Climate Change - So What?

Hints and Tips

A few ideas. (without being too preachy? I hope)

Just make a start – you know what you should do – there’s plenty of information out there. Try www.icount.org.uk (their little book is very good!) or the energy saving trust – www.est.org.uk, or the carbon trust, or wwf, or Friends of the Earth, or the BBC – just google them.

Keep informed – knowing what people are talking about really helps; means you can hold your own in a discussion. www.climatechangesowhat.org.uk for talks etc.

Remember the scientists DON’T disagree – but the journalists DO!

Get low energy light bulbs today! Resolve never to buy a normal one – they are so dated!

Drive at the speed limit or better still not above 60mph – You will save money on fuel and car servicing too – much more efficient. Check your tyre pressure regularly.

If your home isn’t really well insulated – start now! Heavy curtains at windows and doors are good too. And remember those long stuffed sausage dogs our parents had at the door – very good if you have a draught whistling under your door.

Save the bath for a real treat occasionally – and don’t sing for too long in the shower!

Stay informed – and keep talking to people about it …… at work, in the pub, with your mates, over coffee, with a glass of wine. See above.

Find your elected representatives and find out what they are doing – support them if they are trying to be ‘green’ ….. change their minds if they are not.

Don’t shop at the supermarket too much – and when you do – shop on the internet and get them to deliver. Saves a car journey.

Your local shops are much more fun – talk to the butcher, greengrocer, baker, if you are lucky enough to still have one. Use them – talk to the person in the queue ahead of you. Butchers and fishmongers are great for giving tips on how to cook stuff.

Wherever you shop – try and buy as local as you can. If you can’t afford Cornish wine – then buy French or European rather than Aussi, Chilean – think how far it’s travelling. Do you really need strawberries or beans flown from Kenya?

Walk, cycle – discover the bus and the train. Don’t fly – well at least try to fly less

Try not to buy stuff you don’t really need……. And if it is incredibly cheap ……. Then someone somewhere got paid very little to produce it, and it’s probably travelled thousands of miles. £16billion of goods from China to the UK alone this year. We really can’t keep complaining about the emissions from China etc if they are produced because we demand cheap goods.

Switch to a green energy supplier – check the press or google it. And switch off – everything - when not in use.

Write letters, talk to your MP, make sure they know you want them to do the difficult stuff.

Ask questions. Keep informed.

Don’t worry if some people still don’t get it. They will. Stick to your guns – but just agree to disagree.

You know the rest – only boil enough water in the kettle, turn thermostats down – on the heating and the washing machine, and the hot water tank etc.. Wear a jumper in the house. Never leave anything on standby! Get a log burner – more efficient than an open fire. Don’t burn coal, check your logs are from a sustainable supply.

Do what you can, don’t worry about what you can’t afford (there is much debate about how efficient those small wind turbines are anyway – and a good one is about £16,000).