Ten Ways to Live a Greener Life - April 2010
1. Go for Homegrown
Try to buy homegrown produce. A typical basket of 20 everyday grocery items from a supermarket could clock up over 100,000 'food miles'
2. Shop Local
Get to know your local shops and market. Buying food locally supports your local economy.
3. Use Less Packaging
Around one-sixth of your food shopping bill goes towards the packaging. So avoid pre-packed fruit and veg in plastic bags and make the most of farmers' markets and greengrocers.
4. Conserve Water
Each year we use more water than we can save, and you can help by being careful in the kitchen. Only boil as much water as you need in the kettle or when cooking veg. Wash produce in a bowl, not under a tap.
5. Re-Use & Re-Cycle More
Every year, UK households throw away almost 30 million tonnes of rubbish. Most of this ends up in landfill, but we're running out of space. Do your bit by reducing the amount of rubbish you create, re-using as much as possible and recycling the rest.
6. Grow Your Own
Herbs, lettuce, potatoes, runner beans, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes and more can all be grown in patio pots. Homegrown means fewer food miles and zero packaging.
7. Buy Fairtrade Products
It guarantees farmers a fair price for products and also ensures some environmental benefits. A Fairtrade banana plantation, for example, is not allowed to expand into virgin forests. Some chemicals are banned and the use of fertilisers and pesticides is minimal.
8. Support Farmers’ Markets 
Supermarket lorries travel 408 million miles a year - the equivalent of going around the M25 nearly 3 million times! A report called ‘How green is your supermarket?’ revealed that just 26% of the cost of a typical supermarket basket of groceries goes towards the food itself. The rest covers packaging, processing, transport, store overheads, advertising and supermarket mark-up. It's a different story if you shop at a local farmers' market.
9. Re-Use Carrier Bags
Around 17 billion plastic bags are given out annually by the nine main supermarkets - enough to cover England in just over 21 years. A carrier bag can take more than 100 years to break down, so don't discard. Use them again and again.
10. Save Energy
Let food cool before refrigerating it; replace ordinary light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs; turn off lights when you're not in the kitchen; use the lowest temperature on your dishwasher.
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