Many people express concerns to us that living with a lower footprint is more expensive, but we’ve got lots of examples that are actually cheaper and more sustainable.
So here are some ideas, that will help save money and protect the planet too!
You can sign up at Giki Zero to commit to trying out these steps and get a personal carbon footprint estimate at the same time.
Try alternatives to cheese
Cheese has a high carbon footprint because it takes a lot of milk (10 litres!) to make 1kg of cheese. Plus, at the moment most cheese comes in packaging that goes to landfill.
Vegan cheese is an alternative but it’s not always had the best press. Try out some of the newer offerings which are getting pretty good. Or nutritional yeast can double up to sprinkle on top, or for cooking, make a super creamy white sauce with barista oat milk, no need for cheese then.
And as cheese is expensive, using less saves money.
Can you commit to cutting back on cheese for a month?
Veggie lunch
A veggie sandwich may have just one third of the carbon footprint of a beef one and often costs less than a meat sandwich.
Try having veggie lunches all week!
Lights off
A typical home has 36 lights, so if some of them are on for a couple of hours a day you could save over 30kg of carbon. This saves money on bills, and also means you don’t have to replace your light bulbs so often, so saves money there too.
Give lights off a go with the family.
Shorter shower
On average we shower for around 8 minutes and 4% of people check SnapChat in the shower! 5 minute showers could save you 60kg of carbon every year, and as carbon = cash, it will save you money too. Just pick your favourite song, play it or sing it, and that will give you the perfect length shower!
Wash at 30c
Washing machines vary widely by efficiency but can create well over 100kg of carbon emissions each year. Save money, if you run your machine at 30C it uses 40% less electricity than hotter washes.
Nice Driving
Fast acceleration is particularly bad for fuel consumption. Driving more efficiently means you use less fuel. Less fuel means less carbon and less money spent.
Home working
Working from home means less money spent on travel costs and doing just two days a week at home you can save around 200 kg of carbon emissions.
Home workers also use less paper because they email more or might not have a home printer. They also use less plastic as they tend to buy less food in plastic containers.
Thanks to Ali Yahya, Chandler Cruttendem, Tomas Javosky and A Mohe for fab pix on Unsplash
All data taken from Giki Zero, based on UK average footprints, as of July 2020
