There’s no getting away from the fact that our natural resources are fast becoming depleted. Climate change and the peaking oil production in the next few years are two of our greatest challenges.

But where does this leave you and me? It’s easy to believe that we are powerless; after all, the problems are huge, complex and global. It’s easy to hand over all responsibility to the government; and yes, the government does have a big part to play: it must take serious and urgent action to cut CO2 emissions; it must make business more environmentally and socially accountable; it must turn the tide of monoculture and intensive farming back to sustainable ways of farming that protect biodiversity. The list goes on and on.

Our responsibility begins with informing ourselves about the way our world is working. From there, we can start to reassess our values and culture and begin to make impactful choices about the way we live and the things we buy.

Here is a taster of small changes you can make, that can really make a difference, especially if we all participate!

1. Did you know that a quarter of all car journeys covers 2 miles or less? Short car distances also emit C02! Why not walk! Children (and people in general) are leading more and more sedentary lives. It’s so easy for us to get in the car to run a quick errand. If you keep a list of things you need to do or buy, you can plan your time and car journeys better. And for short distances, leave enough time to walk there!
2. Apart from the considerable environmental benefit to walking to and from school: your children will also benefit in other ways. The exercise is important, but also, the oxygen and cross-lateral movement of walking are helpful for the brain; they help children prepare for the intellectual tasks of the day. Our children are more motivated to walk with other children; so teaming up and taking turns is one way to make it happen. If the distance really does seem unmanageable, then park your car ½ to 1 mile from the school and walk the rest of the way.
3. If getting to and from school on foot is not possible, consider starting a lift-share with people living nearby. The children in a lift-share don’t have to be in the same class – they just have to live nearby. Just think of the extra minutes you get to have some time for yourself, when it’s not your turn.
4. While on the subject of children and school, what about all those packed lunches and snacks? There are ways of doing it that are healthier, cheaper and make environmental sense.
   • Reduce packaging: - A survey of school bins has shown the huge amount of waste produced from packed lunches. Crisp packets, wrappers, drinks cartons etc all get thrown away.  You can make sandwiches for school and work lunches and wrap them in brown paper bags saved from your grocery shopping. Or save the small plastic bags you put your fruit and vegetables in when you buy them loose at the supermarket. If you use a container that has more than one compartment, sandwiches can go in unwrapped and the other parts of the lunch can go in the second compartment. Plastic wrap is made from non-renewable resources and is not usually biodegradable; also, it is made using many chemicals which may leach into your food; use it sparingly. Greaseproof paper is also an option.
   • Decant: try to avoid individually wrapped items for lunchboxes. Crisps are not a healthy option, and are best saved for the occasion. On these days, decant crisps from a larger bag, into small re-usable containers. I have found that a small container of mixed nuts with a few raisins is a popular snack. Yoghurts can also be decanted from a larger container into a small re-usable one (cheaper too!).
   • Home-made: when food is home-made, you know what has gone into it! My kids love baking; it’s a fun activity we can do together. We sometimes make granola bars that I store in a large airtight container, and then they can take one (unwrapped!) to school in their lunch box. I know these bars are free from sugar, saturated fat and salt yet packed with organic grains, nuts and seeds – they taste delicious too!
   • Drinks: water is the best drink for your child: it is crucial for brain, liver and kidney functioning. Juice (even pure fruit juice) is best kept as a treat. In my daughter’s class each child has a water bottle, which they keep with them in the classroom. They can fill it up from the water filter whenever they need to. You could ask your school or teacher to do the same. If juice is a must, then use a re-usable juice bottle and fill up from a larger bottle at home.
5. Use your local recycling scheme: if you have kerbside recycling, great. If not put pressure on your local authority to adopt best practice sooner rather than later. In the meantime, you can take your recyclables to your local waste site or perhaps your school has recycling bins. If not, you can get a recycling programme going!
6. Electricity use increased by almost 50% between 1970 and 2000. The trend towards multiple ceiling lights, table lamps and wall lighting, instead of just a single ceiling light bulb has increased the energy needs of lighting by 63% since 1970. How many of your appliances have digital clocks or stand-by functions? You would be surprised to learn that appliances left on stand-by consume 85% of the power required when they are in use.
   • Switch off all electrical appliances at the plug when they are not in use, including your computer. We even switch off our cooker at the plug! It takes a bit of getting used to, but it can quickly become a good habit.
   • Switch off lights when you are not in the room.
   • Turn your heating down just one degree.
   • Avoid patio-heaters and electric lights in the garden – use citronella beeswax or vegetable-based candles to keep insects away.
   • Install long-life lightulbs.
   • Switch to a renewable electricity supplier. Call Simple Energy on 0800 068 7188 to find out which supplier of Green electricity is the cheapest for your postcode.
7. Gifts: to save on materials, and energy consumption, give tickets to the cinema, theatre, or treat someone to a day out. If you do want to give something tangible, then look out for goods that are well made (ie won’t break easily), that don’t rely on disposable parts, that are fairly traded and made from natural, renewable resources. The Natural Collection is a good place to look at http://www.naturalcollection.com/ or tel: 0870 331 3333.
8. Avoid single-use cameras.
9. Hire videos and DVDs, and borrow books from a library rather than buying them; use Amazon’s Marketplace to buy second hand books.
10. Having a shower instead of a bath saves about 40 litres of water. Install spray taps for new sinks, as they use less water than normal taps. Teach your kids to turn the tap off when brushing teeth.
11. Join the growing number of  of parents who now use cloth nappies for their babies; contact http://www.realnappy.com/.
12. Avoid disposable batteries – use rechargeable ones with photovoltaic rechargers. 
13. Refuse plastic carrier bags – use a cotton one instead.
14. Buy loose fruit and veg from a local market or grocer rather than highly-packaged goods from supermarkets - it can be cheaper too.
15. Buy cotton cloths for the kitchen clean-up instead of disposable kitchen roll. We cut up old t-shirts and use as rags for floor/grease clean-ups.
16. Use a milk delivery service – the glass bottle kind – if there’s one in your area.
17. Home compost your garden and kitchen waste - most councils now offer advice.
18. Paper:
    • Only print when you really need to.
    • If you do print, use both sides of the paper.
    • Use software to reduce paper usage – visit http://www.software-partners.co.uk/ for details of Fineprint which could save you 25% to 50% of your paper and toner usage.
    • Recycle paper, newspapers, magazines and envelopes (take out the plastic window)
    • Buy recycled paper
    • Re-use envelopes by sticking a label over the old address
    • Stop subscribing to magazines that you don’t have time to read (and save yourself a few quid) - your local library will probably stock a range of periodicals. You can also swap with friends.
    • Next St. Valentine’s Day, religious holiday and even for birthdays, why not send an e-card instead of a paper one?
19. The Wuppertal Institute calculates that the amount of waste generated in producing everyday products is 1.5 kg for a toothbrush, 75 kg for a mobile phone and 1,500 kg for a personal computer – think about what you really need to buy!

Here are a few resources I have found valuable:

1. http://www.foe.co.uk/
2. www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/waste/links.html for links to recycling organisations
   
3. The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, Thom Hartmann, Hodder and Stroughton 2001
   
4. Not On The Label, Felicity Lawrence, Penguin Books 2004
   
5. The Ecologist magazine
   
6. Resurgence magazine
   
7. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: an easy household guide, Nicky Scott, Green Books, 2004
   
8. Green Futures magazine
   
9. The Ethical Consumer magazine

I’d like to acknowledge Friends of the Earth and Nicky Scott for many of the tips and information included in this article.