Living Lightly
Join
many others and change your habits and mindset to appreciate what it takes to move towards
sustainability - set a good example! |
Are you doing it already? If not join those who
are applying sustainable development to their own lives. Some ideas are easy
to apply, others require more thought and effort - choose what's right for
you!
Support voluntary
groups moving towards sustainable development:
- By campaigning against unsustainable aspects
of society, such as Friends of the Earth (0171 490 1555 or info@foe.co.uk,
Greenpeace (0171 354 5100) and Jubilee 2000 (0171 401 9999 or mail@jubilee2000uk.org
- By showing how things might be done differently,
such as the New Economics Foundation (0171 377 5696 or email: info@neweconomics.org), the World Development
Movement (0171 737 6215 or wdm@wdm.org.uk) and the
Soil Association (0117 929 0661 or soilassoc@gn.apc.org)
- By encouraging, demonstrating and publicising good
practice that is moving towards sustainable development, such as Forum for
the Future (01242 262 737), Local Exchange Trading Systems (01985 217871 or email: lizshephard@letslinkuk.demon.co.uk)
and Peacechild International (0176 327 4459 or rescuemission@compuserve.com)
Change
your habits when buying goods and services by purchasing:
- Goods marked with the Fairtrade label indicating
that they do not exploit people in poor countries, or find out more from Traidcraft (0191
491 0591 or traidcraft@globalnet.co.uk),
Intermediate Technology (01788 560631 or itdg@itdg.org.uk)
- Organically grown food that is free of
chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides, by looking for appropriate labelling in
supermarkets, grocers, greengrocers and health food stores. Discover the six reasons for buying organic food or find
out more from the Henry Doubleday Research Association (01203 303517 or enquiry@hdra.org.uk)
- Products made from sustainable forests that
are approved by the Forest Stewardship Council - look for the FSC symbol or contact them
by email: fsc-uk@fsc-uk.demon.co.uk
- Seafood from sustainable fisheries approved
by the Marine Stewardship Council - look for the MSC logo, or contact by email: secretariat@msc.org
- Do you ever worry that money you put into banks,
building societies and pensions is used to fund company activities that you don't approve?
You can choose banking, investment, pension, mortgage services that are ethically
screened. Learn more from the Ethical Investment Research Service (EIRIS) (0171 735 1351 or ethics@eiris.win-uk.net). Independent Financial
Advisers such as: Holden Meehan 0117 925 2874 holdenm@holdenm.demon.co.uk
and web site, and Barchester Green
Investment info@barchestergreen.co.uk or
their web site provide services covering
banking, pensions, PEP/TESSA and ISA, investments and mortgages and the USA-based Calvert
Group has a comprehensive web site with useful
information. See the ethical investment page for more
information.
Adjust your
lifestyle at home to make it more sustainable:
- Join Action
at Home developed by Global Action Plan (0171 405 5633 or all@gapuk.demon.co.uk) and marketed jointly by
them and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF - 01483 426444 or pdenton@wwfnet.org). The programme has been adopted
by over 22,000 households in the UK. The Action Packs, revised, simplified and
updated in March 1999, enable you to look at and change your habits when disposing of
waste, using energy for heating and lighting, using water, travelling and shopping.
- Reduce car use by car sharing, using public
transport for more journeys, cycling and walking or learn more from the Environmental
Transport Association (01932 828882 or eta@eta.co.uk)
and Sustrans, who publish maps on cycle routes all over the UK (0117 926 8893 or web site)
- Reduce the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides
in your garden by gardening organically and making your own compost - find out how from
the Henry Doubleday Research Association (01203 303517 or enquiry@hdra.org.uk)
- Take holidays that do not damage the social
and environmental fabric at your destination - seek advice from Tourism Concern (0171 753
3330 or tourconcern@gn.apc.org or see their
web site at www.gn.apc.org/tourismconcern).
See also Mark Mann's book The Community Tourism Guide, 1999, Earthscan.
Investigate all four of the programmes available from Global Action Plan,
namely: Action at Home, Action at Work, Action at School
and Small Changes al of which are designed specifically to
help people apply sustainable development principles - at home, at work, at school and in
poorer communities. See also the Solstice web site on sustainable living at http://www.crest.org/sustainable/index.shtml#Environment
Visit A to Z of SD to learn more about sustainable development
from many other web sites
See how some organisations are exploring different routes to sustainability, find out what companies are saying and doing about sustainable
development, look at the practical
examples that illustrate how to apply sustainable development and how
it is implemented in community development.
Identify skilled people who might be able help
the process in your situation. Projects and Guidelines may also be relevant to your needs.
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Last modified 16 November 1999.