Trying to live a sustainable life

Last week we participated in the P&G Future Friendly Five Days of Sustainable Living challenge. The aim was to do little things each day, reinforcing the idea that you can make your household more sustainable.

We were sent a lovely hamper full of P&G Future Friendly products (which are constantly being improved so they use less energy, work with less water and produce less waste) as well as ‘energy saving tips’ to inspire us to live more sustainably and future friendly. Over the week we managed the following:

Kitchen

hung out the washing (on the only day of sunshine) instead of using the tumble drier

waited until we had a full load before putting the washing machine on and washed at 30 degrees

only boiled enough water that was needed for cups of tea and bottles

Around the home

shopped in local shops using our own shopping bags and bought fewer items with less packaging

persuaded the toddler to shower instead of his bath on two occasions so used less water

shut the curtains on our drafty Victorian windows which meant we didn’t need to turn on the central heating

switched off lights when we weren’t in the room and made sure all bulbs were energy saving ones

Children

sorted out clothes which I really hate doing! The toddler barely wears 20% of the clothes in his room. I also sorted out baby clothes as she’s already out of her 3-6 months things. The clothes were all in good condition so a couple of bags were taken to the charity shop

visited the local library to borrow books rather than spend money on new ones. I also picked up some new to us books in a charity shop. Both actions helps save trees and money.

 

You can see that the things we did, although quite small, can really make a difference and help be more sustainable at home. There are lots more things we can do including fitting a tap aerator (to cut down on unnecessary water consumption) and using a Hippo Water Saver (to help save water every time you flush). I think we’re already pretty good at recycling as our bin is often quite empty compared to our recycling bin. We’ll soon be recycling our food waste too (not that’s there’s much!) so I feel we’re well on our way to really making a difference although there’s always room for improvement.

Many people do much more than us, either on their own or as a part of a community project. The Future Friendly programme recognises great environmental efforts across the country and this year they will be awarding prizes to individuals and groups. To find out more and be inspired take a look at their website www.futurefriendly.co.uk