What are your tips for being more environmentally friendly? Tell Unilever for a chance to win a £300 voucher!NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

Unilever have asked us to find out what Mumsnetters' tips are to make sure that your family is more environmentally friendly.

Here's what Unilever say, "At Unilever, we believe there has never been a better time to create a better future for our children; a world where everyone has enough food to eat and no child goes to bed hungry; where everybody can enjoy life today while protecting the planet for future generations.

"If we all work together to take small actions every day that make a real difference, we can build a world where everyone lives well and lives sustainably.

"We're committed to taking positive action on climate change within our business, but we also want to inspire our consumers to make those small changes that can make all the difference."

So, what positive habits have you got in to which help you be more environmentally friendly which you can pass on to other Mumsnetters? Maybe it's as simple as getting yourself and your DCs into the habit of switching off the lights as you leave the room? Are you a champion for only buying sustainably sourced products or managing down the food miles in your weekly shop? Perhaps you're now using reusable instead of disposable products, everything from batteries to razors to ink cartridges? Or maybe you've ditched the car in favour of cycling? Whatever your tips are, we'd love to hear them!

Everyone who posts their tips on the thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

[InAndOfMyself]

I think we do the basics - keep wall switches off unless we are using them, use reusable containers instead of plastic or paper bags, recycle any packaging that we can, food waste into the food recycling, etc.

We'd be interested in any further hints or tips.

[CopperPan]

We have gone car-free and just use public transport or taxis to get everywhere. It has saved us a lot of money and trouble of worrying about maintenance and parking.

[choccyp1g]

Unilever won't like this one, but I use only half the amount of washing liquid, I even cut the little pillows and tip half into a plastic dispenser for the next wash.

[WowOoo]

After having a meat free day during the week, I'm going to try to make it two days a week.
We do other stuff too like recycling and reusing.

[Dolallytats]

We do the basics, recycle, turn lights off, don't keep appliances on standby etc, but this can be difficult with the children (and husband) and I seem to spend my time following them round turning off switches!!

We don't replace electrical goods often, but when we do I try and buy the best environmental rating as I can afford. I also send clothes, books etc to charity shops and use less washing powder and use lower temps when washing as much as possible.

I don't really know what else I can do-as another poster sais, hints and tips for the average household would be great.

[TooManyNames]

I always have a go at DH for having looooooong showers. I pop in every 2 minutes saying... "What are you doing in there!" That usually scares him out.

Also we freeze leftovers for a rainy day and do all the usual upcycling/recycling...

[AnyoneButAndre]

I buy most of the DC's out of school clothes from charity shops and return them there when I've finished with them. The manufacture of cotton clothes in particular is normally very hard on the environment.

I compost at home, including cat hair from combing and the contents of the vacuum cleaner (we have wool carpets). Local Authority has started collecting food waste which is good, because it creates a load of methane if you throw it in landfill.

In terms of actual carbon emissions the big ones are that we live in London so go everywhere on foot or by public transport, and we don't fly on holidays. No amount of recycling and reusable nappies would make up for an annual return flight for four people to Tenerife or wherever.

[AGnu]

I can't stand waste - most plastic or cardboard packaging gets kept unless DH throws it away before I can nab it & used for craft projects with the DC. That's the theory at least - I've got a huge cupboard full of junk & no clue what to do with it all!

Any clothes we don't need any more will be sent to the charity shop if they're in usable condition or put into my material bag... See aforementioned junk cupboard issue...

Aside from that, we don't use a lot of products, beauty or cleaning. I tend to stick to vinegar, baking soda & lemon juice for a lot of my cleaning tasks. We also recycle all food waste DH does his bit in this department by eating most of it. Garden waste goes in the compost bin.

We've signed up to the HP ink replacement system so recycle all our old cartridges that way.

DH cycles to work so we only have one car but all our relatives are spread around the country, some of them in pretty unreachable places as far as public transport goes so we can't give the car up altogether.

I dream of being able to afford to buy all our food at the local farm shop & owning a house close enough to walk to it. Maybe one day!

[loosechange]

Meal planning and composting vastly reduced the amount of rubbish we produce.
Recycle everything we can, and the children are in the habitr of doing this also.
Turn off light switches. I also have an energy saving device for the television - if it is on standby for more than 5 minutes it switches off,

[Fluffyemenent]

I like the sound of that TV thingy, where's it from?

I turn off switches as much as possible. Try to meal plan to avoid food waste. Switched to a much smaller more economical car. Try to send stuff to charity shop or free cycle. Hate throwing things away!

Still have the guilt though! To quote Lily Allen (well that's s first!) "I am a weapon of massive consumption"

[MakStout]

We recyle, compost, use reusable bags, all of our furniture is second hand, we walk where we can, only put lights on when needed. we dont flush for wees, amd we sometimes wee in the shower

[ShatnersBassoon]

I always have a small-folding reusable bag in my handbag, and I put all the other reusable bags straight back in the car as soon as I've emptied them. I've finally got in good bag habits after years of being rubbish at it.

[Ememem84]

I walk to work and dh cycles. We use the car at weekends and occasionally during the week for work. But maybe once a fortnight.

Lights always off. Heating on a timer. Reuse and recycle what we can

[CMOTDibbler]

I think taking small, sustainable steps is the way to go. For instance, buying one thing thats produced locally or changing one cleaning product to use less. Once you are comfortable with that, add something else you do.

[IntePrecis]

I try to buy locally produced meat and vegetables to reduce food miles.

[redheadandgoingtobed]

Junk modellin, a fun activity which can then be recycled.

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Avoid buying anything made by Unilever...

[VulcanWoman]

Yeah, exactly, stop buying your products.

[RhinosAreFatUnicorns]

We donate to and buy from our local charity shops.

We switch lights off when not in the room and have TV/games consoles etc on one mastervswitch. I've borrowed an electric usage device from our local library too. I don't leave my phone on charge all night; instead I charge it in my car.

We recycle everything we can. We shop local wherever possible. We use a log burner and burn leftover wood.

All small things but they add up.

[rupert23]

i encourage the my children to recycle as much as possible including food waste . they help put out the recycling and turn off lights where possible. we also donate books and clothes to charity shops as much as possible.

[flamingtoaster]

We do all the usual things - recycling, turning lights off, things not left on standby etc. We also do things like collect cold/warm water which we run when filling a basin for washing up - that water is then used to water plants in summer, rinse hand washing etc.

[NannyOggsHedgehogs]

Reusable nappies, wipes and sanitary protection. The amount of resources used in the manufacture of disposable versions far outweighs the detergent and water used in washing even at 60*

[mshell1231]

We recycle as much as we can, donate clothes to charity shops and walk to school as often as possible instead of using the car.

[BeeMyBaby]

We use a continuous ink system for our printer so have no cartridges, we recycle using the various bin types the council provide, we are careful with electricity and turn off lights when not required and we always try hard to not turn the heating on until October (even though it can get fairly cold before then in Scotland). When DC3 arrives we are going to try reusable nappies...

[blibblobblub]

Use less washing powder than advised. Often don't bother with shower gel. Use cloth nappies and wipes...

Soz Unilever, you don't get much profit from me