Pledges

Say no to plastic bags at the checkout - and when shopping anywhere for that matter. Use recyclable shopping bags (check out the cool new ones from www.safe.org.nz that also support the campaign to end cruel pig farming practices). Also avoid using plastic bags for vegetables and fruit at the supermarket - it's fine to just sit them in your basket or trolley!

Drink tap water to reduce the transportation emissions of bottled water, and to cut out the tons of energy-expensive plastic!

If you leave the room - switch off the lights.
If you don't work on your computer - switch it off, ...and the screen,
...and the printer!

Changing our light bulbs to compact fluoro bulbs is an easy, cheap and very effective change. By burning fossil fuels for energy, we're altering our atmosphere and causing climate change. To reverse it, we'll need to stop burning so much coal, oil and gas. Renewable energy like wind and solar power is part of the answer, but the fastest (and most cost effective) way to reduce your global warming pollution is simply use less energy... and many hands make light work!

You know how you plug in the charger and then leave it plugged in even when the phone's not charging? Doing so wastes about 95 per cent of the electricity required because the actual charging is only happening about 5 per cent of the time. Only plug it in when you need it.

Our largest household energy use is in heating up water and lots of this we unnecessarily wash down the drain.

Washing your clothes in cold water saves the planet, $'s and stops clothes from shrinking!

If there are troublesome stains use a spot of stain remover to solve the problem instead of wasting valuable hot water.

A jug is one of the most efficient ways of heating water, so boiling water from the cold tap rather than the hot tap uses less electricity (and it makes so little difference in time anyway). Plus hot water from a cylinder usually takes a while to come through to the tap leading to further waste.

Meat and dairy farming is resource-intensive and a huge contributor to greenhouse gases, particularly methane.

Eating more greens and less meat helps the climate and is better for your health. Organic farming practices incorporate organic waste back into the soil, increasing the carbon in the soil and reducing emissions.

Just say no to the electricity-gobbling drier. Check the sky or the forecast before you do a load of washing and use nature's Fisher and Paykel - the sun! If you don't have a washing line, make one. And just think, no more shrinkage!

Assuming all else is equal - the thing that's produced closest to the place you buy it requires the least amount of transportation to market, therefore incurs the least amount of 'carbon miles', and is therefore better for the climate so buy local!