Eco-friendly, green living is easier than most people think! A few small changes can make a huge difference. Plus, sustainable green living will save you money as well as help protect the environment and reduce climate change.

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Greener cities

Driving

• A small, energy efficient car is less polluting than a gas-guzzling 4×4 – and is cheaper to run as well.
• Buy carbon-neutral, green insurance – save money and help the planet!
• Switch off the engine if you think you’ll be stationary for more than half a minute. Idling this long burns more energy than it takes to restart the engine.
• Avoid short car journeys whenever possible. Instead, walk or cycle and burn up some calories!
• Share the school-run with a roster of parents to cut congestion, reduce emissions and save on your fuel bill.
• If you have a diesel engine, consider biodiesel that has been obtained from sustainable sources. Not only is it carbon-neutral, it also biodegrades 98% within three weeks and is kinder on the environment.

Holidays

• Holiday in the UK. Amazing fact: one long-haul return flight can produce more carbon dioxide per passenger than the average UK motorist does in an entire year!!
• There are many eco friendly holidays to choose from.
• Hire bikes instead of a car if you’re exploring locally. Not only will this cut emissions, you’ll save money – and benefit from some exercise.

Food and drink

• Cook with natural, seasonal, locally grown produce.
• Avoid buying endless bottles of water – it’s a plastic nightmare. Fill up an old one with tap water and take it with you everywhere.
• Use a toaster not the grill. It uses less energy.

Green living at home

• If it’s winter and the kids are wearing T-shirts turn the thermostat down by just one degree. This can save up to £30 a year on your energy bill and help the environment. Anyone cold can pull on a jumper.
• An oldie but a goldie: insulate your loft. You can cut up to 20 per cent from your energy bill by installing good quality loft insulation.
• Avoid wasted heat energy by timing your heating to go off 30 minutes before the school run starts, and come on again 30 minutes before you are all due home.
• Only use a washing machine on full-load. Ninety per cent of the energy washing machines use is for heating the water. Switch to a cooler wash temperature: 40°C is usually adequate. Grubby whites can be pre-soaked to loosen dirt or use an eco-friendly stain remover.
• Use energy saving devices to cut your domestic bills further.

Dinner time

• Saucepans with lids on heat much quicker, thus using less energy (obvious really).
• Get oven-wise. Don’t keep opening it to check food. This allows heat to escape, wastes energy and slows down cooking. Switch off a few minutes before your meal is ready. The oven will stay hot enough to finish cooking the food.
• Recycle drinks cans. The energy saved by recycling one aluminium can is enough to run a TV for three hours.

Power

• Count how many light bulbs are in your home. Now think what you’d save if they were all energy-efficient. One bulb uses less than 1/4 of the electricity of a standard model and can last up to 12 times longer. This will save you £10 a year on your electricity bill and more than £50 over the bulb’s lifetime.
• Resist stand-by. If all UK households turned off their TVs at night instead of leaving them on standby, we would avoid emitting enough CO2 to fill the Millennium Dome 38 times each year.
• This energy saving tip will help on saving money and also help reduce climate change.
• Wash laundry loads on the low-temperature programme to save energy.