcerned about their own impact, but negative exposure is leading to these airlines suffering in terms of sales, and will hopefully, eventually lead to them mending their ways.  But the fact remains that flying anywhere, as well as not being cheap, will hurt the environment more than any other method of travel.

Does this mean that you must always holiday close to home if you want to save money and the planet?  Of course it doesn’t.  You can travel long distances at reasonable speeds and in genuine comfort, while saving a little bit of money into the bargain. Coach journeys, if you have a few days extra, are a great way to travel and you’ll see more of the world from ground level than from a plane.  As international rail links improve, the intrepid traveller can go by train from the North of Scotland to parts of Asia, although admittedly you will need to leave yourself a bit of time for that!

Household Clean with Green

The average person uses up to two thirds of their total energy consumption while at home, which is a huge chunk of your carbon footprint before you’ve even set foot near a car. A lot of this usage is due to electrical appliances – and the great news is it is possible to save on your energy consumption in this area without buying a new appliance.

For some time now small products, which go by a range of names including “Machine Balls”, have been available for use when doing laundry. The main washing product lets you wash clothes thoroughly but without using any washing powder. These products usually contain various minerals and salts and genuinely are as effective as standard powder but without the chemicals. There’s also a version available for tumble drying, a necessity in winter, which work by helping separate fabric and allowing clothes to dry quicker and therefore the machine is in use for less time. Brilliantly, these products are also infinitely cheaper than washing powder or running a tumble dryer for a long period of time and they work just as well.

There’s plenty of items available for general cleaning, too. There are substitutes for your usual, chemically harsh products that reduce the damage to the environment while still remaining effective. Look around the internet and you’ll find an eco-friendly version of every type of product you currently use, from washing up liquid to furniture polish, and there is little or no difference in price. As well as this, there has been recent innovations for products that require no water or cleaning product at all, as the fabric used is designed in such a way that it cleans even stubborn stains by itself.

The key to household cleaning and being eco-friendly at the same time is looking for products which use natural ingredients only. Some products may also biodegrade quickly, reducing disruption to aquatic life when you’ve washed them away. The growth in the popularity of eco-friendly and natural cleaning products has made all of the well-known manufacturer’s take notice and all are now bringing out their own ranges, meaning you can match the relibility of a well known brand with being kind to the environment. However you do it, using eco-friendly cleaning products will have a dramatic effect on your energy consumption and the overall effect you have on the planet.

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