Author: emma (page 1 of 4)

Emma is a queer British freelance writer specializing in politics, travel, and entertainment. Barack Obama (yes, that one) follows her on Twitter and she’s never been sure why. She takes her coffee seriously and wears odd socks because life’s too short.

One woman’s Lonely Road to a Bright green future

The Shades of Green team are always keen to increase the diversity of our viewpoints on the blog, so this post is brought to you by Sabrina, who talks about how being eco can be tough when it seems like you’re fighting against the rest of your household (and how she does it anyway).

Kermit, sans guitar. (It’ll make sense in the next paragraph)

I’ll be the first to admit that going green is no easy feat. Especially when you’re the only one in your household who is taking being more eco-friendly seriously.

I’m still living with my parents in my early thirties (groan) and for the past year, my mum’s youngest brother and his teenage daughter have been living with us…the latter of whom I have to reluctantly share a room with.

As you can imagine, with a busy household comes a lot of laundry. So much in fact, that our washer is on several times a day. Where I can, I try to re-wear clothes for at least a couple of days and I never put a load of washing in just for my own clothing, I always squeeze it in with other family members’ laundry to conserve water usage. Thankfully with the recent heatwave, our washing line has seen a lot of action. There’s nothing better than line-dried clothes and that fresh smell.  For indoor drying when the weather isn’t so great, my parents are quick to resort to using the dryer. We currently don’t have the space for a clothes horse so to avoid using the dryer as much as I can, I have resorted to drying my clothes draped over the back of the dining room chairs.

You spin me right round, baby right round

Clothes that I don’t wear anymore, or those that have become a bit on the tight side, will always be washed, bagged and donated to local charity shops. The same goes for possessions that I no longer use. Encouraging my parents to do the same usually goes in one ear and out of the other. Every time we have a clear out, my mum would rather just bag everything and take it to our local tip.

For a house of four adults and a teenager, grocery shopping can be a nightmare. Not only is our food bill on the expensive side, but the consumption and waste of the food we buy is pretty high. I have no qualms about buying cheaper items, produce and groceries with less packaging and going for more eco-friendly products and brands, but as my parents do the shopping for everyone, I rarely get the chance to implement this full time. My income isn’t great at the moment and there is limited storage space in our kitchen so purchasing groceries for my sole use isn’t really an option at the moment.

Oh, that’s a lot of sorting to do

I have, however, nominated myself as the recycling sorter for our kerbside bins. I’m pretty strict about what can, and can’t go in each bin. I’m quick to call my family members out if they don’t follow my instructions and I’ve been known to dig through the waste bin in the kitchen to salvage recyclable items. [Ed: Emma and Tamara can relate to this so hard.]

The only major issue in my green journey is that I drive a car rather than opting to use public transport. Initially I chose to learn to drive to gain a bit more freedom and have the option to go where I want, when I want without relying on others.

Dream Car

Nowadays, my car acts more like my mobility aid. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia a couple of years ago, a condition which causes widespread pain and fatigue, among many other symptoms. I struggle to walk about often, I can’t stand for extended periods of time, and even sitting in the same position for a while can be super uncomfortable for me so I can’t use public transport for long distances. My car enables me to get from place to place quicker, and it means I’m in control of when I need to stop and take breaks. When my finances improve, I am considering looking at getting an eco-friendlier car, most likely an electric-powered one.

My journey to living greener is still in its early stages, I have a long way to go and a lot to learn but I’m determined to continue my journey…and hopefully convince my family members to follow suit. That may take a lot of persuading though.

How I’m staying (Mostly) green without losing my mind

Welcome to the May 2021 blog post where there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I’m (Emma) due for my second vaccine in just two weeks and then I can go to restaurants or the cinema or on holiday in the UK. To make the most of this brief break in my depression, I thought I’d let you in on my green plans for the rest of the year.

Flight-free 2021

Now, given that it’s nearly June and most countries that I would want to go to require a negative coronavirus test and isolation on arrival, I still won’t be travelling. As someone who works from home, I couldn’t care less about isolating when returning to the UK, but I’m not spending all that money to sit in a hotel room in Gran Canaria.

My plan is for a UK-based holiday next month and then, hopefully, a trip by ferry to one of the Channel Islands or the Eurostar to France. The chances are that my next flight will be to the US in 2022.

An all-electric home and solar panels

Okay, this is the major one. We already get our power from renewable sources and frack-free gas, but my parents have been floating around the idea of solar panels for a while. However, my parents are now getting information about changing our gas central heating to an all-electric one, which will mean that our home will entirely be powered by renewables (even some that we got ourselves) and removing all dependence on fossil fuels. Mum also hopes it will cut our water bill because it won’t need water running through the radiators.

There are a lot of things to consider. For one thing, in the case of a power cut, we’d lose heating and the ability to cook as well. Luckily, we live in an area where lengthy power cuts are rare, so we’ve pretty much decided that the benefits outweigh the risks. For another, it’s a major undertaking. The price doesn’t appear to be that much in terms of house maintenance costs – between £5,000 and £10,000 for our 4-bed house – but the installation involves having the boiler decommissioned, all existing radiators and pipes removed, as well as an electricity check, before the installation of the electric radiators.

Now, this is the subject of a future blog post, but I wanted to give you all the information I have right now.

Continuing my existing green lifestyle

One of the most important things to do if we want to make the world a greener place is to continue with the things that we are already doing. For me, that’s walking to most places (until I feel comfortable enough to get on the bus again), eating vegetarian (and vegan where I can), reducing what I buy (especially new), and recycling everything I can through the kerbside scheme, Terracycle, and various banks across the city.

How to Eco-Hack Your Laundry Room

It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these, but as the days are getting brighter and lockdown is lifting, I (Emma) decided to revive the ‘How to Eco-Hack…’ series.

This time, thanks to some of my recent purchases, we’re focusing on the laundry room. (Or, I supposed as we’re British, the free space under the counter in the kitchen.)

Before you wash

Make your white goods greener

Electronics are a major contributor to climate change during creation, use, and disposal. Normally, we think of this with small, smart tech items, but it’s also true for our bigger appliances, like washing machines and tumble dryers.

If you want to be clean and green, then repair the items you already have and if you have to replace them, then shop second-hand and look for ones with a higher energy rating. (Also, offer your old items for spares on free sites.

Get a basket

Okay, so if you’ve already have a basket, that’s great. But if yours is falling apart because you’ve had it for 15 years and it wasn’t great quality to begin with, search for a second-hand item. It’s not very common in charity shops, so look online or expand your definition of what can be a washing basket. A swing-top bin, a bag-for-life, or a storage box will all work. If you want to buy new, look for a wicker one with a fabric liner. It’s more expensive but it lasts longer.

Wash less often

Over-washing wastes water and electricity, as well as damaging your clothes over time. We’ve been conditioned to think that we should throw things in the wash after every wear but that’s just not the case. Need some advice on when to wash? Check out this image from Moral Fibres.

To stretch the amount of time from wardrobe to washing basket, spot wash clothes with small stains and hang outfits up at night to let odours dissipate.

Wear your clothes for longer

I know that this seems like I’m making the same point twice, but I’m not, I swear. You’ve heard of microplastics, right? The invisible-to-the-naked-eye pieces of plastic are making their way from our products to our food. And microplastics, like the dirty little secrets in every teen drama I’ve ever watched, all come out in the wash.

As most microfibres are released in the first five washes, keeping items for longer will negate this. Even better if you buy second-hand because that item has likely already been worn and washed a bunch of times. And of course, dangerous microfibres only come from plastic-based materials, like polyester. Cotton, wool, and hemp items will shed microfibres too, but because they’re natural, they won’t damage the planet.

Wash

When it comes to washing your clothes, there are so many ways to reduce your impact on the environment. These tips are pretty well known, but we’ll just go over them quickly:

  • Treat smaller stains in pre-wash
  • Wash at lower temperatures because most of the energy use comes from heating the water
  • Fill your machine up until you can fit your hand between the clothes and the drum
  • If you have reusable menstrual products, soak them in a bucket of cold water (like the kind you’d get when running your shower)
  • Ditch the fabric conditioner

What to wash with

When it comes to what to wash with, there are a few options that are better for the environment because they don’t use chemicals that are dangerous to marine life (seriously, check the warning label on those scent booster things) or come in single-use plastic packaging.

Eco Egg: My mum has been using this for at least ten years, just refilling the egg with pellets about every year or so. It doesn’t contain bleach, is UK-made, and will save you tons of money. (I’ve read other reports about the egg holder occasionally opening mid-wash, but we’ve never had that happen, and that it should be used above 60 degrees or for heavily soiled clothing, but again we’ve never experienced an issue, although we rarely wash above 30 degrees.

Ecoever: Made using natural ingredients and biodegradable bleach. I haven’t used them since I left uni but the other sites that I read said that it has a plastic inner liner in the box and is fairly expensive.

Soap nuts: These are natural, biodegradable, and can be bought from Package Free Larder. Pop a few into a netted bag (My friend actually just tied off the foot of some ripped tights.) and throw them into the machines. They’re great value, but the reliability of cleaning can vary, so perhaps don’t use them for heavily stained items.

Stop the microplastics

As mentioned above, microplastics are a mother fucking nightmare for the ocean. But if we’re continuing to use what we have and buy second-hand, there will inevitably be some plastic-based fabrics in our wardrobes. So, for the past two months, I’ve been trying out the Guppyfriend and the Coraball, both of which promise to reduce microplastics.

Guppyfriend Wash Bag

This is basically a fine mesh bag that you put plastic-based clothes in for washing. It will catch the microfibres, while still allowing the clothes to get washed, and then you can just hook the microfibres out of the filter at the top of the bag.

Now, these fibres take some time to build-up to the point where you can see them in the filter (because they’re individually invisible to the naked eye), so you might feel a little scammed if, like me, you want instant results. Rest assured that it’s perfectly fine to use the Guppyfriend multiple times between cleaning it out, even if you’re doing a few washes in a row. After several washes, there begins to be a build-up of what looks like lint in the part of the bag just above the zipper. Then, you can clean it out.

To use, fill the bag to two-thirds full with any plastic-based fabrics and zip shut, pushing the zip underneath the cover at the end. (IDK what the technical term is.) If you’re unsure because the label has faded or was cut out, it doesn’t hurt to chuck it in.  Fill up the rest of the machine with only organic materials, like cotton towels and wool jumpers. (This also helps to prevent an imbalance that leaves your machine unable to spin.)

Pros

  • Can be used many times with a reduction in usability
  • Can technically be recycled at end of life (but only in streams that can specifically accept polyamide 6.6)
  • Catches 90% of microfibres
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Can’t be used in temperatures above 40 degrees, which is sometimes needed for  things like toilet cloths and reusable nappies
  • Costs between £15 and £30 dependent on retailer and sales, but this might be too much for people on limited incomes

CoraBall

This is a ball with dozens of coils that are designed to trap microfibres, doesn’t involve sorting your washing, and can be used at higher temperatures. I bought it initially for my toilet cloths, but I’ve used it for many other things.

The trouble is that those coils can be a nightmare if they get caught on any thin or delicate things, like bra straps, loose threads on clothes, or the ear bands for facemasks. That was a nightmare but I should have prepared better.

The fibres build up and can be pinched off, as you do with a hairbrush.

Pros

  • Can be used above 40 degrees
  • Made from 100% recycled plastic
  • Easy to use

Cons

  • Only catches 26% of microfibres, so I only used it in loads too hot for the Guppyfriend

There are also other options, like installing a filter onto the wastewater pipe, but these seemed too technical for me and we’re quickly dismissed. If you’d like to learn more about them, this blog can help.

Live and Let Dry

The unsurprising tip here is to hang dry outside whenever possible. Not only does it reduce energy needs but it also extends the lifespan of your clothes. But obviously, this isn’t always possible because we live in the UK, so the weather is not always good, and not everyone has the space for a washing line.

If it’s raining or for those with a tiny garden, a balcony, or no outside space, clothes racks are an incredible investment. My top tips are:

  • get racks that fit over the bath or the shower, so that the water drips down into the drain
  • open the windows a crack to let the moisture escape the room and avoid mould
  • try to do one wash load at a time to avoid drying too much at one time
  • save up non-essential washing during bad weather (I only wash one load a month in winter, by not washing things like summer pyjamas and shorts)

If you need to use a dryer, get some dryer balls to reduce drying times.

Hopefully, this has helped you to improve the eco-friendliness of your washing cycle. If you have any tips, let me know in the comments below.

It’s (Still) Not Easy Being Green in 2021

Should I pretend that I think this is the fourth Friday in January? Would you believe me? Should I admit that for a week that’s been my plan? Should I be honest about why the article is late? *shrugs* Probably not that important.

I had such high hopes for this blog in late December. I planned to write about my brand-new green health regime. I planned to write about the country getting back to normal with the roll out of two vaccines and how we could again focus on environmental issues on a wider political scale and an individual level. Oh, you poor naïve Emma.

So instead, I will give you a little insight into the green wins and fails that my household has been struggling with since the beginning of 2021.

Cat food packets

Not my cats – they get along too well

Once upon a time, we used tinned cat food, but when Binks became sick in like 2010, she didn’t eat a lot, which meant that the tinned food would go off before she finished it and we were wasting a lot. So, we moved to the little pouches, even for the cats that followed her. (Also, for Grampy’s cat because the packets are easier for him to use.)

Now, these are recyclable via Terracycle, but it’s a hassle and a half. Cleaning them is not as easy as you might think and often you can find that little pieces meat or jelly are left in there to rot (and contaminate the rest of the recycling). Plus, even after you manage to clean them fully, you still have to take them all the way to Horndean Technology College, which isn’t advisable during a pandemic.

Luckily, my dad was angry about this, because he is the one tasked with recycling them, so we are now switching back to tins, because we have two cats living here and one is a feline dustbin. Easier to recycle and no plastic involved.

Plastic soft drink bottles

An accurate depiction of my daily intake

I won’t pretend to you that my family no longer drinks Coke, but prior to the pandemnic, I was drinkning a lot less. Since then, I’ve been leaning into a comfort drink, but I did manage to convince my dad to switch to cans. (Because there was a sale and it was the same price as the bottled drinks.)

Then, I just kept buying a couple of cases every time that a sale came up.

Walking

Not me – the shoes are too cool

At the advice of Tamara, I’ve been going outside more. (I shielded for most of 2020.) This has been good for my mental and physical health. Walking for… I am reluctant to say fun, but you understand… has been a good way to exercise without using a machine. It’s been a good way to get out without using a car. And it’s when I recycle out glass and cartons. It’s been very green indeed.

Well, that’s about it for this month. I’m hoping that by March, I’m able to write about a topic in more depth than I have been today.

9 Free Apps to Help You Be Greener Today

I (Emma) don’t know about you, but over this [swearword redacted] of a year, I feel like my productivity has gone right down. Leaving aside the arguments about toxic productivity and that we are worth more than what we get done in a day, this has been hard for me.

It hasn’t just been the pandemic, but rather a lot of personal stuff that hasn’t got any easier throughout the lockdown period, which for me is basically from March 16th and will continue until my grandad gets the vaccine. (This is not an arguement against the lockdown, which I fully support.)

And this productivity vacuum hasn’t just been limited to work. In fact, I’ve been less green in all the ways you’d expect (buying packaged food and takeaways) and ways you might not (using the dryer more).

So how can we be more green with less time and energy? Well, this is the topic of this article. Apps.

Ecosia

person searching with binoculars

I feel like we bang on about Ecosia a lot but they use their ad revenue to plant trees in places that need them most. They’ve planted over 114 million as of writing.

They’ll also put a green leaf icon next to websites that supply eco products or have sustainable practices.

Forest

tree

On a similar note (and because this post is focused on productivity), Forest will encourage you to put down your phone for a set amount of time while a cartoon tree grows on screen.

It also plants IRL trees through partnering with charity Trees for the Future.

Too Good to Go/ Olio

bags of peaches

I’ve put these together because they both fight food waste by picking up stuff that someone else doesn’t want; Olio from other people and TGTG from restaurants and shops.

I haven’t used them since early March because #shielding, but if you feel confident, you can do contact-free pick-ups from people’s houses or in the same way that you’d usually buy food in the store. (Follow the advice on the apps.)

Pinterest

photo collage

Now, there are a lot of things on Pinterest that aren’t eco, but it’s a great place to search for vegan recipes, upcycle tutorials, and zero waste tips. Approach with caution. It’s addictive.

BorrowBox

woman reading book

Can’t get to your library or a charity shop? Want to avoid buying books online with all the pointless packaging? With BorrowBox, you can borrow eBooks and audiobooks for free without leaving the house.

[As always, second-hand books can be bought from World of Books and new books can be bought from the independent and Southsea-based Pigeon Books, who wrap them in paper and deliver on bike.]

Good On You

clothing store

We all know that Tamara likes the Ethical Consumer, but what if that was in app form and scored clothing brands based on their impact on the people, animals, and the environment.

I haven’t used it because I don’t buy a lot of clothes new – one band t-shirt this year – but I thought it might be good for people who like clothes shopping, as if they recommended you avoid the brand, they’ll give you better options.

reGAIN

woman with boxes of clothes

On a related note, reGAIN encourages donating clothes, shoes, and accessories you no longer wear to the British Red Cross in exchange for discounts on new items.

Weather App

person riding bicycle during rain

This is something I use all the time and the best part is that you don’t have to free up space because it’s already on all of our phones. My most common use of it is to check if it will rain, so that I can put the washing out at night and bring it in the next day.

Other uses could include checking if you can walk somewhere rather than taking the car, seeing the best day to go for a bike ride, or using bad weather as an excuse not to see someone you don’t like when the lockdown lifts.

Hopefully, this will help you be more eco without much effort. Let us know in the comments below if you have any other app suggestions.

THE BIG GREEN QUESTION: PART 2

Welcome to the second half of the third year anniversary post of Shades of Green! Here, I (Emma), will be explaining what being green means to me because eco-friendly living is different for everyone.

No food with a face

For 10 years now, I’ve been a vegetarian. It is one of only two eco points I am completely inflexible on. The only times that I’ve eaten meat products since August 2010 have been by accident. (I didn’t realise that fruit salad sweets or marshmallows contained animal derivatives for at least two months after and a Chinese takeaway place once sent me a meat spring roll instead of veg.)

Would I go vegan? Yes, 100%!I eat a lot of vegan stuff as it is, especially I’m ordering takeaway or eating at a restaurant (whenever we can do that safely again!) The reason why I don’t right now is that looking after my grandfather, who has dementia, takes a lot of energy, and asking my mum to cook three meals (meat for her and grampy, veggie for dad, and vegan for me) or cooking my own dinner would be a bit much.

Would I ever eat meat again? I very much doubt it.

Recycling

Now, I’m going to be really honest here and say that if you’re not recycling, at the very least, the stuff that goes into the kerbside recycling bin, and you are as able-bodied as me then I judge you. Oh, sometimes you just chuck tins in the recycling because you can’t be bothered to rinse out the bean juice? Sometimes, I imagine smacking you in the face. #SorryNotSorry

I remember that when I was 16, I did chuck a plastic bottle in the bin, rather than keep it on me until I got home. It’s been 13 years and I still feel slightly guilty. After all, that bottle will be hanging around for another 487 years at least. But I’ve never done it since and I don’t quite know why I did it then.

My point is that, yes, its frustrating that kerbside recycling programs aren’t standardised across the country and yes, it’s annoying that the council doesn’t collect all recyclable items, which would net them more money. But the rules are pretty simple:

  • rinse bottles, cans, and tins
  • make sure paper and cardboard stay dry
  • crush bottles and put lids back on (Yes, lids are cool now!)
  • don’t put shredded paper (or anything else the council doesn’t want) in your green bin

Of course, this is supposed to be about my green credentials, not just an angry rant. So, I do more than kerbside recycling. I’m lucky enough that we have space in our garage for me to set up a recycling centre for things like crisp packets and cat food pouches, but I appreciate that some people with less space, less time, and no access to a car might find it harder to recycle these.

For the most part, our TerraCycle recycling goes to EcoFreaks. We order a Trash Café box from them once a month and we give them all the recycling in one go; separated into whatever cardboard boxes we get throughout the month to make it easier for them to sort.

The cat food pouches and sweet wrappers are taken to Horndean Technology College, which is a 30-minute round trip, so we save up loads before we go. I think the only other thing we have to recycle as beauty care items (i.e. those flexible plastic tubes that body lotions, sometimes come in) but we don’t have many of those.

Non-TerraCycle things, like mixed plastics and stretchy plastics, are normally recycled at the (separate) bins in Sainsbury’s, but because the Commercial road location is closing, this will have to be done at Farlington. I am, however, lucky that I live right near a glass bank and a carton bank.

While this is perfectly manageable for me now, I can only imagine how hard it would be if I lived in a flat or didn’t have someone to drive them for me.

Package Free

I do try to buy package free as much as possible, but this has been limited by the pandemic. Not because I think that packaged stuff is less likely to transmit the virus, but because the online shopping has given us item restrictions (three of each item, 85 total items, 1 delivery a month) and how are we supposed to eat bananas like that?

(I realise that restrictions have decreased since April, but we still have some and it looks likely that there will be another lockdown before Christmas.)

I have made one trip to the Package Free Larder to get some stuff and ordered online from them, but they don’t have everything that you might need to buy.

Second-hand and repairs

As you might know, I prefer to buy second hand where possible, but I have slipped up a couple of times during the pandemic. I bought a Chromecast new because I wanted to be able to watch streaming services on the TV in my bedroom and I didn’t have time to find out where to get one second-hand that was guaranteed to work. (Also, no charity shops for the time being.)

However, we have been getting into sewing over lockdown. My mum made some cool masks out of old t-shirts that were no good for donations and I’ve repaired a couple of dresses that had holes in them.

Transport

I’m a big proponent of walking and using public transport, but I haven’t really been going anywhere in six months and when I have (doctors, PFL, etc), I’ve been getting a lift. Sometimes even when I didn’t ask. It’s not great, but I don’t feel comfortable using the bus right now. When the pandemic is over, I’ll be straight back on the bus.

So have I been perfectly living up to my green ideals? No. Even if there hadn’t been a pandemic, I probably wouldn’t have. But at least if I aim to be the greenest I can, then even I  mess up, I’ll still be greener than I might have been.

What I’m streaming during the lockdown

As of writing, the British government has begun easing the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown restrictions and will continue so as long as the infection rate keeps decreasing. (Fingers crossed.) Even non-essential shops are open now.

But I (Emma) am still mostly inside. There are many reasons; starting with the fact that I live with immunocompromised people and ending with the fact that the current easing still requires you to stay six foot apart from the people outside your household that you’re allowed to meet with. I don’t see how I’m supposed to have a conversation with my friends from that far apart.

“SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR GIRLFRIEND CHEATING ON YOU.”

I know the idea is that people can get back to playing tennis with their friends, but do I look like a tennis person to you? (I realise you can’t see me. Tamara will tell you.) Or that you take your own drinks to someone’s back garden, but how many people do you know that have separate entrances to their back garden?

So, what am I doing now that I’m stuck inside until… probably the end of summer? Well, I’m writing a- [Edited out by Tamara because she can’t bear to listen to Emma talk about her novel anymore].

I’ve also been watching a lot of eco content on streaming services, which  I wanted to share with you today, so read on for some eco streaming recommendations that should tide you over for the rest of the lockdown.

BBC iPlayer

Climate Change: The Facts

I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that climate change is real and caused by humans. But in case, you’d like to have the facts ready so you can drop some knowledge on your Daily Mail reading Aunt, who’s spent too much time in Facebook groups during the quarantine, check out this David Attenborough documentary.

Also, there’s a whole host of Attenborough docs on there, including Plant Earth, Blue Planet I & II, Seven Worlds; One Planet, Life on Earth, Frozen Planet, Life, and Africa.

ALL 4

Apocalypse Cow: How Meat Killed the Planet

I’ll admit that as a vegetarian, I’m very happy with any documentary that exposes the environmental impact of eating animals, particularly through the use of factory farming. (I did put the Earthlings documentary on every computer in my media classroom after my lesson finished so that every single person in the next class would be subjected to it. I was insufferable at 19.)

This programme also does some research on creating more fake meats to replace all those dead animals on our plates. (I said what I said.)

Also watch: Australia on Fire: Climate Emergency

Netflix

Blue

Pollution, plastic, and people are causing massive damage to oceans. Here experts will tell you what needs to be done to clean the seas and save the planet. And don’t worry, it’s not just about what the individual needs to do, but also what international governments need to do because it’s not just

Also see: Blackfish, Attenborough’s Our Planet, A Plastic Ocean, and the uplifting Born to be Free.

Disney Plus

Paris to Pittsburgh

What seems like a million years ago now, that sentient confederate flag in the White House pulled out of the already far- too-lax Paris Climate Agreement. (For no reason, considering there was no way to legislate whether countries met the 2% goal. I guess, some people don’t just want to be thought of as an asshole; they want to prove it.)

… Oh yeah, back to the blurb.

This documentary covers the efforts of people, action groups, and local governments  are taking to counteract the horrific decision to just basically abandon all efforts to combat climate change. It shows us, if we need the reminder, that people are not their governments. (I wouldn’t want anyone to mistake the Tory’s government’s policies for mine.)

Also watch: Before the Flood and Jane.

Alright, this short and light-hearted article is done. Leave extra recommendations in the comments. (Not Prime shows though, Tamara’s husband cancelled his account.)

How to eco-hack your letterbox

Yes, the title is a little silly. (And when I (Emma) ran it past my first proof reader, can be misinterpreted as something NSFW!) But I think that, right now, it would be nice to have a little escape from the harsh realities of the world and get a little levity into our lives.

And this article actually tackles an area of all our homes that we perhaps do not think about as being particularly wasteful, but that may produce the most trash outside of the kitchen and bathroom. So, let’s delve right into making your letterbox a greener place.

black door with letterbox

Limiting what you get in

Obviously, the biggest way to make your letterbox more sustainable is to limit what you bring in. The more things that you bring into your house, the more things that will ultimately have to be composted, recycled, or put into the council rubbish bins for incineration. But how to do that?

Put a ‘No Junk Mail” sign on your mailbox

It won’t work all the time, but it will make the leaflet delivery person out think twice about shoving another pizza menu or double glazing advert through your door.

Some of the bigger companies use Royal Mail to deliver their leaflets, but you can opt-out by downloading and filling in this form and posting it back at the address listed. (Can’t print? No problem. You can ring on 03457 740 740 and ask for a form to be posted to you.)

Full disclosure, this shouldn’t stop you getting political leaflets or important messages from the government (i.e. the coronavirus leaflets) because they are designed to keep you politically informed. If you do already know who you’re voting for in the next election, i.e. The Green Party, you can put up a sign saying “no political leaflets”.

Opt for text or email alerts from companies

man of colour looking at smartphone

Whether it’s your bank statement, electricity bill, or even your dental practice, most companies will be happy to change how they contact you as mailing things by post costs them money. Some will even reward you for going paperless with better deals.

Take this one step at a time. As you receive the latest communication from each company, read it closely to see if there is an online option. If its not in the letter, check their website.

Lowering the eco-impact of what you do get in

We all have stuff posted to us and none of us can say, especially now, that we actually get all our shopping done at physical stores. So if how can we lower the impact of what is posted to us?

Ask for no new packaging

pile of boxes
Someone clearly took old boxes from Starbucks to send these parcels

If you are buying something online (or even getting something sent to you by a friend or relative), ask the person posting to use some of their old packaging, rather than buying something new. After all, most packaging items can be used far more than once and it doesn’t really matter if the top you bought comes in a bubble envelope that someone else had a book arrive in, does it?

Request recyclable or compostable packaging

Envelopes
Remember that Portsmouth Green Party can recycle the stamps

If the person shipping can’t provide used packaging, which can happen if you’re buying new items from a big business, then ask for your items to be shipped in cardboard and paper, rather than plastic, which will be harder to recycle.

It’ll probably just take one email to customer services with your username, order number, and a request that a note is made on your account.

Side note: If you’re getting something sent to you, request the slowest possible shipping. This means that, in the case of international deliveries, the item is sent by ship, rather than by air, or, for UK-deliveries, that the car/van/truck it is driven in is more likely to be full, than if you’d selected next-day delivery.

Resuse what you have

cat on boxes
Guest starring: Tamara’s cat

On a related note, if you do get any boxes or bubble envelopes or other packaging through the door, consider reusing it when you have to send something. Your friends are unlikely to care if their birthday present arrives in an old Lush box and cushioned by Styrofoam from the last time you bought electronics. Just make sure everything is clean and dry before storing and sending.

If you can’t use it, give it away to someone who can via Packshare or on Freecycle/Freegle/Trash Nothing.         

Recycle and Compost what you can

wheelie bins

Not every piece of packaging or post can be recycled, but these are the post and packaging items you can recycle in Portsmouth’s green kerbside bins:

  • Cardboard boxes *
  • Corrugated cardboard *
  • Sheets of cardboard (perhaps used to keep items flat in envelopes) *
  • Cardboard envelopes (like the kind that DVDs or CDs are occasionally posted in) *
  • Paper envelopes * (including the kind with a window)
  • Junk mail
  • Newspapers *
  • Magazines
  • Directories

(The ones with stars next to them can be composted in your home compost bin.) (Not window envelopes!)

Bubblewrap and the stretchy plastic bags that magazines, for example, are posted in, can be recycled with carrier bags at larger supermarkets.

Well, that’s it from me today. Mainly because I’ve run out of things to say about letterboxes and partially because the spacebar has only worked 75%  of the time and I need to go sit somewhere away from my laptop for a long while.

Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips for making your post box green again. Or…

Post box with the text: Go send someone a love letter

How to eco hack your home office

As some of you may know, I (Emma) work from home. (Normally in my pyjamas, as part of a quest to fulfil the stereotype!) I love it because I have no commute, no dress code, and no ‘suggestions’ about me wearing make-up.

This article will be about how I make my home office (read: corner of my bedroom with a desk) a little more eco-friendly. Although, a couple of the biggest contributors to your typical carbon footprint at work (commute, on-the-go food) are already taken out of the equation because I work 10 seconds from my bed.

Hopefully, some of these tips will inspire you to cut your carbon footprint, whether you work at home or not.

Cutting electricity

As a writer, I spend about 7 hours a day typing on my laptop. As my laptop is from 2012 and the battery is dead, I’m sure this uses a lot of electricity, so I try to cut my usage elsewhere.

(Before you comment, I did buy a new battery in 2016, but it died within a year and I’m not keen on doing it again.)

Unplug items when you’re not using them

The towel I failed to crop out is where my cat sleeps while I work

As you can see from this photo, I don’t have electronics plugged in when I’m not using them because even when the item is switched off, it still uses electricity. My printer, phone, coffee maker, and lamp only get plugged in when I need them, which is maybe one item once a day.

Also, the coffee maker is one of those horrible capsule ones. I got it from my nan’s house and I’m just using the capsules up before I sell it. To dispose of the used capsules in an eco-friendly way, I’m:

  • removing the lid and placing it in the bin
  • putting the coffee grounds into a jar and either using it as a body scrub or putting it straight in the compost
  • putting the plastic bottom into the Sainsbury’s Mixed Plastic bin

Work with natural light

laptop on desk under window

I work directly under a window (I live in the attic like Cinderella), so I rarely have to turn either the ceiling light or my lamp on. Except when I work before 7 am or after 5 pm, which doesn’t happen often anymore because I’m getting better at this whole work-life balance thing.

Minimise heater and fan usage

cat in  blanket
An accurate representation of me today

As I live in the attic, it boils in the summer and freezes in the winter, but I try to cope with this without using the heater or the fan. (I mean, the radiator’s in the wrong place and I never feel like the ceiling fan works, but I’m still going to count this.)

During the summer, I open the window and, sometimes, soak a t-shirt in cold water at several points during the day. In winter, I wrap myself in hoodies and, occasionally a blanket.

Restricting emails

I recently learned that emails have a carbon footprint because the internet is held up by huge data-processing sites. Therefore, I’m trying to send fewer emails (i.e. one email with all of the work from the project rather than several), clear up my inbox, and unsubscribe from all of those mailing lists I find myself on.

This is harder than I thought. The Inbox Zero struggle is real.

Of course, a neat way to offset this is with search engine Ecosia, which plants trees when you search for something.

Cutting waste

As mentioned in a previous article, I’m exceptionally cheap. Thus, it won’t surprise you to know that I’ve kept every workbook and gel pen from my school days so I don’t waste products that could be used for writing or that I hoard used A4 paper in case I need to print anything and small bits to write my daily to-do lists.

Another way that I prevent waste is:

envelope of scrap paper
The envelope was also used as a to-do list and to note down everyone I had to tell about my broken phone
  • Putting all smaller pieces of used paper into an envelope to be recycled so that they don’t gum up the machinery at the recycling plant
  • Refilling printer inks at the Ink Store and, when needed, recycling them with Portsmouth Green Party
  • Borrowing or buying used anything that I need for work, like the tilted platform my laptop rests on
  • Making my own pen holder from a Primark bag and an empty washing powder tub
  • Recycling pens with Milton Cross School
  • Composting pencils when they’re down to the last little nubs (don’t worry about the graphite, a small amount won’t harm the soil)

Going green

two cacti
My plant babies

For my last point in this article, I was once told that having plants in your office makes you focus more and work harder. I don’t know if that’s exactly true, but I do now have two cacti on my desk. (Normally, placed out of the way of the cat.)

Even if I’m not incredibly focused, I do like that it’s helping to take some CO2 out of the air. (Even if Tamara’s husband recently told me that it works the opposite way at night, so my bedroom is essentially filling with CO2 after the sun goes down.)

Okay, well that’s it from me. If you have any ways to eco-hack your office, let me know in the comments.

It’s not (always) expensive being green; how to save money and the planet

Dear Reader, 

You may not know this about me, but I (Emma) am really really cheap. Cheaper than I, as a middle-class person with a fair amount of savings and a fairly steady income, have any right to be. 

So cheap that on the last holiday I took with a friend we would have had to have paid £4 to sit together on the flight and I rejected this completely. She didn’t even push the matter because she knew I’d bitch about it being a waste of money.

I suppose, if you’ll allow me this brief moment in a therapist’s chair, it stems back to my childhood, when my family didn’t have a lot of money and debt was the elephant in every room of our house. 

Photo of change

Sometimes this cheapness conflicts with my environmental beliefs.

For example, I have to buy some tampons because, while an advocate of reusable period care,  I will be on holiday and going swimming during one of my periods this year. (I have still not mastered the menstrual cup.)

The organic cotton tampons that I know I need to buy cost £4 for a pack of 20. By comparison, the supermarket own-brand terrible-for-the-environment plastic-filled tampons cost about 99p for 16.

And I’m outraged by this despite having to buy 1 or 2 packs of these a year. (Can you imagine if I was using tampons all the time or if I had any kind of medical issue with my period that made it heavier or more frequent?) 

What I’m saying is that I do understand why people would choose the cheaper option over the more environmental one in most cases. Particularly in such a dire economic time when the government prefers to make sure the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. (I wrote this on my phone when it was still working, and it autocorrected my sentence to read ‘the poor stay put’ and tbh, I think that might be how the government feels too.) 

However, this article is not intended to be a depressing read on how caring for the earth can ruin your bank balance. Instead, I want to focus on how it can actually save you money. 

In a way, the money you save can pay for more expensive tampons and other eco things. But even if you only choose to do the green things that will save you money, it’s still a way to cut your impact on the planet. 

Planet earth taken from space

Switch to reusables

While plastic is the biggest problem, single-use anything isn’t great because of the energy used to create it. Plus, a one-off purchase that might be a little more expensive is still cheaper than multiple disposables. 

To start with, why not try a reusable water bottle, shopping bag small enough to fit in your handbag/backpack, a lunchbox, and a handkerchief?

More advanced reusable lovers can try period care, nappies, wax wraps, and toilet cloth.

Use what you have

Overconsumption is a big problem because it involves extra materials and energy to create a product, energy to ship and store it, and finally energy to get it from the store to your house. 

Where I can, I use what I have rather than buying anything. For example, for handkerchiefs I use the old napkins that belonged to a table cloth that had been thrown away. (Someone knocked cherryade over it when they small and the stain never came out.)

Use pre-loved

I fucking love buying second hand. Most of my clothes (and books) are from charity shops and at least three pairs of shoes came from my parents. 

By choosing pre-loved items, you are taking something already in the waste stream and giving it a second life.

I also love sites like Freegle, Freecycle, and Trash Nothing to get pick up cool things for free. 

You can also get rid of items on there, that you might otherwise have to take to the tip or pay for the council to collect. (Think about broken furniture, which some could repair or use for firewood.)

Repair

My main repairs are small sewing things for clothes, holes in leggings, underwire springing free from bras, and rips in the seams of jumpsuits. I can (sort of) do these myself. Or with supervision from a more seasoned sewer.

For anything more complicated, like my currently glitching phone, I defer to the repair cafe, which is donation-based. (Excuse me, while I cry over my phone.)

Public transport

I never learnt to drive and it was primarily because I didn’t have the money or the time. (Now, I have the money, it’s mostly an eco thing.)

What with all the costs associated with driving, from lessons to car purchase to tax to insurance, it’s so much cheaper for me to take the bus, coach, or train. (Or even walk on a dry day.)

As an added eco benefit, you can use e-tickets for the bus and coach to save paper. (I don’t know if you can with the train.) The First Bus app also saves you money on day passes (often less than a return), singles, and passes (week, month, year).

Okay, that’s about it from me. Do you have any other ways to save pennies and the planet? Let me know in the comments below.