Ideas from Howick High

Learners from Howick High have come up with a host of great ideas and easy-to-do suggestions of how to live differently to better protect and sustain our environment.

The learners came up with a total of 57 ideas which covered seven themes: saving paper, using less water, sustainable travel, reducing waste, sustainable agriculture, energy efficiency and renewable energy.  Their ideas ranged from things which we all can do in our day-to-day lives, to things that the Government could do to create more sustainable living. Here are some of their best ideas:

 Save paper:

• Don’t waste paper – say ‘no’ to paper statements – opt for electronic ones
• Pay bills ‘on line’ – which will also reduce transport

Use less water:

• Save water – put washing machines on short cycles; use rinse water on garden; put bricks in toilet cisterns, install rain water tanks
• Don’t let tap run while brushing teeth and attend to any dripping taps
• Ditch “bottled water” – use a re-usable water bottle and “in-home” filtration systems that make tap water a good choice.

Sustainable travel:

• Use public transport/share lifts/use bicycles/walk
• Cars – Lift clubs, “drive smart” – use biodiesel/biogas/smaller cars
• Have incentives for using bicycles

Reduce waste:

• Use simple/no packaging/reuse grocery bags/shopping baskets
• Recycle/reuse – glass, plastic, paper – take to depots
• Government encourages recycling

Sustainable Agriculture:

• Deforestation – cleared for cattle farming – consume less meat
• Don’t over harvest (fishing, farming and mining)
• Visit restaurants that serve locally produced foods (promote local economics)

Energy efficiency:

• Use energy saving light bulbs and solar geyser and insulate geyser
• Switch off non-essential appliances – even  on ‘standby’ mode they draw energy and switch off lights when not in the room (SOS = switch off something)
• Have more family gatherings – good quality time with loved ones and cooking for bigger group is more efficient and less expensive
• Use re-chargeable batteries (non-rechargeable batteries use 50x more energy than they provide)

Renewable energy:

• Use solar power, wind power, hydro-electric power
• Education of people and word of mouth example.  Join organisations that campaign for a cause. 

If you have any other ideas to add to this list, please leave a comment below.