Laundry uses a lot of energy and water, and we can make a big difference to our planet (and bills) just by thinking about how wash our clothes.

And it goes further: changing our washing habits slightly can make our favourite clothes last longer. What’s not to like?!

One of the easiest things we can do is turn our machine from 40-30 degrees, which can save as much as 40 per cent energy, according to the Energy Saving Trust. It won’t make a massive difference individually, but if we all do it, these small changes start to add up.

Make sure you always fill up your washing machine. The average household does 270 washing machine cycles a year – that’s a lot of time spent doing washing, and a lot of water and energy.

If you’re finding you need to do regular washing because you’re running out of underwear, buy a few extra bits if you can, ideally bamboo or organic cotton.

Think about whether you really need to wash your clothes so frequently. It’s too easy to chuck things in the laundry after one wear but do the sniff test first!

Many jeans companies recommend wearing them 5-10 times before you wash them, spot cleaning between if needed.

If you’ve worn something for a couple of hours, rather than wash it, if you have outdoor space why not air it for a bit and make use of the free fresh breeze.

Avoid the tumble dryer if possible. It’s the appliance that uses the most energy in the home (all appliances that heat things use more energy). And now the weather is warming up, your washing should dry more easily on its own.

To put a dryer’s energy use into context, two hours tumble drying uses around the same amount of energy as watching around 35 hours of TV!

By washing our clothes a bit less and not tumble drying them, we’re extending their lives by up to 30 per cent, reducing our carbon footprint and landfill a fair bit and saving a few quid too!

Of course, if you have endless washing from little ones, the ideas above might be a difficult change to make right now, so maybe one to revisit when they’re a bit older!

Another important thing to do is maintain your machine. Clean the filter regularly – I found a long lost necklace in mine last week – and run the maintenance cycle from time to time.

If your machine breaks, try and repair it before splashing out on a new one. In Letchworth, I recommend The Seba Shop. They fix everything they can. They also have loads of refurbished appliances if yours is beyond repair!

Use more eco-friendly products if you can. They have fewer (no) chemicals in them and therefore reduce water pollution.

Not all eco products are created equal, and while some are not perfect, they do tend to be better than the big brands currently.

Hopefully you’ll be able to put some of these simple tips into practice, helping our planet and wardrobe!