articles

Time to shift your A.R.S.E. - Self help for Eco-Thugs
by Sue Irwin-Hunt

Contemporary living with its thirsty cars, time-starved and me-me-culture comes with a hefty price tag that not only depletes the pocket but is trashing the planet at an astonishing speed.

Next time you do the freezer-microwave-sofa shuffle STOP and CONSIDER the environmental consequences of your cardboard sleeved, plastic-moulded tray, foil packed artificial dinner. Not only is there no such thing as a free lunch but your ready prepared meal for one has just cost the environment dearly and committed no less than seven deadly Eco sins.(Yes, you can work these out).

Enough is enough! We are burying our heads in a mountain of superfluous non-biodegradable packaging that cost precious energy and polluting chemicals to produce. If you think a few packaged products here or there doesn't make much difference, look at the number of black rubbish bags you put out for collection each week and imagine EVERY household putting out the same and more. Each week the borough generates its own rubbish molehills and we all know what they grow into!

Last year Cambridge residents produced thousands of tonnes of household waste and the problem is getting worse as we buy more packaged and disposable goods and actually just buy too much. Whilst it would take a radical change in habits to follow the example of Wales in adopting a zero waste strategy, we are gradually becoming 'greener' as our local services strive to make it easier than ever to recycle from your home.

Problem is that as endless Green messages continue to bombard us through the media, it's making heavy work (man), of keeping up with the latest Do's and Don'ts to avoid being labelled an Eco-Thug. So with an ever-watchful eye on efficiency and timesaving we're proud to present a quick and easy 5-point guide to giving your house & lifestyle a Green make-over - Hornsey Style!

We may be addressing only the tip of the iceberg, (nice global warming link -geddit?!!), but it should be enough to get you thinking and most importantly get you started, on the path to a greener life.

If, in our information overload culture, you find 5 points too much to remember, then focus the mind on this one simple mantra

All Resourcefulness Saves Energy.

Translated this means quite literally, put into action resourcefulness in everything. Think creatively and salvage what you can to avoid sending it to landfill. Wise use of energy means less is consumed and more importantly less is wasted.

You may also notice that this provides the easy to remember acronym A.R.S.E.

This is perfect when offering Green encouragement to eco-thug friends driving SUV's along the lines of, "You need a (carbon-light) boot up your A.R.S.E. and should swap your fuel-guzzling, road hogging monster for something more eco-friendly."

For those wanting rather more practical and detailed advice to cut out & stick on the fridge, here we go:

The ARSE 5-point House & Lifestyle Green Make-over

1. Switch Off!

• Should be obvious but old habits die hard, so don't leave lights and equipment on in empty rooms.
• Get into the habit of switching off power at the socket itself.
• The worst offenders are appliances left on standby. Unplug your phone charger when not in use. It still uses 5 watts of energy every hour it stays plugged into a socket.
• Don't heat empty houses! According to the Centre for Alternative Technology, 'The best way to save the planet and your pocket is to ensure your house is efficient as possible'. So, for example, only heat the house when you need to and turn your thermostat down a few degrees.

2. Switch Over

• Still using 100% dirty brown energy? Many companies now offer a range of Green Energy tariffs, with a mix of brown & Green energy costing only marginally more than traditional supplies.
• Start looking for where you can swap over to environmentally friendly products and suppliers. Even small efforts add up, whether you switch to recycled loo paper or choose eco-friendly holidays.
• Digs at SUV's aside - when you must drive make sure your car is as eco friendly as possible. Ditto this principle when buying household appliances and anything that requires energy unless there is an environmental alternative such as rechargeable batteries.

3. Minimise Waste

One simple rule is to boycott totally disposable products wherever possible opting instead to buy alternatives that at least use minimal packaging and at best can be reused or recycled. This list really is endless and luckily growing all the time but here are just a few easy choices that really make an enormous difference.

Free Bag my A.R.S.E.!

Until this country wises up and levy a tax on plastic bags either use your own shoppers or at least keep recycling the billions (yes in fact a staggering 17 billion+) that are given away every year.

Oh and don't be fooled into thinking they're free. With one major supermarket admitting that their annual bill had increased by nearly £10 million thanks to the growing oil crisis, this cost is passed onto the consumer as well as the environment.

Boycott unnecessarily packaged food.

Since when did we need vacuum formed apple-shaped trays of plastic wrapped even-sized Galas from New Zealand? And if you think that sentence is long, imagine the trail of unnecessary waste your buying choice has just dumped across the world.

Perhaps we should follow Germany's example and dump unwanted packaging at the till, leaving retailers with the expense and hassle of disposing of it. Funny how this has led to retailers successfully demanding suppliers switch to minimal packaging.

Stop buying coffee, drinks and food 'to go'.

Even if it's fairly traded or organic, our voracious appetite for take-outs creates tonnes of non-biodegradable cups and food containers, as well as promoting poor dietary and spending habits.

Think Big!

Mini packs, convenience pouches and travel size are classic, (and environmentally evil), examples of clever marketing in creating new markets by extending product ranges. Don't fall for it and don't be lazy. Remember you can work out single dosage quantities yourself - you don't need individual plastic wrapped dish washer tablets or washing sachets.

Instead actively choose the biggest possible pack sizes in everything and regularly decant into handy containers - it's significantly cheaper and means you can shop less frequently.

Similarly if you need to only take a small amount of something away with you just decant a small quantity into one of the many empty pots that are waiting to be recycled in your home.

4. Shop Smart

Still driving to one of the big supermarkets to 'do' the big shop the old fashioned way? Time to start using your head as well as your recipe books with these top tips on how to shop smart!

Buy locally and in season avoiding 'Shopping' and Food miles, as well as dodgy plastic packaging. Remember if you want strawberries out of season they'll be let-lagged having contributed to global warming flying half way round the world. Moreover buying in season is cheaper based on the natural cycles of supply and demand.

There is no excuse for driving to the shops now; your first choices should always be:

• Local independent shops - remember, 'use them or lose them'. Analysts predict that unless we change how we shop, independent shops could be extinct in the next 50 years
• Farmers and fresh produce markets where seller usually meets producers face-to-face, cutting out the profit steal from the middleman and ridiculous over-packaging
• Fruit & vegetable box schemes delivering in season produce direct to your home from local suppliers
• If you must use one of the big 4 supermarkets, (who currently supply a frightening 80% of our food - providing them with a formidable buying power mainly at the expense of screwing suppliers to the lowest price for us), use their home delivery schemes by ordering on the internet or over the phone.
• Wanna go even Greener and truly organic? Get using your own compost and grow your own, ditch the meat and fish, (horribly inefficient food stuff anyway), and ship in some chickens and, (space may be a problem particularly in London), a cow or goat.

5. Reuse and Recycle…..again, and again, and again!

OK ties in with minimising waste but the point here is to kick-start your creative thinking to consider the multiple lives your possessions can have. To avoid boring you I've also omitted the classic recycle hit list, using both sides of paper etc. The full list is only limited by your imagination but to nudge you in the right direction…..

• Standard food tin cans with lift off lids and many glass jars and food containers make trendy pen pots, herb/plant containers.
• Cut pictures and images from anything that's outlived its first life and stick on card recycled from junk mail, old files etc to make totally original environmental greeting cards.
• Magazine pages, old road maps, picture books and kids drawings also make brilliant wrapping paper and gift tags.
• Can't get into the creative stuff then have a wardrobe and house 'Trinny and Susannah' session with a friend and recycle 40% of your possessions (no you don't need them). Clothes, shoes, bags and accessories should be sorted for donation to family or friends, your local charity shops and rags to textile recycling bins.
• Bigger items can also be given away on www.freecycle.org which has nearly a million members worldwide……so if you thought these ideas were the ramblings of someone just talking out of their A.R.S.E….they are, but there are lots of out there so what's stopping you?

Now you've got the basic info there's really no excuse not to improve your Green credentials. It's easy once you get into the routine & saving the environment also means saving money in the long term so start viewing life through green tinted glasses.

Oh and next time you're called a smart A.R.S.E., revel in the glory and hold your head up high, that way we can all share the light from your Eco halo.

Interested in finding out how you can recycle cotton stretch pyjamas into 4 new things? For details on Fun Creative Recycling Workshops
Contact Sue the Bag Lady @ Going Green 07989 346131