Top tips
Saving the planet doesn't have to be hard work and can increase your quality of life and bank balance!
Take a look at these tips and make a pledge on how you can help Peterborough create the UK's Environment Capital.
"I pledge to..."
- Only boil the amount of water I need for my cup of tea
- Install a low flow showerhead – it will be just as forceful as my fancy power shower but half the amount of water will be going down the plughole
- Change to energy efficient light bulbs – they last ten times longer and will cut my energy bill
- Put my vegetable peelings and waste food in the Hungry Harry food waste bin to be turned into compost
- Sign up to the Peterborough car share scheme, to find someone I can share journeys with
- Turn off my electrical appliances at the wall – those little red standby lights means I am sucking out energy
- Make sure my car tyres are properly pumped up to save on fuel consumption, emissions and wear and tear
- Eat more local, seasonal food to reduce the energy needed to grow and transport the food I eat, as well as support the local economy
- Buy in bulk to save on money and packaging
- Turn off my computer when I leave the office. Leaving my computer on overnight for a year creates enough CO2 to fill a double decker bus.
- Not to lose heat through my roof by insulating or topping up my insulation in my loft to the recommended 11 inch depth
- Borrow a free Energy monitor from my local library to show where I am using the most energy in my home so I can see where I need to cut down usage
- Keep old envelopes as scrap paper for shopping lists, use online banking and sign up for paperless billing from phone and utility companies
- Wash my clothes at 30 degrees and only have full loads
- Buy more sustainably - look for products that have been made with respect for the environment, for example FSC wood products
- Recycle all my waste. One recycled tin can would save enough energy to power my television for three hours
- Adopt a tree – for £15 I will get to plant my very own tree in the city and get a personalised certificate
- Put a lid on it. Saucepans with lids on heat much quicker, using less energy in the process
- Recycle my grass cutting, prunings, weeds and leaves and put in my brown bin to be used for composting
- Dress my hot water tank with a snazzy lagging jacket to save on the heating bill
- Buy Fairtrade for better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world
- Make the most of the 45 mile Green Wheel cycle network and get on my bike as well as get healthy at the same time
- Turn lights off. Lighting an empty office overnight is equivalent to boiling water for 1,000 cups of coffee
- Take my unwanted and broken electrical items to the WEEE electrical waste facility in Fengate to be refurbished and recycled and passed to charities
- Unplug my mobile phone, shaver and electric toothbrush once charged – they keep using electricity even when the battery is full
- Turn down my thermostat by 1°C (to between 19°C to 21°C) and set timers – saving 10% on my fuel bill and 300kg of CO2
- I will wear an extra jumper if I get a bit chilly instead of cranking up the heating
- Not have scalding hot water by setting the cylinder thermostat at around 60°C
- Hang my clothes on the washing line to dry rather than use a tumble dryer
- Draw my curtains, close room doors when I’m not in them and use draught excluders to keep the cold air out
- Use public transport more and check out www.travelchoice.org.uk
- If I am the last one in the office, I will switch off the lights. Lights left on overnight use enough energy in a year to heat a home for almost 5 months
- Clean the car with a bucket and sponge instead of a hose pipe
- Place a small plastic bottle filled with water in my toilet cistern, reducing the 9 litres of water it takes to flush the loo
- Fix that dripping tap and save myself as much as 5000 litres a year
- Sign up to free Greeniversity classes to learn some green skills – from knitting to bike maintenance, from healthy cooking to insulating my own loft
- Collect rainwater in water butts and use it on garden, watering at desk so less water evaporates
- Turn off the tap when I brush my teeth and spend less time in the shower
- Keep the temperature of the fridge at 2°C to 3°C and the freezer at -15°C and defrost regularly
- Reduce unwanted junk mail by joining the Mailing Preference Service (www.mpsonline.org.uk)
- Donate unwanted items to jumble sales or charity shops
- Turn off my car engine if stationary for more than two minutes
- Re-use shopping bags or use cloth bags
- I will make sure I turn off photocopiers, printers and other electrical equipment at the end of the day. A photocopier left on standby overnight wastes enough energy to make 30 cups of tea or 5,400 A4 copies!
- Go to my local library instead of buying new books
- Not pour my leftover cooking fat and grease down the drain but dispose of it in a small container and put in my black bin
- Join Peterborough’s new collective energy switch scheme Ready to Switch
- Make my radiators more efficient by placing reflective panels or sheets of aluminum foil behind them as this will bounce the heat back into the room
- Get a mug instead of using disposable plastic or paper cups
- I will open a window instead of resorting to the air-con. Air conditioning an office for one extra hour a day uses enough energy in a month to power a TV for over a year
- Switch my oven off before its finished cooking as it will still finish cooking the food
- Visit my local green open space more regularly and enjoy nature in action
- Build a bug hotel and provide a refuge for local creatures
- Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones
- I will make a sustainable choice for travelling to work. Try walking, cycling, public transport or car sharing. Car sharing to work 10 miles away will save me and my colleagues £250 a year - more if there’s three of us!
- Calculate if I live on more than one planet’s resources and receive a personalised action plan.

If you have any tips you think would help us create the UK's Environment Capital, please email them to environmentcapital@peterborough.gov.uk
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