For her local project, Cohort 4 BGFer Rose B decided to write a series of articles for a local magazine about how everyone can help contribute to tackling the #climatecrisis by making informed personal changes and choices. Well done on a great project, Rose! Here are her last two articles:
#4 - Transport and Holidays
Public transport is a great way to reduce emissions. It is not always reliable, but if we all use it whenever we can it does make a big impact on the environment. If you live near enough to your work/school or a town centre consider walking there, or cycling if you want to speed up the journey. In general, flying is bad for the environment and the more you can reduce it the better, but if you have to fly or already have a flight booked, you can offset your flight’s carbon emissions by going online to less.ca. Try to pick travel destinations with distance in mind, as clearly the longer the flight, the more emissions. When you go away pack light with zero waste toiletries and buy snacks or other food you are taking in bulk. You could even look for zero waste alternatives in the shops you see when you are abroad. Remember to take a reusable shopping bag with you when shopping in local markets. Try to avoid bottled water. There are filter bottles available that clean water and make it safe so enable you to drink tap water in other countries. When staying in a hotel, try not to take excessively long showers or get new towels before the old ones are dirty. Also, remember to turn off anything requiring electricity when you leave the room.
#5 - General tips
Here are a few extra little tips on how to be eco friendly at home. Firstly, make sure to recycle your tin foil by wiping the grease off and then scrunching it up in a ball. Also, make sure to properly dispose of masks and gloves that you use during this time in a suitable waste container. If you are doing some gardening at home while in isolation, try planting some bee friendly flowers such as lavender or crocus or make your own compost bin. If you are growing plants, try using left over pasta water to water them as it has lots of vitamins and minerals in it from the starch that are good for plants and help them grow. To clean your kitchen surfaces, you could boil orange peelings with some water which should effectively remove stains. Try not to put clothes in the wash unless they are actually dirty because they release microfibres which are harmful to the environment when they are washed. Although this isn’t really possible at this point in time, when quarantine is over, consider buying some clothes second hand from charity shops instead of new. Lastly, you could use silicone bags instead of zip-lock ones and reusable swabs instead of cotton buds.