Little Green Space
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Little Green Space |
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It's easy being green! Here are ten quick and simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint. For even more ideas, and to calculate your carbon footprint, visit Big Green Switch or the UK Government's site. |
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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Avoid needless packaging and carrier bags when shopping - they take energy to produce, then end up in landfill, creating even more greenhouse gases. Anyway, baskets and canvas shopping bags are trendy! Oh, and compost your kitchen waste - your garden will thank you for it. |
| Turn your central heating down. Just turning it down by 1 degree can save 250kg of carbon and up to £30 off your winter fuel bill. If you're still cold put a jumper on, or wrap up in a snuggly, fleecy blanket. | |
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Drive less, walk more. This is really good for your health and well-being too. Walking the kids to school each morning, instead of going in the car, improves their concentration, and therefore their learning, for the day. It also eases congestion, and the pollution that causes problems like asthma. |
| Join an environmental group. Individual changes are important, but international and national action on climate change, peak oil and habitat loss are vital. Politicians need to know that we really care about the environment and that we expect them to do something too. Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Wildlife Trusts and many others are all lobbying for environmental change. And register your support at www.icount.org.uk. | |
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Buy local produce whenever possible. Or grow and produce your own food. Farmer's markets are a great way to find out who's producing what locally. When shopping, follow this rule - buy local first, then British, then European, then worldwide. |
| Green up your home. Make sure it has adequate insulation, switch to a green energy supplier and don't waste water. Or really go for it and install solar panels or a wind turbine! | |
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Fly less. When planning your next holiday, think about how you are going to get there. Is it possible to go by train, instead of plane? If you must fly, try to limit flights to, say, one a year. Take one long family holiday, rather than several shorter ones. Weekends in long-haul destinations are definitely out! |
| Switch off all appliances when not in use. Leaving appliances like TVs on standby consumes almost as much energy as keeping them on. And avoid the "phantom-charge". Things like PCs can continue to suck up power, even when switched off, without you even knowing it. Solution? Switch the power off at the wall. | |
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Switch to low energy light bulbs. This is so easy to do - and in the long run will save you money, too! In fact, each energy saving bulb could save you up to £100 of electricity during its lifetime. |
| Create your own little green space! Click here to find out how. And keep planting those trees... | |
