“Green” and “gadgets” are not two words that you would immediately place together. It’s fair to say that the impression that people get when they hear the word “gadget” is somehow more to do with shiny little boxes that make life easier for the owner, helping them to switch on their stereo or TV (or both at once). Convenience is a fashionable thing, and given that the latest mobile phones allow the owner to not only make calls, send texts and take photos, but now allow you to download music and get directions to a postcode in another part of the country, it’s safe to say that many people either don’t view Green issues as a major influence on their gadget purchasing, or if they do put it quite low down on their list of priorities.
There is, however, a completely natural synergy between convenience and ecology, perhaps most succinctly summed up in the phrase “saving energy”. The benefit for the user is that they can perform a task with a minimum of fuss, while the environment benefits due to the decreased demand on resources. One gadget doing an excellent job for the consumer and the planet is known as the Bye Bye Standby, a motherboard into which all household electrical equipment can be plugged and, at the touch of a remote allows you to power these items down in one go.
There is also a new generation of solar rechargers which allow you to top up the energy required to use a number of gadgets. Very often you’ll encounter someone who has their mobile phone constantly plugged into a charger running from the wall socket. Some people don’t realise just how much energy is being used by such a small piece of equipment, but given that an hour a day of charge will be more than sufficient to keep the average mobile phone running, a solar-powered recharger will cut down on senseless waste. Along with a reappraisal of the use of wind-up technology – chargers, media players, torches and digital radios among other items are all available in wind-up form – these innovations in renewable energy makes waste more avoidable every day.
Eating Green isn’t all about organics and vegetarianism, although these do, of course, play a part for many people. There is more to it than that, and you can make a big difference to how Green you are by making certain simple changes in your eating and shopping habits. Many of these changes are hardly noticeable, and some will surprise you with how much you prefer them. If you shop around, you will also find that eating and drinking green can be easier on the pocket than the alternative. The first thing to do if you are concerned about helping the environment is think about where your food comes from – and I mean that in more than one sense. If you shop in supermarkets, for example, you should take a close look at the packaging on what you’re buying. Firstly, how much packaging is there? Often supermarkets will package goods in lots of plastic wrapping – how often, for example, do you see a packet of tomatoes on a plastic tray, wrapped around with a few feet of cling film? This is wholly unnecessary, takes up space, uses energy and has very little practical benefit. Another consideration ought to be where in the world your food was grown. Some fruit and veg are not grown nearby and if you need to buy – for example – a pineapple then it is hard to find locally-sourced tropical fruit if you live closer to the North Pole than the Equator. If possible, however, it is extremely beneficial to buy locally-grown fruit and veg. The reasons for this are simple. Firstly, if potatoes have just travelled two-and-a-half miles in a van, their impact on the environment is much less than if they’ve travelled from overseas by air or ship. Chances are you won’t have to pay as much for them, as well. Buying food grown locally needn’t be any hassle. If you have a farm shop near you then why not check out their deals – the relatively low overheads these shops have enable them to keep prices low. If you don’t have a farm shop, then your local greengrocer will have a wide selection of locally-sourced fruit and veg. Next time you’re in, ask them – it’s better for you, better for your wallet and better for the planet.
When it comes to going on holiday, no-one wants to compromise on comfort. Having worked for months to even afford to go away in the first place, many people will have only one consideration when it comes to setting off – “how quickly can I get there?” Often this consideration results in getting on a plane and flying somewhere hot. Can you really be bothered with environmental matters when sometimes you’ll only get between ten days and a fortnight off all year? With so little time off, priorities may become skewed, or at least compromised in some way. Obviously sunning oneself by a pool can be a very attractive proposition when you’ve been hunched over a desk for the preceding eight months. Getting there as quickly as possible is also to be desired. As our world develops technologically, it is getting smaller by the day. Obviously flying is the quickest way to get to another place. That it is not an ecologically desirable way is not in dispute, but some airlines are looking at ways to either decrease or offset the impact that the aviation industry is having on the planet. Some remain nakedly unconcerned about their own impact, but negative exposure is leading to these airlines suffering in terms of sales, and will hopefully, eventually lead to them mending their ways. But the fact remains that flying anywhere, as well as not being cheap, will hurt the environment more than any other method of travel. Does this mean that you must always holiday close to home if you want to save money and the planet? Of course it doesn’t. You can travel long distances at reasonable speeds and in genuine comfort, while saving a little bit of money into the bargain. Coach journeys, if you have a few days extra, are a great way to travel and you’ll see more of the world from ground level than from a plane. As international rail links improve, the intrepid traveller can go by train from the North of Scotland to parts of Asia, although admittedly you will need to leave yourself a bit of time for that!
