December 30, 2013, by Helen Whitehead

Countdown #30: top tips for a sustainable lifestyle

I asked on Twitter: what tip would you give someone just starting to make their lifestyle more sustainable?

@ginnyfranklin started us off with a transport tip:  how about: reduce your car use

@TomFranklin chipped in: get and use a bicycle – walk or cycle to the shops, then extra trips don’t matter – I use two large panniers. Can get a small trolley’s worth in

Continuing with the theme of shopping, @gillferrell suggested: Plan your weekly menu to save money & avoid food waste & unnecessary trips to shop [and] avoid products in excess packaging

@woolgathered suggested: Step 1: Learn to distinguish between wants and needs. Buy/use what you need.

@lizcable said: I’m trying eco-cleaning products, and replacing physical products with digital where I can.

@gillferrell advised: Share infrequently used appliances with neighbours: not everybody needs to own a hedge trimmer

@TomFranklin recommended: only heat the rooms you are using, not the whole house, turn the heating down and wear a jumper

@zzseg took us further than these simple tips with the suggestion: to make everyone’s lifestyle more sustainable only have 1 child. Apart from killing girls perhaps China was right.

Many thanks to everyone who replied, and also to all those who have made thoughtful comments on this blog.

Tweet your own suggestions on the hashtag #FLsustain and from January 6th we’ll be discussing approaches to sustainability in the course Sustainability, Society and You itself on  FutureLearn.

image © wickerfurniture http://www.flickr.com/photos/wicker-furniture/8411340108 Creative Commons Attribution licence
Posted in Advent calendarFoodStudent experiencesustainable lifestyle