Monday Mix-up - My Top Eco-friendly tips - Week 3

There are MANY ways to do your bit for the planet without having to overextend yourself, or your bank account, much. If you are looking for some really easy tips that will take you very little time, I will give you some today to choose from. If you were to start adding just ONE green method to your life each week, in place of your conventional methods, then by the end of the year, you will have done 52 things to help your planet. If 10 people were to do the same thing, that would be 520 reasons for our planet to start heal itself. Imagine if we could spread the word even further. It would start to turn the tide in favour of our earth sustaining itself and therefore, sustaining us. Because you DO know that, while the earth is suffering from all that we humans are doing to it, it WILL ultimately survive climate change and excessive pollution. It's US who won't.

Last week's tips involved the three R's. Not the schooling R's, the green R's: reduce, re-use and recycle. Read the post here to find out how to implement them in your life. Today we're up to tip number 7.

Tip number 7: Buy rechargeable batteries

I think the reason that people don't buy rechargeable batteries is because of the initial outlay in rands. They see that price of R130 for a battery charger and 2 AA batteries and think, "No way!" But think about this for a minute... A packet of 4 AA batteries is about R30 depending on the brand you buy. Ultimately, you will end up going for the cheaper ones because money is tight for everyone these days. The problem is, those cheap batteries will last you less time which means, before long, you are heading back out to the shop to buy more. Even if you spend more on expensive batteries, they will eventually die and you'll be heading back to the shop for more.

We ALL need batteries for most things these days. I use them for my wireless mouse and my keyboard. We also have 4 remotes we use between our TV, sound system, DSTV and dvd player. That's 12 batteries at any given time in our house but that is only the ones I've mentioned. I'd say, at various times, we need about 16 batteries in total in our house and that's AAA and AA. That's R480 every few weeks IF you calculate at R30 per packet.

I have 8 AA rechargeable batteries and 8 AAA rechargeables. That's ALL we need. I never have to buy batteries. It was an initial outlay of about R350 and now I have batteries for life. They also don't all run out at once so, if some DO run out, I borrow from one of the remotes until the batteries are charged which takes about an hour. To me it's a no-brainer. Why would you even add more disposable batteries to the environment at an extra cost to you when you can save so much money? 

Even better, you can buy a charger for your disposable batteries! Check it our here. I haven't used it myself but I would imagine it works or they wouldn't be selling it. I can vouch for the website store. I use them myself frequently.

Tip number 8: Don't buy plastic bags at grocery stores

Have you heard of our national flower: the plastic bag? In 2004 the government introduced a levy to try and reduce the amount of plastic littering our environment. This method had great success in other countries but in South Africa? Not so much. Instead of changing behaviour, South Africans simply grew accustomed to paying for it and, unbelievably, they carry on as if it's nothing. 

The intention was that the money collected from the bags would be used to set up a national recycling programme, which would clean up the environment and create thousands of jobs. To date, none of the money has been used to recycle plastic bags, nor have any recycling jobs been created. In fact, Mama She's is now collecting recycling in Gauteng for FREE because Pick it up won't even pay them. The money from the bags is going straight into the government's coffers and doesn't seem to be being used for any other purpose than to line someone's pockets who doesn't need it. You may think it's a minimal amount but we are talking 100s of millions of rands, seriously. That's how many bags people buy on a daily basis. 

When I get to a till, most tellers don't actually ask me if I need bags, they simply scan them before I get a chance to speak up and then I have to wait while they get a manager to refund them. Yes, it's not a lot of money, but on principle I won't take them because I didn't ask for them and I don't need them. They are so used to people just buying them that they don't ask anymore. That just shows the attitude that people have towards helping our environment. It's not the tellers fault, it's the consumer.

It's time to stop this unnecessary waste of money and more adding of plastic to our environment. It's silly and it's selfish. It's SO easy to take your own bags. They are small enough to roll up and put in your handbag, or in your cubby hole. It saves you money ultimately and it's better for our planet. The only excuse for buying plastic bags is laziness UNLESS you have a genuine use for them. If you use them for your rubbish at home then that's a reason. But if you just throw away the bags when you unpack your shopping then you are the person who should be taking your own bags shopping. We don't need more plastic in our landfills or stuck to fences and bushes. Shopping bags can be used over and over again, even plastic ones. There's no reason to keep buying new ones at all. This is so easy it's also a no-brainer. 

Tip number 9: Buy energy-saving globes

As with the batteries, your first thought when talking about energy-saving globes is that they cost more, right? Well, yes, if we're talking initial outlay then, yes. However, as with the batteries, you need to see the bigger picture. That globe that cost you R24 is going to last you 6 months, whereas the cheaper, conventional globe will last just a few weeks and, in those weeks it will run up your electricity bill and put more strain on the power grid. Eskom is always complaining about us not saving energy. This is one extremely easy way to save it.

You can get energy saving globes for lights of all shapes and sizes which makes it really easy to put this tip into action. You can also buy them at any shop which means no having to hunt around or go out of your way. You can buy them while you're at pick n pay picking up some groceries. 

You usually get an option of cool white or warm globes. Before I knew the difference, I accidentally bought the cool white globes and the light they gave off was piercing and, literally, cold. If you buy the warm globes, they will make your home feel nice and cosy while keeping your electricity bill down considerably. As I mentioned in the first blog in this series, don't forget to turn off lights when you aren't in a room, even if you have energy saving globes. Every little bit makes a difference.

That's it for week three. Tune in next Monday for more, easy eco-friendly tips on how you can help your planet heal!