Toolkit - Intermediate

Home

• Low flow shower head. Low flow shower heads help you save water without having to go without a shower. They can help you save 40 percent of the water you would normally use and 345 CO2kg.
• Draft proof the house - one of the cheapest and most effective ways to save energy and money. The Energy Saving Trust has more information on their website . 
• Repair old appliances and furniture before replacing them- repairing electricals and furniture can give them a new lease of life and is often a cheaper alternative than buying new. Extending the life of furniture and electricals is good for the environment as it reduces the need to harvest new raw materials and reduces the amount of waste that will need to be recycled or sent for landfill.
• Upgrading appliances- sometimes you do have to replace old and faulty appliances, when the time comes it's good to take energy efficiency ratings into account.  Find out more here 

Energy

• Smart meters- smart meters give you information about the energy you are using in your home. It allows you to make informed decisions about appliances and heating use. Ofgem have some useful information on their website .  
• Smart plugs- these devices allow you to operate an electrical device or appliance remotely. So if you forgot to turn your lights off, worried you've left your iron on, you can save energy and have peace of mind from afar.
• Switch energy supplier- lots of energy suppliers offer renewable energy tariffs.  Find out more from the Energy Saving Trust . 
• Cooking in a microwave is far more efficient than using a conventional oven. It uses less electricity and only heats the food not the whole space around the food. The BBC has a dedicated webpage for healthy microwave meals .

Travel

• Fly less- one transatlantic flight can produce more carbon than some citizens in developing countries produce in a year. Think before you fly.
• Change delivery habits- while online shopping is very convenient it also means lots of delivery vehicles out on the road. Think about having things delivered to a central location like a shop or choosing to bundle items together.
• Car share to work, or better still work from home. The high volume of cars on the roads at peak times cause traffic, this is one of the most inefficient states for your car to run in.

Lifestyle/ Consumption

• Eat seasonally- the amount of energy it would take to grow and transport crops out of season is far higher than in season. Think about the energy required to grow strawberries in an artificially heated greenhouse or to fly them in from Spain.
• Eat less meat- Going vegan can reduce your carbon footprint by 0.8 tonnes of CO2 per year. But if you can't yet commit to cutting out meat completely could you reduce your meat consumption? If every UK family swapped one red meat based meal a week to plant based, 50m tonnes of Co2 could be saved.
• Sustainable lunches- prepare and pack your own lunches for work which will reduce single use plastics and save you money. It usually is a great way to reduce food waste by having last nights leftovers for lunch.
• Avoid fast fashion- The fashion industry produces 10% of all human carbon emissions and is the second largest consumer of the world's water supply. Try simply buying more second hand clothes. The second hand clothing industry is booming and now it is online it has never been easier to shop more sustainably.  The Carbon Literacy Project has an article on the carbon impact of fashion. The Carbon Literacy Project has an article on the carbon impact of fashion here .

Natural Environment

• Composting- composting is a great way to use up food waste and clippings from your garden. It's a very natural form of recycling, turning waste into a valuable resource.  Hampshire County Council has more advice, as well as discounted compost bins, on their website .
• Watering your garden- instead of using a hose or water from the tap, try and collect rainwater in a water butt or just a normal bucket to water your plants instead. Rainwater is full of minerals that benefit your plants and doesn't require the intensive treatment of tap water.