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..."

1. Only boil the amount of water I need for my cup of tea
2. 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
3. Change to energy efficient light bulbs – they last ten times longer and will cut my energy bill
4. Put my vegetable peelings and waste food in the Hungry Harry food waste bin to be turned into compost
5. Sign up to the Peterborough car share scheme, to find someone I can share journeys with
6. Turn off my electrical appliances at the wall – those little red standby lights means I am sucking out energy
7. Make sure my car tyres are properly pumped up to save on fuel consumption, emissions and wear and tear
8. 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
9. Buy in bulk to save on money and packaging
10. 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.
11. Not to lose heat through my roof by insulating or topping up my insulation in my loft to the recommended 11 inch depth
12. 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
13. Keep old envelopes as scrap paper for shopping lists, use online banking and sign up for paperless billing from phone and utility companies
14. Wash my clothes at 30 degrees and only have full loads
15. Buy more sustainably - look for products that have been made with respect for the environment, for example FSC wood products
16. Recycle all my waste.  One recycled tin can would save enough energy to power my television for three hours
17. Adopt a tree – for £15 I will get to plant my very own tree in the city and get a personalised certificate
18. Put a lid on it. Saucepans with lids on heat much quicker, using less energy in the process
19. Recycle my grass cutting, prunings, weeds and leaves and put in my brown bin to be used for composting
20. Dress my hot water tank with a snazzy lagging jacket to save on the heating bill
21. Buy Fairtrade for better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world
22. 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
23. Turn lights off. Lighting an empty office overnight is equivalent to boiling water for 1,000 cups of coffee
24. Take my unwanted and broken electrical items to the WEEE electrical waste facility in Fengate to be refurbished and recycled and passed to charities
25. Unplug my mobile phone, shaver and electric toothbrush once charged – they keep using electricity even when the battery is full
26. 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
27. I will wear an extra jumper if I get a bit chilly instead of cranking up the heating
28. Not have scalding hot water by setting the cylinder thermostat at around 60°C
29. Hang my clothes on the washing line to dry rather than use a tumble dryer 
30. Draw my curtains, close room doors when I’m not in them and use draught excluders to keep the cold air out
31. Use public transport more and check out www.travelchoice.org.uk
32. 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
33. Clean the car with a bucket and sponge instead of a hose pipe
34. Place a small plastic bottle filled with water in my toilet cistern, reducing the 9 litres of water it takes to flush the loo
35. Fix that dripping tap and save myself as much as 5000 litres a year
36. Sign up to free Greeniversity classes to learn some green skills – from knitting to bike maintenance, from healthy cooking to insulating my own loft
37. Collect rainwater in water butts and use it on garden, watering at desk so less water evaporates
38. Turn off the tap when I brush my teeth and spend less time in the shower
39. Keep the temperature of the fridge at 2°C to 3°C and the freezer at -15°C and defrost regularly
40. Reduce unwanted junk mail by joining the Mailing Preference Service (www.mpsonline.org.uk)
41. Donate unwanted items to jumble sales or charity shops
42. Turn off my car engine if stationary for more than two minutes
43. Re-use shopping bags or use cloth bags
44. 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!
45. Go to my local library instead of buying new books
46. 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
47. Join Peterborough’s new collective energy switch scheme Ready to Switch
48. 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
49. Get a mug instead of using disposable plastic or paper cups
50. 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
51. Switch my oven off before its finished cooking as it will still finish cooking the food
52. Visit my local green open space more regularly and enjoy nature in action
53. Build a bug hotel and provide a refuge for local creatures
54. Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones
55. 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!
56. 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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