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I wanted to cover something like this when my friend asked me if we had a recycling bin and I replied with ‘nahhh just put it in the bin‘. She turned around and said ‘you haven’t got a recycling bin? I don’t think we can be friends…‘. I laughed and hoped she was joking but it made me realise that I’m actually contributing to the downfall of our planet by chucking everything out in one bin and being too lazy to do anything about it. With Used Kitchen Exchange, reselling old and recycled kitchens, it’s given me food for thought on how we can be more eco-friendly in 2019. Even though we’re just one household, it makes a difference.
Get A Recycling Bin
So we’ve only got the one bin. And yes we take out cardboard whenever we have furniture or our weekly Hello Fresh delivered. But that’s it. Everything else we just chuck in the bin and I’m embarrassed when I think of all the packaging, cans and bottles we could have put into a recycling bin. Therefore, one of the first purchases I’ll be making will be a recycling bin and some separate bin liners.
Stop Leaving The Tap Running
It’s something so simple as running the tap when brushing my teeth that I’ve noticed is actually wasteful. I’m brushing my teeth and leaving the tap that’s gushing out water on when I could just switch it off whilst brushing.
Use Less Electricity
It’s one thing that granted, a lot us forget about. Leaving lights on in the hallway or in a room that we’re not using. It’s easily done but we could probably save money and a lot of energy on switching off lights when we don’t need them on, especially around Summer. We also now have a dishwasher and a washing machine in our kitchen. We’ve loved using them, but both use up a lot of energy. I think we’ll concentrate on using them less or at least getting the most out of each load we put in.
Installing A Smart Meter
A smart meter is something we’d said we would get after seeing that our friends had Nest, a handy smart meter that regulates the amount of heating you use and adapts to your lifestyle while making it more eco-friendly and wallet-friendly. I think smart meters are a great way of helping save money but more importantly, reduce our carbon footprint. Nest also comes with an app that lets you change the heating even when you’re not in the home. Very clever.
Insulate The Home
We’re starting to notice it more here in the Winter but we’re using our heating a lot more than usual and we’re also allowing that heat to escape. I think we’ll get ourselves a draught excluder for the front door and we’ll close our doors to rooms we’re not using to keep the heating inside the main room we’re in. We’ve also got our bedroom blinds arriving soon so next year, we’ll be looking into getting the living room and spare room done.
What do you think about being eco-friendly? Could you work towards a more eco-friendly home and lifestyle? Let me know in the comments below.
*Disclaimer – This is a collaborative post with Used Kitchen Exchange. All words are my own.
