OUR GREEN EARTH TIPS |
ENERGY |
| • |
Choose a laptop over a desktop, it consumes 5 times less electricity.
|
| • |
Turn off your lights in unused rooms |
| • |
Replace the traditional incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent lamps. If one million people replaced one incandescent bulb with a Compact Fluorescent light bulb (CFL), more than 200 000 tonnes of CO2 emissions would be eliminated in a year. CFL light bulbs last ten times longer than traditional bulbs and use a fraction of the energy. |
| • |
Unplug appliances that are not in use. Don’t leave them on stand by mode. |
| • |
Only fill the kettle up with as much water as you need. |
| • |
Lower your geysers’ heating temperature. |
| • |
Use less hot water, it takes a lot of energy to heat water. |
| • |
Opt for solar water geyser, instead of the conventional water geyser. |
| • |
Over 30% of your home’s heat escapes through the roof. Install a layer of insulation and you can save on heating and cooling costs. |
| • |
Buy fresh foods instead of frozen ones. Frozen foods use 10 times more energy to produce. |
WATER |
| • |
Choose a shower instead of a bath. An average bath uses about 160 litres of water, where as if you have a 5 minute shower it only uses about 60 litres. |
| • |
Use a low flow shower head. This can save between 50% - 70% of your shower water. |
| • |
Most toilets these days come with a dual flush option, which allows you to save water by using only a half flush when needed. However if you do not have this option, reduce the toilet flush volume by placing an empty 2 litre plastic bottle filled with water in your cistern. This can save you up to 20% water consumption. |
| • |
Repair leaks and dripping taps. |
| • |
Capture rainwater and use it to irrigate your garden. |
| • |
Grey water: re-use bath water, dish water, hot water bottle water, these can all be used to water your garden. |
TRAVEL GREEN |
| • |
Reduce your car usage as far as possible. Try car pooling, it’s a fun change from just listening to your radio. |
| • |
Change your driving habits. You can save a lot of money and fuel by avoiding harsh braking and accelerating. |
| • |
Check your tyre pressure regularly. Under-inflated tyres can cause fuel consumption to increase. |
| • |
Try to cut down on air conditioning, open a window instead and get some fresh air. And dress accordingly
|
| • |
Try to reduce your air miles, travel only when necessary and plant trees to counteract your carbon footprint against the flights you have made. |
| • |
Investigate the policy of the airline you choose to fly with, it’s always better to fly with an airline that has an environmental policy and is green conscious. |
| • |
Reduce unnecessary travel. Invest in teleconferencing, video-conferencing and skype facilities to save on carbon emissions and also save money! |
WAISTE |
| • |
Try to make a conscious effort to separate and recycle glass, plastic, paper and biodegradable products in your home and at work. |
| • |
Biodegradable waste can be placed in your own compost heap rather than the bin. This means less waste filling up our land fill sites and it is also great for your garden! |
| • |
Recycling is not always the most convenient way to discard of your waste, however it’s the greenest way to make an impact on our consumption. |
| • |
Avoid excessive packaging, Much of the packaging on products in stores is unnecessary. There are two main reasons to avoid the unnecessary packaging wherever possible:
Our landfill sites are reaching their limit. Landfill disposal is the most common waste management practice and results in the release of methane from the anaerobic decomposition of organic materials. Methane is around 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. If the disposal of organic matter were decreased (for example by composting or combustion) it would be possible to reduce the amount of methane emissions.
The best way to avoid overflowing landfill sites is to avoid unnecessary packaging altogether. The next best is to recycle and compost wherever possible. Greenhouse gases are released in the making of this packaging. |
| • |
Start a compost heap at home, discard of all your biodegradable materials from the kitchen in the heap, including grass cuttings, leaves from the garden and any garden cuttings, this will all make for excellent compost. |
| • |
Re-use glass containers, jars and tubs in your home or office. Minimize purchasing additional packaging materials for your home and office that will later be discarded anyway. |
| • |
Unfortunately, packaging is mostly unavoidable. But given the choice: Choose glass, tin, paper or cardboard as these are all recyclable or biodegradable. Favour plastic bearing a recycle mark and number. This means that this plastic is recyclable and is not for example a mixed substance that cannot be recycled.
Avoid materials which are not easily recyclable:
Plastic that doesn’t have the recycle mark and number on it - normally this means it is not recyclable as it’s a composite of various types of plastics.
Clingwrap
Sweet wrappers
Cellophane wrappers
Wax coated cardboard boxes
(For example in certain fruit boxes)
Cardboard/Plastic mix containers such as those containing some long life milk and fruit juices. |
| • |
Try to choose glass packaged products over plastic ones as they can be recycled more willingly than plastic or cans. |
| • |
Do not dispose of empty ink cartridges into the bin, call green office to collect your empty ink cartridges. Ink and laser cartridges take thousands of years to decompose and use litres of oil to manufacture releasing CO2 into the atmosphere in the process. |
GREEN ME |
| • |
Plant a Tree: A single tree will absorb one tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. And shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10% - 15%. |
| • |
Choose Organic produce when in the supermarket. Read the labels. |
| • |
Take your own shopping bags with you when going to buy your groceries, each time we purchase bags at a shop, they are likely to go straight into a waste bin, and on to a landfill. |
| • |
Always buy locally produced, in-season goods, save the planet by reducing the carbon emissions that come from importing products. |
| • |
Avoid unnecessary paper use. Purchase recycled paper, avoid unnecessary printing and photocopying and always use both sides of the page. Use misprints as scrap paper and install recycling bins in all offices. |
| • |
When you're out on the town and eating out, remember SASSI. This initiative seeks to inform consumers and retailers of the status of fish stocks. The primary goals are to promote voluntary compliance of the law, through education and awareness, to shift consumer demand away from over-exploited species to more sustainable options, and to create awareness on marine conservation issues. Consumers can consult the SASSI guide (available at www.wwf.org.za/sassi ) or make use of the SASSI FishMS (sms your fish query to 079 499 8795) to find out which fish is good to eat! |
RECYCLING CONTACTS |
The Glass Recycling Company – 011 803 8933
Eco Monkey – 083 415 7636
Sappi Waste – 0800 221 330
Pickitup – 011 712 5200
Collect a Can – 0800 111 232*
www.e-waste.org.za
Green Office: 0860 000 444 |