Greener Me tips

It seems to be a small thing to do, too small to bother. Multiply it by almost 6.7 billion people on Earth - what's the impact now?

(Source: Wikipedia - world population)

Greener Me tip

At work, ask your facilities manager if your company could provide recycling for organic waste.
This way all food scraps, paper napkins and paper towels would not go to general waste. Don't be discouraged, if the first time you ask, the answer is somewhat along the lines: "Get real, can't you see how we're struggling around our budget now". It may take a few months of nagging, but eventually your company will join the journey of corporate responsibility too.

Greener Me tip

Do you need to use the dishwasher?
Diswashers use between 13 and 15 litres of water for one cycle. If you have only a few dirty dishes, it may make more sense to wash them by hand. Also, dishwasher detergents tend to be harsher on the environment than traditional dishwashing liquids.

On the other hand, dishwashers use very little energy and, for larger piles of dishes, they seem to be the better option for the environment, especially the newest ones.

Nevertheless, one must take into consideration the whole lifecycle of a dishwasher when assessing its impact on the environment. Manufacturing of white goods leaves significant carbon footprint, and so does their recycling.

Interesting discussion, including comments: Dishwashers - a greener choice?

Greener Me tip

Fix leaking taps
Each tap that leaks one drop of water per second, will add $1 to your monthly water bill. If you have three leaking taps in your household, that's a waste of $36 per year. Not to mention the wasted water - each dripping tap will waste between 30 and 200 litres of water per day!

Greener Me tip

Install flow control aerators on your taps
They are not expensive and reduce the water flow by massive 50%.

Greener Me tip

Insulate hot water system and the pipes
Insulating is very inexpensive. It reduces energy usage needed to keep the water hot. Insulating hot water pipes reduces the time you wait for hot water thus saving both water and electricity.

Greener Me tip

Lower the temperature of your hot water system
Setting it to around 55C is optimal for household usage and it will lower your energy bill.

Greener Me tip

Wait until you have a full load of washing
Every extra washing will use between 10 and 12 litres of water, not to mention the elctricity.

Greener Me tip

Install a three star rated showerhead
These showerheads use only up to 9 litres of water per minute, while old-style showerheads use up to 20 litres per minute. If you shower for 6 minutes, this is a saving of up to 50 litres per shower or, for a household of three people, an annual saving of huge 55,000 litres of water per year.

Greener Me tip

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth
Your mother surely told you this one. Every minute of tap running means 15 litres of water. If you brush your teeth for 3 minutes (as the dentist recommended :), that's some 45 litres of water gone.

Greener Me tip

Use recycled stationery, at work and at home
Use recycled paper and other stationery items. At work, insist that stationery is from eco-friendly suppliers. Most importantly, use recycled paper for printing. Keep insisting - it may take some time before the company changes the supplier, buy they will eventually. Smart companies are becoming environmentally friendly because they have become aware of many commercial benefits of such a change.

We invite you to join Greener Me.

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