Save energy & water
Even if you have an electricity deal of 100 % renewable electricity it is still good to care for your electricity and not over use it. The same goes with water. It may seem like we have an endless amount of water on this planet, but actually only 2,5 % of the worlds water is fresh water, that is water we can drink and use. Look through the lists and see what you can do to save some of it.
At home
- Turn off your lights and devices instead of leaving them on standby
- Change your light bulbs to LED lights.
- Lower the temperature in your apartment/house and cozy up on warm sweaters and slippers instead
You can use electric outlets with a turn of switch to make this easier. Don’t leave electronics like chargers in the outlet if you can’t turn the outlet off. Chargers can continue to take electricity and are also a risk of fire.
Put a note on your door or pillow if you need reminders to turn of the light before leaving home or going to bed. It is also good to have a habit of shutting the lights whenever you leave a room.
LED lights require 80% less energy than normal light bulbs. It is therefore more sustainable to change out your light bulbs to LED even though they might still be functioning. One exception for this, however, is the Compact Fluorescent (CFL), as these have a lot of carbon binned in the production it is better to use them until they no longer function. Have a look at the different types of light bulbs to the left to know if your lights are LED or not.
In the kitchen
- Use a lid on the saucepan when cooking (this decreases energy use by 30%) and use saucepans that have the same size as the stove area (not a smaller one)
- Defrost food in fridge and let cooked food chill before storing it in the fridge or freezer
- Don’t let the tap stay on while washing dishes, fill up the sink or stop the tap in between while dishing.
- Use a water carrier which you put in the fridge instead of letting the tap on until the water gets cold
- Keep right temperature in fridge (5 degrees) and freezer (- 18 degrees)
- Don’t leave the coffee boiler on, transfer the coffee to a termo instead or only make the amount of coffee that you will use
- Use convection oven and cook many things at the same time in the oven
In the bathroom
- Take shorter showers and turn of the shower while soaping up
- Install low-flow nozzles on your shower and tap (usually you can’t tell the difference but this is saving a lot of water)
- Treat baths as a luxury
- Turn of the water while brushing your teeth
Doing laundry
- Only wash your laundry when you can fill up the machines
- Wash your clothes in cold water (30 to 40 degrees celcius)
- Hang dry your laundry and avoid the dryer as much as possible
Extra tip:
- Get yourself a ‘Guppyfriend’. This is a bag that prevents runoff of microplastics from your clothes into the water.