Yesterday was National Refill Day, an opportunity to encourage the country to make the switch from single-use plastic water bottles to reusable bottles. BILLIONS of plastic bottles are produced every year around the globe: doesn’t it make sense to do what we can to reduce that number? But the ethos of refill is about far …
In the not-too-distant past, I worked as research assistant and was responsible for investigating how to encourage people to adopt more sustainable behaviour. I was specifically looking at household retrofitting—solar panels, underfloor insulation, high-quality glazing, etc. A more energy efficient house means less energy wasted and a smaller carbon footprint, and it typically has the …
I admit this title doesn’t have the same ring—or as many exclamation marks—as those headlines you see in supermarket magazines: “Drop 10 pounds in 10 days!” or “Be beach body ready in two weeks or less!!!”And it’s strange that those types of headlines continue to sell. Because if it were so easy to lose weight …
One of the most recent statistics I read about plastic said that 93% of families are trying to cut back on their single-use habits. Count us in: we started quite strongly with reducing our kitchen plastics, and have now moved to the bathroom. For me, this is the hardest area to tackle: I like my assorted …
“Start before you plan to start”: I can’t remember where I read this nugget of advice last year, but it’s something that I have taken to heart. The idea is that you begin building routines and getting yourself into the mindset you want before you embark on any planned change. This meant I started working …
I think everyone is familiar with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, if not from the original Goethe poem then the one with Mickey Mouse and the dancing brooms in Fantasia. The story is simple: an inexperienced magician tries to take a shortcut that will allow him to finish his work without lifting a finger, only to discover …
Every weekday morning I catch the 6:58 am train from Chippenham to Swindon. And every morning I see people clutching their red-and-white disposable coffee cups from Steamers. At five cups a week, subtracting four weeks for holidays, that’s 240 coffee cups per person per year. And that’s only if they have one cup a day! …