I’ve been knocking up a list of eco tips for a few weeks now so I thought it about time that I actually get on and publish it. It’s more important than ever to be focussing our attention on helping the planet and it’s good to be installing these notions into the kids now so it’s just the norm for them (although if Polly is any example of her generation it’s actually them teaching us something!). Just for the record I’m not saying we are green warriors but we’ve definitely started thinking a lot more about our impact on the planet- the bonus is that some of these things have actually saved us some money.

The main thing we do (something most households do) is recycle- and I mean recycle anything we can. A while back our local council scrapped the weekly bin collection and have made it 3 weekly (that’s bin bag bins every 3 weeks!) which was a scary thought at first but now I couldn’t imagine filling our big bin every week. To go with this they upped their recycling collections to every week and they take soooo much. Cardboard, paper, glass, plastic, foil, clothes, shoes, small electricals and food (and a lot more on top of that). We have a small box on the side in the kitchen that we collect bits in once they’ve been cleaned so it’s easy to take a small load out into the garden to sort into the right container for collection. I know not all councils do this good with recycling collections but definitely look into what they will take and you might be surprised.

One of the main things left going in our normal bin was soft plastics- bread bags, crisp packets etc, so recently we’ve looked at how to tackle that too. The bread bags we found out can be used in the food waste bin and they actually last better than the ones you can buy in the shop. All the other soft plastics go to big Tesco whenever we go there as they’ve recently started recycling these which is great- there is usually a cage near the front of the store clearly marked and you can just throw in your bag of plastics. It’s amazing how much you can squeeze into one carrier bag too. The kids get involved in all the recycling and the bag for these bits has now been christened the ‘special bin.’

Obviously having kids in the house means not all the recycling ends up in the box- the joys of crafting! Polly is our ‘crafting Queen’ and jumps at any chance to grab the glue, scissors and of course the glitter. They recently made a town out of cardboard that I’d been holding back for them. And any parents struggling with getting their kids to surrender all their creations into the recycling afterwards, the episode of Bluey called ‘the Dump’ definitely helped in this house. Just for the record I do keep some of their finer works but the town took up the whole living room and with the littlest one and the cat it wasn’t going to last longer than 48 hours.

On the subject of waste, another place to use is the local dump/tip. Luckily for us we’ve got one on the edge of town and they are a great place to get rid of the bigger items (and sometimes the smaller items) that you can’t get rid of in the normal rubbish. Some also sell stuff that people have left behind so if you’re looking for a bargain they can be a good place to start. I’m not going to lie it’s also quite satisfying throwing a microwave into a large skip.

One way of bringing down the waste we create has been using plastic storage pots instead of cling film, I literally have a cupboard full of different sized pots. They are great for keeping things in the fridge, cupboard and of course for lunch boxes. We now barely use any cling film and it makes things much easier to access (although it does make snacking on cocktail sausages easier if then are in a clip open pot and not a faff with cling film!).

Staying with the kitchen, one of the switches we made last year was to stop buying regular washing up sponges and instead bought a silicone one that’s still going strong now. I also used to use those blue multi purpose cleaning cloths a lot but found they don’t last very long so during one of the lockdowns one of my projects was to turn an old pair of my pjs into several cloths which are also still going strong as they can just go in the washing machine instead of the bin.

A slightly larger investment we did make during lockdown was a new washer/dryer. Our old one gave up and died so we needed a new one anyway but this time we decided to spend a bit more and invest in a good energy rated one- it’s also nice and quiet which is definitely worth paying a bit more for! The quick wash is actually really good compared to the last machine and by accident I found out that it works on the kids woolly cardi’s better than the actual wool wash! It also weighs the load of washing on the eco setting and knocks time off for a smaller load and will also stop itself on the drying setting when it thinks the clothes need a shake about or if they are already dry.

During the summer I tend not to use the dryer much though and instead make the most of the airers and the washing line, I know it can be more of a faff but with the electric bills going up at the rate they are I think even in winter we’ll have to resort to air drying more anyway. Another swap I made was to washing powder from capsules. It’s much cheaper and makes me feel a bit better when I’m only washing one or two items on the quick wash. The other washing product I swear by is colour catcher sheets- I honestly can’t remember the last load of washing that I separated into lights and darks! I just shove it all in with a single sheet and it’s so much easier. Definitely use more than one sheet though on a new item of clothing especially if it’s a bold colour like red!

Most of these sorts of lists seem to start with ‘bring your own shopping bag’ which if your anything like us and find yourself popping in a shop with no warning, this bit of advice is a bit of a waste of time so instead my advice would be put those bags everywhere- in the pushchair, nappy bag, car, everywhere!

Another common piece of advice that I’d definitely recommend is buying and selling things and using charity shops. The kids go through clothes and that so quick that it’s way cheaper to get things off Facebook Markertplace and the other various selling sites. We also do a bit of swapping about with other parents which helps and I’ve found some bargains in the town’s charity shops. I know it can be a faff sometimes sorting through things but it’s a good way for us collectively to tackle the impact of the fashion world on the planet- and yes we do still buy some things new but it does make me feel better about it when I know that stuff will go through 2/3 of the kids and then maybe another family too. The kids primary school also has a clothing bank which is handy to chuck the odd thing in on the school run and the stuff that can’t be reused goes in the recycling.

Another slightly bigger thing is an allotment, sadly the waiting list here is huge and we’ve been on that list for over a year now but once we do manage to secure one we’re already eagerly planning what we will grow.

A slightly smaller thing is to just repurpose things. I can’t remember the last time I got rid of a shoe box as they make for great storage. It’s amazing what different jobs items can take on, for example the baby toiletries box we had is now the craft box, an old chest of drawers became Henry’s lockdown project when he turned it into a dairy farm for the kids and some of the old baby clothes that escaped my purges have found their way into the doll’s clothes box.

A really easy way of getting the kids interested in nature and helping nature is to set a good example and it can be as easy and simple as saving a snail. I’m forever moving snails out of harms way and now the kids will point out any in precarious situations that need rescuing and although they aren’t fully there yet with doing the rescuing themselves as they can be a squeamish still with creepy crawlies at least they are getting there. Just getting them excited in nature will help too as it makes them question things and that leads them to learning and then pretty soon you find your six year old pointing out different types of flower to you that even you didn’t know (we got her a flower identifying book a while back that she loves looking through too), then when they get excited about nature you find they want to know how they can help too. Seb now joins Polly is berating the ignorant pricks who drop litter whenever they see some lying around.

I realise I may have gone on a bit- can you tell that it’s a topic close to my heart?! I’ll stop now as I don’t want to come across as preachy, but even if one person picks up one of these tips then that’s still a little step in us all working together to help this planet of ours. Anyway, feel free to add any further suggestions or tips 🙂