Tip 1: Know What You Want to Buy
How many shirts, skirts, tops etc do you buy and then hardly ever wear? Work out in advance what you want and you’ll have more wardrobe space for the clothes you really want to wear, save money and use fewer resources.
Tip 2: Buy Antique or Used
Many items such as furniture, clothes, household items can be bought second-hand or as antiques which means no additional resources have been used in their manufacture. Also, check out e-bay for all manner of used items for sale or Freecycle where no-longer-wanted items are offered for free and people can post a request for items they want - check out our Get Recycling guide.
Tip 3: Wear Organic
Organic cotton products have been around for years but now there’s an ever-increasing range of organic products available. Just put 'organic products' into a search engine and shop to your heart’s content.
Tip 4: Support Local Shops
It won’t always work but shopping locally will save you on petrol and help support your local economy and it’s a good way of finding out what’s going on in your area.
Tip 5: Eat seasonally
It’s always very tempting to buy those out-of-season vegetables any day of the year but think how far they’ve travelled to get there. Eating what’s in season helps save food miles and you may even re-discover the pleasures of long-forgotten winter vegetables.
