Reduce your household waste

Small changes, when combined, often make the biggest difference

November 18, 2009 - British Gas

Did you know that as individuals we contribute around 40% of the UKs total greenhouse gas emissions? We moan that the government isn’t doing enough to tackle climate change, but if we make some small changes around the home and to how we travel, we can reduce our carbon footprint along with our energy bills.

Small changes, when combined, often make the biggest difference. For example, don’t leave TVs, stereos and computers on standby. This contributes around 800,000 tonnes of CO2 to the environment each year – equivalent to 1.4 million long-haul flights.

You could also use energy saving light bulbs. These bright young things last 12 times longer than the regular variety so you could save around £100 with each bulb.

Washing machines and dishwashers use a huge amount of electricity and water for that matter. By turning down your washing machine to 30 degrees you will use 40% less heat than at 40 degrees. If you have an outdoor space, then dry your clothes outside. Try and wash up by hand and if you really want to use the dishwasher, use the energy-efficient setting.

Central heating is the biggest offender to our personal ‘green’ ratings. It contributes around 60% to all of our individual CO2 emissions. There are a few easy ways that you can reduce this carbon footprint however.

Firstly, install and energy efficient boiler. These eco-friendly additions to your home could save you £170 a year from your heating bills and the environment will get 875g less of CO2.

British Gas is helping you make the switch this summer by removing a lot of the costs involved. If you upgrade from your old boiler to an energy efficient one by 25 July, you can save over £850. Along with a new boiler, you’ll get free HomeCare for one year in case anything breaks, and free radiator heating and controls installation.

Only use the heating when you need it. Make sure your boiler gives you as much control as possible and add a full set of heating controls. This means you can only have the heating on in the rooms you are using, at a level that is just about right and on a timer so that it’s not on when you are out of the house. By controlling your heat usage you could reduce your annual outgoings by a further £100 and stop over one million tonnes of CO2 clogging up the atmosphere.

This article has been provided for by British Gas. Take a look at the British Gas website for more tips on how to reduce your gas and electric bills.

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