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Eco Tips

www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/energy-saving-quick-wins

Laundry

When using a washing machine ensure there is a full load and turn down the temperature. Heating the water to higher temperatures uses more energy

Electric tumble dryers use energy. If it's a nice day dry your clothes outside. In the winter most drying is done by the wind, so check the forecast for wind days and nights as you can hang washing overnight (as there is no dew in the winter)

Irons use a lot of electricity to get hot - only iron clothes that really need it

Cut up old clothes or sheets that you were going to throw out, to use as cloths for cleaning jobs rather than buying new ones

Bathroom

Spend less time in the shower. Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £7 off your energy bills each year, per person. Heating water uses a lot of energy

Turn off the tap while cleaning your teeth. The clean water that flows out of your tap needs energy in many stages of processing and transport before it gets to the tap. Don't waste it!

If your toilet cistern holds more than 6 litres of water (likely if it was installed before 2001) put a Hippo Water Saving device (or a brick) in it to save water each time you flush. See

www.hippo-the-watersaver.co.uk

Fit a water efficient shower head (if you've got a shower that takes hot water straight from your boiler or hot water tank). This will reduce your hot water usage while retaining the sensation of a powerful shower

Switch to eco cleaning products which biodegrade in the sewerage system and don't damage aquatic life in our rivers and seas. They also contain less harmful chemical for us too

Shopping

Make a list before you go food shopping to help avoid impulse buying and over stocking with food you will end up throwing away

Reduce your impact on the environment by buying second hand when you can. Charity shops, Emmaus, Freecycle, Ebay, Gumtree, Preloved etc are good sources of reused items

When you need to buy a large item research it carefully. Think about how long it could last, how much it will cost to run, what it is made of, where it is made, and can it be recycled at the end of its life? Better quality items often last longer and so cost you less over time

Tempted to buy on impulse when you are shopping? Get in the habit of coming back the next day or next week when you have thought through whether or not you really need buy it

Energy Bills

Get to grips with your energy bills. The information on a typical energy bill can be confusing. But understanding it can go a long way to helping you understand your energy use

Switch your electricity supplier so that you support renewable electricity generation rather than electricity made by burning fossil fuels. You could, for instance, use the Green Journey price comparison site

http://greenjourney.switchgasandelectric.com/

More than half the money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water. Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves, and using these controls efficiently, could save you around £75 a year

If you already have a full set of heating controls, turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save around £80 a year. (Jumpers are fashionable!)

Kitchen

Never put warm or hot food into the fridge or freezer as this will make the fridge work extra hard to try and keep it cold; always allow food to cool down first

Use a bowl to wash up rather than a running tap and save £25.00 a year in energy bills

When making a cup of tea, only boil the amount of water that you need. You waste electricity (and money) heating water you won't use

Stop using aluminium foil for cooking wherever possible; use a container with a lid that can be reused. Aluminium in a rare metal and its extraction and purification uses a lot of energy

Eat less meat, particularly red meat as producing 1 kg of beef produces the equivalent CO2 to you driving a 300 mile round trip while leaving all your lights on at home

Holiday

Going for a day out to the beach? Take a bag in your pocket and pick up any litter you see

Planning your day out or holiday journey? Use public transport if you can to reduce your carbon emissions. Travelling by train or ferry to Europe can be part of the adventure

If you are planning to fly for your holiday make sure you carbon offset the carbon you generate from your flight, e.g. with Climate Stewards www.climatestewards.com

Holiday waste? When you are away try to take as much care to save energy, recycle, prevent food waste as you would at home

Electrical appliances

You can save around £30 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off at the plug rather than leaving them in standby mode

Take your phone charger out of the socket when not in use. It uses energy even when it's not charging your phone

Buy A-rated electrical appliances whenever you can. They may be more expensive initially but you will save on your energy bills

The location of your fridge can make a difference in how energy efficient it is. Make sure it is out of direct sunlight and not close to the oven. Keeping it against an outside wall will help the heat it generates escape easily, and always make sure that there is a few inches' space all around the fridge so that air can circulate

Electrical gadgets are great, but the environmental impact of manufacturing them and disposing of them at the end of their life is high. Think before you buy more gadgets

Water

Catch rainwater to use in the garden, rather than using tap water

Don’t buy bottled water, buy a reusable bottle and top up from the tap

www.yorkshirewater.com/savewater

Water Conservation Leaflet - September 2018

In the car

In the car drive away immediately when starting from cold - idling to heat the engine wastes fuel and causes rapid engine wear

When driving the most efficient speed depends upon the car in question but is typically around 55 - 65 mph, faster speeds will greatly increase your fuel consumption. Slow down and allow a little more time for journeys

Change your car breakdown cover to a company that campaigns for better environmental transport measures, rather than being part of the road transport lobby for example, Environmental Transport Association - www.eta.co.uk

In the car switch your engine off if you pull over or are stuck in traffic for even a minute. It saves you fuel, reduces the nitrous oxide pollution for you and those around you and cuts noise pollution

Lighting your Home

Light bulbs! If the average household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would cost about £100 and save about £35 a year on bills

Use natural light when you can to save energy. Sit by the window. Decorate your home in light colours to maximise natural light

Turn your lights off when you're not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again, regardless of the type of light

If you have lights in your garden use solar powered lights that charge during the day and don't require electricity

Keeping Warm

Make sure you close your curtains when it gets dark to stop heat escaping

Get draft proof to stop losing heat. Professional draft-proofing of windows, doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can cost around £200 but can save around £25 a year on energy bills. DIY draft-proofing can be much cheaper. Installing a chimney draft excluder could save around £15 a year as well

Make sure your hot water tank is insulated with a thick jacket. It will save you lots of money, not to mention reducing your carbon emissions

Has your loft got loads of insulation? It’s one of the cheapest and easiest ways to save energy and will pay for itself in hardly any time

Christmas

Be creative in the gifts you give this Christmas; make sure your desire to be loving is not damaging the environment

Getting ready for the festivities of Christmas. Buy as much locally produced, in season food and particularly vegetables as you can. Try not to over cater and waste food

Wrap and re-wrap. Why not reuse your wrapping paper. Take a bit of care unwrapping your presents (it adds to the gift experience), save the paper and reuse next year

Enjoy the feast of Christmas! Don't forget to recycle your rubbish. Don't waste unwanted presents find new homes for them through a charity shop or on Ebay

Get ready with your environmental New Year's Resolution. How will your care for creation in the coming year?

Eco Tips for everyone

At the Oakwood Church AGM in April 2018

it was agreed that work should proceed to develop an

Environmental Policy for Oakwood Church Here

In March 2019 we agreed our Policy

In April 2020 Oakwood Church won a

UK A ROCHA Eco Church Silver Award

We are going for Gold

How can I help?

Everyone at Oakwood Church and in our local community can help everyone else by

Doing All You Can to help the Environment

at Church, at home, at work, at leisure

and when travelling

Please share your own Eco Tips with us

and we may publish them on this page

Note Oakwood Church does not endorse any of the ideas, opinions or products mentioned on this page, but we wouldn’t publish if we doubted they were useful

Eco Tips for everyone