What it means to be green!

Monster storms, shifting jet streams, and melting ice caps – it’s all a bit bloody scary to tell you the truth. Going green and being mindful of the environment seems less like a choice, and more like an urgent necessity. I now only use biodegradable cleaning products in the my home. I eat organic food and support local producers to cut down on food air-miles. I recycle everything I possibly can and compost all my kitchen waste. I drive less and cycle /walk more. I’m on a ‘Green tarriff’ with an energy company that’s heavily investing in renewable energy. I don’t have a clothes dryer and try to minimise the use of power in my home. At work –

• I use rechargeable batteries.
• All contracts are executed electronically.
• I print in-office documents as little as possible, and what paper  I do use is recycled and printed on both sides.
• I refill my ink cartrdiges and reuse envelopes and boxes for posting.
• I work out of a home office, which saves energy (and time), and means that my daily commute is 14 steps from my kitchen.
• I provide digital pdf files and online galleries instead of paper proofs.
• My wedding albums are printed by a highly-regarded eco-conscious UK printer called Folio. www.folioalbums.com – check them out! They are shipped to NZ using a carbon neutral service.
• All my promo material is printed using vegetable based inks on recycled paper.
• I deliver my images on a reusable USB stick, rather than a CD.
• I calculate all my kilometres travelled each year and donate to a carbon offset charity.

And if ever I still feel overwhelmed by the latest batch of climate change figures, I remember something the Dalai Lama said,

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”