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** E is for ENVIRONMENT **
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The environment, along with writing and travelling, is one of my passions in life. It’s no secret I try to be green (in a good way) in the way I live my life, so I wanted to use today’s ‘E’ theme to combine all three.
I believe all inhabitants of the planet should consider this:
** E is for ENVIRONMENT **
---------------------------------
The environment, along with writing and travelling, is one of my passions in life. It’s no secret I try to be green (in a good way) in the way I live my life, so I wanted to use today’s ‘E’ theme to combine all three.
I believe all inhabitants of the planet should consider this:
How environmentally friendly am I?!
Can I do more to reduce my impact on the Earth?
With a bit of thought, we writers can balance the impact we have on our environment in a few easy steps. You might even save some money!
So, what effects can writing have on the environment, and what can we do to combat this?
Writers need energy!
Writing at home, especially in the cold winter the UK has (hopefully) just put to rest, I can guarantee most of us were pumping out the central heating. However, turning the thermostat down just one degree can make a difference to our energy use and consequently our monthly bills. Have you put on a sweater before you’ve turned up the heat?
Electricity use is another way writers can impact on the environment. I, for one, write 99% of my material on my laptop. This has a footprint for energy consumption and production of my albeit aged computer. However, I have it in ‘low energy’ mode normally, and I figure using a screen is better than using reams of paper. Ensuring you have a more environmentally conscious supplier can also help ease the strain of our modern, energy-intensive lives.
Think before you ink!
An essential for any writer, the ballpoint pen was invented in 1938 and it has never looked back. The iconic ‘bic’ will never become redundant. However, standard pens are not very eco-friendly. When the ink is spent, the pens end up in landfill. You can minimise the damage these products do by buying refillable pens (remember the old cartridge pens we went crazy for in school?!) or buying pens made from recycled material. Elizah Leigh has written a great post on how pens can be eco-friendly – take a look!
I’d love a Seven Year Pen to satisfy my eco-guilt…
Born to be a Tourist?
Travel blogging is awesome. It’s a dream job for many, but considering the environment as you travel should be something at the top of every modern day traveller’s checklist. There are a million blogs on green travelling, but consider these two key points…
Can you take another, greener form of transport? Perhaps taking a slower route would be more environmentally friendly, but also offer many more views, experiences and interactions with local people you’d never encounter if you flew.
How can you tell how environmentally friendly your lodgings are? Try to investigate things like if they have recycling bins in the rooms. Are they running on solar power? Do they have extensive areas of water-hungry lawns?
Also, as a writer, you may take a smaller, more energy efficient alternative to a laptop on your travels. Do any of my readers write their stories on an iPad? I’m considering an upgrade and would like to hear some comments about how good the ‘click-in’ keyboard is…
Can I do more to reduce my impact on the Earth?
With a bit of thought, we writers can balance the impact we have on our environment in a few easy steps. You might even save some money!
So, what effects can writing have on the environment, and what can we do to combat this?
Writers need energy!
Writing at home, especially in the cold winter the UK has (hopefully) just put to rest, I can guarantee most of us were pumping out the central heating. However, turning the thermostat down just one degree can make a difference to our energy use and consequently our monthly bills. Have you put on a sweater before you’ve turned up the heat?
Electricity use is another way writers can impact on the environment. I, for one, write 99% of my material on my laptop. This has a footprint for energy consumption and production of my albeit aged computer. However, I have it in ‘low energy’ mode normally, and I figure using a screen is better than using reams of paper. Ensuring you have a more environmentally conscious supplier can also help ease the strain of our modern, energy-intensive lives.
Think before you ink!
An essential for any writer, the ballpoint pen was invented in 1938 and it has never looked back. The iconic ‘bic’ will never become redundant. However, standard pens are not very eco-friendly. When the ink is spent, the pens end up in landfill. You can minimise the damage these products do by buying refillable pens (remember the old cartridge pens we went crazy for in school?!) or buying pens made from recycled material. Elizah Leigh has written a great post on how pens can be eco-friendly – take a look!
I’d love a Seven Year Pen to satisfy my eco-guilt…
Born to be a Tourist?
Travel blogging is awesome. It’s a dream job for many, but considering the environment as you travel should be something at the top of every modern day traveller’s checklist. There are a million blogs on green travelling, but consider these two key points…
Can you take another, greener form of transport? Perhaps taking a slower route would be more environmentally friendly, but also offer many more views, experiences and interactions with local people you’d never encounter if you flew.
How can you tell how environmentally friendly your lodgings are? Try to investigate things like if they have recycling bins in the rooms. Are they running on solar power? Do they have extensive areas of water-hungry lawns?
Also, as a writer, you may take a smaller, more energy efficient alternative to a laptop on your travels. Do any of my readers write their stories on an iPad? I’m considering an upgrade and would like to hear some comments about how good the ‘click-in’ keyboard is…
Drowning in paper?
Try these tips to help reduce your paper use.
- Keep on top of your filing so you don’t print duplicates
- Use both sides of the page
- Buy recycled paper and recycle it again after use
- Consider buying a laptop
- Email, don’t post, your work to prospective agents, editors
and publishers (as is the most preferred method of submission nowadays)
- Share subscriptions to writing magazines with a friend
One of my favourite and most useful eco-products are notepads which are made from materials saved from landfill. My favourites include notepads with covers made from tyres, juice cartons, and even some with covers made from elephant dung! Check out my favourite little ‘poo-tique’!
In conclusion, writing can be a damaging activity, even as we sit at home working hard on our new work in progress. However, the smallest steps make a difference when everyone makes an effort.
If every one of my 5,212 blog readers from last month reduced their paper consumption by just 10%, we’d be onto starting something good!
Lou x
Find me on Facebook
…And on Twitter
Born To Be A Tourist
Images from Blog CX and Seltzer Goods
Try these tips to help reduce your paper use.
- Keep on top of your filing so you don’t print duplicates
- Use both sides of the page
- Buy recycled paper and recycle it again after use
- Consider buying a laptop
- Email, don’t post, your work to prospective agents, editors
and publishers (as is the most preferred method of submission nowadays)
- Share subscriptions to writing magazines with a friend
One of my favourite and most useful eco-products are notepads which are made from materials saved from landfill. My favourites include notepads with covers made from tyres, juice cartons, and even some with covers made from elephant dung! Check out my favourite little ‘poo-tique’!
In conclusion, writing can be a damaging activity, even as we sit at home working hard on our new work in progress. However, the smallest steps make a difference when everyone makes an effort.
If every one of my 5,212 blog readers from last month reduced their paper consumption by just 10%, we’d be onto starting something good!
Lou x
Find me on Facebook
…And on Twitter
Born To Be A Tourist
Images from Blog CX and Seltzer Goods
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