How you can help the environment in your daily life

At home, shopping or in the garden - you can make a difference.

Even the simplest everyday activities can make a real difference to the environment. So follow these simple tips and take action for our living planet.

In your home

• Turn off equipment like televisions and stereos when you're not using them. That little red standby light means they're still using power - and that means a contribution to global warming.
• Save water:
  - turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.
  - collect the water used to wash vegetables and salad to water your houseplants.
• Call your local government to see if they have a disposal location for used car batteries and other hazardous household wastes.
• Recycle your paper, glass, plastics and other waste. Call your local government to find out if they offer a collection service.
• Use rechargeable batteries.
• Send e-greetings instead of paper cards. Check out the range of free WWF e-cards available.
• Help reduce the world's rubbish dumps - don't use "throw-away" products like paper plates and napkins, and plastic knives, forks, and cups.

Be demanding

If organic items or eco-labelled goods are not available from your local shops, ask for them.

Businesses do listen to their customers. We have the power to change the selection of products that are available to us. So make shop managers aware of your demand for eco-friendly products.

Out shopping

• Take your own bags to the shops to carry home your groceries and shopping.
• Look for products that have less packaging.
• Buy organically grown fruits, vegetables, cotton clothing, and hemp-fibre products. Organic cotton clothing is available from many WWF websites.
• Don't buy bottled water if you know your tap water is safe - transporting water from its source to the supermarket shelves is an expensive waste of energy. And the plastic and glass bottles add to the already-high mountains of rubbish that we produce. Find out from your municipality about your tap water. If you do buy bottled water, buy from a local source (read the labels) and buy water that comes in recyclable glass or plastic.
• Choose biodegradable cleaning products so that the chemicals have fewer negative impacts on the soil and water system.
• Buy the most energy-efficient household appliances you can afford.
• Use recycled paper.
• Buy Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified products - look for the symbol of the tree with the tick on it. What is FSC?
• If you enjoy salmon, look for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified mark. And always buy dolphin-friendly tuna. What is MSC?
• Ask one fresh fish market to stock MSC-certified fish.
• According a to a UN report in 2006, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gases than transport. While the solutions proposed by the report are focused firmly on how the rearing of livestock could be improved to lower emissions - even if it's just a matter of healthy living, and if appropriate, some of us could perhaps do with eating a few more vegetables and a little less meat :-)

Careful Lighting at Night

Artificial lighting at night can significantly disturb and endanger certain nocturnal animals - including birds, turtles and reptiles.
But by using different light fittings, turning some lights off, or lowering their brightness - you can help minimise the impact we humans have.

In the garden

• Collect rainwater to water your flowers.
• Let part of your garden grow freely and see what wild flowers appear.
• Plant local species of trees.
• Never take plants or pick flowers from anywhere in the wild.
• Buy bulbs from cultivated stocks only (ask the shop or gardening centre for advice).
• Stop using chemical pesticides - try to use natural products instead.
• Try to attract birds to your garden as they eat aphids and other gardeners’ pests.
• Use traps, parasites, and natural predators such as ladybirds.
• Use plants that repel insects. Some herbs and flowers - including basil, chives, mint, marigolds, and chrysanthemums - mixed in with other plants, help keep pests away.
• Use disease-resistant and pest-resistant plants.
• Use Neem oil and mix it up with some garlic oil (which you can make it home) to spray on tree trunks and diseased plants and shrubs. This works like a charm on pests, bacteria and fungus.
• Remove the weeds by spraying them with something to adjust the pH (acidity) in the ground around them. Perhaps use some vinegar directly on the most stubborn ones.
• Use organic compost and mulch to improve soil health and reduce the need for pesticides and fertilizers.
• Don't use peat in your flower beds and vegetable gardens (peat is taken from ancient bog land, destroying some of our most precious wildlife areas). Instead, make your own compost with grass clippings and vegetable scraps from the house. Find out how to make your own compost.
• Choose drought tolerant plants like Nepeta Six Hills Giant (Catmint). It looks like huge lavender flowers but uses very little water.
• Pick only drought or Xeriscape friendly grass seeds that don't require as much as water to maintain.
• Don't use electrical equipment like leaf-blowers as they consume so much energy for so little gain. Use a rake instead - it's better for your health too!
• Never pour antifreeze, oil or other chemicals on the ground, into storm sewers or down the drain. Take these toxic substances to your local waste disposal facility.
• Don't buy garden furniture or decking made of tropical hard wood - mahogany for example - unless it's got a Forest Stewardship Council label (the "tick" tree). Read more about FSC.
• Take time out to sit out in your backyard with friends and family, and appreciate the beauty of nature!