Expert’s ten green New Year’s resolutions

It’s that time of year for New Year’s resolutions so an environment expert gives his ten green suggestions for readers

Ron Fox, of Noreus Ltd at Keele, Staffordshire, offer some decisions to help householders reduce their carbon footprint.

1. If you driving for 20 minutes so you can exercise on an electrically powered machine in an air-conditioned building why not instead go for a run or cycle or walk in the nearby park and save time and the money from your gym membership as well as the benefits of spending time in the outdoors.
2. Improve the air quality in your home. Although it’s where we spend most of our time poor ventilation and air flow means that our indoor environment can become a trap for potential health-damaging pollutants. Advanced solar aerovoltaic technology allows the sun’s heat to generate electricity, to heat or cool the home and ensures that the indoor air quality is fresh and pure.
3. Reduce the diesel and traffic fumes and pollution coming into your home by filling any cracks with spray foam insulation and installing air filters if necessary.
4. Grow your own fruit and veg. Rent an allotment and become self-sufficient in growing fruit and vegetables, or if you want to start small, cultivate a pot of herbs on a windowsill. The end results taste so much better than anything you can buy. Also the growing, transportation, packaging and cooking of food, together with clearing the land, account for up to 30 per cent of Britain’s carbon footprint.
5. Use your own shopping bags. Plastic bags are the second most common form of litter after cigarette ends and are known to kill more than a million birds and hundreds of thousands of marine mammals every year. They also require 12 million barrels of oil to produce annually. The good news is that since the Government introduced a 5p charge on plastic bags the total number of carrier bags used at the UK’s biggest retailers has fallen by 85 per cent.
6. Take your own water bottle to the gym or out walking. The oil used to produce plastic water bottles is enough to fuel a million cars.
7. Break the habit of always picking up your car keys when you go out. Walk, cycle or use public transport more.
8. Shop locally and ethically. Buy fruit and veg from a farmers’ market rather than a supermarket that’s brought the food in by plane and lorry.
9. Act over energy wasted in your homes. These include lights left on in empty rooms, electronic devices such as TV and computers put on standby overnight. Fit thermostatic controls to heating appliances and use LED lights.
10. Review your energy supplier. If you haven’t done that for at least a couple of years the odds are that you are paying too much. Consider buying energy from companies offering “green” tariffs.

For further green energy advice contact Ron on 01782 756995 or go to www.noreus.co.uk