Sploosh! It’s easy to forget just how much water we use every day.

When we shower, bath, brush our teeth, flush the toilet, wash the dishes, wash our clothes, hose the garden...

And yet all that water has to be treated, filtered, and pumped into our homes – using energy burnt from CO2-emitting fossil fuels.

Next time you run a long bath, let the tap run when cleaning your teeth, and flush the toilet in the night, ask yourself if it’s really necessary.

No, it’s not just about being patriotic... Buying British fruit, veg and meat is genuinely better for the environment than buying food flown in from abroad.

So kill the Kenyan green beans and cull the Californian strawberries. Instead, choose the beans and the strabs that travelled less distance to get to your plate. 

Also look out for local foods, including cauliflowers, mushrooms, brussel sprouts, broccoli, onions, and carrots. Mmmmm!

Packaging is everywhere. Shrink-wrapped, boxed, glassed, and bagged... All that plastic comes from oil, and all the machines that make it gobble electricity.

Fortunately, you can put a stop to excessive packaging. Buy hand-picked fruit and vegetables instead of packaged food. Buy recycled products. And avoid using plastic supermarket bags.

Even in our throw-away culture, there are so many things we can re-use.

Plastic drinks bottles are handy for refilling and taking to work. The other side of used printer paper is fine for scribbling notes on. Even newspaper can be re-used – it’s great for cleaning windows with a little vinegar!

Not fortunate enough to have your waste collected from your door-step? You can still recycle your paper, card, glass, plastics, and tin cans: Swing by your local recycling centre on your way to the shops.

Recycling is more energy efficient than starting from raw materials. That’s why people who recycle their waste can save up to 420 kilos of CO2 emissions every year!