Living Greener – sharing ideas for a greener life

Welcome to Living Greener

Climate change, pollution and the global loss of wildlife are all over the news. Young people worldwide are making their voices heard. They want to inherit a world that is safe, healthy and a joy to live in. Climate scientists say we have a decade to act. So surely this is the moment to link across the generations and across cultural and national boundaries to find ways of living that are better for people and planet. If that’s what you believe, but you’re not sure where to start or what to do first then Living Greener might be for you. Living Greener sets out to answer the question,

What can I do in my daily life that will really make a difference?

Here you will find evidence-based suggestions for changes we can all make to our homes, food, transport, the stuff we buy, and how we work and play. You can create you own personal Change List, then try the changes, rate and review them and share your own suggestions. There are small changes and big changes, and some will suit you and some will not, but as I’ve heard it said,

It’s more important for all of us to live better than for a few of us to live perfectly.

Living Greener is free and volunteer-run, with no advertising and no ties. It’s just here to help. In fact Living Greener is two of us (former BBC Natural History Radio producer and former GP) and a dog (former puppy) living in Bristol, England. But, most importantly, Living Greener is a growing community working together to come up with the best ideas and supporting one another to have the biggest impact. Research shows that the single most important factor affecting whether we stick with environmental changes is whether our friends and neighbours are doing the same, so whether you’ve been doing this stuff for ages or you’re just dipping your toe in the water,

you can help create a global neighbourhood that can really make a difference.

What do you think? Is it for you? We do hope so.

Grant and Sue

We’re still getting the site fully functional, so you might bump into some oddities, typos and road works along the way. Let us know if it’s something you think we’ve missed. Otherwise, bear with us. Thanks

featured changes

Here’s a taste of some of the change ideas available, click on each to find out more and if you like it, add it to your change list and browse more like it. You can also select the change category that interests you most from the main menu.

car free days challenge

For those who like a challenge and a reward... draw up a car-free calendar with tick boxes (or gold stars) for the day of the week. Give yourself a tick/star for each day you leave the car unused. Start by using the car as you always have done and see...

Fit a free water meter

Water meters are fitted free by your water company. They will help you track your water savings and give you a financial incentive to reduce your use. Here’s what Citizens’ Advice has to say including a calculator to work out whether you’ll save money straight away.

Wash in a vegeta-bowl

Use a bowl for washing vegetables. Washing your veg under running water can use up to 20 litres every minute, so use a bowl when washing and preparing your vegetables, or doing the washing up. You can use the leftover water to water plants or rinse out your cans and...

Cycle into the sunset

Once you’ve started using the bike more instead of the car you’ll find that you’re getting fitter and that the cycling becomes easier and maybe even a pleasure! We have a good friend who took that route, and now cycling is one of her main social, leisure and holiday activities....

Don’t put up with a drip

A dripping tap can waste up to 5,000 litres of water every year. Fixing a dripping tap is usually as simple as replacing a tap washer. The best time to fix a dripping tap is now!

join a choir

Whatever your age or ability, and whether you’re into folk, jazz, gospel, classical, pop or show tunes, there’s a choir out there for you. Singing in a choir ticks all the well-being boxes. It’s sociable, creative, challenging, and great for the breathing, and if you can get there on foot...

featured blog posts

Here’s a selection from the blog where we talk about the issues and put the changes into context

A greener life is a happier life

There’s a growing body of research that suggests that a low-carbon life is (or at least can be) a fun life. We can consume less, emit less, and be happier. That’s something to sing about! A paper by Angela Druckman … Read More

Should I buy an electric car?

Cars are responsible for as much as a sixth of Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions, so this is an important area to target when it comes to living greener, but are electric cars the answer? A car’s carbon emissions come from … Read More

Bananas are the new roses

The carbon emissions from a single hot house-grown red rose are more than from 4 kilos of imported bananas, so I’m floating the idea of a dozen yellow bananas for next Valentine’s day. I set off on this potentially romantically … Read More

Looking for the latest news?

The @LivingGreenerUK Twitter feed shares what’s in the news about #ClimateAction and #LivingGreener at a local, national and international level.

Tweets by LivingGreenerUK

Want to share and connect?

Living Greener on Facebook and LivingGreenerUK on Instagram are great ways to share ideas and spread the word.

There’s a Living Greener Facebook group where we can chat, make connections and swap ideas.

And remember, the Living Greener community depends on your your suggestions and questions about change ideas that have worked for you and things you’d like us to look into. You can also review and rate the changes once you’ve tried them on your change list.