Do you have to be rich to be green?
Posted on: 14 October, 2026
Senior lecturer in Real Estate
From solar panels and heat pumps to electric vehicles and eco-friendly home renovations, many of the measures we associate with greener living have one thing in common: they come at a cost. This raises an important question: do you have to be rich to be green? It’s a topic I discussed recently on BBC Radio Berkshire and am expanding upon below.
Of course, money certainly helps when it comes to buying a solar panel system, heat pump or a shiny new electric vehicle. Despite efforts to eliminate the upfront costs of such systems, there is still the burden of monthly repayments for those wishing to incorporate them into their homes. At a time when energy and fuel bills continue to rise, homeowners are doing what they can to save money.
Whilst solar panels certainly have their benefits, including savings on those pesky electricity bills, the truth is that many people simply do not have the funds available to pay for such systems, even through a finance agreement with monthly repayments. Despite the potential savings on electricity costs, it can be a rather difficult sell when homeowners are told they may be looking at a payback period of between five and eight years.
This naturally creates a barrier for individuals who think they simply cannot afford to be green. However, there is a fundamental misconception here: being green does not mean you have to own solar panels, heat pumps or an EV, or undertake extensive eco-friendly renovations to your home.
Whilst the term ‘green’ can have different meanings, it is often associated with reducing our carbon footprint. We therefore tend to focus on the bigger investments, such as buying an electric vehicle or making major home improvements. Of course, these measures can lower our carbon footprint, but there is plenty more that can be done, either alongside them or as an alternative.
How to go green for free
Our carbon footprint is made up of many different elements. The food we eat, how far we travel every day and the method of transport we use, how we heat our homes, how often we fly, the amount of food we waste, whether we recycle, our water usage, what we buy and where we buy it from, and even our hobbies and day-to-day activities all have an impact on our overall carbon footprint.
So what can we do to lower our footprint and be ‘greener’? Well, the answer is lots of things. For example, swapping a meal containing meat for a vegan dish once a week could lower your footprint by more than 100kg CO₂e a year, while a vegan meal could have an environmental impact 14 times lower than that of a meal containing meat.
On the topic of food, food waste accounts for a staggering 18 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in the UK, and reducing avoidable food waste could save the average person a further 200kg of carbon emissions each year.
Recycling is something we are all encouraged to do, and we have perhaps all been guilty of occasionally putting an item in the wrong bin or simply forgetting to recycle something. However, recycling is estimated to save around 269kg of CO₂ per person in the UK each year.
What about those TVs, chargers and appliances that can be turned off instead of being left on standby? The average household could save an estimated 45kg of carbon emissions a year by doing so.
Carbon offsetting
Of course, many of us also love a summer holiday abroad, but did you know that a return flight from the UK to Spain can have a carbon footprint of more than 300kg CO₂e?
So does this mean we should simply stop going abroad? Absolutely not, but there are now options for carbon offsetting. This does not mean that paying an additional fee makes the emissions from a flight simply disappear. Instead, the money can be used to fund projects intended to compensate for emissions, such as planting or protecting forests, which absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere. Other initiatives include investment in renewable technology. Some airlines offer carbon offsetting for as little as £5, although the effectiveness of such schemes can vary.
Whilst some of these may appear to be small changes, the savings can quickly add up when combined. By implementing just a few of these steps, there is the potential to reduce annual carbon emissions considerably, potentially by hundreds of kilograms.
Small changes make a big difference
Now, of course, bigger changes such as having an electric vehicle, which could save as much as two tonnes of CO₂ annually compared with a petrol car, or owning a solar panel system, which could reduce emissions by a further tonne, can make a much greater difference individually.
However, the focus here is on the more subtle changes that individuals can make on a daily basis. These might be things they are already doing or could simply become more conscious of doing.
So is it about choice and willingness rather than money and being rich? The answer is more complicated than that, and having more money certainly creates opportunities to reduce our footprint on a greater scale. That said, everyday behavioural choices can still make an impact, and these smaller steps, when combined, can make a significant difference.
We often talk about the snowball effect, and it’s worth considering the positive impact on our collective carbon footprint if 100 people, 1,000 people or even 10,000 people all adopted one or two of the greener options outlined above.
Whilst no perfect carbon footprint calculator exists, there are many tools available that use questionnaires about everyday life, household energy use, eating habits and general lifestyle to estimate your carbon footprint. They also provide suggestions for reducing it through smaller, manageable steps.
As an example, why not give the WWF carbon footprint calculator a try? You may be surprised by A) your result and B) the steps you can take to bring it down and live a ‘greener life’.
Interested in sustainability in the built environment?
Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at the University of the Built Environment, with a dedicated sustainability module included in all our degree programmes. Explore our range of courses and discover how we’re putting our principles into practice at our Reading headquarters in our feature, Are we the most sustainable university in the world?
