DASH Sustainable Living Series
Sustainable Living: 5 Ways That Won’t Break The Bank
Many think sustainable living is expensive. Sustainable living is a mindset to reduce our impact on one another, the environment and our expenses.
Sustainability is not a new topic. Climate change has dominated the news over the last few years. Ever so often, we are reminded that our behaviour and living habits are affecting the planet. Global warming. Water scarcity. Plastic Pollution. There are so many issues that seem pressing and relevant it’s sometimes hard to figure out where to start.
As a building designer, when it comes to reducing your carbon footprint, my professional opinion would always be to improve the performance of your building fabric. A quarter of the heating in your home gets lost through the roof and even more from the walls. Insulating them to a good standard should always be a priority. However, before I recommend turning your house into a carbon-negative building, these are some of the ways you can make a difference.
1. Get A Thermostat. Like A Proper One.
I could go on about efficient ways of heating your homes such as air and ground source heat pumps or heat recovery systems. Still, the most basic form of reducing your energy footprint (and your bills) is to have a programmable thermostat. Even better if you could control your heating from the palm of your hand like or smart thermostat.
Automate it to lower the heating when it detects you have left the house. Heat separate rooms as you need them. Set schedules to create cool spaces in the evenings, which has been proven to be better for sleep. Smart systems learn your behaviour and can ensure your home is always warm when it needs to be. reports that the Hive smart thermostat could save you £130 a year on your energy bills, while other manufacturers claim smart thermostats will reduce your bills by up to 35%. It all adds up.
Building Designer Tip: Install a sound MVHR system.
Level up this tip. Switch to a renewable energy supplier. Last year, Britain enjoyed its first-ever coal-free fortnight, where electricity was generated entirely from other sources showing that we don’t need to be dependent on fossil fuels. Suppliers like , , and produce 100% of their electricity from zero-carbon sources.
2. Get A Water Butt. Collect Rain Water.
Global warming may be the biggest issue in the news, but the water crisis is the most pressing. Only 1% of all freshwater is easily accessible, and we are using more water than the earth can replace itself. highlights this issue. The average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water every day. We need to use less.
Start with using a water butt to collect rainwater to use for gardening, watering plants, washing the car or filling up the paddling pool in summer. They cost between £30 and £50 on and are worth every penny.
Building Designer Tip: Install a rainwater harvesting tank in your garden and use it to flush your toilets.
Level up this tip. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. 68% of people still leave the tap running while they brush their teeth. This small habit could save up to 24 litres a day in the household. It also saves on your money on your water bills.
3. Shop Locally. Support The Local Economy.
One of the best ways to reduce your carbon footprint and help the local economy is to support local businesses. As a co-owner of an independent coffee house, I know the lengths many local retailers go to use better ingredients and to meet ethical standards.
Most of the time, this may mean slightly more expensive products, but they are unable to match major supermarkets that use economies of scale to keep costs low. If you have visited a local butcher, you would understand the difference in quality that smaller shops strive towards. They also produce less waste as they order less.
Supermarkets import food from all over the world, and because the food travels a long way to get to their shelves, there is a more substantial amount of embodied carbon in their products. By visiting the local farmers’ market, there is plenty of fresh, in-season, locally sourced food to purchase that you will be directly supporting.
Building Designer Tip: Keep local stores in mind when ordering materials. We always specify local suppliers and natural materials where we can.
Level up this tip. Select products with recyclable packaging and support zero waste shops. is a UK-based, comprehensive resource of local businesses and community initiatives to help you on your journey in living more sustainably.
4. Go Plastic Free. Prevent Plastic Pollution.
Plastic waste is a more significant issue than we think it is. Every year about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into our oceans. These plastics break down into smaller pieces unable to decompose and not only harm our marine life but to an extent, humans as well. Even when we come across recyclable plastics, only 9% of all plastic waste has ever been recycled.
You can start cutting down on your plastic waste in a few simple steps. Using reusable bags on grocery shopping, ditching single-use plastics such as straws, drinking water from the tap instead of bottled water and using reusable coffee cups are some of the ways.
Building Designer Tip: Use natural insulation instead such as hemp, wood fibre or sheep’s wool insulation.
Level up this tip. Get involved in a local beach clean up. has various activities that encourage families to help out.
5. Eat Less Meat. Meat-Free Mondays.
The conversation met with the most resistance when I speak about sustainability is meat consumption. I suppose there is a labelling issue with being a vegan or a vegetarian for some people. Well, be a flexitarian. A flexitarian is someone who chooses to be flexible with their lifestyle choices around food. Being flexitarian has kept me healthier, saved me money on my weekly shop and opened my mind to many tasty alternatives.
The idea is to reduce our meat consumption. By doing that, we cut the most significant contributor of greenhouse gases, even more than all cars, planes and other forms of transport put together. If you still need more convincing, .
Building Designer Tip: Concrete is the ‘meat’ of the construction industry. Cement is the source of 8% of global CO2 emissions. Use cement blended with alternatives. We specify where we must use concrete.
Level up this tip. Try a week of being vegetarian. Where to start? Here are some recipes from the and to get you going.
Vote. Your Voice Matters.
The last piece of advice is not really a tip; it’s a call to your civic duty. One of the perks of living in a democracy is our voice matters. If enough of us take a stand on issues that we feel strongly about, the government has to take notice. The only way we can lobby against the corporations — 70% of emissions come from large corporations — is to put pressure on our leaders as citizens; choosing local parties and politicians who represent our views and our values. You can make a difference with your actions.
About the Author
Jonathan Fashanu is a structural engineer, building designer and STEM ambassador. He is a co-founder of , an integrated building design studio with an emphasis on sustainable design and responsible construction. Connect with me on .
