Eco Tips from Donnachadh McCarthy

You may have spotted on the TotallyLiving website a couple of days ago the fanstatic new range from The Body Shop.

The earth lovers shower gel range blasted onto the scene with a naturally fragrant punch and a lot of do-good-ing. Not only is it part of the eco-conscious range, which ensures it's 100 per cent biodegradable, but it's also fairly traded  and of course being from The Body Shop, against animal testing.

We can't get enough of them here, and in my shower there are  two bottles: the Lemon and Thyme fragrance for a zesty burst in the morning and the Rosemary and Apricot scent for those before bed showers. Oh choices, choices!

But why should your eco-friendly changes stop at just picking your shower gel?

At the launch event on the roof terrace of The Century Club, Soho, green-fingered eco-guru Donnachadh McCarthy was on hand to offer up some very simple ideas that could help save our planet and you some time and money.

So here are his top tips:

• Avoid power showers, a five minute power shower uses more water than a bath!

• Have a 3-4 minute shower using a shower timer and save 72,000 litres of water a year.

• Help stop water pollution by using eco-friendly and 100% biodegradable shower gels and shampoos, like the eco-conscious range in The Body Shop.

• Reduce your bathroom lighting carbon footprint by replacing wasteful halogen spotlights with the latest super efficient LED bulbs.

• Eliminate your shaving foam waste by using a shaving cream such as The Body Shop For Men Maca Root Shave Cream.

• Decorate the bathroom with zero VOC organic paints thus avoiding the toxic chemicals in usual paints.

• Clean your shower using an e-cloth which requires no additional chemicals if used regularly.

• Buy bathroom products made from recycled materials like The Body Shop earth lovers shower gel bottles are made from 100% plastic.

• Only heat the bathroom when you are using it and close the door for the rest of the time.

• Heat your bathroom to no more than 21°. Every degree higher will cost you up to 10% on your heating bill and carbon footprint.