How to start going greener

If you’re not sure where to begin, here are some tips on going greener.

How can I start being more green?

The best thing to remember when you are working out what you can do to be greener is: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

• Reduce: Instead of persuading mum and dad to buy you new toys, look for second-hand ones at your local charity shop (you’ll save money, too, by reducing the number of new products you buy). And buy things with less packaging.
• Reuse: Think whether stuff like bottles, paper or packaging could be used creatively, rather than chucked in the bin. Maybe things you don’t want any more could be passed on to someone else?
• Recycle: Look at what is going into your bin and try to put your rubbish in the right place.

How can my family be greener at home?

Got a garden? Then get composting!

All you need is a composting bin. You can chuck in fruit and veg peelings, pips and cores, egg boxes, cardboard and newspaper, garden waste, even teabags. Then leave it alone for a few months and you'll come back to lovely compost to dig into your soil and help your garden bloom. You could even start growing your own vegetables.

In your house, try to be energy efficient. There are lots of ways to save energy, such as turning off electrical items at the wall socket when you're not using them – leaving them on standby wastes electricity. Also, change your light bulbs to low-energy ones – they only use one fifth of the energy of regular bulbs.

How can I encourage my parents to recycle?

Make it easier for them, because adults are sometimes too busy. A simple trick is to start sorting the rubbish yourself.

Ask an adult to give you different boxes to sort your rubbish into, label them clearly and start putting your waste in the correct place. 

Your parents will be so impressed that they will soon be putting their rubbish in the right place too.

I feel wasteful throwing away birthday cards and wrapping paper. What can I do?

First, make sure you open your presents carefully! Remember, it is better to reuse than recycle. So if you can use wrapping paper again, no new energy is needed to produce it (most people are, in any case, more bothered about what’s inside than the wrapping itself).

Before you recycle any cards that you’re not keeping, cut out fun pictures – they make excellent gift labels.

What should I do with containers that can’t be recycled?

Some councils do not recycle certain products, like plastics, but there is one place that loves to reuse these items – your school.

Primary schools love to be creative with anything from plastic bottles to egg boxes and bottle tops. So check with your teachers – anything could be your next art or DT masterpiece!

Alternatively, keep an ‘art box’ at home full of stuff that could come in handy later.