5 things I have done today to help the planet… [Day 006 – 20 May ’19]

Today got off to a buzzing start.

I started early and got a lot done.

But then I read this report on the BBC and I realised there is so much more to do.

Maybe I need to up my five a day to ten a day...

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1. Moving to an ethical bank - Triodos

I currently have my business bank account with NatWest (RBS) and my personal account with Co-operative Bank.

NatWest has never made any great claims about its ethical or environmental credentials.

The Co-op has - but has rather fallen from grace in recent years.

It's time for me to get my act together and move to a bank that is better fitting with my planetary aspirations.

I took a peak at the Ecology Building Society which I have used before but it is not a full bank and has a somewhat limited range of services.

Instead I chose Triodos Bank which has a very strong ethical and enviromental basis to all they do.

I have applied for a Personal Acccount in the first instance, but a business account may follow shortly.

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2. Hey Tesco, can I get a plug-in?

A couple of days ago I mentioned that I was contacting the supermarkets we use asking if they have plans to install electric car charging points at their stores.

We are getting an electric car this summer and I am really keen to see the network of charging points expand - particularly in Wales.

Today I got my first response from a supermarket. A very helpful customer services person called Jenny from Tesco actually called me this afternoon to tell me their charging point plans.

They have done a deal with Pod Point to install electric car charging points at their stores.

Tesco have recently put their first charging station in Wales at their Llansamlet store in Swansea.

They have plans now to install charging points at 600 stores over the next 3 years. This represents about a quarter of all their stores.

Three electric cheers to Tesco. Bring them on.

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3. There's no poo on my head

A couple of years ago I read an article on Treehugger about the 'No Poo' movement.

Seemed a bit weird at the time - I had used shampoo to wash my hair twice a week for the past 56 years.

But I decided to give it a go.

Twice a week now I just rinse my hair in the shower - nothing added, just eau naturelle.

For the first couple of weeks I wasn't sure. How could I still be clean?

But then I just forgot about it and let the natural oils in my hair do their job.

Now it is doesn't even cross my mind to use shampoo.

I've saved shampoo, I've saved plastic, I've saved money.

Nothing mind-blowing ... maybe 6 bottles of shampoo a year.

But imagine if just 10% of the population of the UK joined the No Poo movement that could be 200 million plastic bottles of shampoo saved each year.

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4. Search, Search and plant a tree

If you use the web and are even a little bit eco inclined you really ought to be using Ecosia (ecosia.org).

Ecosia is a search engine that plants trees.

It uses the profits from promoted sites in its searches to fund tree planting projects around the world.

So far they have funded over 55 million trees.

I think it was @steevc who first alerted me to Ecosia.

I have been using it on and off for a while but today I installed it as my default search engine in Brave.

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5. The Daily Donation - World Bee Day - Friends of the Earth

It's been World Bee Day today.

Bees have been having a hard time in recent years - I figured they could do with a little help.

Friends of the Earth UK have been running a bee campaign - The Bee Cause - for a while now.

As part of their campaign FoE are offering a Bee Saver Kit.

So for today's donation I gave £15 and a Bee Saver Kit is now buzzing its way to me.

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I am getting a real buzz out of this challenge.

I am wondering where I can take this project.

I am already promoting it on Twitter.

All suggestions welcome for more ways to grow this...

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[ all images from pixabay.com ]