April 22, 2015April 24, 2015

Earth Day

“It’s our turn to lead” – the theme for this year’s Earth Day calls on all citizens around the globe to unite and show support for the protection of our beautiful and green environment.

South Africans have been challenged by the Institute of Waste Management to reduce consumption at home. The president, Dr Suzan Oelofse sets out five easy steps at ways in reducing one’s needs and to live more frugally. Donating surplus clothing to managing food menus and careful catering are some of the ways in which we could streamline our needs. The link to the article is here and the ideas are practical and achievable.

I’ve added to the list and would love to hear of further suggestions ….

My faithful duo to cut down on electricity –

Reduce the need to boil the kettle by storing the boiled water. — Reduce the need to boil the kettle by storing the boiled water in a hotpot.

Ditch the plastic water bottles, instead use glass and invest in a filter system to purify tap water.

Spiget for filetered tap water and glass bottle. — Spiget for filtered tap water and glass bottle.

Throw out the cling wrap and plastic bags – invest in containers and reusable cloth bags – http://www.keepleaf.com, http://www.bettys.dk

Cotton bags lined with durable waterproof material. — Cotton bags lined with durable waterproof material – good for packed sandwiches / lunch.

_DSC2514 — Store bread in bags, wrap cheese in cheesecloth in the fridge.

Grow window box herbs and greens, lettuce –

Save on greens and herbs by growing your own.

Get creative by using leftover pieces of material / yarn – join a handicraft group and get knitting / sewing. With winter coming the knitting needles will soon be out again ….

One of my mitred square blankets using odd ends of yarn. — A handknitted mitred-square blanket using odd ends of yarn.

8 thoughts on “Earth Day”

Earth Under my Feet says:

April 22, 2015 at 3:30 pm

Great ideas made even more appealing by your gorgeous pics Liz 🙂

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1. Nature on the Edge says:
  
  April 24, 2015 at 11:58 pm
  
  Thanks for the comment 🙂
  
  Reply
redosue says:

April 22, 2015 at 3:33 pm

So many of these suggestions were routine matters by our parents & grandparents. In our quest for convenience we are killing ourselves. Liz, I had never seen cloth bags for sandwiches. GREAT idea and wonderful post.

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1. Nature on the Edge says:
  
  April 24, 2015 at 11:46 pm
  
  Thanks for your comments Sue. Too right about our lifestyles being detrimental!
  
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Eliza Waters says:

April 22, 2015 at 5:31 pm

Great list, Liz. Changing our habits to greener choices isn’t that hard. I’m a big fan of hanging laundry on a clothesline. I try to run errands together to reduce road time. And I use our free table and clothes recycling shed at our waste station all the time. Just a few ideas to add to your list!

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1. Nature on the Edge says:
  
  April 24, 2015 at 11:31 pm
  
  Thanks for the tips Eliza – every effort helps.
  
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jacques1997 says:

April 22, 2015 at 6:10 pm

Very relevant post! I enjoyed reading it and will do my best to conserve energy when I’m grown up and have my own home.

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1. Nature on the Edge says:
  
  April 24, 2015 at 11:29 pm
  
  Thanks for the comment Jacques. Consumers certainly will have better choices in years to come. We looked at what it would cost to go ‘off grid’ and it was just too expensive. Still we have changed over to LED bulbs, and solar heating for the geyser and gas for cooking and that has cut our electricity bill quite a bit. Perhaps you may even own an electric car?!!
  
  Reply