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

We are quite aware of how much we buy, and often shop at charity shops or on Ebay. All our lightbulbs are LED which use less energy and costs less to run. We recycle, grow our own veg, and try and avoid over-packaged products. There's lots more but luckily we quite enjoy being environmentally friendly and make it fun.

We think about the small things - we take care to always turn off lights when not in the room, ensure we do a full wash/ dishwasher is full. We also have a composter for any food waste - it all helps!

A bit basic, but we try to buy less, and look after/value our things so they don't break, last longer and we don't feel we need new ones constantly. And recycle what we can, and try and buy things made from recycled materials.

And actively avoid palm oil, as its cultivation has wrecked huge swathes of south east Asia.

I agree with small actions & simple procedures to include in everyday routine.

I have a separate bin next to my kitchen bin for recycling so we don't have to keep going to outside bin.

Lots of bag for life in the car for shopping.

I use Freecycle website to clear out old clutter that someone else can make use of rather than going to landfill.

Water buts in the garden rather than using the hose.

We do all the following:

Don't have a car if you can possibly manage it. We manage perfectly well, even with a large toddler (we are just abandoning the buggy). We walk, mostly, or use public transport. We don't live in London so the buses & trains are about 2 per hour & packed. Live near work if possible.

Not fashionable, but - mend your clothes instead of binning them & buying new ones. When they get a bit scruffy, relegate them to play clothes / extra layers for cold days / painting or gardening etc. I totally use this as justification to buy better quality clothes as they will get worn till they are absolutely past it

Use less detergent if possible. If you're lucky enough to be in an area of soft water supply, you can get away with a lot less detergent in your wash.

Again for the soft water people - use soap, not showergel. It's generally less chemical based, so it's better for the fish etc, requires a less involved manufacturing process, also cheaper & lasts longer if you let it dry after use. I tried oil cleansing too, that may work in hard water areas.

Use a menstrual cup. I love mine. Lasts years & costs way less in total expenditure.

If possible, eat less meat. Grain-fed animals are a pretty resource-intensive way of producing protein. At the very least, try to eat pastured meat.

If possible, try to choose your fresh fruit, veg, meat etc, that has been locally sourced. This has two benefits: it will most likely be in season, so will probably have required less resources to produce it, as opposed to something grown in a heated greenhouse. Secondly, lower airmiles. You also get the benefits of knowing that it's likely to be fresher & more nutritious, as many many foods start to lose their nutritional value once they are harvested.

Turn all lights, appliances etc off if you're not using them. Never leave on standby.

Plan your meals for the week. Don't throw food away because you failed to plan to eat it before it expired.

Don't use a tumble dryer if possible. It's possible to manage without one, as long as you have a bit of outside space for drying. We use 2 clothes horses & a line, put it outside, then bring in at night or if it looks like rain. Even in winter, as long as it's above freezing point.

Wear a jumper or put a blanket on the bed if you're a bit cold. Interesting how in the first world, when we're cold, most people's initial response is to alter their immediate environment. The more sensible response is surely to insulate more - yourself, and your house.

We avoid palm oil if possible, and any products with it in unless they state that it's sustainably produced.

We recycle, compost, use reusable bags, we walk where we can and only put lights on when needed.

I stopped buying junk and walk to work

We recycle everything, we avoid using the car and supermarket shop and do errands on foot, re-use bags, plan shopping and meals so that nothing is wasted and use a compost bin for veg and fruit leftovers and garden waste! I do pretty much everything I can think of!

Don't always buy new, I visit car boot sales most weekends and stock up on all sorts of excellent quality used clothes, books, toys etc. Many things people sell have been used a handful of times and you get them at a fraction of the cost you would buy them for in a store, and in doing so you are saving the environment.

Basic things such as recycling all we can, sharing bath water if possible.

I plan meals carefully to reduce food waste.

Avoid using tumble dryer if we can help it.

Wear clothes a second time if they don't look or smell dirty.

I'm big on recycling. I try and walk or use public transport most of the time
I try not to buy junk, ie cheap toys
I take my own shopping bags to the shops.

I try not to use the tumble dryer and dry my clothes on an airer.

Nothing unusual here, just doing the best we can to turn off appliances not in use, take advantage of all the recycling initiatives available and shop locally to reduce food miles and help the local economy. Every little helps, right?

no wasting food, recycling everything that can be recycled avoid landfill rubbish try not to buy things that have too much packaging

I live in the heart of farming country. We have our milk delivered from a farm 3 miles away (it is pasteurised and bottled on site); they also deliver our eggs. I get our meat from the butcher's, all his meat is reared within about 5 miles and slaughtered in the village. We also buy locally produced fruit and veg where it's available.

I also tend to buy good quality clothes/anything once, and make it last. I can't stand the fast fashion, disposable everything culture.

recycle as much as possible, energy saving lightbulbs, turn everything off standby

One of the things we do is avoid buying Unilever products. Your marketing of washing powder in areas of India where people wash clothes in rivers has caused terrible pollution.

Get a compost bin and save all your fruit and veg scraps

To turn off lights when leaving a room, use the recycling bin and when we go out shopping to be aware of packaging and take our own bags

We use Tupperware for leftovers and opened packets rather than sandwich bags/kitchen foil/cling film, it saves a lot of waste

Where to start! My husband works in the environment sector, so we're pretty well up on stuff.

We use reusable nappies and wipes, non bio powder, no antibacterial anything, recycle as much as possible including nuying everything apart from food secondhand. If buying new white goods, we research enviro friendy ones and wait for one to come up secondhand. We only take recycling to the tip, not general rubbish. We save electricity and water where ever possible, and only buy natural fibre clothing. Our electricity is sourced through a renewable supplier, and honestly, if we could go self sufficient, we would.

I ensure my little one's turn off lights as they leave the room (have docked pocket money when they consistently didn't do it, and it did the trick) and the TV when they are not watching it. We recycle everything we can for our bin collections and regularly take things along to our local charity shops.

Not to waste water by, for example, having shallower baths, not running the tap during teeth brushing, and not taking forever to wash hands!

Whenever I'm rearranging deckchairs I always make sure they're locally sourced, sustainably produced deckchairs. I also make sure I rearrange the deckchairs into the correct recycling bins when I'm done, or offer them on freecycle for other people to rearrange.

All our small, everyday efforts to make the world a bit more habitable for our children and grandchildren and all the other species are completely pointless unless huge companies like Unilever clean up their act.

Great post, Plenty.

We grow our own fruit and veg in the garden meaning we don't have air miles for those products.