Ethical and Green

Welcome!  Today we thought we would give you some cheap yet effective ways that you can reduce CO2 emissions in your house.  According to the Energy Saving Trust every household creates six tonnes of CO2 a year from the energy it uses!!  To give you a visual idea of how much gas this is, one tonne of CO2 occupies the same space as six double decker buses……

So follow these simple steps and try and get rid of a bus full of CO2!!!

1. Turn down the thermostat

Turning the thermostat down by just one degree can cut your heating bills by 10%.  If enough people did this we could save 3.6 tonnes of CO2 a year.

2. Keep your water at 60 degrees

Your water doesn’t need to be hotter than 60 degrees so don’t waste energy by heating it over this temperature.

3.  Keep your fridge efficient

Set your fridge at the correct temperature and make sure you defrost your freezer regularly.  An efficient fridge/freezer can help save £35 a year on your electricity bills. 

4.  Turn it off

As the MTV ad campaign tells us SWITCH IT OFF!!  This means all things electrical from lights to televisions.  In fact mobile phone chargers are worth mentioning here.  Most people leave their phone plugged in long after it has fully charged.  One statistic we found said that only 5% of energy is used to charge a phone if left on overnight.  That’s a huge 95% waste of energy…

Are there any lights on in your house that could be turned off?  Go and check……(but come back!)

6.  Buy better light bulbs

There are lots of energy efficient light bulbs on sale now.  Apparently they last twelve times longer than ordinary ones thus saving your money (or at least offsetting the fact they are more expensive….) Also over the course of its lifetime an energy efficient light bulb can save you £100.

7.  Close your curtains

At dusk close the curtains as this will help keep the heat in.

8.  Fill up

Fill up your dishwasher and washing machine to the max.  This will save energy.  It’s also worth taking a look at buying more energy efficient white goods.  Look for the labels that show you how environmentally friendly they are.

9.  Boil the minimum amount of water

That’s right folks.  Only put the amount of water you need for a cup of tea in the kettle.  Filling the kettle to the top and boiling is a waste of energy.  If you accidently do it take a cuppa round to your neighbour.  Save the planet and make a friend!

This goes for boiling your vegetables as well.  Only boil enough water to cover your veg.

10.  Energy Check your house

Make sure you have insulation in the right places to stop heat from needlessly being lost.  This goes for windows, roofs and water tanks. 

More info can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website.  It costs a bit but in the long run will save money.  Also with the introduction of HIP for moving house you’re going to have to do it at some point anyway.

So there we have it.  Some top tips for reducing your CO2 emissions.  They are all so simple you have no excuses.  The fact that they will save you money should also be a good incentive.  We’ll have to write something about where to invest your extra pennies now!