Unilever want to know the things your family does to help create a brightFuture - £300 voucher to be won! NOW CLOSED

[EmmaMumsnet]

As part of their on-going brightFuture initiative, Unilever wants to hear about the little things you as a family do to help make the world a better place. We know that having children often makes parents think more about the world around them and makes you want to take steps to help provide a better, more sustainable future for your children.

Here’s some more information from the team at Unilever:

“The Unilever brightFuture initiative focuses on small changes that can make big differences and how we can build a world where everyone lives well and lives sustainably.”

“Since the launch of the Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever has helped 482 million people all over the world; for instance the Dove Self Esteem Project has helped 19 million young people have more self-confidence, Domestos has given 5 million people improved access to toilets and Persil, in partnership with Unicef, has given 10 million children access to education. This work is extremely important to us and we are really proud to have been awarded industry leadership for our work in the Household and Personal Care products industry group by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.”

“To see some of the amazing stories from the Unilever brightFuture initiative so far, have a glimpse at this short video.”

“Unilever brightFuture is looking to inspire and celebrate people who are making a difference in their local community. This is often through small acts that tackle wider, global problems and therefore make a positive impact for the planet as a whole. We want to encourage others to join the brightFuture initiative at brightfuture.unilever.co.uk which has already seen over 290 million acts shared!”

We’d love to hear what you and your family do to help make the world a better place and what you would like to do in the future. Whether it’s small things such as turning the tap off while you brush your teeth and doing laundry at a lower temperature, or helping your local community get together to help make a positive impact, Unilever want to hear from you.

Everyone who posts a comment below will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thank you and good luck!

MNHQ

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

We help out litter picking once a month

We recycle and reuse as much as we can.

Turn off the lights and turn the heating down 2 degrees!

Lots of small things like switching taps & lights off when we can, but the one which the children get most involved in is recycling. We've now got the stage where I get told off by the kids if I buy stuff in packaging that can't be recycled!

Try to recycle as much as possible and reuse things til you can't use them anymore. Try to teach others that you don't just throw things away as soon as they get a bit old.

Volunteering for the Cinnamon Trust means we walk elderly peoples dogs to enable them to keep their pet when they become unable to exercise them. This brings happiness to the owner & their pet too.

We try to make good, educated choices in lots of ways, many of them small, everyday things, whether it's buying (or not) particular products, recycling where we can, growing our own veg and fruit on the allotment, not using the tumble dryer unless really necessary, washing at 30c where possible, showering instead of bathing, composting our veg peelings....hopefully they make a difference, and educate our children to do the same.

We are fortunate that locally we can recycle a lot so we recycle fabric, paper, bottles, tins, plastic, garden waste (if we have too much for the composters). We do turn off lights, turn off taps when cleaning teeth, put on a jumper rather than turn up the thermostat, etc.

I love saving water as it just doesn't save the water it saves the energy used to treat it, and the chemicals used (including their manufacture). So when drawing down hot washing up water we catch it and use it for rinsing handwashing, watering plants, etc.

We don't waste food - there are rarely leftovers since I am a fairly good judge of how much to cook. Any fruit or veg about to go past their best are frozen for soups or puddings later.

We enjoy, recycling and upcycling. We are conscious of waste and use reusable rather than disposable where ever we can.

My family tries to do it's bit for the environment by recycling, and using less water and energy lightbulbs. But we also like to help out our local community food bank. Every so often we do a shop and donate it all to the food bank. I look for vouchers so that I can give the free item to the foodbank. I hate the thought of people in the UK going hungry.

My 8 year old twins both have autism. My daughter has high functioning autism (asbergers) & her twin brother has severe autism & is non verbal.
The national autistic society & the family fund have been a key part of our lives. The family fund enabled us to buy some sensory equipment for my son & the NAS have been invaluable in providing advice & support to us.
Each year we do some fundraising for FF & NAS & I make sure my daughter gets involved.
This pic is me holding a tarantula last Halloween!! I'm scared to death of spiders so this was the longest 1 minute of my life!! I raised £900 though so worth it.
Charity is a big part of our lives & giving to charity definitely creates a brighter future for everyone!!

We're a very environmentally friendly household. It's big jumpers rather than heating, recycling everything we can, no waste, using charity shops, and not buying things that are un-necessary. And its not just about doing these things, its about knowing why! Learning and thinking about what we do!

recycle everything we can

Thank goodness my little one brings me hope and sunshine every day, as I fear the world feels a pretty bleak place at times right now!

It sounds cheesy but now I'm a parent I see that kids really are our future and my thoughts have turned to what sort of world I want them to grow up in. I think that small changes can make a big difference, so we involve ours in daily things like recycling, composting and growing our own fruit and veg. We don't like to waste anything and I certainly don't believe or buy into materialistic consumer culture. We don't have a lot, but we have what's important- love, good health and family- and appreciate that every day (even when it's hard to remind myself how lucky we are!) that's a strong message for a little one to be brought up with x

Now, if we could just sort this world peace and global warming thing we'd be set.... ;)

I encourage recycling, and try to walk as much as possible instead of always relying on the car

We recycle as much as possible and have reduced our energy usage and are trying to have zero waste in our food. Getting a dog a couple of years ago has also changed our lifestyle and we walk everywhere now.

Recycling
Use less water
Try to walk rather than use the car
No food wastage
There is so many things that we try to do to help improve are future these are just a few

we help out at the local community clean ups. we recycle everything!

As a family we love to fundraise for causes close to home! We have done lots of fundraising for two local children who have been very poorly, one sadly who is terminally ill. We do anything from sponsored walks to the colour run in Manchester.. to bake offs between friends! Its great for the kids to do and helps them understand that its important to help others in need.

I used reusable nappies and wipes with the youngest, but I went back to work and it got unmanageable with my youngest, but we did use them for over 1 year. I'm always on at them about recycling and I try not to create the waste in the first place. I moan at them all the time about turning off lights, water and anything else I can think of to minimise waste, reduce, reuse and recycle!

The children help me with recycling and we talk about not wasting things like plastic and reusing when we can. We also grow some veg in our garden and they love to dig up potatoes and know they've grown in our ground.
We also sponsor a child through Plan and talk about her with dd, although it's only just making a bit of sense to her.

By thinking for myself and not being influenced by the media or society

we always recycle everything possible

I am a guide leader and my DD and DH are involved too. Through guiding we teach girls confidence, skills and awareness. Next week we will be having a war on waste evening with clothes swaps and discussions on the amount of food and packaging that is wasted on a weekly basis.