Reducing Your Carbon Emissions

Here are ten quick and easy ways to cut back on your carbon emissions. They will help you save the environment - and save you money.

|PIC1|So you are concerned about carbon emissions and the effect they have on the environment. That's great because awareness is the first step towards solving the problem.

Here are some fun suggestions for you to consider to reduce your carbon footprint. If each person only looks to themselves, the problem of sorting out global warming becomes easier for everyone.
If we only worry about our own backyard, then when everyone has done theirs too, the problem will have gone away!


1. Cut your home energy consumption
Turning down a thermostat by just one degree centigrade saves an amazing 10% on your fuel bill each year. Have a bit of a carbon spring clean of your home. Add more insulation, block up some annoying drafts, make sure are in control (add a time switch or thermostatic radiator valves) and be aware that each hour a boiler fires it will have released 5kg of CO2. Gas and electricity price are going up so action now will save £££s and may also add asset value to your home.

2. Switch to green electricity
Switch now to Good Energy, GreenEnergy or Ecotricity and you instantly lose two to three tonnes off your footprint.

3. Use energy efficient light bulbs
The latest high performance (energy efficient and long life) light bulbs are amazing. They come in every shape and size, including exact replicas of the old fashioned bulb. They save at least £25 over their life and cost about £2.50. They do not flicker, they come in soft-tone, they start up instantly and they look cool. Each bulb you plant saves at least 100 kg of CO2. Do every bulb in your house and notice the bill drop - for the first time in years!

4. Know how much electricity you are using
If you knew how much electricity you were using you would switch off a few lights and turn off TVs and radios that are standby. So get yourself an Electrisave. Its small portable screen can go anywhere in your home and it shows you instantly how much electricity you are using. Turning off electrical items you are not using can rapidly deliver you a £50 a year reward in savings - and 250kg CO2 a year off your footprint.

5. Get a car that is nicer to the environment
Did you know the official all-in running costs per mile for the lowest CO2 vehicles in town are 25p rather than 50p (or more)? Low carbon is low cost in every sense. Road tax, insurance rating and fuel costs all tend to go together. And, of course, ultra low depreciation because these cars are the future. So when you buy - or rent - a car make sure you get one with CO2 emissions.

6. Use your car less
|QUOTE|Consider how good it would feel to walk once in a while - or bike it. Rediscover the joy of public transport. Long distance off peak rail is great for unwinding and having a quiet time. Give that steering wheel a break once in a while.

7. Change your driving style, and take someone else
Drive more slowly and consider car sharing with someone else who is going to the same place as you.

8. Consider flying less often
This is a tricky one. None of us wants telling we cannot fly anymore. So try to fly less (some people are deciding not to fly at all). Stay longer when you fly long distance. Combine two trips. If you go far-flung on holidays do it less often.

9. Take a holiday in the UK
You deserve a break, so take one. Without getting on a plane. Millions of people visit our country every year for their holiday. Why not do the same and get to know your homeland better? You will be helping our economy, too.

10. Get radical
Once you have done all the basics, start to think about what the sun and wind could do for you. Install a solar panel or a wind turbine. My solar panel saves me well over £100 a year and a tonne of CO2.