Go Green - top ways to save the environment
There are plenty of ways to save the planet without having a cutting edge eco-house. If you are worried about the environment and want to leave a cleaner, safer world for future generations then it's time to make some changes. With just some small adjustments to your lifestyle you could help reduce your impact on the environment.
Top environmental searches:
Try a rain harvester. It is an extremely simple system of collecting rainwater that falls onto your roof. Collect it in a central point via the guttering and store it in an underground tank until it is required for use. This water can be filtered on entry to the water tank. Use for flushing the toilet, washing clothes, cleaning cars or watering the garden.
Get green electricity from suppliers like Good Energy. They source all their power from carbon-neutral sources such as wind, solar and hydro. You can expect to pay more, around an extra 10 per cent on your current electricity bill. The positive news is that you know that all the electricity you use will be carbon-neutral.
Cut water wastage by installing spray taps on your sinks. Fit new taps or install metal screw-in adapters. How about fitting an efficient, modern dual-flush lavatory? This will use either four and a half litres or two litres per flush. Alternatively, you can put plastic water bottles in your tank, make sure you can still flush though.
How about trying energy efficient light bulbs? Normal tungsten bulbs use up to five times more electricity than energy-saving bulbs. Lose multiple halogen lights. Homes with such lighting use up a lot more energy, up to eight times more for lighting than traditional bulbs and up to 40 times more than energy-saving bulbs.
Switch off your mobile phone charger. Leaving your charger on when it is finished charging will generate 35-70 kg of CO2 each year. It is worth remembering that 95 per cent of the energy used by mobile phone chargers in the UK is wasted energy.
Turn off your lights. After a while it will become second nature. It's an adjustment that won't cost you a penny and can save you more than half your lighting bill.
Is your fridge as efficient as it should be? A fridge is on 24 hours a day so it needs to be efficient. There is an EU energy-rating mark that makes this easy to find an efficient model.
