Green Services Direct

Creating an eco-friendly home isn’t just about installing solar panels or heat pumps. There are lots of smaller, everyday choices we can make that can also have impact.

When it comes to climate change, it’s tempting to bury our heads in the sand and hope it all goes away. But scientists have warned we’ve got a small window– perhaps three or four years – before we get to the point of no return. Here are our top tips to reduce and reuse as we all have a role to play in combating climate change and, hopefully, helping our planet.

Give your kitchen a new lease of life

The greenest kitchen (and bathroom) is the one you’ve already got. The same goes for household appliances. Every time a product is made, it produces carbon emissions. So, trying to extend the life of things you already own is one easy way to help the environment as well as save money.

This might be as simple as mending a broken cupboard or making sure your boiler gets its annual service. Or painting the walls a fresh colour to give your kitchen a new lease of life rather than ripping everything out and starting again.

Check the energy label

When an old appliance, such as a fridge, has irreplaceably broken down make sure to replace it with a much more energy efficient one.  Taking some time to read the energy label might just change your mind about which product to buy. Look for appliances with the best energy rating at the size you require. Appliances are rated on a scale from A (the best) to G (the worst) for how much electricity they use. The most energy efficient appliances are often more expensive to buy initially but will save you money in future.

Switch it off

Most of us know to switch off lights when leaving a room. But do you turn your TV off at night? What about your phone charger?  So-called “vampire devices” are electronics that drain electricity when left on standby. The average UK household spends £55 a year on powering appliances left on standby, according to the Energy Savings Trust. This equates to 45kg of CO2 emissions. Switch off appliances at the wall when not in use so they aren’t left on standby 24 hours a day.

Hang your washing out to dry

Hanging your washing on a clothesline is better for the environment and your wallet than using a tumble dryer.  Air-drying your laundry outside also gives everything a fresh, clean smell and avoids the build-up of static on fabric. Rain is often the reason we are forced to being our laundry inside before it’s dry. So, check the weather forecast and do your laundry on sunny or windy, dry days.

If you don’t have a garden or balcony, drying your clothes inside on a rack may be your only option. Put the rack in a well-ventilated area, such as next to an open window, to reduce the release of water vapour inside your home as it increases humidity, encouraging the growth of mould.

Use energy saving light bulbs

Switching to LED lights is another simple step you can take. An LED light typically uses 90% less electricity than an equivalent incandescent or halogen bulb, according to GreenAge, the energy saving advice website. As lighting accounts for 10-20% of the typical energy bill, if you do make the switch you can expect to see significant savings. LED light bulbs also last much longer. Suppliers claim longevity of up to 15 years. In a house with 30 bulbs, you can make an average saving of £23.18 per month, or £278 a year, according to LEDHut.

Be aware better quality LED lights often have a higher price tag than incandescent bulbs because they’re sold in smaller quantities by relatively few manufacturers. For example, you can buy a halogen GU10 spotlight for under £1 when the equivalent LED Gu10 is £4.79 from LEDHut (prices correct September 2022). At the same time, this cost could be seen as a green investment that will save you money for many years to come.

Check your home for draughts

“Draught-proofing is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to save energy – and money – in any type of building,” advises the Energy Savings Trust. Block up unwanted gaps that let cold air in and warm air out.  If you have an open chimney, consider draught proofing it when not in use. Options include inflatable draught excluders that snugly fit inside your chimney. Or you might prefer a chimney cap. This provides protection from birds as well as draughts and will need to be professional installed. Other ways to draught proof your home include keyhole covers,  internal brushes for letterboxes, carpets or rugs with underlay and thicker or thermal curtains and blinds.

Make sure you don’t block or seal any intended ventilation such as airbricks or underfloor grilles. Air needs to flow into your home for it to stay fresh and healthy.

Turn down your thermostat

Cutting out draughts will help keep your home cosy and warm. You will also use less heating, reducing your bills and helping the planet. The climate is changing due to emissions of greenhouse gases. Heating buildings currently accounts for a more than a third of the UK’s emissions. Turning down your main thermostat by just one degree will cut your heating bills and you may not notice any difference.  “If you’re still feeling okay, turn it down by another degree and wait and see,” suggests Simple Energy Advice. Most people are comfortable with a setting somewhere between 18 to 21 degrees C.

Upgrade heating controls

Modern properties have individual thermostatic valves for each radiator but if you live in an older house, it’s worth getting them retrofitted. This means you can switch off radiators or put them on the lowest setting, so you don’t waste energy heating empty rooms. Most central heating systems will have a boiler or heating pump, a programmer (time control) and at least one room thermostat. In addition, you might consider investing in a smart heating control system to further reduce your home’s energy demand. This lets you remotely control when and to what temperature each room is heated from any Wi-Fi enabled device, such as a tablet or smartphone.

Collect rainwater

This summer’s drought focused minds on how water is a limited and an increasingly scarce resource. Water covers 70% of our planet and it’s tempting to think it will always be plentiful. But only 3% of the world’s water is freshwater – suitable to drink and irrigate our farm fields, according to the World Wildlife Fund. 

Many of the rivers, aquifers and lakes that keep ecosystems thriving and feed a growing human population are drying up. So, it’s important to collect and store rainwater for watering the garden rather than using mains (drinking) water. It’s easy to collect rainwater from the roofs of homes, garages and sheds with gutters and drainpipes that feed into water butts. What’s more rainwater is the best possible option for irrigating our gardens. Other water-saving measures include shorter showers.

Choose eco-paints

Water-based paint is more eco-friendly than other types of paint. Paint that uses water as its primary solvent contains less of the toxic chemicals that can harm the environment and our health, such as solvents, heavy metals and synthetic VOCs (volatile organic compounds).  Water-based paint is also low odour. Avoid vinyl and oil-based paints and instead opt for water-soluble products with mineral pigments or plant dyes.

That said, some nasty toxins and solvents can still be suspended in water. Check the VOC content on the tin. Often this is expressed as a percentage with less than 0.29% classed as minimal and .3 – 7.99% as low.

There is a huge variation in price between eco-paints – some are twice as expensive as others. For example, a 10-litre pot of emulsion paint from Little Greene will set you back £158 compared to Farrow and Ball at £89. All Dulux interior paints are water-based with low VOC, so you can choose a cheaper paint from that range and know you’re doing your bit for the environment. 

The ideas above are all very simple steps to a greener home and most could save you money too, a win-win – better for our planet and your pocket.