Skip to main content

Ways to help make your household environmentally friendly

Image
By
We have told you a bit about the problems that the environment is facing in previous posts but we haven’t told you how to help the environment around the house. You don’t even need a garden to make a difference!

Ways to help stop global warming

Tip 1: Turn the lights off when you leave a room.
Tip 2: Walk or cycle on short journeys.
Tip 3:  Don’t have the windows open and the heaters on at the same time.
Tip 4: Never leave your engine running
Tip 5: If you can, buy an electric car as these produce less Co2.  

Ways to help stop plastic pollution 

Tip 1: Buy a water bottle. It seems simple but every year the UK uses an estimated 13 billion plastic bottles.
Tip 2: Use a bar of soap and a bar of shampoo instead of shower gel and bottled shampoo. Some say soap can dry your skin out but if you do your research you can find plastic-free high-quality soap, perhaps at a price but it depends on where you get it from.
Tip 3: Make sure you bring your reusable bag when you shop.
Tip 4: When given the choice, vote for the product with the least packaging.
Tip 5: Ignore the straw and sip from a glass. Straws are not necessary and yet we use billions of straws a year.
Tip 6: Check what your local area accepts in the roadside collections. At the moment, my local area doesn't collect plastic so my family collect our own and brings it to the tip.
Tip 7: Buy a mug and stop using a plastic coffee cup.
Tip 8: Look into ways to stop using as much plastic as you can. Books such as No.More.Plastic by Martin Dorey and websites such as Friends Of The Earth and myplasticfreelife.com are great.

Ways to help stop animal numbers from declining 

Bees

Tip 1: (garden, balcony or windowsill) Plant bee-friendly flowers such as: lavender, rosemary and alliums.
Tip 2: (garden) Don’t use pesticides as using pesticides to kill them impairs bee re-productivity and development. Pesticide use can also lead to chronic health issues in humans.
Tip 3: (garden) Make a bee hotel. Web sites such as ‘Friends Of The Earth’ have lots of ideas on how to make one.
Tip 4: (don’t need a garden) Don’t be scared of bees. Bees don’t actually want to sting you. Some types of bee die if they sting you. Swatting at them makes things worse because they think that they’re under attack. Just stay still and they will go away.

Hedgehogs 

Tip 1: (garden) Carefully check unlit bonfires as they are attractive for hedgehogs. 
Tip 2: (garden) Let hedges grow or plant a new hedge. Think twice before cutting a hedge down.
Tip 3: (garden) Make a hedgehog highway. To do this you must simply make a 13cm by 13cm hole in your fence or underneath your garden boundary. This allows the hedgehogs to roam freely between gardens.
Tip 4: (garden) Don’t use pesticides or slug repellent. The hedgehogs get rid of the slugs for you. Using pesticides can poison hedgehogs. (That’s the second time we have said no to pesticides.)
Tip 5: (garden) Turn a small section of your garden into a wild area where hedgehogs and lots of other animals can live and feed.
Tip 6: (garden) Leave out water for hedgehogs but no milk.
Tip 7: (garden) Cover up drains. Hedgehogs find it easy to slip down and get stuck.
Just remember that you can make a difference and that every action adds up. Even if you can only do one of these things then still do it because we need to stop this before irreversible changes take place and the human as well as animal population die out.

If you have any more tips to add, perhaps things you've done, please put them in the comments and we will add them in as soon as possible.

Thank you!


Labels:

Comments

  1. Freya06/08/2020, 07:48

    Great ideas! I can't wait to try some of them out!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

19.07.2020: Animal of the week: Honey Bees

By
Hi everyone, This week's animal is the honey bee. Enjoy! General Information An average honeybee hive is made up of one queen, hundreds of male drones and thousands of female workers. If the queen bee dies then a new queen is created. The workers select a young larva and feed it with a special food called ‘royal jelly’. The ‘royal jelly’ makes the larva grow into a fertile queen. Queens live for several years but the workers only live for five or six weeks. An average worker will make a twelfth of a tee spoon of honey during her entire life. Drones are turned out of the hive and left to die in Autumn. In the summer months, the queen bee is very busy, she can lay up to 2500 eggs in a single day. How they affect the world around them Honey bees are very important for flowers, fruit and vegetables. This comes from the fact that they are pollinators. They help the plants by transferring pollen between male and female parts, meaning the plants can g...
3 comments
Read more

Announcement: Animal of the week

By
3 comments
Read more

Discussion || Should Everyone Switch To Electric Cars?

By
Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for joining me today, as I hop on the blog to discuss whether everyone switching to electric cars would really help the environment. In other words, should everyone switch to electric cars? This is the first part of a two-part series, discussing electric cars, so stay tuned for part two!! I would like to start this post by stating that I am by no means an expert. This is knowledge I have from my own experience, and from research I have done. If anything is incorrect please take it as it is and accept that this is a discussion and I am taking on board all opinions from reliable sources on this complex topic. Electric cars are a huge topic when it comes to sustainability and "saving our planet". There is no debating the fact that electric cars are better for the environment than diesel or petrol once they are on the road. But the production of them is often very polluting, with one study show...
2 comments
Read more

Coral reefs

By
Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...
Post a Comment
Read more

November Top Tips | sustainable activities and hobbies

By
Hello everyone, So this week, we are going to be talking about sustainable free time activities. This area can quite big when it comes to environmental impact, so here are some things that you can do in your free time, that are more sustainable. 1. Reading So reading is one of our favourite things to do. However, books are made of paper and the paper industry isn't great. Some ways you can get around this is by reading online (for example, on a kindle), or through borrowing books from a library or using book boxes. If there aren't any in your area then at least try to support independent bookshops! 2. Running If you love being active then this one is for you. Running is probably one of the most sustainable forms of sport. All you need are some running shoes and somewhere to run. There is obviously more high-tech gear but that isn't really necessary if it's just a hobby. 3. Gardening If you've got a small area of land o...
2 comments
Read more

18.10.20 Animal Of The Week: Sloth

By
Hello, Sorry this didn't come out on Sunday as planned but this week's animal of the week is the sloth because the twentieth of October is Sloth Day.  Habitat The sloth resides in Central and South America. It lives in the rainforests there and occasionally drops into the water for a bathe as, believe it or not, they are actually excellent swimmers! Diet Sloths eat leaves, twigs and buds which they find in the rainforest. As they don't have incisors they smack their lips together to make leaves more digestible. Sloths can survive on relatively little food as it takes a while for them to digest it. Sleep and Speed When you think of a sloth, you probably think of this slow, sleepy creature. They actually sleep for about 15 hours a day! Sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate (what basic calories your body needs to survive), which means they move at a slow pace through the trees. On average, sloths travel 40 yards per day ...
Post a Comment
Read more

25.10.2020 Animal of the week: Snow leopard

By
Hello everyone, This week's post is about snow leopards. Snow leopards are incredible big cats that roam the mountain ranges of Asia. Snow leopards are very powerful and can climb up and down steep slopes easily, as well as jump up six times their body length. The snow leopard's tail provides balance, agility and warmth. The snow leopard is elusive and solitary and therefore very difficult to spot. They are very important though, because they are at the top of the food chain in this area. Habitat Snow leopards live in northern and central Asia's mountain ranges. These are some of the harshest conditions on earth. However, they white-grey coat with large black spots allows them to blend in with the rocky mountain terrain. They are found in twelve countries including China, Russia and Mongolia. Diet Snow leopards can kill prey up to three times their body weight. This is an incredible feat to pull off as they manage this on their ow...
Post a Comment
Read more

Some info, resources & solutions to the plastic crisis

By
Hello Everyone, Plastic was once a miracle material but now it is the enemy. And we are the last generations who can do anything about it. If we want future generations to experience the world in all its amazing beauty like we have: we have to make a difference. We have the power to change the world for the better or for the worst. There will always be people who don't care about the environment but we do and so we need to do what we think is right. So join the campaign and fight for a better future. For our planet to return to its natural way with incredible biodiversity and amazing ecosystems. We have to make a difference now because all around the world animals are suffocating, drowning, and dying because of humans. You may think it isn't your problem but ultimately you are human and humans make plastic. Honestly, I can't believe that it has gotten to this point. We just have to change something because there is obviously something we ...
2 comments
Read more

How well do you know the ocean floor? - Quiz

By
Hi Everyone and welcome back to Green World! Today we have another quiz to test your knowledge about the natural world. This is, of course, part of our monthly series of quizzes, so please give us some feedback on how you are finding it so far in the comments! This time, it's all about the ocean floor. Questions How much percent of the earth's surface consists of ocean floor? a)50% b) 60% c) 70% True or False? Just like on dry land, the ocean floor has mountains, plains and valleys. Which ocean can the Mariana Trench be found? a) Pacific Ocean b) Altantic Ocean c) Indian Ocean True or False? The Mariana Trench is 11km deep. How much of the earth's surface is covered by abyssal plains? a) about 33% b) about 50% c) about 10% True or False? Studies estimated that 90% of deep sea species haven't been discovered yet? Tr...
2 comments
Read more

Eco system Galápagos: Part 1 Geography

By
Hello and welcome to the first post about the Galapagos Islands. Currents and Winds The volcanic islands of Galápagos started to form 4 million years ago. Where they lie, is unique. They are situated directly on the equator, on the Nazca tectonic plate. The Galapagos Islands are on the crossroads of three currents. The cold South Equatorial Current flows westward towards Galapagos. The warm Panama Current runs in from the north. And finally, the deep sea Cromwell Current runs from the west. The Galapagos Islands are also where the Northeast Trade Wind meets the Southeast Trade Wind. Galapagos Hotspot 21 Volcanoes make up the Galápagos Islands with 13 still active. The reason for this volcanic activity is a giant hotspot under the island. A hotspot is a gigantic column of super heated molten lava, rising up towards the surface. It is immense; at least sixty miles (97 kilometers) across and 1800 miles (2897 kilometers) deep. It connects the islands to ...
Post a Comment
Read more