You might remember as part of my belated New Years resolutions that aren’t really resolutions and more good habits I’m trying to develop, a few of them included some simple swaps I’m making in an attempt to lead a more sustainable lifestyle! Here are my top 5 sustainable living tips for 2018:
1) Transport. Because I live in London I don’t own a car. As many of you know, I’m not the most confident of drivers after I wrote my Dad’s car off aged 17 on a trip to the local bowling alley. That was a day I’d rather forget! But I can still do my bit when it comes to the transport I’m using. I’ve cut right back on my Uber use, and am trying to jump on a bus, or walk wherever possible. And for those times I really do need a car, I’m planning to hire electric ones. There are plenty of electronic car clubs around now, and with NewMotion charge point‘s situated all over London (and 50,000 across Europe) I think it’s the way forward! If any of you are thinking about getting a car it’s definitely worth checking out the electric options, especially if you live in London!
2) Charity Shopping! This won’t come as any surprise to you if you’ve watched my thrift hauls, but shopping at charity shops is something I’ve always done and am planning to continue on doing more of this year. And I’m not just talking clothes – I’ve found some awesome homeware pieces recently including this Missoni Home cushion I picked up in Traid for just £4.
3) Upcycling. This is another area that I’m going to continue working on this year. I’ve got some big plans for areas of my home but I’m going to be checking out my local skips, eBay and Gumtree before I hit up Ikea or any of the big shops. I think about 50% of the furniture pieces in my home have been upcycled and I love the fact that they are all unique, all have a story to tell and many of them have been rescued from going to landfill.
4) Take away coffee cups and plastic straws. Both of these are something I’ve been guilty of over using. Previously I’d thought nothing of ordering a coffee in a takeaway cup, even if I’m planning on drinking it inside the coffee shop, just incase I fancied taking it away. Now I will always order it in a mug, and if I don’t finish it then I can always get a takeaway cup, or better still I’m trying to carry my reusable cup as much as possible to take it away in that. I no longer buy plastic straws for the home (I was drinking a smoothie with them every morning!) and instead I’ll just knock it back without a straw.
5) Switching appliances off at home. We’ve recently had a smart metre installed and it’s a great device to see how much energy we are using (and wasting) on certain things. There’s also the incentive of seeing the money adding up! So, without being a total scrooge, I am certainly going to be more conscious about leaving lights switched on, and the tumble dryer has been replaced with the washing line on our roof terrace or the DryBuddi that I swear by, which uses way less power.
Let me know if there are any simple switches you have made for a more sustainable lifestyle, I’d love to try them out!
*This post was kindly sponsored by NewMotion
Great ideas