Top tips for Being … greener at the shops

Buy re-useable / washable nappies if you can. A disposable nappy takes 300 years to disintegrate and one baby gets through 5000 disposable nappies in his or hers early years. If you struggle to do this completely, just use the disposable nappies for when you are out and about. Also, use moistened cotton wool on your baby’s bum rather than wipes. Not only is cotton wool kinder for your baby’s skin, but also cheaper also. Again, just keep a spare pack of wipes if you want to for convenience when you are away from home.



• Use re-use-able shopping bags, canvas bags, boxes, etc. when you go to the supermarket; instead of plastic bags that can take 400 years to degrade. Refuse a bag if you do not really need one.
• Choose seasonal and local products to reduce pollution produced from transporting exotic goods from faraway shores. Shop at farmers markets to support local farm businesses.
• Keep the original containers of products such as washing up liquid, shower gel and fill them up with handy refills that are now readily available.
• Buy products with less packaging and check that the packaging can be recycled.

• Try to shop ethically. Its now much easier to find products that are ethically sourced, fair trade, recycled or biodegradable.
• Only buy seafood when you know it has been caught sustainable.
• Try growing some of your own food. You do not need a big garden to do this, or any garden at all. You can grow a variety of fruits and vegetables in window boxes and pots.

• Avoiding buying bottled water and instead using a reusable water bottle. It takes millions of gallons of water to produce the plastic for single-use water bottles, and millions more to purify the water that goes into them.