1 February 2019

Quick ways to reduce your carbon footprint

There are some easy things we can all do to reduce our carbon footprint. Here are simple changes you can make today, brought to you by the Climate Coalition.

By Ellen McHale

Trees in Redwood Grove

Travel smarter

The way we travel has a huge impact on our climate, but it doesn't take a lot to reduce our footprint. 

Could you take public transport to work instead of driving, or even better, walk, or cycle? 

Incredibly, the number of electric cars in the UK grew by 23% in 2017 and there are now more charging points than there are petrol stations in the UK. 

Alternatively, why not take a bus to Wakehurst straight from Haywards Heath station when you visit us. 

Think about what you eat

What we eat has a profound impact on our environment.

For example, beef requires 160 times more land and 11 times more greenhouse gases than staples like wheat and rice.

Eating seasonally and locally reduces the distance your food has to travel to reach your plate, whilst supporting the farmers closest to you.

Plan a trip to Wakehurst and pick up this cookbook in our shop to get inspired, or discover the work we're doing with crop wild relatives to protect the plants we eat. 

Make your home more sustainable

We all want the heat that we’re paying for to stay within our homes and not be wasted.

There are simple ways of doing this, from turning the lights off and installing a smart meter, to better insulating your home.

Lightbulb
Lightbulb/Unsplash

Use up your left overs

Did you know that every year, a third of fruit and vegetables don’t make it onto our plates?

Cut out your food waste by making delicious dishes out of those left-over bits and bobs in the fridge at the end of the week. 

Check out our Kitchen Garden blogs and get inspired to use up your leftover courgettes or pumpkin.

Pumpkins
Pumpkins Ellen McHale © RBG Kew

Cut down your waste

As well as costing us unnecessary money, our waste leaves a huge footprint.

We throw away an enormous amount of resources, and this waste is taking its toll on our planet – for example, more plastics are expected to be in the sea than fish by 2050.

Why not challenge yourself to think differently when buying new clothes or find innovative ways to reuse everyday objects.

This content was brought to you by the Climate Coalition.

Bins
Bins/Unsplash

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