Eco Tips Around the House

In the spirit of the fantastic new "eco holiday" competition here's a few "eco tips" for those who are environmentally conscious (or would like to be). It's easier than you might think!

Buy local products Buying locally reduces the amount of energy required to transport products to your store.

Green clean

Chemicals used in modern cleaning products pollute the water supply and require energy to produce. Find which cleaning products you can replace with everyday biodegradable ingredients. Most of these ingredients are already in your pantry - eg bicarb soda, vegetable oil, herbs and essential oils, lemon juice, salt, toothpaste, vinegar .

Vegie values

Go vegetarian at least once a week. To produce one kilo of beef requires forty times more water than is used to produce a kilo of potatoes. Before buying beef, think about the immense cost of energy used to raise cattle and to transport meat to your supermarket shelf. Cows also consume enormous amounts of antibiotics and are a prodigious source of methane which is the number two greenhouse gas.

Ditch the plastic

Millions of individual plastic water bottles are thrown away every day. Use a reusable water bottle and just say no to plastic.

It's all about location

Avoid placing your air conditioner next to a TV, lamp or other electrical appliance that generates heat. This will avoid a confused thermostat, which tends to misread how hot the room is and make the air conditioner work harder than it should.

No more rinsing

Pre-rinsing dishes does not necessarily improve a dishwasher's ability to clean them. By skipping the wash before the wash, you save water, dishwashing soap, energy used to heat the additional water and of course time!

Take a ride

The "eco tip" that will have the biggest impact of all is to catch public transport to work as often as you can and get healthy at the same time.

Good grilling

A gas, rather than a charcoal, BBQ is the most environmentally friendly method of barbequing. It saves the forest destruction that comes with the charcoal variety. If you have a charcoal BBQ grill, make sure your charcoal comes from a sustainable source.

Living fences

Instead of building a wooden fence, opt for a living fence - a hedge or row of trees that can be groomed to maintain appearance. A living fence is cheaper than a traditional fence and it never needs to be painted. Remember to use native flora.