In our rapidly changing world, the challenge of living sustainably can sometimes feel overwhelming. But in amongst much of the bad news surrounding our environmental footprint, there’s good news to behold – a greener life is possible and there are plenty of little things we can do every day to turn our climate-based worries into positive change.
Read on to discover five top tips from Sarah LaBrecque’s book Positively Green: Everyday Tips to Help the Planet and Calm Climate Anxiety, which is packed with practical advice to help us improve our eco habits.
Natural cleaning
Castile soap is a versatile, natural, vegan, and biodegradable alternative to conventional cleaning products. Made from vegetable oils such as hemp, avocado, coconut or olive oil, castile soap originated in Spain and comes in liquid or bar form. It can be used for all sorts of jobs: mopping floors, cleaning dishes, shampooing pets, and rinsing fruit and vegetables.
Easy kitchen swaps
Buy items made from recovered materials, and reuse, reuse, reuse. Cover bowls of leftovers with a plate or beeswax wrap instead of clingfilm; use reusable (and eventually biodegradable) kitchen cloths and towels; use casserole dishes with lids rather than cooking food in aluminium foil.
Buy wonky
Do your bit for curly courgettes, poky peppers and piddly potatoes by scooping them up and giving them a happy end (your stomach, rather than landfill). Most major supermarkets now have misshapen ranges that are typically cheaper than their more conventionally attractive counterparts. If you’re doing your shopping online and are struggling to find wonky fruit and veg, it might help to filter results from lowest price to high. Subscription boxes such as Oddbox also deliver wonky veg straight to your door.
Freezing
Making best use of your freezer is one of the easiest ways to prevent food waste (not to mention save money). Here are a few things you may not have realised freeze well: milk; hard cheese (grate before to make it easier to use handfuls as and when you need); eggs (whisked, not in their shells); bananas (chopped); onions and spring onions (chopped – no need to cook first); vegetables, including potatoes (chopped – lightly blanch them first); yoghurt; cooked rice; wine (pour into ice cube trays and add to recipes when needed); fresh and dried herbs; avocado (peeled and cut into chunks); butter.
Sustainable gardening
You can install a water butt to collect rainwater from your gutters to water your plants. Rainwater often has a lower pH than mains water, which plants like. According to the RHS, the minerals found in mains water, especially in hard water areas, can raise the pH of the root zone, affecting nutrient availability. It takes energy to treat mains water, so by tapping into it less, you’ll be lowering associated emissions.
Discover an abundance of eco-friendly tips to help you live a greener life in Sarah LaBrecque’s book, published by National Trust Books and available to buy online and from all good bookshops: Positively Green: Everyday Tips to Help the Planet and Calm Climate Anxiety.