Back to the green lifestyle index

Q

QUIT SMOKING:

This is not a Green Party policy. It does not have to be. It is simply commonsense. No one needs to smoke. No one needs to be one of the 86,000 people who die prematurely each year as a result of smoking. No one needs to spend money that literally goes up in smoke. GPs can provide advice on giving up smoking. Growing tobacco occupies land which could and should be used to grow food instead.

R

REDUCE:

Reduce those purchases you make that generate the most packaging and do not accept plastic bags with things you do buy. Get a sturdy bag or rucksack and use it. Grow more food in you garden to cut down on what you have to buy, which may involve transportation and packaging.

RE-USE:

Never throw away something which someone else might use, or something which can be repaired. Mobile phones and computers can be sent to the poorer parts of the world for long-term re-use. Your local Oxfam shop should have details about this. Always try to re-use paper in your home or office: cut your costs and help protect the environment.

RECYCLE:

Recycle to the maximum possible extent. Make full use of your Council's collection scheme and do store other items to take to recycling sites which are not being collected by your Council. See the Medway Council website and the Kent County Council website for details of recycling facilities in your area.

More details:

Recycling isn't difficult and it's essential if we want to preserve the environment and protect the planet. All the Councils in Kent now have some form of recycling scheme although the quality varies. If you have moved to a new district the recycling officer at your local Council should be able to give you information on their particular scheme.

Greens support door step recycling, where the Council is responsible for collecting your recyclables from your door step. We also believe that recyclables should be sorted by the household. Collecting them together and sorting them later increases journeys and contaminates the recyclables which means more energy has to be used to clean them and/ or they may become unusable. Materials you should sort and recycle include paper, glass, cardboard and textiles. Unwanted books, CDs and cassette tapes can be donated to charity shops. Or you could try selling them on the internet.

Plastic recycling is contentious. Only a few district Councils run a plastics recycling scheme. The really Green view would be that we should not be using plastic at all. You can avoid or minimise your plastic use by being careful about how you shop. For example, if you buy your fruit and vegetables from a greengrocer you will get them in brown paper bags (which have themselves been made from recycled paper). If you buy them in a supermarket you will probably be buying a lot of packaging, some of it plastic. If you get your milk from a milkman it will usually be in glass bottles which are washed and reused many times before they are eventually recycled into new glass bottles. If you buy it from a supermarket it will be in a plastic bottle.

Generally speaking the more food you buy from small local shops or farmers' markets the less packaging you will be taking home and throwing away. The more food you buy at supermarkets the more packaging you will be buying and throwing away. And you will be helping support local jobs and reducing food miles and the pollution that causes.

Don't forget the waste hierarchy is: reduce; reuse; recycle. In other words your highest priority should be to reduce the amount of waste you create. Next you should try and reuse as much as you can and only as a last resort should you recycle. Above all we should all aim for a zero waste strategy where, because we have reduced, reused and recycled, we do not throw anything away to be put in landfill.

SEE:

www.recycle-more.co.uk

www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste

Do buy recycled products whenever possible.

RECYCLING USED COOKING OIL:

Run your diesel vehicle on used cooking oil.

http://www.plantdrive.com  http://www.greasecar.com  ..

REFERENCE:

Being a good Green citizen means you need facts at your disposal. Searching your local council's website documents, or the County Council or the South East Regional Assembly, or Government departments may well be useful. But some books are very useful for reference:

G. Boyle - Renewable Energy [the Open University set book for a course with this name, updated periodically and very accessible on energy policies and technical aspects of particular energy technologies]

Cullingworth and Nadin - Town and Country Planning in the UK [a standard text book with a history of how planning has developed, how New Labour has changed planning processes, and some critical assessment of the deficiencies in the British systems of planning]

Wilson and Game - Local Government in the UK [a standard text book with all you need to know about how local government works, or tries to work, in the UK]

RENEWABLES:

To ensure your electricity is pollution free, choose from the following suppliers of safe, clean and renewably-sourced electricity: Good Energy, Ecotricity or Juice. No one has to pay to pollute the environment - clean electricity is available now.

S

SHOPPING:

Is your purchase necessary? Are you in fact buying a low quality item that will not last? Can you get something better second hand or at a better price on the internet?

Would it be better to make fewer purchases and buy better, longer lasting goods?

Do buy organic and fair trade goods wherever possible, trying to buy local goods (and services) to support local businesses. Try to exclude from your purchases goods that have obviously travelled long distances - especially those from outside Europe. Both the USA and China export large quantities of goods to the UK. This involves a substantial amount of use of scarce oil which adds to greenhouse gas emissions.

NB. There is a list of organic veg box schemes in Kent in each edition of The Ecologist magazine.

SOAP:

Naturally made soaps are better for you and your family, and for the environment. See www.simplysoaps.com or check at your local wholefood/healthfoods business.

STRAW:

Create furniture and houses from straw waste:

http://www.primeboard.com  http://www.strawboard.com  http://www.solarliving.org  http://www.meadowoodindustries.com  http://www.strawhomes.com  http://www.odiseanet.com  http://www.skillful-means.com  http://www.environbiocomposites.com/biofiber.php  http://www.redstr.com/p_mb.html  http://www.nexwood.com

T

TELEWORKING:

Too many people in Kent have to commute to their workplace. Fight for the right to do teleworking at home, if this is possible for your particular occupation. This is about your quality of life, spending more time with your family, and perhaps using your car less too. Fight with the assistance of your trade union if you belong to one, fight through any system of staff appraisal your employer uses, fight until the right of teleworking is well-established in your workplace.

TOURISM:

The world's largest industry, and one of many highly vulnerable to increasing oil prices, natural disasters and political and economic collapse. Kent Green Party is primarily concerned with encouraging more 'green' tourism in Kent. (See Better Green Tourism under Resources/Kent on this website). Each local council website in Kent offers details of local tourism opportunities: take a look at the world on your doorstep!

TOYS:

Do buy toys and recycle toys through charity shops wherever possible.

TRAINS:

Since it costs about £6000 a year to run an average car, and oil prices are shooting up, trains may meet your needs more cheaply, even with the price hikes which have occurred under New Labour since 1997. Do make more use of trains for your journeys, when appropriate and possible, to help cut traffic congestion.

TREES:

8 million Xmas trees are bought for households each year: about 1.2 million will be recycled by local authorities and used for mulch or woodchip. This leaves the rest to rot and generate methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Do recycle your Xmas tree!

TYRE RECYCLING:

40 million tyres are set aside in the UK every year. Some tyre retailers are part of the Responsible Recycler Scheme and will take tyres back from you. In case of problems, see www.reguk.com

U

UNLEADED PETROL AND PAINT:

Thanks to campaigning by the Green Party and other organisations, lead in petrol and paint has been substantially reduced since the early 1980s. Given the high costs of petrol and paint made using oil, and the higher costs to come, you might want to consider how you could decorate or re-decorate your home without using oil in the process. Panelling made of real wood may well last longer and look better than paint of any kind. Try internet searches to see what is available - your local DIY superstore staff may have no idea how to help you in this area.

TV SERIES FOR A GREENER LIFESTYLE:

Gardeners World

The Good Life

Survivors

V

VEGETABLE BOX SCHEMES:

There is a list of organic veg box schemes in Kent in The Ecologist magazine, every month.

VEGETARIANS AND VEGANS:

What are they? A vegetarian does not eat the flesh of any animal but will eat dairy products or eggs. A vegan does not eat any animal products at all, including not eating dairy products. Most vegans will not use animal products in any form e.g. they do not wear leather shoes or clothing. There are both ethical and health arguments in favour of vegetarianism and veganism. The Green Party does not advocate that people become vegetarians or vegans: that's up to you. But it is worth considering how your diet can contribute to your quality of life:

Ethical arguments are that human beings should not exploit animals. Intensive farming of animals for food is both inhumane and unhealthy; also rearing animals for food uses far more of the planet's resources than growing food crops. As far as health is concerned we in the Western world tend to eat far more animal protein than is good for us anyway. Recent food scares such as foot and mouth disease, mad cow disease (BSE  Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis) and now bird flu have been either caused or exacerbated by intensive farming of animals for food. Animals and birds are often kept in inhumane and crowded conditions which can cause disease or spread it rapidly. We have a responsibility to ensure that animals are not kept in such conditions merely in order to give us cheap meat.

An alternative to becoming a vegetarian is to only eat organic meat and free range eggs and chickens. That way you are at least ensuring that the animals you eat have been well treated and fed decently. "We are what we eat" and eating animals which have been fed rubbish cannot be good for human health either.

It is important that vegetarians and vegans ensure that they eat a balanced diet and especially that they eat enough protein. Olive Oil contains essential amino acids which all vegetarians and vegans need. Vitamin B12 must always be obtained, to avoid illness relating to deficiency. Protein in the form of pulses, beans and lentils is particularly important. Other vegetarian proteins are tofu and quorn. Tofu is an ancient form of vegetarian protein which has been made from soya beans in Japan and China for centuries. Quorn, by contrast, is a modern discovery developed from a form of fungus. It is a concentrated protein and very versatile.

For more information on a balanced vegetarian diet contact the vegetarian society :

www.vegsoc.org see also: www.vegansociety.com

VOLUNTEER:

If you have time and health, do volunteer to do work to help maintain our environment. See British Trust for Conservation Volunteer website or contact your local Volunteer Bureau or Council for Voluntary Service.