• Buy less, and buy higher quality clothes so items last longer
• Buy from sustainable brands
• Buy second-hand
• Swap clothes (online & at events)

💡 Bored of your wardrobe? Why not try restyling some of your favourite items? If you don’t feel up to the creative challenge you can always find a local tailor!

We all wash our clothes far too much – often clothes aren’t dirty when we wash them so check out this article to read some alternatives to bunging your clothes in the washing machine.

Why? Over-washing clothes creates more housework, but more importantly has a negative an unnecessary environmental impact. The average washing machine uses 13,500 gallons of water a year, as much as you drink in your lifetime.

💡 Clothes will need washing eventually, so when you do need to put a wash on why not try an eco-friendly laundry liquid and air dry your clothes on a clothes horse or on a washing line.

If you follow the first two suggestions, to buy higher quality clothes and to wash them less then your clothes should naturally last longer.

To take it a step further though, would be to repair them when do do show signs of wear and tear. Check out this video to inspire yourselves.

💡 As well as being good for the environment this is good for your wallet too!

“Few decisions about diet, human health and environmental sustainability can be made on the basis of absolute certainty because evidence is incomplete, imperfect, and continually evolving.” (EAT-Lancet Commision 2019)

There are so many factors that come into play when it comes to considering how to make your diet more sustainable. It is important to acknowledge that this process is extremely challenging and will inevitably require compromises. Just remember any small changes will have a positive impact. It’s better to start small than not start at all! 

Depending on where you are in the world healthy, balanced, diverse and sustainable diets will look different. Foods that are easily grown, more readily available and therefore likely more sustainable differ across the world. .

Some aspects and issues to consider when researching sustainable eating are: 

• Nutrition 
• Environment 
• Economy and food supply
• Society and ethics

Our food choices can make a positive difference to people and nature. There seem to be endless factors to consider to make your diet more sustainable. So, it is important to acknowledge that this process is extremely challenging and will inevitably require compromises. Remember – any small changes will have a positive impact, it’s better to start small than not start at all. 

One important thing to consider is lack of diversity in our diets and the resulting over-dependence on select foods…  

“In order to avoid potentially catastrophic damage to the planet and ensure that everyone can eat healthily by 2050, global consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar needs to fall by about 50%, while consumption of fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes will need to double.” – EAT-Lancet Commission

The British Nutrition Foundation reported that reducing meat intake to <50 g/day of meat, compared to >100 g/day was associated with 35% less greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions were even lower with vegetarian (47% less emissions) and vegan diets (60% less emissions). 

💡If you are thinking of reducing your meat consumption, remember to consider the impact of any meat replacements and the nutritional adequacy of diets.

We don’t have to exclude entire food categories to be sustainable, the key is variety and moderation with certain food groups such as meat and dairy foods.

1. Eat a more plant-based diet
2. Choose fish from sustainable stocks
3. Source your meat and dairy from sustainable sources
4. Be conscious of where your food is coming from – why not try buying less imported food and more local food?

Global eating habits don’t just affect human health, but also largely influence the climate, life on land and life below water.

As we’ve highlighted food production has an enormous impact on the environment, and so much of this food is wasted! It is estimated that UK households waste over 6.5 million tonnes of edible food annually, 4.5 million of which is edible.

Ideas to help you buy and consume consciously:

• Reduce food waste
• Purchase food locally (*with caution), farmers markets can be better value for money and the environment! 💡Have you ever tried sites like Olio and Too Good To Go to get cheaper food and local markets for package free items? Saves money, reduces waste and it’s healthier too!
• Buy seasonal
• Avoid plastic packaging where possible (search for your nearest zero waste shop or look for zero waste brands online)
• Avoid unnecessary purchases
• Recycle (check local requirements)
• Why not try ecobricking?

* It’s not always better to buy local, but it usually is. For example, buying tomatoes out of the natural season in the UK means that they have been artificially produced- whether by chemicals or artificial heat. 

• Avoid driving for short trips like popping to the shops.
• Switch your thinking! (Cycle instead of driving) Switching a ten kilometre journey per week from your car to your bike will burn around 300 calories each way and can save over 300 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
• Consider using public transport where possible instead of driving. 
• If you need to use a car in your day to day life then try a couple of the following tips:
  • Check your tyre pressure frequently, under-inflated tyres can increase fuel consumption by 3%
  • Service your car frequently, well-maintained cars can use 15% less fuel.
  • Drive slower, a speed of 90 km p/h uses 25% less fuel than travelling at 110 km p/h.
  • Consider opening your window rather than using air conditioning. Open your window at speeds less than under 70 km p/h (at high speeds the drag of open windows will use more fuel than air conditioning). Air conditioning can increase fuel consumption by ten per cent. At speeds above this, the drag caused by having your window down will use more fuel than the air conditioning.
• In need of a holiday? Why not try staying closer to home, or travelling by train or coach? Alternatively, look into more sustainable air travel providers, or consider how you might offset some of the emissions encountered by choosing air travel (lots of ideas to choose from in this module!) 

• As individuals, we can be conscious about reducing our fuel consumption where possible, and where this isn’t possible trying to source it from a more sustainable source. Switch to green energy companies for your home if you are able to do so – check out your local suppliers (they can sometimes be cheaper than mainstream counterparts, too!) Examples include Octopus and Bulb.
• Did you know that turning down your thermostat just 1 degree can save 8% on your energy bill and carbon emissions? Only heat your house when and where necessary. If you are working from home, you might want to consider just heating the room you work in (rather than the whole house) – this also goes for lighting too.
• Although it’s important to be comfortable, wearing an extra layer of clothing and taking regular movement breaks will keep you warm much more efficiently than blasting the heating 24/7. Before you switch on the heating, consider grabbing a jumper and a blanket…Invest in warm indoor shoe wear and clothing if possible (preferably second hand and durable!)

There are so many ways in which small changes to daily routines can benefit the environment, a particularly topic area at the moment is working sustainably from home. 

“When working remotely at home, we can make the most of having more choice available” – How to be more sustainable when you work from home

• Reducing PC brightness – Reducing it from 100% to  70% can save up to 20% of energy  usage 
• Turn your equipment off overnight! This is a reminder to me as much as anyone, but if you can’t remember the last time you intentionally turned your laptop or phone off (battery depletion doesn’t count) then it’s time to make this a habit. Turning everything off at the end of the working day will save electricity, reduce your bills costs and help your brain switch off too.Energy used from devices left on standby account for 1% of world’s carbon dioxide emissions. 
• Understand your internet carbon footprint 
• Buy eco-friendly office products. Use recycled paper with a high recycled percentage and labelled  ‘processed chlorine free’  –  Compared to virgin paper, each ton of  recycled paper saves: 17 trees, 380  gallons of oil, three cubic yards of  landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy  and 7000 gallons of water. 
• Did you know kettles make up more of our energy consumption than ovens? Instead of filling the whole kettle each time, measuring out the water with your mug before boiling could save you around £20 a year. Even little things like using the same mug all day has an environmental (and personal) benefit – less washing up, less energy heating water & less detergent!
• Make the most of natural outdoor light to reduce your electricity usage – sit by a window or even outside if possible.

The Fusion Hub was born out of Sagufta Janif’s desire to provide a solution to Fiji’s growing waste problem, create a sustainable Fiji and contribute to the economic empowerment of Fijian women and youth. The company was founded in 2016.

The first aspect of our social enterprise is that we take in waste materials, like old tyres, discarded construction materials, textile waste, plastic and glass bottles, old broken furniture and we transform them into modern, handcrafted artistic furniture pieces. To scale impact will provide “Waste-To-Worth” capacity building programmes for women and young girls living in poverty. The 2 weeks capacity building program focuses on basic furniture making and designing.

The Global Ecobrick Alliance is an Earth Enterprise focused on energising local and global plastic transition through the spread and support of principled and practical ecobricking.

Ecobricks are a simple, low-tech solution to our plastic. Without the need for machines, special skills or capital ecobricks enable us to take personal responsibility for the plastic that we’ve consumed by keeping it out of industrial systems, securing it out of the environment, and putting it to good use in modules and earth constructions.

Ecobricking is a both an individual and collaborative endeavour.  It unites people across class, age, economy and continents around the shared intention of caring for the local and global biosphere. The personal ecobricking process raise awareness of the consequences of consumption and the dangers of plastic. The collaborative process gives individual and communities an hands on experience of regenerative living and points in the direction of even deeper regenerative technologies, such as earth building and permaculture.

Precious Plastic Fiji is a completely youth led social enterprise that adopted the principles of a global movement that provides a solution to solve plastic pollution. The youth involved are committed to providing awareness of the environmental impact of plastic pollution with the objective to introduce a sustainable solution to address plastic waste for Fijian communities, a solution that has a holistic impact: educate, reduce waste and empower communities.

In 2018, the group was formed. The concept of providing an outlet/hub to address plastic pollution was far-fetched as the resources required to begin operations was not forthcoming. Despite this setback, the members of Precious Plastic continued to work towards establishing the organization, to give it an identity and direction. One year later, the organization enjoys a network of likeminded individuals and reputable civil society institutions working together to educate on and address plastic pollution.