Juggling full-time work or a family leaves very little time to spare, and any few minutes that we do have leftover are too precious to spend trying to save the planet, right? Wrong! Going green does not have to be time-consuming – in fact by making a few small changes to your lifestyle you will actually save yourself time, as well as some money!
Ditch the iron
Ironing is not an enjoyable way to spend your free time, so ditch the iron and follow this handy tip instead: seal your bathroom to get rid of any air leaks by shutting the windows and blocking the space under the door, then hang up the wrinkled clothes inside. Whilst you shower, the steam from the hot water will naturally get rid of the wrinkles. Voila! Money saved on electricity, and your time spent with the iron will be reduced.
Shop online Rather than getting in the car and driving to the shops, you could find everything you need online with a few simple clicks, saving time as well as decreasing your spend on fuel. Not only is shopping online a quicker process, but it also makes it easier to buy eco-friendly products. There are thousands upon thousands of websites offering eco-friendly clothes, furniture and food, and for people worried about the heavy delivery trucks, many websites tell you whether the item is stocked in a store near you so you can go and collect it.
Cook smart
Do you have a gas or electric cooker? If so, make sure the size of the saucepan you are using matches the size of the hob ring. Gas flames should not heat the sides of the saucepan, only the bottom. Not only will this help prolong the life of your saucepan, but whatever you are cooking will cook more quickly without wasting money heating the air around it!
Notepad
Rather than spending time shopping for a new notepad when you run out of room in your old one, recycle any unwanted A4 paper that has only been printed on one side. Cut the paper into halves or quarters and clip together using bulldogs and staples to ensure you always have a notebook to hand whenever you need one. (Bear in mind that if there is confidential information on your paper you may want to shred it rather than reuse it!)
Washing
Save time on doing your laundry by making sure you only wash full loads. Doing lots of little washes not only takes up more hours in the day, but one full load uses less energy than two half loads. Also, make sure you reuse clothes that aren’t dirty. Wearing your clothes more than once is an easy way to cut back on time spent doing laundry as well as being more eco-friendly. Finally, do as many cold washes as you can, because a massive 90% of energy used for washing clothes goes to heating the water.
Chloe writes for ActiveQuote.com, an income protection insurance comparison website.