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The Spring Into Action 2007 website has now been replaced by a more general purpose Eastside Climate Action website. The old site is still here for the moment though.
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Simple changes you can make around you
Heating
One fifth of the energy used in the UK is used to heat our homes.
Reduce:
- Close curtains at dusk and protect from draughts (doors and windows)
- Insulate walls and roof
Repair:
- Install thermostats and reflectors on radiators
- Put heating on a timer so that it is only on when there are people in the house
- Upgrade boiler to a modern condensing boiler
Renewable:
- Heat water using a solar hot water system
- Use a ground source heat pump
Forgotten skills - teach yourself basic plumbing and home repairs 'Basic home repairs' - southern living
- If we all turned our heating down by 1°C, we would save enough energy to run all the trains in the country
- The amount of heat lost in homes annually through roofs and walls is enough to heat three million homes for a year
Relevant links:
Shopping
We use 8 billion carrier bags a year (134 each) and each one takes 100 years to degrade. 80% of our waste can be recycled!
Reduce:
- Take your own bags when shopping, make your own
- Buy only what you need
Reuse:
- Swap things with friends and family
- Use libraries
Repair:
- Learn to mend clothes
- Customise clothes or create your own
Recycle:
- Shop at auctions, charity shops and boot sales
- Look for recycled or organic products
Forgotten skills - teach yourself sewing and knitting 'Stitch and bitch', 'Yeah, I made it myself' - Etihne Ferry, 'House Proud' - Danielle Proud
- In one day there would be enough waste to fill Trafalgar Square up to the top of Nelson's Column.
Relevant links:
- www.freecycle.org
- www.upmystreet.com
- www.peopletree.co.uk
- www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/sitemap/community_centres
Transport
40% of all the energy used in this country is used by transport, 30% of all energy used in this country is used by car drivers! (9% is used by aviation).
Reduce:
- Walk or cycle for short journeys
- Use public transport (a double-decker bus carries the same number of people as 20 fully occupied cars)
- Car share to work
Reuse:
- Borrow bikes
- Buy second hand
- Repair bikes, bicycle workshops happening all week as part of spring into action
Rethink:
- Consider using natural gas or bio-diesel
- Change to a hybrid car or hydrogen
Forgotten skills - teach yourself bicycle repair and basic car mechanics www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/travelsmart/maintenance.pdf
- If half of UK motorists received a lift one day a week congestion and pollution would be reduced by 10% and traffic jams by 20%.
Relevant links:
- www.whatgreencar.com
- www.nottinghamshare.com
- www.critical-mass.org
- www.thebigwheel.com
- journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html
Food
If all food was sourced from 12 miles of where it is eaten environmental and congestions costs would be reduced by 90%.
Reduce:
- Only buy the food you need
- Avoid over-packaging. Do you need to buy items individually wrapped?
- Grow your own food, in back gardens or allotments
- Buy produce grown within 12 miles (20km). Use local farmers vegetable box delivery service
Reuse:
- Left over food or extra vegetables can all be put into a stew, curry or soup
- Any extra food can be frozen for another time
Recycle:
- Compost any vegetable peelings
- Subsidised compost bins are available from www.recyclenow.com/home_composting
Forgotten skills - teach yourself gardening and cooking 'Cranks Bible', 'Green Seasons' - Rachel Demuth, River Nene Organics 01509 670876
Relevant links:
- www.edenfarms.co.uk
- www.kitchengardeners.org
- www.redearthorganics.co.uk
- www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/sitemap/allotments
Electricity
Changing just 3 light bulbs in each house to energy saving light bulbs will save enough energy to light the streets of the UK.
Reduce:
- Switch TVs and computers off standby (if everyone switched off standby we could get rid of an entire nuclear power station)
- Turn off lights when you leave the room
- Unplug phone chargers when they are not in use
- Only do a full load of laundry and use economy wash or quick cycle
Renewable:
- Switch to a green energy supplier
- Use photovoltaics (solar panels) on your roof
- Install a wind turbine to create your own electricity
Rethink:
- Change to energy saving light bulbs (saves 80%)
- Buy energy rated A+ appliances for the home
- Use a saver plug on your fridge
- The British public walks to the moon and back twice every year to change light bulbs. Energy saving light bulbs last 10 times as long as standard bulbs: save your shoe leather - install an energy saving light bulb
Relevant links:
- www.ecotricity.co.uk
- www.good-energy.co.uk
- windtrap.co.uk/Electricity_Monitors/SavaPlug.htm
- www.v3power.co.uk