Top Tips For Going Green In 2020

More and more people are making changes to improve their carbon footprint and make more ecological choices. There are hundreds of small changes you can make at home that will help to reduce landfill waste, clean the air and preserve our beautiful planet. By making these changes to go green at home, you can help the environment and also help to improve your overall eco-friendly habits. Why not make your new year’s resolution to be going green for 2020? We’ve got some top tips to help you get started.

1. Start With Your Morning Brew

If you need a coffee to get you going in the morning, then choose a certified organic option. This means it will have been grown using sustainable standards. If you aren’t making your morning brew at home and instead buy one on your way to the office, then bring your own travel mug. Not only will you reduce the number of paper cups used, but many coffee shops offer a discount for using your own mug.

2. Switch It Off

When you have a lot of devices in your home, it can lead to a lot of wasted electricity. Going around and switching off every plug socket individually might not be realistic for your home, however power strips can be used to solve for this. Plug collections of devices such as TV, Blu Ray player and sound bar all into one extension lead, and then switch them all off together when not in use.

3. Drive Carefully

We all know that speeding is dangerous and illegal already, but it also has a big impact on the planet. Driving faster than you need to leads to your vehicle guzzling more fuel than required to get to your destination. By slowing down you will not only be saving your pennies but also the planet. It is also worth checking your tyre pressure once a month in order to improve your mileage and use less fuel. Tyres with low pressure will use more fuel than fully pumped tyres.

4. Swap Your Lights

Swapping all your light bulbs to energy saving options can result in your lighting using 75% less energy. Not only do they use less, but they last about 10 times longer than a standard light bulb. As well as changing to energy saving light bulbs, by swapping your light switches for dimmer switches, you can cut down your electricity usage even further.

5. Don’t Do The Dishes

If you have a dishwasher at home, use it whenever you can. Running a full dishwasher uses less than half of the amount of water and energy as washing dishes by hand – just make sure your dishwasher is full and you aren’t running it half empty. There is also no need to waste water by pre-rinsing before you load as today’s machines are designed to clear all the mess.

6. Know Your Recycling Dos and Don’ts

When it comes to recycling, there are plenty of myths around what can and can’t be recycled. By getting to grips with the details, you will be able to recycle like a pro. A common thought is that recycling paper with staples or clips intact is a problem, but actually the recycling machines can easily filter these out. Instead you should avoid including paper or cardboard with food stains as these can contaminate the load. For plastic recycling, always remove bottle caps as they are made from a different type of plastic. When recycling glass bottles or jars don’t worry about the labels as they will be burnt off during the process.

7. Support Eco-Friendly Businesses

One very easy way of going green and helping the planet is to choose to support businesses with the same views. Many businesses are making a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint, and by choosing these over other companies you will be helping the planet even further.

Here at The Abbey, we are making changes to help go green in 2020 and reduce our own carbon footprint. We’ve introduced recycling bins into all of our bedrooms and public spaces so our guests can continue their recycling habits even whilst away from home. All of our menus are now printed on recycled paper and presented in reusable menu covers in order to reduce our waste, and we no longer offer plastic straws or wooden stirrers in our bars. Every bedroom is provided with a glass bottle of water as opposed to plastic, and our event spaces feature reusable water bottles.

To book your stay at The Abbey and help go green for 2020, book online or call us on +44 1684 879285.