Ten Tips For A Greener New Year

IF you’re planning to start the New Year by making a few resolutions and you want some ideas on how to make your lifestyle greener – and save money too, try Friends of the Earth’s ten top tips on climate change.

1. Save energy and save on bills by swapping your ordinary light bulbs for energy saving ones. Some use a quarter of the energy and can last up to 12 times longer. If all inefficient light bulbs in the UK were replaced with new super-efficient LED or compact fluorescent light bulbs, it would save almost as much
energy as a nuclear power station produces.

2. Support local farmers and cut down on food miles by getting a vegetable box delivered to your home or buying produce at yourlocal farmers? market (Every second Tuesday in the month in Thame). You’ll receive locally sourced, fresh seasonal produce.

4. Walk or cycle your children to school, which will help to reduce congestion, save energy and get fitter.

5. Install loft insulation – you can cut up to 20 per cent off your energy bills.

6. Visit www.thebigask.com[1] and send a quick note to your MP asking them to support Friends of the Earth’s proposed new law to bring down emissions of carbon dioxide by three per cent every year.
Over 300 MPs already support the proposed new climate change law.(ED. Does Boris Johnson?)

7. Make sure appliances such as TVs and computer monitors aren’t left on standby. The electricity wasted through this in the UK is equivalent to the output of one nuclear power station.

8. Recycle your aluminium cans. Recycling aluminium requires only 5% of the energy compared to making it from raw materials, with the energy saved by recycling one aluminium can being enough to power
a TV for 3 hours.

9. Around a third of our household waste is kitchen and garden waste. Recycle it – many councils collect food waste for composting or provide compost bins very cheaply. As well as taking up space,organic waste which is sent to landfill sites produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas which contributes to climate change.

10. Take a short break in the UK and travel by rail instead of flying abroad. Aviation is the fastest growing contributor to climate change, with a wealthy minority of people taking an ever-increasing number of short breaks on budget airlines. One long-haul return flight can produce more carbon dioxide per
passenger than the average UK motorist produces in a year.

For details of Chinnor and Thame Friends of the Earth, call Maureen Dyroff 01844 352816