7 Tips for a Sustainable Summer
Are you aiming to be more sustainable this summer? Check out our easy-to-follow and effective tips, ideas and suggestions below…
1
When you run hot taps, collect the water that is otherwise wasted while waiting for it to heat up. We run it into a small bucket and keep decanting into a large bucket on the kitchen floor. It can then be used to water indoor and garden plants.
Instead of letting cold taps run until chilled, refrigerate a jug of water to dip into whenever you need to rehydrate. Pour unfinished water from bottles and drinking glasses into the plant watering bucket.
Other summer water saving strategies include taking shorter showers and fixing any leaky taps. Also, cut down on washing your car. Letting it get excessively dirty can lead to corrosion - but it’s doesn’t have to be constantly sparkling, as long as the windows, lights, indicators and registration plates are clean.
2
Wrap summer gifts sustainably with RAPPU’s beautiful organic gingham furoshiki. Reminiscent of sunny picnics and summer dresses, the gingham used is woven in Kerala from organic cotton and fairly traded by one of our favourite suppliers, the Organic Textile Company. This makes the gingham furoshiki sustainable twice over!
Finding more than one use for something is an eco-friendly strategy as it cuts down on unnecessary belongings. Accordingly, our gingham wraps double up as napkins for summer picnics and tea parties. If you want quick, easy wrapping for small gifts such as soap or jewellery boxes, we also hand make drawstring gingham gift bags.
3
It takes advance planning to avoid single-use and plastic wastage at festivals. To give you a head start with festival body care, Glastonbury-based Hanini Skincare has put together a beautiful handmade festival soap kit in a reusable tin.
Add RAPPU’s reusable face wipes, alongside an eco-friendly cleanser, and you’re sustainably sorted for a summer of festivals! We recommend Beauty Kitchen’s Seahorse Plankton range - a nourishing vegan skincare collection with excellent eco-credentials.
Be sure to pack your reusable water bottle, stainless steel tiffins for food stalls, reusable coffee cups for takeaway hot drinks, reusable stainless steel cups for cold drinks and your own utensils. Peace with the Wild’s On the Go section has everything you will need, from insulated bottles to light bamboo cutlery sets in roll up cotton pouches.
Use a RAPPU furoshiki to bundle up your reusable crockery and utensils so they are handy to get to in your rucksack. They also double up as reusable, washable napkins, handkerchiefs, bandanas and scarves for sun protection.
4
Join a beach clean up or litter pick for a fun and active way to help the environment this summer. They make for summer holiday activities with a difference, and are a great way to give back to the locality that is hosting your holiday. It’s also an activity that children love joining in with.
The Marine Society lists beach cleans across the country.
Keep Britain Tidy has information on how to become one of their regular volunteer Litter Heroes for those who want to extend their litter picking activities beyond the summer.
If you want to support the proceeds of beach clean ups, check out the Washed Up Cards range of greetings cards. These cute and clever eco-friendly cards feature beach salvaged plastic - making each one unique. Flora, the artist, also runs card-making workshops and beach clean up sessions
5
Go vegan when you barbecue. If this is a step too far, experiment with some plant-based dishes to cut down on meat and dairy. Aim to prepare from scratch using beans, lentils, nuts and vegetables. Bear in mind that ready-prepared and processed vegan foods don’t always have a great carbon footprint. Some of it also counts as ultra processed food - best avoided from both an environmental and health point of view.
If you are looking for vegan barbecue recipes, try Rukmini Iyer’s The Green Barbecue with its mix of vegan and vegetarian dishes. Author of the brilliant Roasting Tin series, Iyer’s recipes cleverly combine delicious with quick and easy.
6
It can be tempting to buy a new wardrobe for each holiday season - and end up down the fast fashion rabbit hole! Check out charity shops and secondhand sellers on eBay, Depop and Vinted to fill any gaps. If you are in London, seek out a Traid secondhand shop. Traid is a charity working to reduce the environmental and social impact of our clothing. You can also shop online for Traid secondhand clothing at Depop and eBay.
According to Traid, extending the use of an item of clothing by just nine months reduces its environmental impact by up to 30%. With this in mind, go through your summer wardrobe and see what can be reused and/or repaired. Refresh your wardrobe by doing clothing swaps with friends/family members of a similar size.
If you do need to buy new, go for natural fibres where possible. Linen and hemp are inherently eco-friendly. As one of the thirstiest and dirtiest crops on the planet, cotton isn’t a particularly sustainable option in spite of being a natural fibre. Go for organic cotton, as long as you can afford it. If you don’t have the budget for linen, hemp or organic cotton, aim to purchase secondhand clothing.
7
Not thinking about mint or pistachio flavours here, but how we can make this favourite summer treat more eco-friendly. Unfortunately, ice cream isn’t a particularly sustainable product. Its main ingredient is dairy, with its methane-producing cows and high water requirements. According to greenlivingdetective.com, it takes 42 gallons of water to produce one scoop of ice cream 😳 Other commonly used ice cream ingredients are not much better. Sugar, vanilla, chocolate, coffee and even palm oil tend to come from global environments that are under threat. Most commercial ice cream nowadays is also sold in plastic containers.
If buying ice cream for home use, choose a company that is working hard to be as sustainable as possible. According to Eden Farm, Mackie’s of Scotland, Kelly’s of Cornwall and Ben and Jerry’s are good brands to go for.
If you want to buy an ice cream on a day out, it’s harder to pick and choose your brand. Two eco-friendly strategies to keep in mind …
Make it a special and occasional treat - your pocket and waistline will thank you, as well as the environment.
Go for ice cream cornets as this means no waste packaging, tubs or single-use spoon and sticks.
If you want cooling treats at home, try making your own ice lollies. Delicious, much healthier, less resource-heavy, and easy to prepare…
Purée fresh berries and sieve to remove pips (optional).
Stir in a little organic Greek yoghurt or cloudy apple juice.
Sweeten with organic honey (optional, and not for babies under 12 months).
Pour into lolly moulds and pop into the freezer.
Strawberries work well (strawberry picking is another great summer activity that children love). However, you can experiment with any fruit. Substitute dairy yoghurt with coconut yoghurt for creamy vegan lollies. Cloudy apple juice works with any fruit but you can also experiment using different juices such as orange, mango or grapefruit.
Hope you have a super sustainable summer!
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