What can we do?

What can my community do?

Sometimes it feels like the actions we, as individuals, take are small compared to the scale of the problem. This is not necessarily the case; if we join with others we can demonstrate what a difference we can make. Joining an existing environmental group, or starting one up, can be a great way to meet new people, get to know your neighbour and have fun along the way!

How can I help make my town clean?

Green Communities and Energy Savings Trust [external link]

What can my school do?

Register with the Eco Schools Programme [external link]

Calculate your schools carbon footprint and set a target to reduce carbon emissions.

What can I do?

Calculate your own/your household’s carbon footprint

Quick wins for saving energy in your home.

Your Kitchen

  • Defrost food in the fridge overnight rather than microwaving it to defrost it
  • Keep lids on pans as much as you can to avoid heat loss.
  • Ensure that warm foods cool down before placing them in the fridge, preventing your fridge having to work harder and use more energy.
  • Only boil the water you need in the kettle.
  • Freeze your leftovers or eat them the next day as wasted food makes a big contribution towards CO2 emissions.
  • Covering food with a microwave-safe lid will hold moisture and speed up cooking times. 

Your Living Room

  • Make sure items not in use are unplugged or switched off at the wall
  • Only turn lights on when you need them
  • Don’t leave things on standby
  • Close internal doors to keep the heat in the rooms you are in and turn radiators off in unused rooms
  • When buying a new TV consider the size of screen you actually need as smaller TV’s are generally cheaper to run.
  • When buying new electrical equipment, look for the Energy Saving Recommended logo
  • Put an extra layer of clothing on before turning the heating off.

Your Bedroom

  • Use the right tog of duvet for the time of year (low tog in summer, high tog in winter)
  • Draw curtains at dusk to keep the heat in for when you go to bed
  • Wear socks to bed in cold weather
  • Use a hot water bottle to warm the bed rather than an electric blanket
  • During the winter, time the heating to go off just before you go to bed then it will still be warm for when you go to bed. Likewise it to switch on just long enough before you wake up for the house to be warm enough for when you get out of bed
  • Invest in draught excluders to keep the heat in the bedroom during the night.

Your gas/electricity supply

  • Take regular meter readings - if your meters aren’t read regularly, bills based on estimated readings could mean you end up paying more for your gas and electricity.
  • Switch to Direct Debit and paperless bills.
  • Compare suppliers

More costly measures

  • Draughtproofing
  • Solid Wall insulation
  • Cavity Wall insulation
  • Loft insulation
  • Glazing
  • Installing a new boiler
  • Installing renewable energy technologies

Water

  • Each person in the UK currently uses about 150 litres of water every day.
  • Washing a mug under running water uses about a litre of water
  • Where possible have a shower rather than a bath.
    A dripping tap wastes, on average, 30 litres o
  • water a day.
  • Keep water temperatures below 60 degrees
  • Always run washing machines and dishwashers with a full load and on economy setting.

Waterwise Website [external link]

Other useful links

Local Motion [external link]

Greener Living on DirectGov [external link] 

What can my business do?

The Carbon Trust [external link] provides information to business.