Model, designer and Mum-to-be, Jasmine Guinness, posts her petition into the B&Q Green Piggy Bank to support the campaign to cut the VAT on green goods. The aim of the B&Q campaign is to make it easier and more affordable for everyone to live a more sustainable way of life. Just log onto www.diy.com/eco to find out how to sign up.
1) What is your number one eco tip?
I think lots of little things all add up. However I think the most important thing we really need to teach people of all ages is to switch electrical things off. Why do huge office blocks need their lights on all night? They don’t! Why leave your computer plugged in all night or all day? Stand by does not mean off. It is so easy to make sure everything is off before you go to bed or to work. We could save a massive amount of Co2 and money! Surely people want to save money these days. I love the idea of a monitor in every house so we can all see how much money we could save every day.
2) Which eco champion do you most admire?
I have two eco-heroes at the moment. The first is Prince Charles who I admire for his long standing support of green issues, organic farming and caring for our countryside as the finite resource that it is. Not only his support but he has put his time and money where his mouth is and really made a difference to how we think about our environment. He has always stuck to his guns no matter what criticism has been put his way and I really admire that.
My second eco-hero is Lucy Siegle who writes for the Observer on their eco page. She always has new and exciting ways to help us all make life greener and cheaper and is very informative about things we would never otherwise have heard about. She makes you think about things in a different way which is always good and she is also a great writer too!
3) How do you try to live a more sustainable life?
I just try to incorporate small things into everyday life and teach my kids respect for our planet and what she gives us. We recycle, bicycle, buy organic meat, buy vegetables and fruit from the market but none of these things make us truly sustainable. However we do plan to move to Wales where we have bought a small farm. Once there we plan to be as sustainable as possible. I want us to have our own power supply, chickens, fruit and vegetables. It will be hard work but I can’t wait!
Thank you Jasmine.