Low carbon living in a lockdown 2 | Pawprint- Your Eco Companion

Continuing on from last week’s Low Carbon Lockdown blog post, we bring you 6 new tips to keep you busy lowering your carbon footprint. Without further ado…

6 tips to reduce your carbon footprint at home

1. Only boil what you need and save around 12kg CO2e* per year; the same as driving 23 miles in terms of emissions.

The jury’s out on whether we overfill the kettle because our parents taught us it’s rude to leave it empty, or because we’re simply not paying attention. Either way, Pawprint’s on a mission to change that habit…Only boil what you need each time you flick the kettle on and you’ll be helping the planet. Something you can smugly quote if anyone questions your “ketiquette”…

Shout out to Jemima, who inspired this tip. Thanks Jemima! If anyone reading this has some ideas for carbon-reducing lockdown tips, feel free to reach out to beth@pawprint.eco 2. Use your pasta water on plants and save around 164g CO2e and 156L of water per year.

2. Use your pasta water on plants and save around 164g CO2e and 156L of water per year.

The carbon saving isn’t massive (although imagine if all 68 million of us in the UK did it) but it’s good to save water. Plus, your plants will be healthier thanks to the vitamins and minerals in the starchy water. And there’s possible carbon benefits from healthier plants too!

Please note: you should only use water that is unsalted, and has cooled down.

3. Plant and eat your own veg and save up to 400kg CO2e per year; the same as driving 750 miles in terms of emissions.

According to the BBC, there’s been a surge in the number of seed packets bought by the UK public. This is great news as veg that’s grown in your garden won’t carry the carbon price tag associated with transportation. So by all means, get planting! If you can, try planting foods which are usually air freighted, like tomatoes and asparagus, as these will give you the biggest carbon saving.

And while you’re at it, why not plant flowers like bluebells, honeysuckle and lavender to attract bees. We need them to pollinate the food we grow.

4. Turn off the tap while soaping your hands and save around 1L of water per wash, and 2.7kg CO2e per year; the same as driving 5 miles in terms of emissions.

You’ve heard it a million times over the past few weeks; we should all be washing our hands regularly to prevent the spread of coronavirus. But you don’t need to leave the tap running the entire time — while you’re soaping up (most of the first round of ‘Happy Birthday’) turn that water off. It’s an easy, carbon-saving and water-saving change!

5. Veto the tumble dryer and save nearly a third of a tonne of CO2e per year; the same as driving 627 miles in terms of emissions.

Now you’re home all day you can dry your clothes the way nature intended — hanging them on the line or a clothes horse. We’re heading into summer so they won’t take long to dry, and you’ll be saving the planet and your pennies in one fell swoop.

6. Run your dishwasher on Eco and save 62 kg CO2e per year; the same as driving 115 miles in terms of emissions.

Unless you’re washing particularly dirty items, running your dishwasher on the eco setting should do the job. It will take longer than your normal wash (probably around 3 hours) but if you set it to run late at night then you won’t even notice. Plus, there’ll be additional carbon saving involved, since there is usually less demand on the grid at that time.

Originally published at https://www.pawprint.eco on March 31, 2020.