Tag Archives: energy saving

Self-care, Sustainable Living ideas

Green Infrastructure

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One of my recent assignments was to put together a report to a local, fictitious council making the case for the benefits of green infrastructure in a town and ways the town could become more sustainable in the future.

For those who aren’t familiar with the term ‘green infrastructure’, this term relates to a network of multi-functional green spaces. It doesn’t just refer to parks and open spaces, it also incorporates trees along the pavement, living roofs and walls, allotments as well as bodies of water such as rivers, streams, canals (sometimes referred to blue infrastructure).

I found this module really interesting, I had never thought about green spaces in my local area, I took for granted that everywhere I lived, I lived near a park and had trees. I was surprised to learn how green infrastructure is key to our lives and our future. Why didn’t I learn the basics in school?

Urban Cooling

Trees and green infrastructure plays an important part in reducing urban temperatures. Areas that have trees help reduce the temperature in the local area providing evapotranspiration and shading. Trees play a vital role in reducing the temperature of the air in parks and green areas.

Habitat and Biodiversity

When you have green, you’ll have nature. Green infrastructure plays a crucial part in urban biodiversity by providing habitats for insects, birds and other species allowing them to have a home and thrive. This also plays a part in environmental awareness by local residents.

Air Quality

As trees remove gases from the atmosphere such as carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides and ground-level ozone, they are vital in reducing greenhouse gases and improve air quality. If more trees were planted, what do you think would happen to some of our respiratory issues?

Water Systems and Flow Management

Roads with green verges and trees play a vital role in water and flood management on the road. When it rains, a lot of the rainwater will be soaked up by the trees and verges and helps with flood management, if there are no green infrastructure, the rainwater has nowhere to go and usually ends up flooding roads and even homes. Roads with green infrastructure reduce the water’s runoff rate and slows down the pressure placed on the drainage system by soaking up the water.

Mental Health Benefits

Green spaces are spaces where people can leave their homes and encourages outdoor activities including walking, cycling, playing sports with friends, having a picnic, social interaction and other recreation. Some studies have shown that green spaces reduces the feeling of stress, improves your ability to concentrate and mood by providing a calm space away from the stresses sometimes caused by everyday life. These spaces are especially beneficial to children.

If you have a large tree in your garden and the only issue you have is that it’s blocking some light in your garden or you think it looks a little messy, think about whether you really need to cut off any branches or if you are caught in the rain and seek shelter under a street tree, or you decide concrete over your garden and haven’t considered where the rainwater will go when it hits the hard surface. Think about how important the green infrastructure around you plays a vital part in your life.

Sustainable Living ideas

Are we really killing the planet?

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Before you start attacking me, just hear me out.

Due to human activity, we are accelerating climate change, I believe this to be true. Global warming has occurred in Earth’s history, the difference is that we, humans, are accelerating it. But I began looking at it differently since I started studying for an BSc in Environmental Science.

We aren’t killing the planet; we are killing life on the planet. Two very different things but just as serious.

The earth is 4.6 billion years old and has survived five mass extinctions:

  1. Ordovician–Silurian extinction – 439 million years ago
  2. Late Devonian extinction – 364 million years ago
  3. Permian–Triassic extinction – 251 million years ago
  4. Triassic–Jurassic extinction – 199 million to 214 million years ago
  5. Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction – 65 million years ago (Asteroid)

From my studies, the third mass extinction, Permian–Triassic extinction, which was the deadliest, wiped out about 75% of life on land and 95% of life in the ocean. 95%, that’s huge! Especially since life actually began in the oceans and made its way onto land. Despite this devastation, some form of life was still able to continue and evolved. The fifth mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs wasn’t as devastating as the third one and that was due to an asteroid colliding with earth.

Whenever the planet has experienced an extinction, Earth has always been able to regenerate itself and there is no reason to believe it can’t do that again. However, I do wonder whether humans will be part of the future. Although we are an arrogant species wielding the superiority sword, we are also incredibly fragile. A little fact I learned during my studies; 95% of ALL life that has EVER lived on earth is extinct.

It is believed by some that we are in the sixth extinction event, Holocene extinction. As our CO2 parts per million is at the highest level than at any recorded time in the past, something has to give. We are on a path of destruction and the crazy thing is that not everyone is on board with this.

We humans really do need to change our habits instead of playing lip service. I don’t believe we, humans, can stop the sixth extinction. However, we do have the capability to slow if we all worked together. The painful truth is that the officials we elect have so much power and are able to make colossal changes but they just aren’t doing enough. In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy to in the world to pass a law requiring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and we’re not even the richest economy in the world!

I believe in science, and no one knows how this is going to play out. Scientists are providing us with their best predictions based on various models but these are being readjusted because certain factors are accelerating the problem. There will always be variable factors; number of people living on the planet, the next pandemic and the resulting loss of life.

I’m still at the early stages in my educational journey, maybe my views may change along the way. That’s what I want out of my education; learning, listening to different opinions and forming my own conclusions based on the facts in front of me.

Geologists can tell a lot about history from rock layers built up over millions and millions of years. In the very distant future when more intelligent species start investigating the planet’s past, they will find our legacy in the rocks, a thin layer of plastic pinpointing the age of humans.

Sustainable Living ideas

UK Cities pledging to become carbon neutral

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Cities in the UK are looking how they can transition to becoming carbon neutral in the future.

The climate has been a long standing issue, however, more recently, this issues has become more urgent and voices (rightly so) have become louder. Protests, demonstrations, documentaries and even celebrities are lending their names and voices to the cause. Things really do need to change and one of the primary places for real change will be from government.

As the debate for climate change is becoming harder to ignore, government and local authorities are starting to take notice, albeit, slow. In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy to in the world to pass a law requiring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Even before this became law, there were some UK cities that pledged to become carbon neutral ahead of the governments 2050 target, lets explore these cities.

Glasgow

Following a report by the Climate Emergency Working Group’s 61 recommendations, the city decided to adopt of the recommendations and have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030. If you would like to read the report, here is a link.

Nottingham

Having declared a climate emergency in 2018, Nottingham City Council are committed to becoming the first ‘net-zero carbon’ city after setting a target of achieving this by 20208. If they achieve this, they will become the UK’s first city to do so. They have set out how they plan to do this, for more details, follow the link.

Bristol

In 2018, Bristol pledged to become carbon neutral by 2030. Bristol was the first council in the UK to declare a climate emergency. City Leap was set up between the council and Bristol Energy in order to bring together local businesses with a view to working together to achieve their target.

More and more cities have started to make their own pledges in becoming carbon neutral, in some cases, way before the governments 2050 date. Reading about cities taking responsibility for their own carbon emissions is a positive step in the right direction. If cities end up competing with each other as to who is greener, surely that can only be a good thing…

Sustainable Living ideas

16 Easy Ways To Go Green

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In the last year, I have actively changed my habits to go green but sometimes it’s not cheap. We can’t all afford solar panels on our homes or a brand-new electric car (or just a brand-new car for that matter) but there are things we can all do to take a step in the right direction.

One mistake I made was trying to do too many at once, it’s a case of training your mind to start thinking differently. Make two to three changes and then add to it. You will start noticing you have changed your old habits and the new ones are automatic.

Here are my tips to go green

Take your own bags to the shop

You can purchase little tote bags everywhere nowadays and they come in handy little pouches that fit in your pocket or bags. Some even have a clip that you can attach to the outside of your bag.

Change your light bulbs to LED

It’s well known that LED light bulbs used up to 80% less electricity than traditional bulb. Traditional bulbs need more electricity to function.

If you have a condenser dryer, use the water to water the plants

The water tank that collects the water can be used to water your plants rather than throwing it down the sink. Or even, if you have one, add it to your water butt.

Turn off the lights when you are not using them

There is no reason why you should have the lights on in a room you’re not using. It’s a waste of electricity.

Fix any dripping taps

Sometimes, it’s only a case of replacing a washer but the amount of water that is wasted due to a dripping tap is eye-watering. Water is not an infinite resource and shouldn’t be wasted. If you have a dripping tap, call a plumber.

Reuse your old mobile phone

We all have old mobile phones gathering dust in a draw somewhere. Why no utilise it? I downloaded an app so I could use my mobile phone as a CCTV camera. It now sits at the back of the house and alerts me when anyone comes near the back door.

Buy fruit and veg with no packaging and only what you need

A few months ago, this really got to me. I wanted to buy a lemon but the supermarket didn’t have any loose ones, they were only available in packs of four; I didn’t want four. So, I went to a local greengrocer and bought a lemon. The pack of four lemons were sold in that plastic netting that can’t be recycled. No thanks! I wrote a blog about eating seasonal food.

easy ways to go green and towards greener living

Stop Junk mail

What do you do with junk mail? I have a quick flick through and put it into the recycling. What an absolute waste. The easiest way is to create your own sign saying ‘no junk mail’ on your door.

Energy efficient appliances

Appliances are now tested and improved to ensure their efficiency. There are many appliances that now come with a rating of A+, A++ or A+++ tells us that the products has a lower energy consumption.

Clean the back of your fridge

I didn’t know this until very recently. All fridges gather dust at back but how often do you clean the dust? Probably once? Never? The dust makes the fridge work harder which uses more energy. Dust every so often to keep your fridge working efficiently.

Check your tyre pressure regularly

If your tyre pressure is too high or too low, it makes the car work harder to compensate, which uses more fuel.

Print on both sides of the paper

If you have to print something, and it’s not confidential. Keep the paper to one side and if you need to print something else, use the other side. I do this all the time and had saved me quite a bit of money on paper.

Go Green, Go paperless

Do you really need a printed copy of your bank statement? You will probably look at it once, file it then you will eventually shred it. Bank/credit card/ energy statements are all kept online. If you don’t want to keep logging onto your bank to view them, you can download them to your computer or even save them to a cloud storage. Ask yourself, do you really need a printed copy?

Insulate your loft

A lot of heat is lost through the roof due to poor insulation. If this isn’t resolved, you are more likely to increase the thermostat to keep warm. You are best to get a professional in to sort this out for you.

Buy second hand where you can

This is one that I’ve embraced a lot recently. When something is no longer needed but still useful, it can be ditched at the tip, which is a complete waste. I needed a new set of chest of drawers and instead of buying a brand new one for £55, I found a second-hand one on Facebook Marketplace for £8. It was in very good condition apart from a little dent at the back that no one will see. You can also save a lot of money by doing this.

Make do and mend

My favourite go green tip! In my grandmother’s time, she would always say ‘make do and mend’ and I feel that this has been lost through the generations. How many times have you thrown a sock away because it has a whole in them? It won’t take long to sew them up and keep wearing them. You don’t need a sewing machine; a small sewing kit will suffice.

These are my easy tips, of course, this is a subject that I can do on and on about. I will look at writing another blog with further tips.

In the meantime, why do you share your tips on how to go green!

If you’re interested in reading about what I’m doing to be greener, check out my blog and if you’re interested in signing up to my newsletter, click here, I promise not to spam you.