Take a stroll around your house and garden and you will immediately be able to spot where you can make adjustments in your lifestyle.

• Become aware of what you do

Become more vigilant and pay attention to how you choose to use water, electricity or air conditioners.  Awareness will take you to the next step to make those important lifestyle changes.

• Say no to the plastic shopping bag

Chances are that you have a container or bag in your house with supermarket shopping bags. If you keep them in the boot of your car, they are easily available to be re-used when going grocery shopping.  Even better, purchase a funky carry bag! Not only are really durable and last for years, but they can also be a great fashion accessory. It’s all about falling into the habit and the rest is easy. Remember, plastic takes hundreds of years to decompose and is one of the biggest threats to wildlife and the ocean. 

• Switch out your light bulbs

Instead of going on a festive shopping spree and spending money on disposable consumer goods, instead invest in replacing the light bulbs in your house with LED lights. They use 75% less energy to deliver the same amount of light as incandescent, and LED bulbs last 25 times longer. Festive string lights also come in LED and chances are that they will survive more than one season as they are more durable.

It’s understandable that South Africans to want drink water that comes from a reliable source. But instead of buying water in plastic…