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Ethical and ecological audit
Page history
last edited
by Yvonne 12 years ago
A checklist of all the lifestyle choices that could have ethical and environmental implications
Step 1 - take the ecological footprint test and/or the carbon footprint test (more detailed, and comes with recommendations for improvements)
Step 2 - audit your lifestyle
Household
| Area |
Issues |
Solutions |
| Cleaning products |
- Many cleaning products contain chemicals which are harmful to the environment and to animals, birds, and fish
- Washing your car swills harmful chemicals into rivers
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| Furniture and textiles |
- Was the producer of the furniture fairly paid for their work? (is it Fair Trade?)
- Was it made from a renewable resource?
- If the fabric is made from plant fibre, was the plant grown organically?
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| Disposals |
- Anything you throw away will end up in a landfill site, emitting methane into the atmosphere
- Many materials are from non-renewable resources (e.g. metal & plastic)
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- Think before you throw it away.
- Can it be recycled?
- Could you give it to a charity shop / thrift store / goodwill store?
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| Energy use |
- Is your electricity coming from a sustainable source?
- Have you considered solar panels?
- What about wind power?
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- Switch to a green energy supplier
- Don't leave electrical items on standby
- When boiling the kettle, only put in as much water as you need (this makes the tea taste better too!)
- You can get grants to switch to solar panels
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| Heating |
- Gas is extracted from the Earth and is a non-renewable resource.
- Electricity is frequently generated from nuclear energy (and 25% of the power is lost in transmission through the National Grid) or from coal-fired power-stations, another non-renewable resource.
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- Consider using a wood-burning stove (it's carbon-neutral)
- If you have central heating, turn your thermostat down a few degrees and put a jumper on instead
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| Insulation |
- No point having green energy if it escapes out of the roof.
- Is your loft insulated?
- Is the insulation material non-polluting and from a sustainable source?
- Do you have double-glazing?
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| Recycling |
- Glass, plastic, clothing and textiles, paper and metal can all be recycled
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- Sort your waste
- Don't buy items with packaging which cannot be recycled
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| Lighting |
- Uses electricity
- External lighting can cause light pollution and disturb animals
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- Use energy-saving lightbulbs
- Don't leave lights on
- If you have an external security light, make sure it is only triggered by a sensor, not left on all the time
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Personal
| Area |
Issues |
Solutions |
| Clothing & shoes |
- Was the producer of the clothing fairly paid for their work? (is it Fair Trade?)
- Was it made from a renewable resource?
- If made of leather, was the animal humanely treated?
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| Jewellery |
- Was the producer of the jewellery fairly paid for their work? (is it Fair Trade?)
- If it contains gemstones, were they strip-mined?
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- Look for the fair-trade label
- Check that the gemstones were not strip-mined
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| Personal hygiene products |
- Was it tested on animals?
- Will it pollute the environment?
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- Buy only from ethical suppliers
- Look for the mark "Not tested on animals" or "Against animal testing"
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| Gifts |
- Is it fair trade / organic / sustainable?
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- Make your own gifts and cards
- Send e-cards
- Buy someone membership of an organisation, or shares in a forest project
- Buy gifts from charitable organisations
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| All products |
- Was the producer of the product paid at all for their work?
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- Check your slavery footprint
- Write to the companies from which you buy things to make sure there is no slavery in their supply lines
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Food and drink
| Area |
Issues |
Solution |
| Meat, eggs and dairy |
- Factory farming
- Antibiotics in the animal's diet can kill the flora and fauna in your gut which you need to digest your food properly
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- Buy from your local farmer's market
- Buy organic and free-range
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| Vegetables and fruit |
- Air miles - how far was the item transported? (causing pollution and carbon emissions)
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- Only buy local produce when it's in season
- Get your fruit and veg delivered in a box
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| Bottled drinks |
- Plastic and glass bottles accumulating in landfill sites
- Plastic is made from oil (a non-renewable resource)
- How far has the water or other drink been transported?
- Is it drawn from underground aquifers, which can cause land collapses
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- Buy Thirsty Planet water, which supports Pump Aid
- Filter your tap water
- Reuse and recycle plastic and glass bottles
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| Fish |
- Sustainability - the fish species may be endangered
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| Genetically modified foods |
- Allowing one company to own genetic material
- Decreasing biodiversity
- Cross-breeding of GM crops with wild plants
- Lack of consumer choice
- Once farmers have bought GM seeds, they are stuck with them
- Unpredictable effects on the enviroment
- more details
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- Campaign against GM crops
- Look at the GM foods checklist to avoid buying food with GM ingredients
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| Pesticides in food |
- About half of all UK fruit and vegetables contain pesticide residues
- Some of these can bio-accumulate in our bodies or harm our hormone systems. They also pollute drinking water; removing pesticides costs the UK £120m a year
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- Buy organic vegetables & fruit (from a farmers' market or a box scheme)
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| Disposal |
- Putting it in the bin means that it ends up in a landfill site
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Transport
| Area |
Issues |
Solution |
| Driving to work |
- Pollution & carbon emissions
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| Flying |
- Pollution & carbon emissions
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- Do something to offset the carbon emissions - e.g. tree planting
- Go by train (if possible)
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| Going by ship |
- Pollution & carbon emissions
- Noise of propellors prevents long-distance communication by whales
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Further reading
- Pagan and Plain? by Sarah Sutterfield Winn (this article was the inspiration for this page)
Useful links
Ethical and ecological audit
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Comments (1)
Anonymous said
at 5:03 pm on Mar 13, 2007
We scored about 50% on this audit, but we're aiming to improve on that. Also last time I checked, my ecological footprint was 3.3 hectares (which would immediately drop to the required 1.8 hectares if I stopped driving to work).
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