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

I'm a bit of a stickler for making sure electrics are turned off. We also went down to one car recently and its actually working out really well.

We do various things including not using lighting or heating unless needed. We will always put a jumper on rather than turn the heating on.

We recycle our cans, bottles, paper, cardboard and batteries. We collect a lot of plastic bags and packaging which we give to a people we know who run a shop, so they do not need to purchase plastic bags, packaging or cardboard boxes for the items they sell.

We have a compost bin for peelings etc, all our our flower beds are full of bee and butterfly promoting flowers. We also have a water butt for collecting rain water for our plants rather than using the hose.

We buy our meat, where possible from local companies who promote free range methods of meat production.

We always donate or sell on our clothes and unwanted items, rather than throw them out. Or re-use things for art projects.

Always recycle!!

We work really hard with our recycling. Batteries go to the recycling at tesco, clothes to our local recycling bins at the supermarket. Plastic paper etc in blue bin, food and garden waste in brown bin. Old toys, games etc to charity and we use our legs and bikes for school journeys instead of car. If we all do our bit then it makes a massive difference.

We walk as much as possible and can go a week without using the cars regularly (although this might have more to do with me wanting to lose weight, save money on petrol and wear out the DCs than caring about the environment!)

We try to buy locally as much as we can.

Buying better quality things that don't need to be replaced as often, be it clothes, furniture, items for the DCs. We're also passing on or reselling a lot of toys and clothes that have been outgrown rather than throwing.

We only tend to do the basics such as separating plastics, cardboard and food waste. But we do try to use both sides of the paper when drawing/printing. I must admit, I switch the heating on quite regularly even when I am only a little bit chilly!

only filling the kettle with how much water I need, putting on extra layers in the house so we don't have to put the heating on uneccessarily

using carrier bags as bin liners & flannels instead of wipes after meal times. Neither are going to save the environment on its own or me millions but I like to think it helps a little.

We are very much into recycling and not being wasteful. We also take a lot of things to the charity shop instead of binning them!

We are definitely more careful with not leaving lights on or leaving equipment on standby, i hate things being left on anyway, quite OCD about that one! xxx

I get my kids to sort out the recycling box,separating the card and plastic etc

We always try to find ways of using up old rags or giving clothes to charity.I also like to donate some of the kids books,toys on freecycle and give to a new home.

We do the usual. Recycle everything we can. Not too great with the lights. We do walk when we can. Also try to donate unwanted things instead of throwing them. x

We have pretty good recycling facilities where I live so everything goes into recycling. Also got rid of the bath, shower only now, saves a ton of water

we don;t drive so walk & use public transport, we don't leave things on standby and recycle everything we can

The three R's, reduce, reuse and recycle, in that order. Walk, bike or use public transport, grow your own food, avoid bags and packaging where possible, donate unwanted items instead of throwing away, compost food waste, shop with a meal plan in mind... I could go on for ages!

Recycle and walk or use public transport as much as possible to avoid using the car

We wash out ice cream box when empty and use to store food, or as a lunch box

I think a huge misconception is regarding bottled water. Nearly 90% of these bottles are not recycled and take thousands of years to decompose. Everytime i see someone with a bottle of it, it makes me cross. Also choose cloth nappies and not disposable nappies. Disposables are so much easier but the landfills are full of them. Once a month have a week with no baths. If possible use matches instead of lighters. There are millions of disposable lighters filling up landfills. A final thing if you fly a lot is to try and get an e-ticket instead of a paper ticket. Think of the amount of paper not having to be used and finally dumped if everyone switched to etickets.

lol just noticed i said a week with no baths. I did mean to have showers instead because they use half the water and heating requirements that baths do.

take the kitchen bin out to empty in the communal bin rather than using bin bags.

use a slow cooker to save on cooking energy

use freecycle as much as possible

take the kitchen bin out to empty in the communal bin rather than using bin bags.

use a slow cooker to save on cooking energy

use freecycle as much as possible

I cycle and recycle.

Recycle, Take public transport, use LED lightbulbs etc

I save all our Tassimo pods for Count the Clicks. It's surprising how quickly they accumulate!

eat organic

We walk as much as we can, are stingy with the heating and take short showers