22 Tips on How to GO GREEN on a budget…

Charcoal counter top bins for kitchen waste

GOING GREEN can be quite costly nowadays, so here are some low cost, easy tips to consider on your journey towards a greener lifestyle.

1. As your light bulbs die, slowly replace them with LED’s. LED stands for Light Emitting Diode; this is a superior form of light bulb, using only 3-5 Watts of electricity. CFL’s are a bridge towards using LED’s as they contain hazardous mercury and flicker – which can cause headaches and nausea.

2. As your old Appliances die, replace them with new energy rated AAA which are those that use a minimal amount of electricity.

3. Instead of replacing your old electrical geyser with a new, Solar geyser (evacuated tubes or photo voltaic solar panels) turn the temperature of your geyser down to 55’. 55’ is hot enough to kill harmful bacteria but cool enough to keep your geyser temperature constant and manageable.

4. Cover your geyser with an insulated geyser blanket, as it will keep the geyser warm and therefore use less electricity. This will save up to 9% of electricity.

5. Purchase a ‘smart strip’ from your local Hardware store. This multi-plug switches off the appliance if it has not been used in an hour.

6. Insulate your roof and close up gaps and cracks between doors and windows with ‘All weather strips’ available at Hardware stores.

7. Use a Wonder bag for cooking. Once you have boiled your rice, beans, stew or soup, place lid on the pot and put the pot inside the Wonder bag. Rice will take one hour to cook, stews and soups a few hours, and beans a day – in the Wonder bag

8. Low flow shower heads use 70% less water and electricity and are easy to replace. Low flow showerheads use an aerator to suck in air and reduce the water flow, however it is still possible to have a hard, hot shower using this device, and there will be a little water at your feet.

9. A Toilet hippo bag is ideal to place in your toilet’s cistern. If you cannot find a Toilet Hippo bag use a brick or a 2L soda bottle. This will reduce the amount of water you will be flushing.

10. Switch off the tap whilst you are brushing your teeth.

11. When purchasing kitchen and bathroom cleaning products, soaps, shampoos and conditioners look for products without Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (the foaming agent). This is the ingredient which pollutes the water and starves the water of oxygen.

12. Purchase a small Solar charger to power your cell phone, MP3 or MP4 player; this will reduce your amount of electricity used.

13. Take a travel cup to your favourite coffee shop to use instead of a polystyrene or paper cup ‘to go’.

14. Set up your printer to print on both sides of the paper.

15. Take a cloth shopping bag with you at all times to reduce your use of plastic bags

16. Run a full dishwasher whenever possible — it uses half or less of the water and energy of washing the same dishes by hand. And don't waste water by rinsing before loading (today's machines are designed to power off the mess). Dishwashers today are highly energy efficient, so replace your old one with AAA Energy stars!

17. Plant trees strategically around your home, so you have shade in Summer and warmth (deciduous) in Winter.

18. Give up buying bottled water, as it takes 17 L of water to manufacture a 2 L plastic bottle, rather invest in a water filter or use metal or glass water bottles.

19. Support your local farmers or organic market, besides being a healthier alternative to food loaded with pesticides; this will circulate the money within your community.

20. Go vintage or shop at second hand shops – this will reduce the amount of ‘new’ items being produced.

21. Artificial lighting accounts for 44% of electricity use in office buildings. Make it a habit to turn off the lights when you're leaving any room for 15 minutes or more and utilize natural light when you can.

22. Reuse – Recycle – Reduce - separate your rubbish into compost, landfill and recycling, this reduces the amount of garbage going into landfill.

#greenpeace #climatechange #environmentalissues #recycling #LEDlights #plantindigenous #savingwater #gogreen #ecoaudit #greenconsultant #3binsystem #recycle #insulation #lowflowshowerhead #wonderbag #GreenYourLife