Tips for Greener Travel

Public transport
Public transport is cheap, easy to use and efficient, and can take you almost anywhere you need to go. As a general rule buses are cheaper than trains for longer journeys, but do take much more time to arrive at their destinations as
they take many detours to pick up and drop off passengers along the route.  Subways systems are the quickest and cheapest ways to travel around major cities, and you can get season tickets that will make it even cheaper if you use
the routes regularly.

Hotel Rooms
Hotels generally keep their heating on all the time during cooler weather, which can be too warm sometimes if it has been a mild day, so you can make your stay greener by turning down your radiator at night and making sure the
television and electricity appliances are off when you leave the room.  Also make sure you take your own toiletries with you and avoid using the mini soaps and shampoos provided as these cannot be reused and will just be thrown away when the maid cleans your room.

Waste
Always put any waste you have when travelling in the nearest public bin, or carry it with you until you find somewhere to dispose of it properly.  Try and use rechargeable batteries for your camera and other equipment where
possible.

Support Local Trade
If you stop anywhere during your stay then instead of buying food from supermarkets try and use local farmers markets or store to help support the local economy and save on food miles.

Be Greener – Buy Local

We are all responsible for the area we live in, and this means supporting local businesses to ensure there are jobs and futures for all our communities. Buying local can also be a much greener way of living, as huge amounts of pollution is caused by transporting food around the world, and a lot of the produce in your nearest supermarket including cheese, meat and fruit will have travelled hundreds of miles to get to the shelf.

Local Farmers Markets
Farmers markets are growing in popularity in the UK, and you can find excellent produce from the local area in most cities and towns these days. Vegetables can even be cheaper from these markets, and have a much longer shelf life as they are fresh, and haven’t been in transit for days before they get to you. Meat from farmers markets is often a lot more expensive, because the animals are not commercially produced, but instead raised using more traditional and sometimes more organic methods. If you are worried about the extra cost then try to choose the cheaper cuts of meat such as braising steak, breast of lamb etc, which need to be cooked more slowly but result in tasty, filling meals.

Vegetable Boxes
Many organic fruit and vegetable producers have box services, which will deliver an assortment of seasonal vegetables to your door each week. Not only is this a good way to support you local businesses and save on food miles, it is also an excellent way of introducing new vegetables into your diet and eating more healthily.

Tips on How to Be More Eco Friendly

Small changes to your lifestyle can make you and your family much ‘greener’ and every little bit helps when it comes to changing attitudes towards issues such as global warming and pollution. Here are a few green tips that are easy to implement, and could actually save you money as well.

Drinks Cans
Soft drinks such as cola, lemonade and orangeade often come in aluminium cans that are easy and cost effective to recycle. Many UK high streets now have separate can bins, so look out for these or take the cans home with you to put in your own recycling bin.

Local Shops
If you have a shop within walking distance, invest in some strong bags and walk there to get small essentials such as milk and bread. This saves fuel and carbon pollution, and is also much less stressful than navigating around the supermarket when you only want a few things.

Freeze it
If you need to drive quite far to get to your nearest supermarket or farm shop, then limit your trips to around once a week, and buy enough that you can freeze and use during the meantime to save fuel and reduce your carbon footprint.

Save Fuel
Every time you go out to your car, think very carefully whether the trip is necessary or not. If you use your car to go to work, see if there are any car sharing opportunities at work, or have a look at using public transport or even waking or cycling if it is not too far.

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Household Waste Recycling Tips

Over 50% of most people’s household waste can be recycled, and this includes glass bottles, drinks cans, plastic food wrapping and paper. Kitchen and garden waste such as vegetable peelings and hedge clippings can also be made into compost, and if you don’t have a garden yourself then many councils are now offering garden waste collection (for a small additional fee), which are then fed onto the councils compost heaps used for municipal gardens and borders.

Here a few tips on how to recycle more effectively and reduce the amount of waste your household produces:

• All UK councils now provide recycled collections every fortnight, but some of these can exclude items such as glass or aluminium. Set up an extra bin or box for those items that are not collected from your door, and take them to your local recycling centre yourself once a month.
• Kitchen Waste – shopping every day can reduce food waste by as much as 50%, as you will only buy what you need for that day, and vegetables and fruit will not go off. Weigh everything you cook carefully, to avoid leftovers that
• could be thrown away and wasted, and try to cook craftily and use up foods that maybe going out of date such as bread, which can be made into a breadcrumb topping or bread and butter pudding.
• Junk Mail – nearly 80% of junk mail gets thrown in the bin without being read, so contact the Mail Preference Service and get your name taken off the marketing mailing lists, to reduce junk mail to your address.
• Buy recycled packaging and paper whenever possible, as this supports the recycling chain and helps to save materials such as wood and fuel.

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Green Tips for Your Office

Most offices in the UK produce tons of landfill rubbish every month, most of which is paper, cardboard or plastic that could be recycled. If your office does not have a recycling policy it can be difficult to get staff and managers
motivated, as sorting the rubbish can be time consuming and many may feel it not to be a useful part of their working day. Here are some tips to make it easier to introduce greener methods into your work place.

Plastic Cups

If you have a communal water machine, try to encourage everyone to bring in their own glass or cup, so that they don’t have to use the throw away plastic cups. Put a separate bin by the water machine for any used cups, and once a fortnight ask for volunteers to take them to the nearest recycling station.

Cardboard and Paper

Many local council’s will pick up paper and cardboard for recycling, and even give you the bags to do this with. Collections are usually once a week, and you pay a small fee per bag. Put the bags around the office and encourage
everyone to put paper waste

Car Share

Draw up a travel plan for your office, and encourage staff that live near each other to share vehicles to get to and from work. You might also think about rewarding those people who make an effort to get to walk in the eco friendly ways, such as by walking, taking the bus or cycling, and this could be simple acknowledgement on the staff notice board, or gift vouchers approved by management.

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