Author: admin

Reality check

Fluorescent lights do take some time to ‘warm up’. Turning them on and off can shorten their life, but so can leaving them on. Taking all these things into account, it is more cost effective to turn off a fluorescent light than to leave it on if it will stay off for more than ten minutes.

Packaging is waste. Its original function was to make products easy (and hygienic) to handle. Often, though, its purpose is to make products more attractive or look bigger. For the planet’s sake we have to minimise packaging, especially disposable stuff.

Packaging can operate as a warning signal for other problems, too.

Packaged food is not fresh, is highly processed, and contains i corn, soy meal and canola oil. These ingredients are grown on a large-scale and are often genetically modified. Packaged food also tends to contain more salt and sugar and other preservatives.

Buying fresh food avoids all these problems.

Household items, consumables and appliances actually need relatively little packaging.

Select brands that use little packaging to cut down on the resources you consume and the waste you produce.

The trick is to carry your own bags. It’s easy when you plan to go shopping: you just take a bundle of those ugly green bags you can buy in any supermarket.

But it is more difficult when you’re out and about and you don’t have the bag with you. Bummer!

So, borrow a bag from someone, wrap it up in your shirt, maybe even simply carry it…

Do not, whatever you do,  accept a plastic bag across the counter. There is simply no need.

The real test is to change your habits. Add ‘Bag’ to that checklist you run through as you walk out the door. You know the one. It goes like this, “Key. Money. Phone. BAG.”

Be inspired!

Read how the English town of Modbury became the first in Europe to ban plastic bags outright.

Just briefly

There is an architectural movement called New Urbanism that sets out to design cities and suburbs as walkable spaces that encourage community.

If you are buying a new house, you might consider taking some of these principles into account. I lived in the inner city of Sydney for twenty years, where most of the shops are in old fashioned strip shopping areas.

Five years ago, I stopped shopping at the mall and started using local stores.

That was one of the biggest lifestyle changes I have made and it was instrumental in learning to live in a way that does not harm the planet.

Inner city locations are often more energy efficient than suburban areas where everyone drives everywhere to do everything.