Low Impact

I’m just back from my regular trip to the shops. I live about 1.5 kilometres from my local shops, and whenever possible I do it on foot.

I see a lot of people in my neighbourhood driving to and from the shops, and I can see their point. When you finish a big shopping expedition for the entire week’s groceries, that can result in a lot of weight to cart back home. So much more appealing to be able to throw all those bags into the back of the car and drive home in climate-controlled comfort!

To deal with this, I do our shopping more regularly - usually 2 or 3 times… Continue reading

It’s the “green” thing to do - buy the organic alternative when doing your groceries. But organic products are invariably more expensive than their conventionally produced counterparts. Is buying organic food worth the cost?

First, a brief definition. Organic produce is food that has been produced without the use of artificial fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides. In fact, to be certified as “organic”, many certifiers require that no such artificial farming aids be used over the preceding few years to minimise any chemical residue.

Without chemical aids, a farmer may well get lower yields from the crops, along with higher losses due to pests. To compensate, they need to charge higher… Continue reading

This is our second article in the “Using Less” series, this time on how you can use less petrol in your day-to-day life. The green benefits of using less fuel are obvious - every litre of petrol results in around 2.2 kilograms of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. There’s also an obvious benefit to your hip pocket - in fact, that benefit seems to get clearer every week as petrol prices keep rising and rising!

As is often the case, there isn’t too much in the way of rocket science here - we’ve just gathered together a few common-sense things that we can all do to reduce our petrol usage… Continue reading