It was great news to hear that our new government had signed up to the 10:10 campaign to reduce carbon emissions by 10% during 2010. Many individuals, companies, councils and other organisations have also signed up.
How has your campaign been going? If you can’t relate to carbon emissions – let’s face it, it is difficult to visualise the invisible – remember that cutting emissions means also cutting cost and saving money!
Many small actions add up to quite a lot if we go around our homes and look at all the electrical gadgets that we have and take for granted – and switch them off when we are not using them. It is good policy to make sure that energy is not being wasted on any appliance that may be plugged in but is not being used e.g. phone and camera chargers. Televisions and related gadgets such as DVD players/recorders and the various digiboxes that are attached should be switched off, if possible, rather than left on standby.
Our kitchens are a major source of energy use and waste and there are lots of ways that we can minimise this. Small actions like choosing the right size of ring for your saucepan so that you are not heating the air around the edge and always using the saucepan lid. Make sure that you do not always fill the kettle – modern kettles are designed to boil exactly the amount of water you need. Conversely, you do need to fill the oven and the dishwasher to use them efficiently.
Remember, also, to do your shopping efficiently. Taking the car to the shops several times a week uses energy so make sure that you do your shopping for the week in one trip, using local shops where you can and only buying locally sourced produce whenever possible.
To join the campaign go to www.1010uk.org
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