Ten Things We Could All Change Today

1) Switch your electricity supply to a renewable energy provider like Good Energy (http://www.good-energy.co.uk/) or Ecotricity (http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/). They will generate electricity using wind turbines, solar panel, water turbines and gas from food or animal waste.

2) Change your light bulbs to energy-saving ones. Switch off unused electrical appliances. NB An estimated 8% of the UK’s carbon emissions are caused by appliances left on stand-by.

3) Install draught exclusion measures around doors and windows, lag your boiler, and consider getting cavity wall and loft insulation.

4) Use a compost bin for your garden and kitchen waste. If you have a balcony, then consider buying a wormery (http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/). A wormery can take dairy products and cooked food; a compost heap can’t. NB Food represents about 30% of household waste and half of that is perfectly edible when it’s thrown away!

5) Stop buying milk in tetrapacks, purepaks & plastic bottles. Use your local milkman who delivers and recycles glass bottles.

6) Refuse plastic bags in shops and leave excess packaging at the till. Keep spare bags or “bags for life” by the front door to take shopping.

7) Try to carry a travel mug or a plastic water bottle with you rather than using disposable cups or buying water bottles. Take plastic water bottles home when you do buy them and re-use them.

8) Don’t run the tap when brushing your teeth. Stop the shower when you’re soaping up. Put a hippo or a brick in your toilet cistern to reduce water use. Install a grey water diverter to channel waste water from your bathroom to your garden.

9) Try to buy local, seasonal and, if possible, organic food. Don’t buy air-freighted fresh food. Best of all sign up for an organic box scheme like Abel & Cole (http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/) or Riverford Farm (http://www.riverford.co.uk/). Eat less meat because producing it is such an energy-intensive business. NB Seeds and nuts will give you all the protein you need.

10) Buy a bicycle. Sell your car and join a car club (www.mystreetcar.co.uk, www.whizzgo.co.uk, www.citycarclub.co.uk). Pay an environmental charity like Pure (http://www.puretrust.org.uk/) or Climate Care (http://www.climatecare.org/) to offset the carbon for any flights you take. They will invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.