low carbon living

Your personal reduce and offset approach If youve used our calculators to look at the size of your emissions, as well as offsetting them right now you can take other measures to reduce your carbon footprint directly. There are many ways to live a lower carbon lifestyle, and every one of them has a real impact on tackling climate change.

50 ideas for shrinking your carbon footprint

Here are some recommendations to get you started. Avoid overwhelming yourself with drastic changes. Its best to view this process like you would if you were adopting healthy eating instead of going on a crash diet. So do one thing new each week or each month and see your carbon footprint shrink over time.

At home Driving Flying At the office Business tips

At home
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Use our house calculator to find out how much CO2 you use. You can also get advice from the Energy Saving Trust. You might even be eligible for a grant to improve the efficiency of your home.

Heating conservation

Draughts waste a lot of energy by losing heat. One quick and relatively cheap win is to put a brush or seal on your doors to prevent air escaping round the edges. Letterboxes and keyholes also lose heat and can be covered too. Gaps in floorboards and skirting boards also let in draughts; you can fill in these gaps with newspaper, beading or sealant. Stick aluminium foil or reflective panels behind radiators. This reflects heat back into the room rather than being absorbed into walls. In winter close your curtains at night to stop heat escaping. Make sure your loft has loads of insulation. Its one of the cheapest and easiest ways to save energy and will pay for itself in hardly any time. Consider insulating your cavity walls. You can reduce 50% of your heat loss through windows by installing double glazing, which in turn could cut your heating bill up to 90 a year. Make sure they are properly installed though, as gaps around the outside will lose heat. (Visit the Energy Saving Trust for more details) Turn your thermostat down to 18C and put on an extra jumper.

Electricity conservation

Switch to a renewable electricity supplier Buy A-rated electrical appliances. Switch to energy saving light bulbs, when your old bulbs break. They last around 10 times longer than ordinary light bulbs; they will save you money and come in loads of different styles. Items left on standby can use up to 85% of the energy they would use if fully switched on. Turn them off at the wall it doesnt take long. Electric tumble dryers use a huge amount of energy. If its a nice day dry your clothes outside or even inside if its not so nice. When using a washing machine ensure there is a full load and turn down the temperature. If you have lights in your garden use solar powered lights that charge during the day and dont require electricity. Take your phone charger out of the wall. It uses energy even when its not charging your phone.

Water savings

Make sure your hot water tank is insulated with a thick jacket. It will save you lots of money not to mention reducing emissions. A dripping tap can be not only annoying but if it is a hot tap it can cost you in both water costs and water heating costs. Remember, water also has a carbon footprint associated with it from processing. Always use the correct size saucepan, and when heating water only use the amount you need. When making a cup of tea, only boil the amount of water that you need. Turn off the tap while cleaning your teeth. If your toilet cistern holds more than 6 litres of water (likely if it was installed before 2001) put a Hippo Water Saving device in it. Have a shower instead of a bath, which uses far less energy and water.

Food and the fridge

The location of your fridge can make a difference in how energy efficient it is. Make sure it is out of direct sunlight and not close to the oven. Keeping it against an outside wall will help the heat it generates escape easily, and always make sure that there is a few inches space all around the fridge so that air can circulate. Make sure you defrost your fridge and freezer on a regular basis.

Only set your fridge to as cold as you need it and avoid keeping the door open for long periods of time as the more cold air that escapes, the harder the fridge has to work. You should check the seal regularly as well, if it is damaged then cold air will be escaping. You should never put warm or hot food into the fridge as this will make the fridge work extra hard to try and keep it cold; always allow food to cool down first. Defrost frozen food in the fridge as this helps to keep it cool as it thaws. Buy locally produced organic food. Eat less meat; producing 1 calorie of meat requires a lot more land and energy, compared to 1 calorie of vegetables.

Driving Tips
Cars are generally very energy inefficient and travelling by train, bus or bike is much better for the planet. If you cant manage without a car, changing your driving habits can help reduce its greenhouse emissions. Find out how much your car produces with our car calculator.

Anticipate road conditions and drive smoothly, avoiding sharp acceleration and heavy braking. This saves fuel and reduces accident rates. Plan your journeys to avoid congestion, road works and getting lost. Drive away immediately when starting from cold - idling to heat the engine wastes fuel and causes rapid engine wear. Check your revs - change up before 2,500rpm (petrol) and 2,000rpm (diesel). The most efficient speed depends upon the car in question but is typically around 55 - 65mph. Faster speed will greatly increase your fuel consumption. Check your tyre pressures regularly - under-inflated tyres are dangerous and can increase fuel consumption by up to 3%. If you're stuck in a jam, switch the engine off if you expect to be there for more than a minute or two. Cutting the engine will save fuel and reduce emissions. Use air conditioning sparingly as it significantly increases fuel consumption. Avoid short journeys - a cold engine uses almost twice as much fuel and catalytic converters can take five miles to become effective. Cycle or walk instead. Accessories such as roof racks, bike carriers, and roof boxes significantly affect your car's aerodynamics and reduce fuel efficiency, so remember to remove them when not in use. Get your car serviced regularly to keep it running efficiently.

Flying
We realise that sometimes people have no choice but to fly but the best thing for the planet is if you dont fly at all, the resulting emissions can often represent the biggest chunk of your carbon footprint. Many short haul flights can be replaced by other forms of public transport such as trains or buses. In the meantime, if you have to fly you can offset your flight using our flight calculator.

If you are feeling adventurous and have the time there are many options for travelling long haul without flying. There are many websites available offering advice on how to travel all over the world without flying. When you have to fly, always consider if you can combine trips. Its best to fly direct rather than stopping over, aeroplanes use a lot of fuel taking off and landing.

At the Office
A lot of the things you can do are the same as you would do in your home, but if you are feeling adventurous, you can always have a go at persuading your boss to go green as well! Why not point them in the direction of our business calculator?

Only use the lights you need. Turn off lights in unused rooms. Better still; get your building to install occupancy sensors. Turn off your computer monitor when you leave the office at the end of the day. Do you really need those hard copies, or can you save it on your computer instead? Print double-sided. Open up - if you have windows you can open, use them to intelligently save energy. Can you share a lift to get to work? Perhaps see if you can teleconference and work from home occasionally.

Links to other websites

There are a great many sites offering advice on reducing emissions. Here are just a few you could visit*:

UK Government The UK government provides advice on emission reductions and statistics on an international and domestic level. They also explore the challenges and obstacles that can delay action. http://www.direct.gov.uk/

EST The Energy Saving Trust provides valuable recommendations on how we can all help fight climate change and become more efficient with our use of energy. http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

Sustrans Cycling is a fantastic way to get around cities, with more and more safe cycle routes available and advice to be found on using bicycles as your primary mode of transport. Sustrans provides sustainable transport advice for the whole of the UK, much of which is applicable worldwide: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/

Food source Fresh, seasonal and local food is not only more flavoursome but is most often better for the environment than shopping at large supermarket chains. Find a farmers market local to you at http://www.farmersmarkets.net/ The Soil Association offers a taste of the good life on their website, giving tips on how to revive the rustic and rudimentary joys of life. http://www.soilassociation.org/ Travel Taking the train can be a quick and cheap way to travel within and around Europe. Book early to avoid disappointment. www.seat61.com *ClimateCare is not responsible for the content of third party websites.

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity: drastic reduction of carbon emissions is vital if we are to avoid a catastrophe that devastates large parts of the world. Governments and businesses have been slow to act and individuals now need to take the lead. The Earth can absorb no more than 3 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year for every person on the planet if we are to keep temperature and rainfall change within tolerable limits. Yet from cars and holiday flights to household appliances and the food on our plates, Western consumer lifestyles leave each of us responsible for over 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year - four times what the Earth can handle. Individual action is essential if we want to avoid climate chaos. How to Live a Low-Carbon Life shows how easy it is to take responsibility, providing the first comprehensive, one-stop reference guide to calculating your CO2 emissions and reducing them to a sustainable 3 tonnes a year