Strategic Priority 1: Our Behaviour

Strategic Priority 1: Our Behaviour

Turn your heating down by 1 degree

• You could cut your heating bills by up to 10%.
• Save 250g of carbon per unit of heat if using a gas boiler.
• Save 340g of carbon per unit of heat if using UK grid electricity.
• Save up to £80 a year on energy bills.

Warm yourself not your house

• Use hot water bottles, electric blankets, socks, and blankets rather than heating your whole house.

Have a 'meat free Monday'

• Can save up to 4kg of carbon per day.

Take shorter showers

• Shorter showers (4 minutes or less) can save a family 230kg of carbon a year (up to £400).

Wash your laundry in colder water

• Washing your laundry at 60°C produces 590g of carbon compared to 330g of carbon at 30°C.
• Save up to 260g of carbon per wash.

Switch off and unplug appliances

• Leaving lights on for a full year, for example, equates to an average of 15kg of carbon.

During warmer months, close blinds, shades, and drapes on the sunny side of your home to help keep your home's temperature cooler - and open blinds during cooler months to let the sun warm your home.

Turn off the lights when they're not in use.

• Lighting accounts for about 12% of a typical residential utility bill.

Defrost your refrigerator and freezer before ice build-up becomes 1/4-inch thick to ensure your appliances are running efficiently.

Plant trees and pollinator friendly plants

• 500kg of carbon can be saved per 10 square metres of trees planted in the UK, helping to enhance and diversify our green infrastructure.

Don't mow your lawn during spring to increase biodiversity.

• Nationally we have lost 97% of wildflower meadows since the 1930s.
• Simple changes in mowing can result in enough nectar for ten times more bees and other pollinators.
• Over 200 species were found flowering on lawns including rarities such as meadow saxifrage, knotted clover, and eyebright