Sustainable Suggestions

These suggestions can help you make changes that matter. By doing some off these things you can reduce your impact on the planet.


Cleaning

  • Instead of using harsh oven cleaners, steam clean your oven clean. Place baking dishes full of water in the oven, and set the oven to a medium temperature. This will soften the residue, which can then be removed with bicarbonate of soda and vinegar.
  • A bucket of hot water with half a cup of vinegar can be used for general household cleaning. Add a cap of tea tree or eucalyptus oil to improve the anti fungal properties.
  • Use sunshine where possible to kill bacteria.
  • Clean kitchen surfaces with a vinegar spray. Allowing the vinegar to dry on the surface has a higher anti-bacterial result.
  • Clean chopping boards with soap and water then wipe or spray with vinegar and allow to dry.
  • Wash all vegetables and fruit to remove traces of pesticides - especially non-organic purchases by putting a little vinegar in water and soaking for a few minutes.
  • Add one cup of vinegar to half a bucket of very hot water to clean glass. If very dirty, use hot soapy water before the vinegar rinse.
  • Eucalyptus oil or spray can be used to remove biro, chewing gum, grass, grease, gum, glue, lipstick and nicotine. Place absorbent paper under the fabric and dab or spray eucalyptus. Work towards the centre of the stain, then wash as normal.
  • Mop wooden floors with water with ½ cup of vinegar added. In summer, add citronella oil to reduce flies and mosquitoes.
  • Insects are an essential part of our ecosystem. Try detering them from your home rather than using sprays to kill them. Dried Bay leaves will deter cockroaches and eucalyptus oil will discourage ants and other insects.
  • White vinegar can be used to scrub stainless steel, clear drains, remove tea stains from mugs and remove permanent marker pen from skin. To get limescale off your showerhead, remove it and soak it in vinegar overnight.

Energy

  • Buy compact fluorescent light bulbs. They last longer and use less energy.
  • Clean the back of your fridge; dust on the coils increases energy consumption.
  • Switch off your air-conditioning when you are out for the day.
  • Install a gas boosted solar or heat pump system to heat your household water. This can cut $300 to $700 off electricity bills each year.
  • Install a programmable thermostat to automatically lower your heat or air conditioning at night and raise it again in the morning and save up to $100 on you energy bill.
  • Choose energy efficient appliances when making new purchases.  Look for the energy star label on new appliances.
  • Wrap an insulation blanket around your water hot water heater to save more than 450kg of carbon dioxide each year.
  • Set your hot water heater thermostat to below 50 degrees Celsius to save 250kg of carbon dioxide per year.
  • Save both water and energy by reducing the amount of hot water you use. Install a low flow showerhead, take shorter showers and wash your clothes in cold water.
  • Use a clothesline instead of a clothes dryer. This can save up to 600kg of CO2 per year.
  • Turn off the television, DVD player, stereo and computer when not in use to save thousands of kg of carbon dioxide each year.
  • Unplug hairdryers, cell phones, chargers and televisions from the wall when not in use, or switch off appliances at the power point. Standby power accounts for 5% of domestic energy and 18 million tons of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere each year.
  • Clean or replace the filters in your air conditioner. Cleaning a dirty air filter can save 158kg of carbon dioxide a year.
  • Insulate your home. This can save 25% on your heating bill and 907kg of carbon dioxide a year.
  • In cold weather, put on a jumper or use a blanket instead of switching on a heater.
  • Cover pots and pans on the stove. It takes ¼ of the time and ¼ of the energy.
  • Use a draft stopper, curtains, pelmets on windows and other forms of insulation to keep the heat in.
  • Switch to energy generated by clean, renewable sources such as wind and solar.
  • Buy fresh foods instead of frozen foods which use ten times more energy to produce. Better still, buy direct from local organic food markets.

Fuel

  • Reduce the load in your car by removing unnecessary items (such as golf clubs) when you don’t need them.
  • Remove additional parts of your car such as roof racks or bull-bars when they aren't in use and close windows. This will reduce aerodynamic drag and improve fuel efficiency by up to 20%.
  • Leave the car at home and walk when taking small trips. This will not only reduce your fuel consumption and emissions but benefit your health.
  • Plan ahead and complete a number of errands in one trip rather than taking several trips, and save both time and fuel. Avoid short vehicle trips and peak-hour traffic whenever possible.
  • Drive smoothly. Comparative tests in the same vehicle driven aggressively (accelerating quickly, revving the engine and braking suddenly) and smoothly (easing on the accelerator and brake showed differences in fuel consumption of up to 30%, in favour of a smoother driving technique.
  • Start a carpool with your co-workers or classmates. Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 327kg a year.
  • Regular car maintenance will improve fuel efficiency and reduces emissions. Properly inflated tires can also improve fuel efficiency by more than 3%.
  • Buy Australian grown and produced foods. This saves fuel, transport and shipping costs and keeps money in Australia.
  • Drive a little slower - driving at 110km/h uses 25% more petrol than 90km/h.
  • Inflate your car tyres to the highest pressure recommended by the manufacturer and make sure they are properly aligned. Looking after your tyres reduces fuel consumption, extends the life of your tyre, and improves handling.
  • Consider riding a bike to your destination. It's great for your fitness, and saves petrol costs too.

In The Garden

  • Compost your garden and kitchen waste, or consider setting up a worm farm. The compost can then be used as fertiliser, which will also save you money.
  • Plant a tree where it will shade a window of your house. A single tree will absorb one tonne of carbon dioxide over its lifetime while its shade will reduce your air conditioning bill by up to 15 per cent.
  • Plant Australian natives as they require less water.
  • Use mulch on your garden. This will prevent up to 70% of water in the soil evaporating.
  • Create a community vegetable patch.
  • Buy locally made pots and other garden products. This will save energy waste on road, rail and shipping.

In The Office

  • Send an email instead of using paper for a note or letter.
  • Print on both sides of the page (most newer printers do this, go into print properties and select “Flip on the long edge”).
  • Use the back of single-sided paper as a jotting pad.
  • Recycle all used paper.
  • Consider distributing reports/plans/policies on CD ROMs rather than printed copies.
  • Ensure all drink bottles, aluminium cans and food cans are recycled, and encourage your colleagues to do the same.
  • Turn off desk and meeting room lights when not in use.
  • For short work trips consider walking or for meetings near a station, catch a train.
  • Take a calico bag shopping at lunch time.
  • Don’t leave taps running in kitchens and bathrooms.

Recycling

  • Try and avoid buying drink cartons made of a paper/polyethylene mix, as they are hard to recycle.
  • When buying plastics, the following types are recyclable: PET (polyethylene terephalate), HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and LDPE (low-density polyethylene).
  • If you use a dry cleaner, ask them to put several items of clothing in the one plastic cover.
  • Make sure you are recycling everything you can. Our A to Z lists everything you can recycle, including CFC globes and batteries.
  • Set up a worm farm. Worms will break down a large range of food scraps, and produce fertiliser for garden.
  • You can save 1000kg of CO2 a year by recycling half of your household waste.
  • Buy recycled paper products. Recycled paper requires up to 90% less energy to produce than new paper. This has a big impact on preventing the loss of forests worldwide.
  • Avoid heavily packaged products. You can prevent producing 544 kg of carbon dioxide if you cut down your garbage by just 10%.
  • Reuse or buy second hand items instead of buying new ones.

Water

  • Wait until you have a full load in your washing machine (or dishwasher) before using it. This saves water and energy, and reduces the amount of detergent entering the sewerage system.
  • Never leave a tap running in between uses.
  • Put a plug in the sink instead of using running water, for various purposes (e.g. washing dishes / fruit / veg / hands).
  • Never use hoses on hard surfaces.
  • Install a rainwater tank.
  • Report any water leaks straight away.
  • Educate others about water conservation.
  • When on holidays, ask for your towels to be washed every other day or less.
  • Put a brick or a full bottle in your toilet cistern to reduce the amount of water used in each flush.
  • Collect the water in your bath and shower with a bucket while it is heating up and use on your gardens or in your washing machine.
  • Have quick showers. Reducing your shower time from 10 miuntes to 5 can save one tonne of CO2 a year.
  • Use water sparingly when travelling. Did you know that the average tourist uses as much water in 24 hours as a villager in the developing world uses in 100 days?