Woo for the earth! I didn't mention it in the video, but you can get £50 in your Octopus Energy account with my referral code (affiliate link) // bit.ly/2HyhLEZ
I’ve been with Eon for years and they recently informed me they were upping the prices again early April. Thanks to your video, I’m now looking into Octopus as I’d never heard of this company before x
I think people always forget that it's not about doing all these 25 things and more in one go, it's about doing one thing at a time, day by day. I probably do only a quarter of these things, but that's a quarter more than last year :) I love this channel because it's super supportive and positive rather than aggressively pushing an agenda!
as a biology student, i'd also say: plant local plants in your garden! there are plenty of beautiful plants in every country. planting alien species can be really harmful to the environment if they turn out to be invasive! some species can easily 'run away' from your garden and cause damage to local flora. so please do your research guys
Agree with moveupstairs as a vegan horticulturist. Have you thought of doing a wildlife garden? Research on sites like rhsplants.co.uk, thompson-morgan.com, suttons.co.uk and crocus.co.uk
Such useful advice! I've found this, which is useful to planting trees/shrubs in the UK: www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=848 Does the same apply to herbs? I assume if pot my herbs in isolation that would be fine, but if I were to put them in a ground plot...?
@@bethanmae Some herb's example Mint can be invasive so yes it is best being kept in a pot to enable to keep the plant under control. You could grow herb's in a windowsill planter and once grown use what you need when you need it. If you got herb's plants already grown from the garden centre or other retailers you could also take cuttings from them to produce new plants.
You should save all of your “repurposed diy” projects for a video! Like the smashed mug and the shirt draft door sewing!!!! I would love a thrifty repurpose video like that!
my tipp would be: share don‘t buy. you don‘t need to own everything yourself if you only use it rarely you can always borrow things. that weird tool I needed to assemble my grill - borrowed from the neighbour, tumbledrying my towels once a month - doing it at my sisters place, only traveling once a year - just borrow a suitcase. less clutter and stuff is always better for the environment and saves you money and time.
Thank you for shouting out local businesses ! I work in a small bakery we are trying our hardest to go plastic free and love people bringing their own containers ❤️
I really really want to go low waste. I think this would be really really challenging but I’m willing to do this for Mother Earth. This was extremely helpful, I’m looking forward to this series!!!
You should consider using a pressure cooker instead of an open pot. It really cuts down on energy consumption when cooking lentils, potatoes, rice etc.
Thank you for making this. You have so many tricks 😁 I live in Northern British Columbia Canada. We have a very small yard but we made our front yard into a huge garden. We are able to compost and it makes the garden happy too. We share produce with our neighbours and anyone walking down the sidewalk. We have had some great chats with people who we may not have met if we didn't have the garden. Our neighbours bring us their grass clippings so it's a win win. They also chase deer out of the garden if we aren't around and help us watch over it. I also make napkins from my old sheets. I just run it threw the sewing machine to give it a nice edge.
If you do need a dryer, be sure to chuck in something that’s already dry, like a pillow case, that’s also a natural fibre. You drop the drying time by 25%.
Sorry for another comment, but: I made a couple of door drafts out of old sheets! I folded each sheet to be the length of the door, rolled it up, and safety-pinned the ends (I was too lazy to sew). It was super easy, looks cute, and prevented me from getting rid of old sheets. :)
Hi! I live in the USA. I also live in an apartment. A good hack for composting is to take it to your local Whole Foods. They let us drop our compost in their bins. We collect for a week and put it in a compostable bag in the freezer, then drop it off.
Maddie! I think you said you're getting a cat soon? You should make a video about how you try to minimize waste with your cat (litter box, cat food, etc.). I have two cats, and I feel like the majority of my trash is old litter and empty cans of cat food, but I'm not sure what I can do to minimize it. Anyway, great video as always! Regarding energy, I also unplug (almost) everything when it's not in use, and I've managed to get my electric bill down to $20/month on average.
For my cat at least, I use a non-toxic litter like sWheat scoop which is (more) biodegradable than traditional litters, in the biggest bag I can carry so that I'm using less packaging. And for the ol' quick scoop clean, I buy compostable dog waste bags, so I'm sending less plastic to the landfill. At least in my area, cat food tins are recyclable when washed out as well. It's impossible to make pets completely waste-free, but we can try! :)
I buy cat litter made from recycled paper and flush the poo down the toilet. I shake to scoop a bit, it's slotted, to remove most of the litter before flushing. I think you could chuck it in your compost/bokashi bucket too? I'll need to double check that!
It also dawned on me that some people use wood pellets instead of cat litter, which you can buy in huge quantities at a time! Also, I would consider only dry food, but I like to give my cats variety, and one of my cats is missing a lot of teeth, so she eats wet food for the most part. I’m going to look into washing/recycling the cans!
@@jessmullens5191 NO, please don't do that! And NEVER every add cat faeces to compost!! They're full of pathogens as are dogs feaces and the feaces of all carnivores. The most environmentally-friendly safe way is to buy biodegradable cat litter; put the clumps and faeces in the big household rubbish bin and only take it out when that bag is full. Also, re feeding: aluminium cans are highly, highly recyclable unlike plastic sachets and wet food is much healthier for cats than dry food. Cheers.
This also might be weird to some people beut when my sister or my mom and I pee rigth after each other, we won't flush in between (when we're just peeing). We kind of adapted this from my aunt who lives in Spain, an really HAS TO be careful with how much water she is using .
@@MadeleineOlivia Absolutely! I think a lot of people are daunted by the idea of being eco-friendly, as they think it means changing your lifestyle and also believe that it can be more expensive, which is completely not true! As you said, there are so many little things we can do that can make such a big impact in the long run! x
I work for a water conservation company and these are such great tips. Turning the tap off while you brush teeth, getting aerated taps, using water butts etc are such great ways to save lots of water 😊👍
I hate where I live because we don't have any recycling bins or compost outside, it makes it so hard to do even the basic things :( But little steps, we're getting there!
In Switzerland I live in a studio apartment with a reasonable rent. In a modern building - no mould, excellent heating in cold months and great insulated windows and doors. I also do not pay water, heating or electricity costs. The hot water supply is wonderful. Am so happy living here in central Zurich.
@@djaneab The cost of living here in Switzerland is far higher than in the UK. I was lucky to find my studio apartment. These days on average a studio apartment runs at about CHF 1,200 - CHF 1,600. But houses are not draughty like in the UK. Food is very expensive compared to UK prices. Generally speaking UK is much cheaper. But our salaries are very high. Taxes are low, university is cheap and standards high. Plus our public transport is superb. Not like in UK like when it rains your train lines get flooded in the London area. Singapore is the most expensive in the world, Paris is second (but nobody in their right mind would want to live live - dirty with dog poo all over. Zurich is third so this gives you an idea. Think UK is about 10 or thereabouts. But standard of living here is very high, plus the country is very safe. Our kids walk safely to school or to play with friends. Pensions are high. I would say that having lived in UK myself, UK is cheaper. But there again London is expensive with housing quality not being in relation to high rents. I love the Lake District in England. Only hope that UK does not come short with this Brexit story. Thank goodness we have Direct Democracy here. Think it will help you to Google say London prices compared to Zurich. All the best.
1 23 sounds lovely,. Next time you’re in the UK visit Cornwall, it’s cheaper down there generally, it’s much safer, very low crime rate , amazing beautiful sandy beaches and generally so very very beautiful. Well worth a visit!
I do the not flushing the loo every time thing as well XD. I always thought it's such a waste if it's just a small wee to flush with like three buckets of clean water or something
We have a hippo in our loo - not an actual hippo, it wouldn't fit! These are water limiters for the cistern. So even when you do flush, it uses less. Anyone else grow up with the saying: 'if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down'? (Mum's been vegan 25 years and I grew up in an eco conscious household)
Love your recommendations! So glad to see this. Another thing - if you go to a restaurant or takeout place, take your own container(s) and ask the merchants to use your container(s) instead of theirs. If you’re going to a self-serve buffet-style takeout restaurant, have the merchant weigh your container first. Bring your own cutlery, and refuse plastic or biodegradable cutlery, as even the corn-based cutlery takes eons to decompose. I’ve been doing this for over a decade. Same goes for when I have to travel. I bring my own cup, cutlery, container(s), napkin and my own prepared snacks in those container(s) to eat while in transit, and then I use the container(s) for takeout or storing food, later. In the past, I lived in a place that didn’t have compost/green bin pickup. I used to know the schedule of the green bin pickup around the corner, and I would put my organic waste in green bins that were out on the curb, waiting to be collected. Love your videos, btw.
I have just filled up my dishwasher, fully loaded! :) I have a tip for using the washing machine more efficiently: if your clothes are not dirty, use the Eco or Easy Wash cycle. Much better for your clothing, the water is usually 20-30 celsius and gets the laundry done sooner (depending on the amount of clothes). Also, use the spin cycle! If you give a good 800-1000 spins to the clothes (not delicates of course) then they will come out much dryer and need less time to air dry.
I have a very old broiler in my rental studio so i use residual heat A LOT. I try to never switch it on for one single thing (same for the oven). I cut it off before the end of the cooking time, and also put my dirty pans filled with water on it while it's still warm to help cleaning. I use dry brushing as body exfoliation so i save water, and also minimize the flow/time under water. I've recycled small towels i bought for removing my makeup (too harsh for my skin) into drying cloth when cleaning my bathroom (this way my shower and tap are super shiny and clean = save some time cleaning/cleaning products/water) And many other things like using my old socks as cleaning sponges, savon de marseille as dishwashing liquid, infusing my teas/herbals in a bottle in the fridge and drinking it fresh ...
I live in an apartment and we compost. We save the food scraps that we can in the freezer that we can make stock out of. Anything that cannot be used for stock goes in the compost. We use the toilet paper or paper towel roll cardboard in our compost as well, and egg shells.
We have a shared garden but can't really plant anything, so I'm joining an urban gardening community this spring. There are gardening communities or projects in most bigger cities now. So go check them out if you want to plant some herbs and flowers and most of the time you can take your compost there as well.
When i cook something in the oven in automn/winter, I place a bowl of warm water on the top of it, and when the meal is ready i let the door of the oven open so the hot air make the water condense in steam, so I don't need to buy an humidifier for my appartment. AND I can save for the electricity heating! I don't know if this work well for a larger appartement or a house, but it work for me so! :)
Hi Maddie great tips. We do do some of things that you mentioned. just to name a few is cloth napkins we do not run the water constantly brushing teeth or showering. Also we do not flush the toilet in the middle of the night we flushed in the morning.
For composting: in Belgium we all have a green container that gets collected every fortnight. It costs money, but less than when we would put in the regular bin. It's just normal here and very practical if you don't have a garden like me.
It's not everywhere. I live in Diest (Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium) and we don't have the green bin. I collect our compost in a large basket and drop it at my parents or sister when it's full.
My dog also loves playing with old socks tied together! And you know that you can turn off the burner when pasta is boiling and it continues cooking with a lid on? In this way you can cut by half the energy needed to cook pasta.
This video was great! Found this from watching your DIY cleaning products which I have now implemented into my life. I have an A4 page of your steps so that I can always bring it out while I’m cleaning to be able to refer to easily. Great video and when I wrote them all done, found I was already doing half of them! So a nice feeling with room to grow! ☺️
Thank you so much for all your good advice on using things eco-friendly I really enjoyed the video and I'm a very natural type of person and I like to say that way and also I do love to use things that are naturally and recycle
Great ideas! I own a lot of physical books because I’m a history and literature major (it’s the only thing that I own a lot of and they give me great enjoyment). To be more eco friendly about it I buy them all second hand from charity shops. Much like clothes, I often hear the charity shop volunteers saying that they have too many books and lots just get thrown away. I also help to run the composting program at my local community garden, it’s a great thing to be involved in and I always go home with a basket full of veggies 🙂
I soak my pots overnight - I use very little water to wash them. Also burn almond wood in fireplace for heat - double burn emissions for clean use and it heats our house.
I notice so many people sitting inside in T-shirts while it is freezing cold outside. Or at night, they have lights on everywhere in the house. Put on a jumper, thick socks etc. and feel that it is winter inside your house as well (obviously within your comfort zone) and turn off most lights, make it cozy in the house.
I use bamboo dish cloths so whenever they're dirty I can just wash them, I also don't flush every time I pee XD Menstrual cups are also really good they're so economical and produce no landfill and last forever!
Lovely video, I'm gonna be making some changes in my home! but I'd like to point out that adding rocks or anything to the bottom of pots when repotting isn't good for your plants! The saturated zone in the soil stays regardless - the rocks or smashed mug would just make it sit higher up in the pot and not reduce it
That's a really great idea to switch electricity companies but for example, here in South Africa, there is only one electricity company which provides power for the whole country (and it's non-renewable source) (also like not getting electricity through that company is not an option)... But at the moment, there's huge problems with electricity so we have up to 8 hours a day of no electricity (which I guess is good for the environment regardless of the extreme inconvenience?)
I went vegan about 8 months ago, quite out of the blue. At the time I had no interest in the environment or welfare of animal, but this move was one of my best, I eat more fruits, vegetables and whole foods, I now cook at home and it has got me enjoying simpler things. During this time I hit a financial difficulty and it has been the most empowering time, I now :Make my own laundry detergent, washing up liquid, switched from shower gel and shampoo to soap bars, dry my washing on a clothes stand, wash my clothes on a 15minute cycle, sold off a lot of unnecessary possessions on ebay and not because I had to because I wanted to but it has definitely helped me shed some weight and live more frugally which has helped my stress levels enormously. I know there is more but that's all I can thibk of for now, I look forward to the next thing I experiment with learning, making, enjoying
@@MadeleineOlivia Unfortunately I can't really help you with this. I know that in some countries you can buy something already made that you just have to connect to your pipes, and in other countries you have to do everything by yourself. If you are interested I suggest you go to online forums for people renovating their houses being ecofriendly. In France there's a lot of topics about this !
When I was little kid I remember my mom used to do almost all things you mentioned but not include the pepperless and LED one. And we eat meat like 10 times a year. And thank you for the tips 😘😘
Our library has gotten so expensive :( It just to be free for students, but now it costs me a card-price and a €1 per book I rent. I just find that so unfortunate, since the library is located behind my home. I love the video Maddy, spot on :)
A note on composting - some councils in the UK have a food waste compost recycling, collected (usually) on the same day as other recycling. It's always worth asking about this if you're not sure if your council does it!
Moving out on the 12/4 used Maddies Octopus link. Their customer service is really helpful and website really easy to use. Also if you use the link you get £50 off! Making my 1st month gas and electric only £6. Oh yeah!
I only use a tumbledryer for towels because I like them to be fluffy. So I basically use it once a month at my sisters place so I don‘t have to buy my own.
breena.me try halving the detergent and using bicarbonate soda (around 1/4 cup) and using white vinegar as a softener. Infinitely better than a fabric softener and helps them be fluffy even though they’re air dried.
I feel the same about tumble dryers, I’ve heard a lot of people say they can’t air dry because they live in an apartment. I’ve lived in an apartment for 5 years now and tumble dryers have always been for emergencies. I guess that’s just how I was raised, we had a dryer at home but it’d have to rain for like 30 days straight before we could convince mum to use it
I also live at an apartment, but need to use our tumble dryer. We have 2 cats and at the moment 63 rats (I have a shelter at home). Our clothes would be full with hair before it could be folded and put away.
Hjördis can’t you just hang them in a room the cats and rats go in the least and shut out the cats while they’re drying? I grew up with 5 cats never had to use a dryer for this reason. Use a lint brush to remove any excess fur before wearing
Thank you so much for doing these types of videos, for using your popularity for a better cause! I really wish there would be more influencers like you out there. I have one little remark concerning paperless bills: I think many of us do not realise, that online-traffic of every kind uses energy as well, every search on google requires energy, as the "whole internet" is searched for answers, and servers do not run on love and air neither. So paperless bills are not zero-energy (and maybe not even better than paper ones, as you might want to look at them more than once, which costs energy every time) and you should use the internet consciously, for example by going to a website directly instead of using google or any other search engine to get there. Sorry for the novel, just a remark, and as always: nobody has to be perfect, every little step matters! Have a nice weekend!
This is a wonderful video I love these kind of videos that are full of hacks to help save the planet because this way I can send them to my friends and family and also to for myself , when I watch your videos I always learn something new! P.s your style of well everything is so beautiful xx
Also for people who don't have a garden to compost themselves: Maybe your local recycling or waste company does offer composting. Here in Germany it's common to have a fourth container for compostable waste, which is collected like the regular garbage. Our local recycling company will then compost it and sell the earth created by this for a rather low price in case you need some for your plants.
Yes! This video was so good- it actually shared some unique ideas that I haven't heard it other peoples youtube videos. Also the quality of your content is just so good
Dam! I already swapped to Octopus! I could have saved £50 if I’d waited!! I changed after you spoke about it and Which rated it. It was so easy to do and I love how they work, knowing exactly how much we use every month is a real eye opener 🙀. I was surprised at how many things on that list we already do, it shows you don’t need to live off-grid in a Yurt to love the planet 🌏 Loved this video xx
Please be VERY careful of bedbugs when buying secondhand furniture. They live in everything, not just bed. People often sell furniture, send it to goodwill, or give away furniture when they have an infestation. Check hotel rooms and air bnbs too.
Another little thing I try to do is switch off my phone at night and when I don't really need to use it to save battery, so that I'm not charging it as often. Also thank you for recommending Octopus energy, I'm checking it out now and will likely be switching to them soon! Just need to check I wont get charged for leaving my current energy supplier.
I wish I had something like Octopus Energy here in the U.S.! That's a cool service. I am so excited for you to be able to use your garden! I love growing my own herbs in the summer :)
Could you please talk more about an eco friendly way of having access to books while being on a low budget and with no second hand stories near by? ❤️❤️thank you ❤️
LIBRARIES. Most library fees are cheap or non-existent. You also have access to audio- and e-books so you can access literature on your phone, e-reader or tablet.
I just have to say that these videos help me so much! I just want to be the best possible version of me and do so much good to this world! I want to be very ecological and not buy more and more stuff. 💖
An important distinction: Methane on its own isn't a harmful chemical to the environment, but it is a greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases, like CO2 and CH4, trap heat actually make life on Earth possible for living beings (otherwise we'd freeze). But it's the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases from human-related emitting behaviors that contribute to - and are accelerating - climate change.
For some reason, here in Montreal, I find that little fruit store sell their food too pricy than a bigger grocery store :/ I went to see and outch it's like 3 times higher. I barely can afford 300$/month for food so... hell no x)
Great informative video, have followed you for quite some time not only did you help me on my Journey to becoming vegan but I am stepping into minimalism. So happy you mentioned Octopus energy, I looked at them last year, so very happy to hear positive feedback. Not sure if you have done one before but have you thought about doing a capsule wardrobe video? I am trying to find ways to use things I already have and minimise them into different, wearable outfits and occasions, to cut back on my need to buy.
Great video! Very informative! I know you've said before that you won't stop flying and that is completely fine but maybe you could make a video or a series of vlogs of a longer trip where you take for example the train instead of flying? For me flying and eating meat are two of the biggest concerns when it comes to climate change and it would be so cool to see some inspiration for what it would be like to take the train to Italy or something. Feel free to ignore my idea, I love your channel just as it is.
I have an eco friendly video coming soon about travel! And I’ve been thinking a lot about flying recently! I won’t stop flying totally but definitely will be taking the train a lot more when and where I can 😊 eg recently I took the train to Amsterdam instead of flying!
From where I live, recycling or compost stations are rare and mostly inacessible for daily usage, so I can't do that. Also, my country's going through an ecomomy crisis, so our energy providers can't even provide it to us for the entire day, making us have to live without electricity 3 to 4hrs everyday, even in 31 or 33°C heat, so switching to an renewable energy provider is damn near impossible, and would probably cost my father's entire salary. And again, because of the economy crisis, my family can't afford buying new house appliances that are more eco-friendly like a new toilet or boiler. Althought despite that, I think we are still doing some minor this that are more eco friendly. We always air dry our clothers cause we can't afford a tumble drier, the light bulbs are LED and energy reducing, to reduce the cost and usage of energy, we already make sure we use our water the least possible way, cause we don't always have it, +it's costly, and we don't eat meat as much anymore, cause it's very expensive. We try to get second hand stuff as often as possible cause it's cheap (like clothes, school books, some accessories and appliances, ect.) So idk. That was more of a rant than an informative comment but okay-
if i’m just peeing i don’t flush either. when i’m up my mother is sleeping and the bathroom is right next to her room so i don’t flush bc i don’t wanna wake her up
