Water, I will save!
Surely, our planet is covered with 70% water , but salty for the vast majority! This precious water, called "sweet", represents only 2.5% of the total stock of water available to landowners. It is a luxury today, and if we believe the forecasts, by 30 years, 50% of the world population could be deprived! That's why I preserve it:
By adopting simple gestures
Cut the tap water when I wash my teeth or when I wash my dishes: I reduce my water consumption by half!
Put a lid on the pan of water to heat: I use up to 4 times less energy to keep my water boiling.
Drink running water (yes, yes, it's good!)
Bury a brick or similar object (which does not rust) in the bottom of the toilet bowl, so it fills up and empties less, and I save 1 to 2 liters of water per fill.
Taking a shower rather than a bath
A shower of 5 minutes consumes 50 liters of water on average, and a bath, 200 liters! Up to you !
By fighting leaks
A few drops that slip from the kitchen faucet or flush, it's serious? Yes, because if we add these little things, we get a total of wasted water of 120 liters for the tap, and 600 liters for the WC!
By investing in a water saver
Mixer tap, low flow showerhead.
By recovering rainwater running on my roof
It will be used to water my plants, feed my flush, wash my car or my floors!
By being delivered
The car is the first source of air pollution with 35% of CO2 emissions. When we know that 75% of trips are less than 5 km and the first two km are large emitters of CO2 (500 g approx.), We think! To be delivered would allow to divide CO2 emissions by 8, with a flat: to deliver, supermarkets are obliged to respect the cold chain and therefore to use a refrigerated truck, which consumes electricity and therefore produces CO2 .
My energy consumption, I will master!
Did you know that in France, energy consumption almost tripled between 1960 and 2000 ? Did you also know that lighting represented on average 15% of the energy expenses of a French household? So I lower my bill:
? By adopting simple gestures
? To make the most of daylight , by taking care of my interior design: I place my desk, my worktop and my sewing corner near a window!
? Properly insulate windows, doors, and shutters at night to keep warm.
? Turn off the light when I leave a room: 3 bulbs of 75W consume as much in one evening as a 60 ° machine !
? Clean my ampoules once or twice a year.
? Turn off electrical appliances . In the standby position, they use up to 70% of their total electricity consumption.
? Reduce the temperature in my home: 1 ° C less, it is 7% less electricity consumed !
? Defrost my fridge regularly ...
? By investing in energy- saving light bulbs (which are a bit expensive, but consume 4 times less electricity than traditional bulbs, and last much longer!): Www.joliet-europe.com or www.conrad.fr
? By equipping itself sustainably :
? For big budgets: I invest in solar panels, individual solar water heaters.
? For all: I renew my fleet of appliances (today 25 million of them would be more than 10 years!) By betting on washing machines and other furnaces class A (they are classified according to their consumption of electricity from A to G).
My rubbish, I will sort!
Every French person produces an average of 360 kg of waste per year. For an average city like Versailles (78), this represents 37,000 tons of rubbish in the year, of which only 27% are recycled (in 2007)! When I learn that a ton of recycled plastic bottles corresponds to a saving of 700 kg of crude oil, I immediately start sorting ... seriously:
? By informing me specifically about what is recyclable and what is not recyclable: see our "little guide to recyclable products".
? By investing in a suitable trash : I go to a price comparison website or a green site www.leguide.com or www.greenrepublic.fr.
? By avoiding, in the office or elsewhere, to print my documents to the right and through: the paper represents 80% of the waste produced by an administration !
? By consuming smart : I avoid the wipes, the products that multiply the packaging, the compulsive purchases that take years on my shelves before ending up in the trash!
? By going to the dump closest to home (there are 2800 in France) to free me of my unusable junk as well as my stocks of paint, oils and other toxic products such as solvents.
? By adhering to the second-hand market : I actively participate in the braderies, collection of toys or clothes, which are the happiness of my less fortunate fellow citizens!
? By giving my furniture out of age (but in good condition) to associations like Emmaüs ( www.emmaus-france.org )!
? By throwing myself into the compost! I put in one in a container provided for this purpose, all my organic waste (peelings of fruits and vegetables, dead branches, grass ...) that will serve as a natural fertilizer for my future plantations.
My diet, I will watch!
Did you know that an off-season imported fruit consumed 10 to 20 times more oil than the same food produced locally during the season ? That's why I treat my diet:
? By consuming primarily seasonal fruits and vegetables!
? By registering in an AMAP (Association for the maintenance of a peasant agriculture: alliancepec.free.fr ): I thus benefit from fresh, tasty and varied products, of which I know the exact origin. Thanks to this principle, I can converse directly with the producer, and glean precious tips to preserve and cook my vegetables!
? E n focusing on organic or fair trade products when I go to a supermarket!
On the others, I will watch!
Did you know that the transport sector is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases: it accounts for 25% of global commercial energy consumption and uses half of the world's oil. Passenger cars account for 57% of CO2 emissions from road transport; the air sector generates 600 million tonnes of CO2 per year . That's why I play the card of eco-citizenship:
? Taking care to leave my car in the garage for short trips: for a trip of 1 kilometer, my car pollutes 4 times more than on a long trip ! I prefer walking (which is more, excellent for my health), cycling and scooter ...
? By choosing the train for my business trips; when I do not have the choice and I have to fly, I offset my CO2 emissions by joining the actioncarbone .org program .
? By avoiding making noise : 40% of my fellow citizens complain about the noise, and 30%, the inconvenience caused by their neighbors! I learn about the hours and days of mowing allowed in my city, I avoid work on the weekend (a drill is 95 decibels on average, the threshold of discomfort being 60 decibels!), The startup "long term From my car at dawn (children need to sleep before school) ... Finally, I do not turn on my washing machine or dishwasher before going to bed!
? By picking up the presents of my animal before an unlucky one puts his feet on it (even the left)!
? By engaging in an association : France has 1 million, I just have to choose the one I could help!
For more information: www.ecologie.gouv.fr
And discover the photo gallery: The ecological house on Marieclairemaison.com
