With green issues in the news, we look at how the average household can save money while doing their bit for the environment.
With Gordon Brown set to announce his eleventh and final budget on Wednesday, green issues are widely tipped to be an important factor. Increased road tax on less fuel efficient cars seems likely, with some suggesting fees will increase to £400 over the next two years for the worst gas guzzlers. In contrast, excise duties are tipped to be reduced for more efficient vehicles.
If you read save money by being green and are interested in even more tips to help you save cash while doing your bit for the environment, why not try these:
1. Insulation
Here in the UK 27% of our carbon emissions comes from our households, and 70% of that comes from heating homes or water. According to Friends of the Earth, insulation can cost very little and is the single most important thing we can do to our homes.
Fitting cavity wall insulation could save a household around £130 per year (recouping its cost within 3 years) while a properly lagged hot water tank and pipes could save around £30/year (covering its costs in just six months) according to the Energy Saving Trust. And one of the best ways to save money is to fit loft insulation (it needs to be to a depth of at least 270mm) and you can often do this quite easily yourself, which could save you around £100 per year.
Grants are often available to help pay for the work -- check here to find out if you're eligible.
2. Generate your own Energy
Renewable energy is energy generated from sources such as the wind, turbines, the sun, or sea. We can all take advantage of renewable energy -- be it as simply as letting our washing dry in the sun, rather than in the tumble dryer.
But for those willing to look at long term paybacks, there are many ways to generate your own energy, for example by introducing wind turbines, solar panels and ground source heat pumps. Check out the Energy Saving Trust to find out more.
But be warned, there have been rumours that devices such as wind turbines could be viewed as home improvements that increase the value of your home -- so council tax bills could unfairly rise as a result, wiping out any savings!
3. Energy Saving
The smallest actions can help us save energy (and money!). Some tips that have been emailed in or posted on our boards include:
- When boiling a kettle, use only as much water as you need. Better still, boil a full kettle's worth in the morning and use it to fill a thermos flask -- then use this for your hot drinks throughout the day, instead.
- Save that rainwater in a water butt -- you can use it to water your garden when the hosepipe bans come back into force!
- Decide what you want before opening the fridge door - for every minute it's open it takes three to cool down again.
4. Minimise Waste
Government researchers revealed last week that we throw away a whopping 3m tonnes of wasted food each year -- around a third of what we buy. And although the figures do include things such as vegetable peelings, it still means we throw a lot of food away. Suggestions to help reduce this waste include:
- Make sure you check your fridge and cupboards before going shopping. Make a list of what you need and not only will you avoid buying too much, you'll save cash, too.
- Be inventive and use up what's in the fridge before it goes off. Dig out those recipe books or check out free recipe sites such as the BBC's.
- Cook meals in bulk to use up fresh ingredients, and freeze it in portions for an easy dinner at a later date.
- Invest in a compost bin -- not only can you can compost your grass clippings and leaves, you can also put in all of your vegetable peelings, tea bags, egg shells, egg boxes, toilet roll tubes, banana peel and coffee grounds -- and the compost can be used to fertilize the garden.
- Food that has been stored properly is usually perfectly fit for consumption on its sell by date (and some items even for a day or so after).
- Vegetables slightly past their best can be made into soup, and fruits can be used to make smoothies.
- Don't forget that making your own fruit and vegetable purees for babies is cheaper and far healthier than buying jars. Find free recipes on the Annabel Karmel website.
5. Sell, Re-use, Recycle...
If your house is in desperate need of de-cluttering, clear it out and make some money! Go through your home, room by room and sort out items that need to go. Separate these into those that could be sold, given to charity, or binned. Now it's time to investigate selling!
If you have a car load of stuff, the quickest option is to get up early at the weekend and head to a car boot sale. However, for those not keen on early mornings or facing the public, why not try selling on eBay? Not only can you put items up for auction from the comfort of your own home, you could also specify that buyers collect larger items -- ideal for the lazy!
What's more, according to advice gleaned from Robert Pugh, author of the eBay Business Handbook (click here to listen to the podcast) you may well make more money than you would via the car boot sale route.
Finally, any serviceable items that aren't in good enough condition to be sold can be re-used by posting them on the Freecycle network. As long as the item is fit for use and is to be given away for free, it can be posted on your local board.
Interested subscribers can then email to let you know and you get to choose who gets it (winner collects, too!). And why not try to recycle whatever is left over, and save yourself a trip to the dump?
So why not try out a few of these tips and see how much you can save? And if you have any more ideas, you could post them on our Environmental Living-Green Fools board?