Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual's or society's use of the

Earth's natural resources, and one's personal resources

reduce

We consume far too much — it’s the honest truth.

How many times have you bought a loaf of bread, only for it to go mouldy when you forgot
about it?

Ask yourself: Do I need this? Will it be used? Why do I want to buy this? What purpose does this
really serve?

reuse

Before you throw away that old t-shirt with red wine stains, think about how you can use it
around the house: as a cleaning rag, re-purposed napkins, hair towel (cotton t-shirts are great
for wrapping around wet hair)… and I’m sure you can come up with even more!

Recycling

Recycling isn’t just some magical sustainable fix-it-all solution.Recycling is a last resort — when
you’ve reduced and reused as much as you can, and you have to throw something away.Just
because you recycle doesn’t mean that you’re a level-seven-eco-warrior.Also, not everything
can be recycled.

Energy-efficient light bulbs

This one can be a bit pricey, but some energy companies are providing this as a free service (like Utility
Warehouse, who we’re with).Switching your current light bulbs to energy-efficient ones can help reduce
carbon emissions — those light bulbs use less energy than before.

Unplug your sockets

This is a real bugbear of mine.I can’t count how many times I’ve been somewhere, and there’s
something plugged in and switched on at the wall, but it isn’t even on — or (shudder) it’s on standby.

This is literally throwing away money, and using more energy.

If you’re not using something, switch it off, and unplug it from the wall.

Even if it’s switched off at the wall, it’s still leeching a little energy while it’s plugged in.

Save water

When you’re washing your face in the evening, how long do you have to run the water before it heats
up?When you’re washing the dishes, how many litres of water do you think run down the drain while
it’s getting to temperature?

But what can we do, just have cold showers and permanently freezing water?

Then, you can use that water to water your plants, or just put it outside or in the fridge to cool
down to drink later.

There’s no point letting all that water just go straight down the drain — you’re paying for it,
after all.