Sustainable life and eco-life

Housing in Finland causes about a third of the emissions affecting global warming. The environmental effects of housing have been increased by, among other things, the increase in the size of apartments and the increasing popularity of small houses.

In a broader sense, living includes not only the things within the scope of the home, but also the activities related to the living environment. The proximity of workplaces, shops and hobbies, as well as the available transport connections, affect the emissions from housing.

A fragmented community structure increases the need to move and thus the environmental impact. Riihimäki's urban structure is one of the densest in Finland: 94% of the population lives within three kilometers of downtown services.

How can you make a difference?

The biggest environmental burden of housing is caused by energy use. Up to half of the home's energy use is spent on heating. Lighting accounts for 20% of the energy use, and the home's cooling devices and other home electronics consume the remaining 30%.

Saving energy is easy

• Turn off the lights in rooms where no one is staying.
• Lower the room temperature.
• Don't waste warm water.
• Turn off electrical devices (Stand By functions also consume energy).
• In order to be able to use energy efficiently, you must have information about your energy use. So monitor your consumption and ask for more information from your energy company.

Sustainable services

• Green electricity means electricity produced from renewable energy sources. It is wind power, bioenergy, solar energy or hydropower. The most significant environmental advantage of green electricity is its climate friendliness: the production of green electricity does not increase carbon dioxide emissions, unlike energy produced with fossil fuels. Switching to greener electricity is easy. In the comparison on the Energy Agency's website, you can view different electricity producers and choose electricity produced from renewable sources. You get to the page from this link.
• You should also use green alternatives as heat sources. Heat from renewable energy sources and district heat from waste processing keep the home warm with lower carbon dioxide emissions than oil heating or electric heating produced with fossil fuels. In Riihimäki, district heating is produced with more than 90% waste heat from waste processing. You can read more information on the Riihimäki district heating website.
• Please also consider the protection of diversity in the design of your yard. Sustainable backyard -with the tips in the brochure, you'll keep the pollinators happy too!

Transport accounts for about a fifth of Finland's greenhouse gas emissions. Traffic also affects the environment through other resulting emissions and the space required by traffic lanes. We can save the environment by minimizing the need to move and by favoring public transport, cycling and walking. We can't always do anything about the need to move, but the way we move is often our own choice.

Sensible driving

When you drive, choose your vehicle carefully and take care of the recycling of the car removed from traffic. With a smoother driving style, you save an average of 10% in fuel costs.

The TOP 5 driving tips of the Easy Rider campaign guide you to a sensible driving style:

• Start immediately, avoid idling.
• Choose your driving route carefully, avoid traffic jams.
• Accelerate briskly to driving speed, shift quickly to a bigger gear, skip gears if possible.
• Drive in the highest gear in which the engine pulls well.
• Drive according to the rhythm of other traffic, roll when possible.

How can you make a difference?

• Prefer walking and cycling and public transport.
• When you change cars, choose a gas or electric car or fill up with biofuel.
• Switch your car to an electric bike.
• For longer journeys, choose a train instead of a car.

Sustainable services:

• Riihimäki city bikes
• Carpools (e.g. several Facebook groups)
• Public transport
• Peer-to-peer car rental
• Bicycle maintenance and repair
  • Velofix.fi
  • Fillariosa
  • Danger to life
  • Fillarifix

Unsustainable food production is the biggest reason for the collapse of biodiversity. Food preparation and food transportation consumes a lot of natural resources. An environmentally conscious consumer prefers botanical products, seasonal and local food, organic and Fair Trade products.

A large part of food's climate emissions is generated in the primary production of food, i.e. growing plants and animals. What you eat has a bigger impact than where the food comes from or how it's packaged. Animal products on average cause more greenhouse gas emissions than plant products.

By using local food, we support local entrepreneurs and do the environment a favor by reducing the need for transportation.

Self-grown vegetables are environmentally friendly food. In Riihimäki, the residents of apartment buildings and townhouses can also enjoy the harvest they have grown themselves, if they wish, on the ones rented by the city of Riihimäki on farmland.

Organic or organic agriculture is agriculture that favors renewable raw materials and recycling, returns biological substances to the earth, takes into account the species-typical behavior of animals, and uses natural feed. In agriculture, organic control methods are valued in the fight against pests and diseases. An essential part of organic is that no synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilizers, growth hormones, antibiotics or genetic modification are used.

By buying Fair Trade products, you support small farmers in developing countries and the position of workers on large farms in international trade. The products have been produced in such a way that small farmers receive at least the Fair Trade guaranteed price for the product, they have not been produced with child labor and strict environmental regulations have been followed in the production of all products. In addition, employees get proper working conditions and the right to join trade unions. Part of the additional income from Fair Trade is used for projects that benefit the community. Riihimäki has received the title of Fair Trade city and strives to promote awareness of Fair Trade in its region. Read more on the Riihimäki - Fair Trade City website.

Food waste

Food waste is food that ends up in the trash, the occurrence of which could have been prevented by better predicting food consumption or by preparing and storing food differently. By throwing food in the trash, all the resources that have been created in the production, processing, transportation and storage of food are wasted.

How can you make a difference?

Consider the environment in your food choices:

• eat plenty of vegetables, fruits and berries
• don't throw food away
• buy vegetables in their harvest season
• reduce consumption of red meat
• try plant proteins

Sustainable services

• REKO – Local food sales and distribution model, local food chain. Reko Riihimäki is a food ring for people interested in local and organic food operating in Riihimäki, whose activities are organized Facebook group through
• ResQ –the waste food application is an application for selling leftover food from restaurants
• Food disposal batches and other products can be ordered at home: Smart food ja Food smart
• Field farming in Riihimäki
• Convenience stores: Convenience stores in the Riihimäki region, Local food day

Climate change and the loss of biodiversity are the biggest challenges of our time. At the moment, we live as a debt to future generations and endanger the viability of our own environment. The ecological footprint of Finns is too large. If everyone in the world lived like Finns, almost 4 globes would be needed.

The environmental label makes the choice easier

By looking at the labels of the product you are buying, you can find out a lot about the environmental impact of the product. The purpose of the environmental label is to increase consumers' product knowledge and help the consumer choose products that burden the environment less than other similar products.

How can you make a difference?

• Buy only what you need.
• Invest in quality and a long service life.
• Prefer services, durable and repairable.
• Favor sharing, borrowing and renting.

Sustainable services

• Civic college
• Kaupungin kutomo
• Recycled products from disposable textiles: Ekotintti
• Flea markets and sales of used goods:
  • Recycling center
  • Femmatori
  • Riihimäki's big flea market
  • Iittala's retro collection and sale
• Borrowing and renting:
  • Library
  • Long-term diaper loan
  • Riihimäki portable equipment loan company
  • Riihimäki Health Center's aid loan office
  • Martto dish rental
  • Riihilatu ry equipment rental
  • Hobby and small machine rental company MRRent
  • Construction machine rental: Hämeen vrokakone Oy and Ramirent
  • Camping equipment
• Bike repair and maintenance:
  • Velofix.fi
  • Fillariosa
  • Danger to life
• Telephone service:
  • Riihimäki telephone service in Majaka
  • At Atom, RixuFix
• Computer maintenance:
  • Micropolix
  • Data IT
• Riihimäki shoemaker
• Upholsterer Maija Nurmi
• Upholsterer with LilaCam
• Sewing machine Cellist Seam
• Sewing shop Small button shop

The clothing industry consumes a lot of natural resources and burdens the environment. The vast majority of our clothes are made in countries where workers' rights are not realized.1 Clothes often travel a long and hard-to-follow route before reaching the store: the material of the garment is produced in one country, the fabric is woven in another and sewn in a third.

Manufacturing clothes also requires a lot of water. For example, about 2000-3000 liters of water have been needed to make one cotton t-shirt.

Globally, a truckload of textile waste is generated every second.

How can you make a difference?

• Carefully consider each of your clothing purchases and buy long-lasting, high-quality clothes.
• Clean out your wardrobe and make better use of its contents.
• Take care of your clothes.
• Buy used clothes.
• Take advantage of clothing loan companies or swap clothes with friends.
• Give your clothes in good condition a new life by reselling them yourself or by donating them for sale or use.

Sustainable services

• Clothing loan companies
• Flea markets
• Online flea markets
• Change and repair of clothes

An essential part of consumption is the resulting waste. The more we consume, the more waste is produced.

Preventing the generation of waste is the most important goal of the waste hierarchy that guides the waste policy. The second highest step of the five-step waste hierarchy is the reuse of products as they are, and the third step is recycling as a material. Only after that comes the utilization of the energy contained in the waste, i.e. waste incineration. The last thing is placing the waste in a landfill

The waste reducer's checklist

• Think about whether you need it before you buy.
• Favor services over goods.
• Avoid short-lived and disposable.
• Prefer durable and repairable.
• Favor sharing and borrowing.

If you can't avoid, recycle

Waste recycling ultimately depends on the consumer's own activity and responsibility. Why recycle? Because in this way raw materials and energy are saved and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

Waste and waste management page you can find information about organizing the collection of useful waste in the Riihimäki area. You can deliver usable items you no longer need to the recycling center maintained by the city of Riihimäki. In addition to the recycling center, Riihimäki has flea markets and shops selling used goods.

Household hazardous waste (formerly known as hazardous waste) and electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) in Riihimäki are accepted free of charge at the collection point of the city depot. Garden waste can be delivered for a fee to Kiertokapula Oy's waste treatment area.

Sustainable services

• Recycling center
• Flea markets and sales of used goods
• Riihimäki's recycling groups and the sale of used goods on Facebook
  • Garbage dump Riihimäki
  • Riihimäki is given for free group
  • Kirppis Riihimäki

In our free time we do hobbies, travel, do housework and rest. Everyone can easily influence the environmental effects of leisure activities with their own choices. A more ecological way of spending free time does not have to mean giving up hobbies or staying at home.

You don't have to buy hobby equipment that is rarely needed, but you can borrow it from friends or rent it. An exercise equipment loan is planned for Riiihimäki library. You can also borrow or rent your own equipment to those who need it. You should go to your hobbies on foot or by bike, by carpooling and by public transport.

Hike nearby

It's not always worth going further out to sea to fish. You can often find interesting destinations in or near your hometown. When tourism is directed close by, both the environment and money are often saved. For example, on Riihimäki's nature trails, you can get to know the nearby nature with the help of guided routes. There are also several recreation areas in and around Riihimäki, which are perfect for nature tourism.

Camping

There are almost half a million summer cottages in Finland. In recent years, the equipment level of the cabins has improved and more and more cabins are in use all year round. The environmental load caused by camping is mainly caused by the heating of the cabin and car traffic. By keeping the basic temperature of an empty cabin as low as possible and by favoring longer cabin trips instead of weekend getaways, you can reduce cabin emissions.

Eco-tips for travel

The environmental effects of tourism arise mainly from traffic. Long-distance travel especially increases the most energy-consuming modes of transport, flying and ship travel. It is also worth checking out when planning your trip to the possibilities of traveling by land. Mass tourism also has effects on local cultures and their commercialization. An eco-traveler considers the best feasible travel method from the point of view of the environment, the accommodation at the destination and their own behavior in a foreign culture. Instead of traveling, you can try virtual tourism, for example with the help of Google Earth or virtual tours of museums.

Sustainable services

• Traveling by train
• Public transport
• airbnb
• Riihimäki nature trails
• Riihimäki parks
• Riihimäki fitness paths and stairs
• The museums of Riihimäki
• Kiintorasti Varuskunta, Riutta and Uhkola