A new comprehensive and very interesting website that we recommend: econo-ecolo.org. Focusing on green building, energy saving, sorting and recycling of waste, sustainable development, organic products and water management and transport, a whole bunch of tricks that are available to make your life or your friends’ life as green as possible! Many articles enlighten you on the right actions to take. An online shop of green and economic products, will allow you to take action in one click. For children, think of the website while offering ecofriendly games that please everyone.
A particular section caught our attention: “The seasonal things to do”, thus enabling us to adapt to the seasons, the festivals and holidays. We learn by example eco-citizen gestures in the spring, to apply to our garden.

Tourism is the world’s largest industry and continuing to grow. By 2020, there could be as many as 1.6 billion passenger journeys by air and sea every year. The challenge is to manage this growth sustainably: increasing numbers of tourists inevitably leads to increased demand for energy, water and natural resources.

Greenhouse gas emissions as a result of international tourism account for almost 5% of the world’s total: 1.3 billion tonnes annually. Three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions due to tourism are transport-related: aircraft (40%), road transport (32%) – accommodation (21%). The WTO estimates that the spiralling growth of the business could lead to a 150% increase in its greenhouse gas emissions over the next 30 years.

The new UNEP campaign entitled “Green Passport” will be supplying tourists with information enabling them to minimise their impacts on the environment and society in general by abandoning certain behaviours.

An initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme, the French Ministry for Ecology and Sustainable Planning and Development and the Brazilian ministries for Tourism and the Environment, the campaign aims to raise tourists’ awareness of the fact that they too can contribute to sustainable development by making responsible vacation choices. The campaign’s website supplies travellers with practical “green” advice, particularly with respect to transport, enabling them to reduce their environmental and social footprint during their stay and minimise the energy consumption required for their journey.

Holiday season is over for most of us. However, for those who are starting, here are some eco-citizen tips.

- Choose the train as transport and not the airplane, especially for short distances (except, of course, if it’s a 12 hour flight).
- Be careful with your trash: on average, a person leaves 2 liters of waste per day on the beaches! As a result, approximately 80% of waste found in sea from the land and killing an estimated of 1 million birds each year.
- Do not buy souvenirs, shells, starfish, sea or seahorses. A seahorse is cute, but it’s even more beautiful in the water than dried on your library. Same for the stars of the sea as for shellfish, initially they are living organisms, essential for the proper functioning of the marine ecosystem, it is better that they remain in the ocean.

Life and biodiversity are valuable and we have to preserve them, not only for ourselves but also for our neighbors, whether near or far.

Photo credit: Jessica Bee

Following the advice of the Gavarni Hotel to be eco-citizen at work, you are now ready to act at home!

At home: it maintains a temperature below 19°C, which allows energy savings of 7%. Ideally, you should sleep in a room at 16°C and the rest of your apartment or your house should be 19°C. But for persons having some problems with numbers, invest in a thermostat that will allow you to adjust the temperature according to your presence.
Finally, remember to insulate well in order not to lose that stupid energy you consume. The best is yet to close your shutters, your curtains and double your curtains!

In the garden: stop watering your lawn. After all, we must face facts: if you live in Aix-en-Provence, no more dreaming, your lawn will never be as sweet as the green pastures of Normandy.
You wonder what is the hype summer sport? Use a hand mower!
It does not spend energy so it does not pollute.
Obviously we get the rain water for domestic purposes: watering, washing the car or the dog.

In short, being eco-citizen is not so complicated as that, you just give yourself the means.

Photo credit: raf-dessins

French consumer confidence is sagging. The reason is that the government has just announced average increases of 5% in gas and electricity rates.
More and more French people are turning to renewable energy sources, abandoning fossil fuels and inclined to take up more environmentally responsible behaviours. We know that mankind uses considerable quantities of gas, oil and coal. But these are not going to last forever and some day they will be gone for good.

Given the pollution caused by the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere and the resulting major climate change, it would be better for everybody to use solar or hydraulic energy to preserve our planet. It’s all the more worthwhile given that there are financial savings to be made too!

Today, there’s a lot we can do: install solar panels or wind turbines for heating and lighting, insulate our homes properly to stop energy being frittered away outside, make use of a heat pump which will make better use of the solar energy contained in the ground, or even buy an electric car.

Although most people are in favour of such moves, installing this kind of equipment is still a significant investment for most households. But isn’t it all worth it in the end?

Photo: dm-pellets.be

Being an eco-citizen requires much energy. It is true that often we lack the will or time and many other things. But we forget that being eco-citizen is not an act or a behavior which is confined only in the evening returned home. It is possible to do it at work!

The first moves of a good eco-worker? Do not leave it on when you leave, which means turn off the printer and the computer!
At the coffee break or lunch, do not use covered or disposable plastic cups because it increases waste and energy spent to produce them. So we are reminded of what our grandparents did and you bring a towel and covers!

But the topic that annoys the most in business is paper consumption. It is essential to be moderated. So have a reasonable behavior!
Similarly, the color prints are not necessary every time (especially when it comes to print the last joke received by e-mail from the accounting department).
The recycling of ink cartridges of printers are very welcome, that you do not have a rainbow bin.
Finally, the best idea is to give a second life to paper, using the printed sheets (you know, your jokes received via email) as draft because of course nobody has the courage to print on the back.