Do you need thneed?
By thinking firstly about if you need to make a purchase in the first place you could reduce your environmental impact, save money and reduce your clutter. Buying second hand goods is an excellent way of reducing your impact as a new item need not be made for you. Buying second hand is fun, a great way to meet people and even support a charity. Selling excess 'stuff' as second hand goods or giving it to charity frees them up for other people, gives you back the space and feels great.

Spend wisely
Every dollar you spend is a vote for a product or service provider. When making a purchase taking that little extra time to select the product or service that has the least impact does help. Companies spend vast sums on sales and marketing and once they realise they can increase sales by reducing the environmental impact of their products or service they will adapt them accordingly. Every dollar drives change.

Speak up
If when shopping you notice a company could improve it's offering speak up. It feel a little awkward at first but once you've done it a few times it gets easier. "What is the envrionmentally friendly option here?" "Do you have one made from recycled paper?" "I bring my own bag so why do I have to pay for other peoples bags in the price of your goods?" "Can I have that in a re-usable cup please?" "Is it really nessesary to have so much packaging?"

Green shopping directories

www.slf.org.au Sustainable Living Foundation directory
Search the Green Pages and Consumer Guide

Good Environmental Choice Australia at www.greenprocurement.org

Green Building Products

Good Environmental Choice Australia at www.greenprocurement.org

Ecospecifier (you need a membership to see all products) www.ecospecifier.org

ECO-Buy directory for corporate and government purchasers www.ecobuy.org.au

Climate positive companies

WWF Climate Savers