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At home: water, heating, electricity, play the savings!
Reduce the heating. It consumes a lot of energy while you just need to put on a good sweater to achieve the same result, on the warmth side.
Turn off the light. This is the right reflex to adopt: systematically turn off the light when you leave a room and as soon as there is sufficient daylight. In addition to doing something for the environment, you will also save on your electricity bill.
Do not leave your hi-fi equipment on standby. A flat screen on standby is one more person in the house, in terms of energy. And in addition you consume electricity as if the TV were on!
Save water. Opt for mixer taps and flow limiters. Remember to always turn off the tap when brushing your teeth or washing your face. You can also collect the water that was used to wash the vegetables and water your plants.
And of course sort your waste. To make it easier for you, there are now 3 or 4 compartment bins because plastic, glass and paper can be recycled.
See also our dossier “Washable diapers or disposable diapers?”
At the supermarket: do your green shopping
Always with your shopping bag. Because plastic bags are harmful to our planet, always have a small tote in your bag to carry your groceries.
Seasonal products. Buying strawberries or raspberries in winter is a small privilege but it costs money for the wallet and also for the environment: they are less tasty and will have taken the plane to land in your fridge.
In large quantities. A large jar of jam, cottage cheese, a 1 kg packet of rice, etc. You will thus limit the packaging to be thrown away.
Fair trade products. They respect the environment and help small producers so give them priority.
Washing. At home, avoid accumulating laundry and if your laundry is a little dirty, for example: think of wash balls. Laundry is very polluting.
For the housework. Buy “green” products labeled to disinfect, wash, clean. An excellent “do it all”: white vinegar.
Rather rechargeable batteries. Each year, 550 million disposable batteries are sold in France, which are very toxic to the environment.
Buy useful. If you reduce your purchases, you will reduce your waste. Be more vigilant and ask the question: do I really need it? This does not exclude fits of madness from time to time, for fun.
In the street: walk, pedal …
Favor walking, cycling and public transport. It’s good for the heart, the muscles and the planet! Get your children used to walking, it will quickly become an essential habit.
Opt for a – almost – clean car. Since 2006, cars have been stamped with a label – “carlabelling” – indicating their degree of pollution. You can also consult the list of clean cars on the websites or
You are not the one who threw this plastic in the street, but if you collect it and throw it in the trash, you will act for the environment.
Chewing gum in the trash. Do you see those white spots that swarm the sidewalks, impossible to take off? It is chewing gum, an ecological and economic disaster to get rid of it. So you just have to throw them in a trash can a few meters away.
At your workplace: think green
We turn everything off! Just like at home, turn off your computer, your desk lamp and the neon before leaving. Even during the day, only switch on when necessary.
We always sort. More and more bins are ecologically identifiable: blue for paper, black for plastic. Check with general services to find out about the actions implemented in your company. And print your papers and emails only when necessary.