A nearly waterless washing machine is to become available in the UK as of next year. The machine, developed by Xeros Ltd, will use small plastic chips, rather than soapy water, to remove stains and dirt from clothes. It will require only 2% of the water and energy used by current machines.

The new technology also threatens to render the tumble dryer obsolete - as clothes will be left fully dry at the end of the wash cycle.

With washing machines responsible for an average 13% of UK household water use, the Xeros machine would make a significant impact on UK water usage. The financial incentive here might be small (as water prices are both stable and relatively low), but the massive energy saving alone (98%) should provide more than enough reason to make the switch.

With the machine’s cost expected to be roughly equivalent to upper-end standard washing machines, there seems little to hold this technology back, assuming the plastic chip cleaning system is as effective as the company claims. As well as lowering bills, it could also save space in the home for those who previously used a tumble dryer (and the effort of hanging washing out for those who didn’t).

In addition there are also the more general benefits of reducing water usage to consider, such as lessening the potentially crippling impact of a water shortage, either here in the UK or abroad.

Such new technology is just one of the many ways to cumulatively bring about a drastic reduction in our consumption of resources - without changing our lives beyond all recognition. With the UN this week releasing a set of guidelines on how to effectively increase the sustainability of our lifestyles, it is a good time to look at other everyday measures also worth considering.

The UN report (released on June 5th; World Environment Day) touches on common points such as driving less and using public transport; but, perhaps more importantly, it outlines the need to ditch unnecessary electronic appliances such as electric toothbrushes and shavers. This might seem like a small, even insignificant, change but not so when considered in terms of its cumulative effect.

Take what is for many a typical pre-work morning routine: wake up, shower, brush teeth, shave, get dressed, put the kettle on for breakfast, eat etc.

Now, at almost every step in this everyday routine, there is the opportunity to reduce waste. For example, ditching the electronic toothbrush and shaver would cut electricity usage. Taking a quicker shower (and avoiding baths altogether) would save massively on both water and electricity use. Using the kettle more efficiently (one of the most energy-demanding appliances in the modern home), by boiling only how much water will be used now, would save more energy than many people realise.

Considering that such savings would be multiplied by at least a few hundred times each year, it quickly becomes apparent that small daily savings, though insignificant out of context, become hugely important when viewed as part of the bigger picture.

And here’s the real point; none of these changes would reduce quality or standards of living - they merely represent the altering of deeply entrenched habits, which here requires near minimal effort. Yet the benefits both to us personally, on a financial level, and to the greater good, from an environmental perspective, can be staggering in the long run.

Dejan Levi