CML Green Initiative: Eco Exchange – Simple Changes for a Greener Caltag Medsystems

As part of the new CML Green Initiative (What’s that I hear you ask? Read more here!), the CML Green Initiative Committee have been holding “Eco Exchanges”.

These sessions, held by our very own Cara Hetherington, are all about simple changes you can make at home and work to reduce your environmental impact.

The first exchange Eco Exchange offered a great forum for people to discuss how they are attempting to reduce their carbon footprint at home, challenges they’ve faced, the pros and cons of the new changes they’ve tried at home. Read on for some of the tried and tested ideas from the meeting:

Are there any simple changes you’ve made to reduce your carbon footprint? Let us know!

Cleaning

The number of chemicals we use for daily cleaning can be extraordinary (think how many different types of cleaning sprays are currently under your sink). Not only does the manufacture and eventual disposal of these chemical have an impact on the environment, but each comes in a plastic bottle adding to the increasing volume of plastic waste.

It turns out, white vinegar can be used as a base for pretty much all cleaning solutions (check out Pintrest for loads of ideas). Instead of your usual general-purpose cleaning spray, try this:

1. Take some leftover citrus peel and leave to soak in white vinegar (for 1-2 weeks)
2. Dilute citrus infused white vinegar and water (1:1 or 1:2) (option to add essential oils e.g. tea tree for added bacterial and fungi killer or just add your favourite oil for scent).
3. Pour into an old spray bottle and use

Some other ideas people have tried at home include:

• Tumble dryer balls to reduce tumbling time and soften clothes
• Homemade reed diffusers
• White vinegar instead of bleach for descaling
• White vinegar and essential oils instead of fabric conditioner

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mea

Toiletries

Similarly, toiletries also have a big impact on the environment. Some easy ways we discussed to reduce the amount of waste at home include:

• Soap bars instead of hand soap in a plastic dispenser
• Shampoo Bars (apparently leaves your hair lovely and soft!)
• Magic makeup wipes – no need of makeup remover or cotton wool pads– just warm water”
• Reusable sanitary products
• Bamboo toothbrushes rather than plastic
• Recycled toilet paper

Lunch

The Caltag Medsystems office is a stone throw away from a supermarket, so the number of plastic wrapped meal deals consumed in the office is pretty high!
Instead we discussed the benefits of bringing in food from home. Some ways to make this even more eco-friendly included:

• Using re-usable lunchboxes
• using re-usable beeswax wraps rather than clingfilm
• using a re-usable water bottle rather than plastic
• thinking about what food you buy (e.g. is it covered in unnecessary plastic, or sourced from half-way across the world when it could come from the UK?

It is safe to say that we all enjoyed the first Eco Exchange and are looking forward to the next one!

Anything Else?

Have you implemented any of the above at your workplace or at home? Is there anything practical that we’ve missed? We’d love your feedback! You can contact us at GreenInitiative@caltagmedsystems.co.uk.