Invest in your planet this Earth Day
Busy Lizzie @
Planet Earth is pretty important to humankind (unless Mars is accepting Earthling migrant applications!) so we tend to take Earth Day rather seriously here at Hug at Home.
We believe nobody’s the perfect climate warrior, but we all have to do our bit - however big or small! To remind you of why Earth Day is so important, here’s 3 (not so) fun facts I’ve learned about the harm we’re currently doing to our planet…
Humans use about 1.2 million plastic bottles every minute
That’s right, every 60 seconds!
If you break it down (just like those little microplastics!) us Brits use about 7 billion water bottles per year, which averages to about 13 bottles per person per month. By switching to a recyclable water bottle, you could be saving about 150 plastic bottles from landfill every year! Isn’t it clever how such a simple swap can make a world of difference?
Coal only generates 29% of its original value in energy
Whereas wind power generates 1,164% of its original value!
Get this - a bog standard wind turbine can power up to 1,500 homes for a year - pretty impressive, right? However, Siemens (yes the kitchen appliance people!) have just built a brand new, gigantic model that can power up to 18,000 homes every year! That’s enough energy for the entire population of Bangor! And that’s just one turbine, we’d only need another 3,734 to power the entire population of the UK. Phew, that’s enough maths for me today! Isn’t wind some powerful stuff?
Food is the cause of 30% of all carbon emissions
And the main culprit is livestock!
It’s estimated that 1,800 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef. That’s enough water for 105 long showers or 4 large hot tubs… I know which one I’d choose! Plant based options and meat conscious diets are the way forward, with plant-based meat using up to 99% less water than conventional meat - it’s a no brainer!
This year’s theme for Earth Day is “Invest In Our Planet”. The purpose of this theme is to “build a prosperous and equitable future” and “build healthy cities, countries and economies” - now that’s something I can get behind!
We most certainly do our bit here at Hug at Home (you can read more about it in our environmental story) and we urge other businesses and organisations to do the same! But for those wanting to help on their own, here’s 3 ways you can make a difference and invest in your planet…
Cut down on single use plastic!
Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we could just snap our fingers and stop using single use plastic altogether? Baby steps, now! First, you need to calculate exactly how much of an impact your plastic consumption is having on our planet. Once you’ve done this, you can start implementing easy changes to your lifestyle - why not start with that handy reusable water bottle tip I mentioned earlier?
Always remember to reduce, reuse and recycle! We recycle over 16 million plastic bottles and that’s just in the manufacturing of our fabulous Hug Rugs – we recycle thousands more in our Hug Rug Woven products. That’s a lot of bottles kept out of our oceans and put into lovely, sustainable homeware… that lasts!
And if you’re a quiz fanatic (I know I am!) you can brush up on your plastic pollution knowledge with Earth Day’s very own quiz! I scored 7/10, making me a “Plastic Professional''! That’ll look nice on my CV!
Switch to green power
I’ll admit this isn’t as easy as the water bottle hack, but it’s just as important! By switching to a green tariff (or to a greener energy supplier altogether) you’re showing support and demand for renewable energy - the consumers have the power here!
Here in our mills, we use renewable energy from hydro pumps, windmill farms and solar to power the machines that make our fabulous products.
I don’t know as much about green power, so I took the Clean Energy Quiz to test my knowledge. Guess who got 7/10 again - would you believe it? Only this time I was given the honourable title of “Energy Master''! I don’t think ‘Busy Lizzie the Plastic Professional Energy Master’ has such a good flow, but I’ll take it!
Keep it local
We all know the benefits of shopping locally - not only are you supporting small businesses, but you’re (more often than not) getting better quality produce than you would find in the supermarket! But aside from spending your money in your community, we often forget about the best way to lower your carbon footprint - reduce your travel!
Now, I’m not saying you need to start cycling to work or do the big weekly shop without your car, but if we all were a little bit more conscious about our travel, we’d realise how much we take for granted! So when there’s a direct train to your destination, ditch the car! Airlines are having another sale? I’ve heard Cornwall is lovely this time of year, why not swap those harmful, long haul flights for a UK staycation?
Based in the gorgeous rolling hills of West Yorkshire, we take pride in where we live, and want to protect our environment as much as possible, by making sure we impact it as little as possible. We like to keep things close to home, which is why we source material for our lovely products from local suppliers and why many of our workforce live within walking distance of the mills. To read more about what we do here, take a look at our environmental story.
Mother Earth is blooming brilliant, and we need to protect her at all costs. Let us know how you’re celebrating Earth Day this year, we love to hear about your eco-friendly ideas!
Busy Lizzie x
