1. Sell your unwanted stuff!
While buying secondhand is a great way to save money, selling your old stuff will actually make money. Car boot sales, selling sites and table top sales “reduce, reuse, and recycle” — meaning there’s no energy wasted on producing new stuff—and they can only result in more space at home and more money in your wallet.
2. Buy pre-loved everything
Since reducing our consumerism might be the number one way to improve our eco footprint, and since secondhand stuff is cheap, there’s every reason in the world to buy what’s been used.
3. Take the junk out of your trunk
A lighter car uses less fuel and saves more money, so remove the roof rack and empty out that boot! (But maybe keep the spare tire.)
4. Make your own cleaning supplies
Household cleaning supplies are jam-packed with the most powerful bacteria killers in existence, expertly engineered to completely annihilate just about every organism they come into contact with. Unsurprisingly, these man-made poisons aren’t great for the natural world, and many have toxic effects on animal and plant life once they enter our waterways via sewer systems.
5. Borrow, don’t buy
Before any big purchase, think: How often will I really use this ladder/leaf blower/wheelbarrow? If the answer is “not a lot,” it’s so easy to borrow stuff.
6. Go paperless
Switching to paperless billing lowers the odds of losing bills in the post. Many billers offer a discount for going paperless because it saves them money on stamps and printing—it also cuts down on paper, which cuts down on tree deaths (and don’t you know that trees are hugely helpful in combating climate change?). If your biller doesn’t offer a paperless option, petition them to do so!
7. Swap your wardrobe for someone else’s
It’s not hard to find someone who’s willing to swap his or her clothes for yours. This’ll save you the cost of new clothes, reduce two people’s waste, and lower carbon footprints all around—the production and transportation of even a single cotton t-shirt generates several kilograms of greenhouse gases that could be avoided with second-hand shopping.
