Producing more “stuff” and persuading people to buy it is the engine that keeps capitalism going – but producing, transporting and disposing of that stuff is destroying the environment.
Avoiding single-use plastic, buying less, and repairing what you have are easy steps to take – but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s enough on its own.
The climate crisis can only be prevented – or even mitigated – if companies and governments step up. That’s because when a company or government makes a climate-positive decision, it makes it easier for thousands or even millions of people to do it too.
So don’t let companies and governments off the hook! Reducing your own consumption is great – but you need to put just as much effort into influencing your favourite brands and your political representatives.
Here’s our Big Green Ideas List for reducing consumption.
Avoid single-use products
Avoid single-use plastic
This mantra is at the heart of the eco-movement – the actions are easy, non-disruptive, and often the first step on a more sustainable journey. Individually, the suggestions seem too small to make a difference, but they all add up and more importantly they demonstrate to companies and governments that people actually want change.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this is enough, but here are some simple suggestions:
- Avoid buying overpackaged things
- Use a reusable water bottle or reusable coffee cup
- Avoid single-use plastic cutlery and straws
- Say no to plastic bags – take a reusable cloth bag instead
- Swap ready meals for home-cooked versions
- Buy ingredients from your zero-waste shop
- Check out online eco-superstores (like Ethical Superstore) to see just how many ethical alternatives are now available
Multiply your impact – can you persuade your employer to reduce or eliminate single-use plastic from their products or manufacturing process? This could have the same effect as hundreds of thousands of customers making same the choice on their own.
Cut out single-use paper products
- Use cloth handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues
- Use flannels (washcloths) instead of makeup remover pads
- Use old tea towels instead of paper towels
Buy less new stuff
Challenge the “buy it now” impulse
Break the cycle of consumption and waste. Do you really need to buy whatever it is? Ask yourself:
- Do you really need it?
- Have you already got it but can’t find it?
- Can you borrow it or rent it instead?
- Can you use something else?
- Can you buy it second-hand?
Reward yourself
If you decide you don’t need to buy something new, work out how much you didn’t spend. Then transfer that amount to your savings account and save up for something you never thought you’d be able to afford – like solar panels, reducing your working hours, or going back to college.
Be patient
Write a list of things you need, but not urgently. Instead of buying them in multiple deliveries from Amazon, save them up for a single trip to town once a month. This helps support local businesses, keeps money in your community, and keeps travel and packaging to a minimum.
Close the browser
If you find yourself browsing online for something that isn’t essential, close the page. If you’re still thinking about it in a week’s time, consider buying it. Chances are you will forget about it because you didn’t really need it in the first place.
Live minimally
Living minimally is about:
- Clearing out what’s holding you back
- Appreciating the things you’ve chosen to keep
- Only choosing to buy things you really need
Well-made, purposefully chosen, useful things are at the heart of the minimalist movement, which ties in well with the green movement. Buying less, but better quality, helps the Earth’s resources go further and reduces transport and manufacturing emissions.
In the long run, it should also save money too. And simply having less “stuff” frees up space, so there is room to do the things that are more important to us – like having people stay over, a place to enjoy a hobby, the space to work from home, or simply a quiet area to ourselves.
Find out more about minimalism and sustainability.
Start or join a “Library of Things”
How many things do you own that you’ve only used once or twice, and are now taking up space in your shed, garage or kitchen cupboards?
A Library of Things is a collection of things that people are willing to loan or rent to others as part of the “sharing economy”. As a result, Library of Things members buy fewer things, saving money, space, and resources that would have been used to manufacture and transport multiple versions of the same item. Examples include power tools, rarely-used kitchen equipment (like pasta makers and fancy tins), and garden tools.
Reassess your hobbies
OK, this is a tough one because our hobbies are, by definition, things we love doing. But give it a go.
- Look carefully at your hobbies and ask yourself if they cause any environmental damage. If not, great! Carry on!
- But if they do, ask yourself whether you can change them in some way to avoid the damage
Don’t buy subscription boxes
You can get subscription boxes for just about anything, whether you’re into beauty products, kawaii, geek culture or gadgets.
But please don’t.
You’re literally asking someone to send you a box of items you don’t need and didn’t choose, every single month. You won’t use most of them, so it’s a waste of money and resources.
Use the money you save to buy treats you choose yourself and are therefore more likely to use, or save it up for something special.
(Just to be clear, we’re not talking about recipe/food boxes here, like Planthood and Gousto. You get to choose the contents of those yourself, and they’re a great way to learn to cook with new ingredients.)
Stop buying your children things they don’t need
Children aren’t born with impulse control, and million-dollar marketing budgets and peer pressure are often too much for them. You end up buying them toys they play with once or twice, and you store them indefinitely before they go to charity or landfill.
Here are some strategies which may or may not work, depending on the child and your own willingness to accept tantrums in public.
Try these ideas to avoid buying more plastic junk
Watch out for sneaky marketing tricks
As people buy less, retailers will become increasingly desperate to sell you things. This is because they have vast networks of infrastructure to support, staff they don’t want to let go and leases they can’t break. Congratulate yourself when you spot it and don’t be tricked into resuming your old buying habits.
And leading on from that… be open to the idea of working part-time/job share
As we move towards an economy in which we consume less, companies will need to be leaner, and there will probably be less paid work available. Rather than have many people unemployed and others overstretched, share the load. The time you free up could help you contribute to the green effort in other ways, e.g. gardening, preparing your own food, and community projects.
Have a greener Christmas or birthday
Have a green Christmas or birthday
Don’t just assume people want Christmas or birthday presents. People might prefer:
- an experience or trip
- money, so they can save up for something they really want
- a “voucher” for your time, like babysitting* or other help
- the gift of “not having to bother” (keep this one for people who are just not into gifts and who find buying for everyone else a big hassle – my sister and I do this)
- or just the pleasure of your company
*Not an option if you are one of the child’s parents. This will make the other parent very annoyed.
More ideas to save money and avoid waste
- make your own gift tags from last year’s cards (a fun activity to do with younger children)
- instead of unrecyclable glittery/shiny/plasticated paper, use fully recyclable patterned paper, brown paper, or blankets tied in place with ribbon or string
- print your own wrapping paper using linocut or potato prints (another good one to do with children)
- wrap on the diagonal (it uses less paper)
- re-use wrapping paper
- give gifts of food (a gift that’s almost certain to be used)
- give gifts of “gateway” environmentally friendly products like beeswax wraps
- re-gift unwanted presents, or give them to charity
Clothes
Avoid fast fashion
According to EDGE fashion intelligence, the clothing and textile industry is the second largest polluter in the world, and a horrifying 64% of the 32 billion garments produced each year end up in landfills [1].
The fashion industry clearly has a lot of work to do to get itself in order, but we can help by influencing the demand side and saying a firm NO to fast fashion.
Alternatives are:
- Buy second-hand, from charity shops or online marketplaces
- Look for good-quality new items that will last a long time
- Choose sustainable fabrics
- Go for style over fashion (i.e. choose clothes that suit your body type rather than clothes that are just this season’s fashion).
Choose sustainable fabrics
If you need to buy new, choose clothes made from sustainable fabrics. Look at the tag or description before you buy!
- Clothes made from linen, hemp, modal, Tencel or rayon have the lowest impact and are most easily recycled
- Organic cotton only uses about 10% of the water that regular cotton needs
- Bamboo was once thought to be an environmentally sound choice, but it’s not as environmentally friendly as some other products due to the chemicals and water needed to break down the bamboo fibres and make them soft
- Avoid man-made fibres (e.g. polyester, nylon and spandex) because they take decades to hundreds of years to break down, and they shed microscopic plastic fibres every time you wash them, which pollutes the oceans. If you can’t avoid man-made fabrics, use a GuppyFriend bag which catches at least some of the particles
- Avoid mixed fabrics, (e.g. a cotton/lycra mix) because they can’t be recycled and don’t break down in landfill
Use second-hand sites
Whether you need something or don’t need something anymore, websites like eBay, Poshmark, Depop, Vinted, Freegle, and Freecycle help keep stuff out of landfill and money in your pocket.
Facebook groups, Gumtree, and Craigslist are also great ways to list or acquire things locally, with the benefit that you can easily collect them and don’t have to pay postage costs.
Read more about second-hand and reuse sites
Use charity shops/thrift stores
Buying from charity shops has so many benefits.
- First, there’s all the money you save. Many items are virtually brand new, but can be bought for a fraction of the price
- You get the satisfaction of avoiding fast fashion and all the problems of exploitation and resource wastage that come with it
- If this year’s fashion doesn’t suit your taste or body type, it’s a way to find clothes that suit you better
- You get to support some really worthwhile causes
- No one will be able to tell that you didn’t buy it straight from the original retailer
- Every item purchased is an item kept out of landfill
- If you like sewing, you can make something literally unique out of some very unpromising items. Check out this lady’s creations here
Share, swap, and give away
If you have clothes that don’t fit you anymore, or just don’t suit you, don’t hang on to them forever. Pass them on to friends or work colleagues, donate them to charity or sell them on one of the many second-hand clothing sites. It will free up space in your wardrobe, (maybe headspace too if you’re moving on from a previous self) and may help someone else avoid buying new. Outgrown school uniform can also be passed on at a school uniform exchange.
Use your existing leather products until they are worn out
If you can bear to keep using them, use your leather boots, gloves, wallet, belt, or sofa until they’re worn out, then replace them with vegan alternatives like cork, fabric, or vegan leather alternatives.
If you don’t want to use them any more, donate them to charity or sell them on a second-hand site like eBay, Poshmark, Depop, or Vinted so someone else can buy them and avoid buying new.
Your home
Maintain your property
Maintaining costs less than replacing. Repair things as soon as you’re aware of the problem, have an annual schedule to check and maintain woodwork and roofs, and make a diary note to winterise outside taps to prevent burst pipes. (Learnt from bitter experience.)
Work with your out-of-date kitchen and bathroom
Kitchens and bathrooms aren’t fashion items – you might want a new one, but so long as it works, you don’t need a new one.
To make it more to your taste, try:
- Replacing just the tiles
- Fitting a new worktop “on top”
- Re-enamelling your bath
- Painting the cupboard doors
- Replacing the wallpaper
- Embracing the cottage-core or kitsch vibe with cute accessories that make it look like you chose it
Repair your stuff
Learn to repair your clothes, or use a local repair company
Make your clothes last longer by repairing them instead of replacing them. Many schools don’t teach repairs anymore, but you can learn anything on the internet. Buttons and seams are easily repaired, and a local alteration specialist will be happy to take on more complicated repairs or alterations. In addition to the environmental benefits, you get to hang on to much-loved clothes for longer, and save money.
Make old t-shirts look like new
Faded t-shirts and jeans can be re-invigorated with dye. Do a batch of similar items together to get the best value for money from the packet of dye, and use common sense if using your washing machine – don’t follow a dye-load with a white wash, for example.
Get your boots and shoes resoled
It’s sad when a favourite pair of shoes wears out, but it doesn’t have to be the end. I have had the same pair of boots re-heeled and re-soled six times (at the time of writing). They are at least twelve years old and cost just under £100 when new. At £20 per repair, I’ve saved £480 and prevented 6 new pairs of boots from being manufactured and shipped.
File your guarantees away so you can get things repaired
Whether you store them as paper or pdfs, filing your receipts and guarantees away ensures you can get spare parts and repairs for as long as possible.
[1] E D G E. n.d. Fashion Industry Environmental, Waste, and Recycle Statistics. [online] Available at: <https://edgexpo.com/fashion-industry-waste-statistics/> [Accessed 7 August 2022].
Image credits:
Container ship – created from a photo by Andrey Sharpilo on Unsplash
Plastic cup floating in water – photo by Brian Yurasits on Unsplash
Shopping bags – photo by Denisse Leon on Unsplash
Minimalist room – photo by Kam Idris on Unsplash
Sustainable Christmas gift wrapping – photo by Olesia Buyar on Unsplash
Folding clothes – photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash
Clothes on a rail – photo by Megan Lee on Unsplash
Bathroom with vibrant wallpaper – photo by Collov Home Design on Unsplash
Sewing thread – photo by Olesia Buyar on Unsplash