Top Tips For Going Green

Folk just starting out on the path to greening up their lives often wonder what options are available to them short of jacking in their ‘normal' life and buying a smallholding out in the country to raise chickens and grow acres of crops. The rural dream isn't for everyone - either because they don't fancy the long hours and mucky jobs or because they can't afford to move. However, you can still live a comfortable 21st century lifestyle whilst reducing your ecological impact. The list below has been gleaned from a number of postings on the Newhouse Farm forum over the years and provides ideas that you can pick and choose from - some might not be applicable to your situation but hopefully there are at least a few you can crack on with!

Change lights to eco-friendly bulbs

Traditional incandescent bulbs are rather inefficient as lights - much of the energy put into them comes out as heat rather than light. Compact Florescent Lamps (CFLs) are far better, and usually last longer as well. Some of the older or cheaper CFL bulbs can take a few minutes to get up to their maximum light output, but more modern bulbs can be almost indistinguishable from the incandescent bulbs they replaced. If you're on a budget, replace the bulbs you use most heavily first, but keep the old incandescent bulbs to use in cupboards, little-used rooms, etc, rather than just throwing them away.

Turn off lights when leaving the room

Contrary to some popular opinion the power used by turning on a light, even a florescent tube, is relatively small and you start saving power (and money) by turning off lights if you are going to be out of a room for more than a minute or so.

Monitor your energy usage

You can start to work out where you are expending most of your energy usage (and a large part of your household budget) by monitoring the power consumption of your home as you turn various devices on and off. At its simplest, this can mean taking careful, regular readings from your gas and/or electricity meters and then comparing the results with the devices you have used/not used during the period the readings relate to. If you wish to have a more precise way of looking at power demands of electrical equipment you can buy energy monitoring units that the equipment is plugged into. These energy monitors will tell you a variety of things about the device, such as its current draw at different periods of its operation, how many kilowatt hours it has consumed and in some cases even how much it is costing you to run!

Turn devices off, rather than leaving them on standby

Many devices, especially the older models, consume nearly as much power in standby mode as they do when they are on! This means they are sucking up power, and costing you money, whilst you are asleep, at work, at school, etc. Turning them off at the wall socket stops this. It may be an idea to have two separate strip blocks for different devices - one that is left on for important devices that must run constantly and one that should be turned off when not in use. Time switches can also be used if you are forgetful - if you know you're not normally going to be watching the telly between midnight and 6pm you can program the timer to disconnect the device then.

Consider energy use when buying devices

Energy consumption should be viewed as a feature when making purchasing decisions for new electrical goods. ‘White goods' (washing machines, dishwashers, fridge-freezers, etc) should display an energy efficiency sticker allowing you to make easier comparisons between competing devices. Other electrical goods may require more investigation - look at the wattage in specifications and consider how long the device is likely to be on for. Electrical goods should also be disposed of correctly - the European WEEE directives helps ensure that manufacturers and retailers help purchasers in responsibly recycling old devices.

Make use of off-peak power

This is not only cheaper, especially on the ‘Economy 7' tariffs, but also means that you are soaking up baseload power supplies, rather than adding demands for more power during peaks. A simple time switch on your washing machine or dishwasher can allow it to be doing the domestic chores on the cheap whilst you sleep.

Turn down the thermostat on your heating

Many folk have their homes heated all day at temperatures in excess of 20C. If you can turn your heating down a few degrees you'll save a lot of energy and money - wearing a jumper over your t-shirt is a lot cheaper! Ideally see if your home heating can be arranged with controls in each room, so that you are only heating the rooms you are actually using rather than the whole house.

Switch to a green electricity tariff

There are several companies such as Good Energy, Ecotricity or Green Energy who can provide a variety of electricity tariffs based on renewable production. In some cases consumption is matched by 100% production of renewables at a slight overhead in the cost, whereas in others the percentage of renewables is increased year on year whilst matching the tariffs of the incumbent electricity suppliers.

Reduce your consumption

Many folk look at the ‘waste' end of the consumer culture and try to ensure they get as much of their waste stream recycled as possible. Whilst this is good, it is often better to think a bit about the other end of the process and actually consume less in the first place. This means thinking carefully about purchases, even if you can afford them. Do you really need that new product? Can an old device be repaired rather than replacing it? If there are two products on the shelf, which one has the least packaging or manufacturing/transport footprint? The answers to these questions aren't always clear, even to a hardened ‘greenie', but thinking about them often means that you make a better decision than if you just make a rash purchase.

Reuse items

Before throwing something away, consider if it can be reused. You might have some other use for it elsewhere at your home or work, or you might be able to sell it via small ads, eBay and the like. Also consider charity shops and the Freecycle network and see if anyone in your locality could make use of it before you send it off to be recycled or landfillled.

Recycle carefully

When you really do have to dispose of something, check carefully if you can recycle it. Different areas have different types of recycling available so it is difficult to give a ‘catch all' answer to this, so it's probably worth checking with your local council's recycling/waste department to see what they have on offer. Remember that even if the council does not offer recycling for your items itself, you might have access to recycling facilites elsewhere in your local area. For example, many supermarket car parks now sport recycling centres taking a wide variety of materials. If you do have kerbside recycling please make sure that you separate the recyclables out as instructed by your council: recycling ‘polluted' with the wrong materials can be next to useless and may actually end up having to be landfilled after all.

Say no to plastic bags

Try to take a bag or two with you when you go shopping, so that you can use them rather than the ubiquitous plastic carrier bag. If the shop assistant tries to ‘bag up for you' politely decline and use your own bags - don't worry, you won't be the first person to do this! Some stores are now realising the error (and cost!) of their ways and encouraging their customers to buy reusable long life bags and even hiding carrier bags out of sight.

Compost if you can

If you have a garden, even if it's a little postage stamp sized patch attached to a modern starter home, try to find a space for a little compost bin. These are often available at a discount from your local council and can be sited in a corner out of the way. Vegetable peelings, fruit skins, shredded paper, torn up cardboard, egg shells, vacuum cleaner bag contents, annual weeds, small amounts of hedge prunings and chicken manure can all be put into the bin and will, over six months or so, turn into material that you can dig into your vegetable or flower beds.

Grow your own fruit and vegetables

If you've a little bit of garden space available try growing a few veggies. Pick things that you like and that taste better fresh, are expensive to buy or that you have difficulty buying locally. Even if you don't have a garden you can still grow some edibles - many plants are quite happy growing in containers on windowsills and balconies. Never underestimate the difference a few fresh herbs will make to your cooking - and they can be available all year round!

Cooked meals rather than ready meals

Most of us succumb to the odd take away, tv dinner or potted snack. However try to ensure that the majority of your main meals during the week are home cooked. Not only can you ensure that these meals contain healthy ingredients but this also means that you can take control of the amount of packaging that your food uses, especially if you can use unpacked vegetables and meat sourced locally rather than plastic-wrapped items from the supermarket.

Pick organic and/or local produce

There are often debates about which is ‘better' - locally sourced fruit, veggies and meat, or organically grown products that have to be transported longer distances. Working out which has the lowest ‘footprint' can actually be quite difficult, and different people take different options. However picking either of these is better than opting for alternatives that have been grown using energy intensive, artificial fertilisers and pesticides and have to be transported for long distances.

Insulate your home

If you own your own home, or you have a sympathetic landlord in a rented property, see if you can add more insulation to your home. This not only means getting a nice thick layer of insulating material in the attic but also looking at insulating your walls and considering double or triple glazing. Improving insulation usually has a much shorter and more guaranteed payback period than alternative heating mechanisms such as solar power or ground source heat pumps so attending to it first is nearly always the best policy.

Check your transport options

Having a car sitting outside can make it a tempting choice for most trips. However sometimes it might be worth thinking about other options. For example a quick trip to the shops can often be nearly as quick by foot once you've found your car keys, got the car started, navigated to the shops, found somewhere to park, nipped in and then reversed the process. By walking you will also be reducing your carbon footprint whilst getting a bit of exercise - and it's much cheaper than the gym! Walking or cycling to work might also be an option for some people, even if it's only occasionally. For longer journeys look to see if public transport such as buses and trains could be used - whilst the ‘walk-on' tickets can often make these seem expensive look at advance purchase options or, for regular travellers, season tickets, which can be good value especially when compared to car parking and congestion charging as well as fuel costs.

Look at alternatives to detergents and other cleaning products

There are now a number of ‘eco' alternatives to the major brands of washing powders and washing up liquids. Also don't overlook the use of good old fashioned washing soda crystals - these can often be bought in bulk with minimal packaging and will provide a perfectly satisfactory wash for 90% of your washing. White vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice can also deal with many of the household cleaning jobs such as sinks, baths, cooker tops, work surfaces, etc.

Investigate eco-friendly toiletries

Many of the items that we happily splash all over our bodies when we wash are actually concoctions of some rather interesting, and in some cases rather frightening, chemicals. Even if you don't think the small amounts you come into contact with in each wash will affect you personally, the combined output of thousands of people in your town all using them can have a definite effect on the ecosystem, and the amount of processing the waste water requires before it can be discharged. There are now many eco-friendly options for soaps, shower gels, shampoos and make-up that allow you to stay clean whilst doing your bit for the planet!

Laptops rather than desktops

If you are looking at buying a new computer, laptops are often more energy efficient than the desktop machines, especially if you ensure that you buy a machine with a specification linked to what you want to do with it, rather than a super-duper, all singing, all dancing machine that you will only be able to use 10% of the power of. When you do need to replace the machine consider the disposal of the old one carefully - in addition to the advice about reusing/recycling above there are several charities that will take old machines and deliver them either to local deprived areas or to communities in the Third World.

Collect rainwater

If you have a garden or allotment, try to collect rainwater to help with watering the plants. Not only can this cut your water bills, but also rainwater is often better suited for your plants, especially if you are trying to grow acid loving plants and live in a hard water area. ‘Greywater' (washing up water, bathwater, cooled water from boiling vegetables, etc) can also be used for watering plants, although it does not store as well as rainwater.

Reduce toilet water use

Much of our household drinking water isn't drunk at all, but simply flushed down the toilet. Mains drinking water is a valuable resource that has undergone energy intensive processing and transportation (pumping uses power!) and many toilets use far more water than they really need to (especially older models). To reduce the use of water in toilets you can place a plastic bottle full of water into your toilet cistern and don't flush if you've only urinated and other folk in the house are also likely to use the toilet soon (urine is normally sterile, so there's few health risks in doing this).

Low flow shower heads and taps help save water

If you are refurbishing a kitchen or bathroom why not look at low flow taps or shower heads? These help save water by reducing the volume of water delivered whilst still providing an adequate flow for many washing tasks.

Turn taps off when cleaning teeth

Many people leave the tap running whilst cleaning their teeth. This means that many litres of drinking water are delivered straight to the sewers without even being used. Just turn the tap on when you need to use the water!

Use a washing up bowl when cleaning veggies or washing up, rather than just running the tap

A running tap is a great way to waste water (and push up your water bill if you are on a metered connection) whereas a washing up bowl allows a limited amount of water to be used and even re-used out in the garden later.

Compiled by Jim'll

If you are interested in becoming greener, there is a wealth of information from the wonderful community on the Newhouse Farm forum

Photo Eco lightbulb (c) Go Green Lights 2009 www.gogreenlights.co.uk

Next 3 photos (c) Lauren Shields 2009 www.laurenshields.co.uk/

Potato photos (c) Jilly Graham 2009

Our affiliate merchant AMAZON has lots of books for sale around this subject. The Big Green Idea is paid a commission if you choose to buy via our links. These are not recommendations by the author and are chosen purely to give a representation.