Tips to May 2010
May 1, 2010 at 09:00 Leave a comment
| Title | Source |
|---|---|
| Save energy and save cash | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Carry out a Home Energy Check to find out how to save energy and save cash. The online questionnaire takes a couple of minutes, and you’ll be sent a free evaluation of the areas of your home where cost-saving, energy efficiency measures can be made – see http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/whatcan/hec/ | |
| Radiators | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Summer is a good time to think about keeping warm in the winter months! While your radiators are switched off, put reflective material behind them – this will ensure heat is reflected back into your room and keep you toasty when the weather gets colder. You can buy radiator reflector foil from DIY stores (avoid those made from PVC), or you can make your own by wrapping tinfoil around cardboard. | |
| Do you have to drive? | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| The Environmental Transport Association aims to raise awareness about the impact of excessive car use and help individuals and organisations to make positive changes in their travel habits. If you can’t avoid the occasional car journey, read their Green Tips to help you reduce your impact on climate change – see http://www.eta.co.uk/greentips/ | |
| Alternatives to flying | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Aviation is the fastest-growing contributor to climate change. As part of Airportwatch, Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to rethink its aviation policy – you can make a difference by emailing the Secretary of State for Transport at http://www.rethink.airportwatch.org.uk/ You can also lessen your environmental impact by holidaying in the UK or finding alternative ways to travel at http://www.seat61.com (includes destinations in the UK, Europe and beyond). | |
| Switch off before your holiday | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Going on holiday? Get into the habit of unplugging as many appliances as possible, to save electricity, before you leave. Even if you switch them off, appliances can still use up energy if they’re still plugged in. | |
| Don’t waste energy cooking | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Try these tips for energy efficient cooking. | |
| Toast | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Use a toaster rather than the grill to make toast – it uses less energy. | |
| Ovens | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Try these tips to make your oven more energy efficient. Switch your oven off a few minutes before your food is ready – it will stay hot enough to finish cooking the food. Avoid opening the oven too often to check whether your dinner is ready – by allowing heat to escape, it will end up taking longer – and more energy – to cook. | |
| Slow cooking | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Invest in a slow cooker for delicious meals made using little more electricity than a light bulb. | |
| Liftshare to save fuel and money | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| To find out how to share a car with someone who makes the same journey as you, try these organisations: Liftshare at http://www.liftshare.com and Share A Journey at http://www.shareajourney.com | |
| Fridges | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Help your fridge waste less energy – and save you money – by trying these tips. Dust down the coils at the back of the fridge – dusty coils can waste up to 30% extra electricity. Defrost your fridge regularly. Let food cool down properly before putting it in the fridge. | |
| Don’t let cash leak out of your house | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Plan ahead for the winter and check that your loft insulation is topped up. If you don’t have any loft insulation at the moment, you could expect to see annual savings of _80-_100 for an outlay of _170 upwards if you do the work yourself or _220-_250 upwards if it’s done professionally (using a three-bed, gas-heated semi as an example). If you are topping up insulation to the recommended depth of 250 mm, the cost is likely to be from _140 if you install it yourself (_200-_230 if done by a professional) and the savings _20-_30 a year. | |
| Save money on household bills | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| If you regularly add lots of cold water when running a bath or washing up, turn the thermostat on your hot-water tank down to 60 degrees centigrade. | |
| Invest in pedal power | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| To save money, look for second-hand bikes in reputable shops. If you need convincing of the benefits of cycling – for the environment, your health and your purse – check out http://www.whycycle.co.uk. Already cycling? Find out what else you can do to encourage more sustainable transport at http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/transport/press_for_change/ | |
| Heat your home more efficiently | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| If you are working regular hours, a simple solution to heat your home more efficiently is to time your heating to go off 30 minutes before you leave the house, and come on again 30 minutes before you are due to get back. | |
| Invest in a pressure cooker or steamer | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Pressure cookers and steamers both save energy as they enable you to cook several different foods on one ring. Steamers are particularly easy to use. | |
| Save cash with each cuppa | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Boil the amount of water you need for one cup of tea, rather than half a kettle full. It will save time, energy – and money. | |
| Dress your hot-water tank properly | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Make sure your hot-water tank is dressed correctly. A British Standard lagging jacket costs approx _10 and the insulation for the pipe leading to the hot-water tank from the boiler costs _3 a metre. The yearly saving on your bill is _15-20. | |
| Turn appliances off | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Turn your appliances off if you aren’t using them – items such as DVD players consume 85 percent of their total energy while on standby. | |
| Be a better driver and save money | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| If you can’t avoid using the car every now and then, you can at least reduce its environmental impact. Clear the clutter, drive in the highest gear practicable and avoid using air-conditioning whenever possible can all help to save on fuel. For more ideas, see http://www.foe.co.uk/living/poundsavers/cleaner_cars.html | |
| Clocking up the watts | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| After use, switch off your microwave at the wall. It takes more energy to power the display clock than the oven. | |
| Old boilers | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Replacing an old, inefficient boiler with an energy-efficient condensing model could significantly cut CO2 emissions from your home and save you up to _180 per year (based on an average 3-bed semi). Find out more from including details about grants and offers that you may be entitled to, and http://www.boilers.org.uk/ | |
| Switch over and save | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Save energy and cash this year by switching to energy-saving lightbulbs as each bulb in your home burns out. Some use a quarter of the energy and can last up to 12 times longer. If all inefficient light bulbs in the UK were replaced with new super-efficient LED or compact fluorescent light bulbs, it would save almost as much energy as a nuclear power station produces. | |
| Standby fuels climate change | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Tonnes of greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere every year by appliances left on standby in the UK. The energy used is equivalent to powering around 600,000 homes every year, and is a significant contribution to UK emissions of climate changing gases. How many appliances around your home are on standby? Switch them off when not in use (check it won’t reset the memory) – and unplug chargers once appliances are charged up. Just think how much money you could save! | |
| Cool it | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Switch to a 40 degree cycle when you use the washing machine rather than 60 degrees and you’ll use a third less electricity. Go down to 30 degrees, and you’ll save even more energy – not to mention money. Modern cleaning products work as effectively at lower temperatures, so it’s worth switching the temperature down unless your clothes are exceptionally grubby. | |
| Light up your life | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Keep your electricity bills down by making the most of natural lighting and relying less on electric lights. Opt for pale-coloured walls, ceilings and floors, as well as mirrors, to reflect daylight. You can also encourage maximum light in through your windows by keeping ledges clutter-free, pull curtains back during the day and keep plants trimmed. | |
| Ask Gordon Brown to change car tax rates | http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/car_tax/index.html |
| Over 1 million new cars are bought every year. Many of these are highly polluting gas guzzlers which are contributing to climate change. Currently, the amount people pay in car tax depends on how much carbon dioxide their car produces. However, incentives to buy lower carbon emitting models are so small they are not encouraging people to buy them. Email Chancellor Gordon Brown before 21 March and ask him to change car tax rates to help tackle climate change. Click here to find out how to do this. | |
| Cycling – Save money and get healthy! | http://www.whycycle.co.uk |
| To save money, look for second-hand bikes in reputable shops. If you need convincing of the benefits of cycling – for the environment, your health and your purse – check out http://www.whycycle.co.uk Already cycling? Find out what else you can do to encourage more sustainable transport at http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/transport/press_for_change/ | |
| Make your fridge more energy efficient | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Help your fridge waste less energy – and save you money – by trying these tips. Dust down the coils at the back of the fridge – dusty coils can waste up to 30% extra electricity. Defrost your fridge regularly. Let food cool down properly before putting it in the fridge. | |
| Reusing Plastic Bags | http://www.foe.org.uk/living |
| If you have plenty of old plastic carrier bags, use them as bin liners, drainage systems at the bottom of plant pots and hanging baskets, or instead of bubble wrap when packing. See if your local charity shops would like any surplus bags, and get into the habit of taking a re-useable bag next time you go shopping, to avoid picking up more carriers. | |
| CD/DVD Recycling | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| Give unwanted CDs and DVDs a new lease of life. Your old CDs can be recycled into burglar alarms, street lighting and lenses, and unwanted DVD cases can be recycled into birdfeeders. Collect yours, or set up a collection point at work, and send to Polymer Recycling. Please only include CDs, DVDs and associated packaging, and nothing else. Find out more, including where to post them to at http://www.polymerrecycling.co.uk/ | |
| Child’s Play | http://www.foe.org.uk |
| If you and your friends have children of a similar age, why not consider swapping a selection of your kids’ toys with one of their friend’s, for a month or more? It will give your children a whole new range of things to play with, at no extra cost to you or the planet. An added bonus is they’ll probably enjoy their own toys much more when they get them back! | |
| Coffee Shop cup | http://www.foe.co.uk/ |
| If you can’t manage without your fix from the coffee shop on the way to work, why not make your own and bring it in a flask? At _2 or more per cup, just think how much you’d save over a year! Besides the cash, you’d also save a load of unnecessary packaging – plus a flask will give you at least another coffee mid-morning. | |
| Tooth brushing | http://www.foe.co.uk/ |
| You can waste up to 4.5 litres of water if you leave the tap running while brushing your teeth – instead, use a glass of water for rinsing, or short bursts from the tap, and you’ll only need a fraction of this amount. | |
| Campaiging – who to write to | http://www.foe.co.uk/ |
| Contact the decision-makers. Find the right person to talk to in seconds on http://www.writetothem.com/ – a fantastic campaigning website. Just type in your postcode and the site brings up a list of your local, district, MP and MEP councillors and contact details for them. It’s also packed with useful hints and tips on getting your message across, and what you should expect. | |
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