Showers

Hygiene is important and you have to shower or have a bath or something along those lines to stay clean. Everyone has experienced that a class or meeting where you are sat next to someone who smelled a little ripe, and if you haven’t then I have bad news for you. It was you who has been the one who smelt funky in those conference meeting.

But there are showers to stay clean and fresh and then there is excessive use of them. I run regularly and so shower after each run to wash the sweat and dirt of and then sometimes I shower in the mornings if I’ve spent the whole night sweating. But if you want to save power and water and so help the environment there are a few things you need to be thinking about.

Firstly think about the length of your showers. You are perfectly able to get clean in a shower which lasts five minutes so there is no need to stand there for half an hour. I know everyone is guilty of this including me as there is nothing better to shake a hangover than a shower and sometimes I just find myself standing there lost in a daydream, but this is something we all need to reduce and limit.

Secondly don’t just take a shower out of habit; there are times when you need to shower twice a day but then other times when you don’t need to shower as much because you are still clean.

The third change I suggest you make is going to take some effort but it is worth it. It will allow you to save both money and power with a simple change. It does of course depend on your heating system and shower type but if your house runs of a hot water tank or has an instant shower heater it will make a difference. I suggest you try reducing the temperature of the heated water you use in your showers.

Let me explain this, It takes 4.18J to increase 1cm ³ of water by a single degree and even more if your house runs of a hot water tank as energy is required to maintain the water at the correct temperature once heated. So if you were to reduce the temperature by five or more degrees you will save energy and also have to spend less on those expensive fuel bills which are forever going up. But don’t let this confuse you, I’m not suggesting that you should start having cold showers, as great as this would be, everyone needs some creature comforts. What I’m attempting to say is lots of people use both hot and cold water to shower but if you can tune the max temperature of your shower water this will allow you to simply use it without having to add cold water to chill it. This means you won’t be wasting any power to heat water.

This might take some time to fine tune and get to a temperature which suits you but in the long run it will help both your pocket and the environment.

I have decided to also start adding a video to the end of each of my posts, they will usually not be anything to do with environmental issues but will hopefully show you amazing scenery which we need to respect and preserve. So I’m showing you the videos in a hope to remind you of what you are trying to save by changing your lifestyle. You must always remember the world is to be enjoyed while attempting to have a minimal impact.

ENJOY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSROSencBss

  

Insects

It’s important to remember if we want to make a difference to this world we don’t just need to reduce the amount of waste we are producing, we also need to make the world more suitable for the other organisms we share the planet with. We have changed their habitats and so we need to make sure they are able to cope with what we are creating.

This isn’t just for the larger animals though who get all the press, we are all well aware that large mammals such as rhinos and big cat etc are all experiencing drastic declines in their population numbers. There isn’t many practical things most people can do to stop this apart from donating money to charities and supporting the environment protection schemes but not buying exotic hard woods and bush meat. But these aren’t the only animals which need protecting and many of the other kinds you can make an active difference simply and cheaply.

Insects are extremely important and no matter how small they are they all have their own individual roles to play. For instance if all the dug beetles were to be removed from Africa the entire country would be knee deep in dung within weeks. They aren’t only important for waste removal though three quarters of the world’s flowering plants and around 35% of the world’s crops rely on insect pollination.

The problem is however many of these critical pollinators are in decline just like the larger mammals across the world. The big story you may have heard about is the bees are disappearing; now this is down to a number of reasons such as habitat loss, disease, parasites and environmental contaminants such as

pesticides. It is in these areas you can make a difference with extremely simple steps.

For instance the first step you can take is by planting a few different flowers such a lavender, this is so you can break up the monoculture farming and gardening which is found across the world. This will act as a key food source for bees and other pollinators.

Secondly you can avoid using pesticides in your garden and attempt to use environmentally farmed foods which are grown without using pesticides and other chemicals which could filter into the food chain and water system.

Third and finally I suggest you buy or more cheaply make a bug hotel. These act as shelter from the harsh weather in winter and storms. These can be made as extravagant or as simple as you like and basically comprise of a bunch of wood and other materials which are laid out so as to create a load of different size cracks and hole which insects can hide in. There are many designs and other helpful hints to making these online and this is just one simple way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqFezgTsymQ

I understand that this post might not appear as suitable to the age of people who I hope are reading this blog but please don’t let it go over looked. Even if you don’t have a garden a few pots on the door step will not only brighten up your house but also help the insects. The bug hotel is also a great activity to do if you have children and then you can investigate what has come to rest in the bug hotel. I used to completely love spending hour exploring my garden and the fields and woods around it for different insects and was one of the source for my reasons to study Zoology.

Sorry

There isn't much I can say about this video, apart from the fact that it's extremely moving.

Please try and find the time to watch it and listen to the word.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRLJscAlk1M

Bags

Let’s talk about bags

Carrier bags are the blight of our world, they fill our seas, our streets and our nature reserves. Of course bags are vital and like everyone I’m currently sitting in a house with a few bags hidden in a cupboard for when they are needed, but how many do you really need?

Plastic bags are everywhere and used for everything whether it’s for your weekly food shop or that shopping spree on weekends but it is in these areas which you need to attempt to reduce usage. In the UK and a few other countries the disposable carrier bags are dying out, at large super markets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s there are now rewards in the form of points for using a bags for life and they’ve moved the disposable kind and now store them behind the counter requiring people to ask for them instead of just grabbing loads. I believe this to be an excellent and effective idea which should be in common use globally. However this method isn’t consisted across the world, during my time in Australia I have learnt that bags for life aren’t in wide usage which is a great shame.

I want to take you back to your first years in primary or secondary school at the age of 10 or so, you were all kitted out with a new bag which is, to use your parents terms a bag ‘you’ll grow into’. Now this image is exactly what I looked like and the method I use to

carry my shopping. I hike back from the shops looking like I’m making an attempt on Everest or as if I’m about to spend months in the amazon, but then again I do tend to eat a lot more than most people.

As a student in Cardiff I don’t usually use a car to get around and about 90% of the time it’s faster to walk, but this also leaves you with the inconvenient fact that you have to carry whatever you buy home. This is why I and many others use backpacks and do our very best ant impressions to carry everything. There are several beneficial reasons to using a backpack. It’s easier and you don’t end up with the welts across your fingers from the bags carrying the heavier items. It’s safer, you have no need to worry about double bagging heavy things to stop the bags from splitting, this method is also twice as wasteful as simply using a stronger backpack, and finally it’s more environmental friendly as it reduces the demands for plastic bags and rucksacks don’t tend to wear out.

I do understand that disposable carrier bags have their own part to play however and many people do in fact reuse plastic bags as bin bags or simple to carry other things, and to separate items such as dirty shoes from clothes. I’ve even seen children in developing countries tie bunches of them together to use as balls, which is a great use for unwanted things. But their usage needs to be reduced heavily for the good of the planet.

So next time you go shopping please take your school bag, work bag, hiking bag whatever and use a few less carrier bags.

You can also reduce the number of plastic bag you need in the house by simply not using them in bins and instead tipping the internal bin into the external bin to empty it before giving it a quick rinse out with water (from a rain water tank if you want to be super environmental).

Thanks for reading