Make ten New Year green resolutions for 2019

 In News

Many readers are making New Year’s resolutions this week so environment expert Ron Fox gives his ten green suggestions to help householders reduce their carbon footprint.

  1. Eat better meat and less of it. The irony is that the land we destroyed to grow grains to feed livestock not only released most of the carbon dioxide that harms our climate today, but was already the perfect, natural habitat for raising healthy cows, sheep, chickens and pigs virtually for free. Scientists have calculated that converting just half the corn and soy acreage back to pasture might cut carbon emissions by as much as 144 trillion pounds.
  2. Continue to use your own shopping bags. Plastic bags are known to kill more than a million birds and hundreds of thousands of marine mammals every year. The bags also require 12 million barrels of oil to produce annually so we are spending nearly £500,000,000 on oil, just to throw it away.
  3. Avoid fast fashion and buy only when needed. Our insatiable appetite for cheap clothing that we wear for only one season couldn’t be more destructive as the fashion industry is the second-most polluting industry in the world, after the oil industry.
  4. Walk, cycle or use public transport more. Instead of driving for 20 minutes to exercise on an electrically-powered machine in an air-conditioned building why not run, walk or cycle in a nearby park and save time and your gym membership fee.
  5. 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.
  6. Grow your own fruit and veg. Rent an allotment or to start small, cultivate herbs on a windowsill. The growing, transportation, packaging and cooking of food account for up to 30 per cent of Britain’s carbon footprint.
  7. Hang your washing out to dry.  Tumble dryers use 15 per cent of domestic energy and emit 54.72 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually in the USA alone.
  8. Improve the air quality in your home. Advanced solar 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.
  9. Reduce the diesel and traffic fumes and pollution coming into your house by filling any cracks with spray foam insulation and installing air filters if necessary.
  10. Act over energy wasted in your homes. These include leaving lights on in empty rooms, having electronic devices such as TV and computers on standby overnight and not closing curtains in the evening to keep the energy in the room. Finally fit thermostatic controls to heating appliances and use LED lights.

“If you want any advice such as fitting a full cell and going off grid for cheaper energy contact me on 01782 756995. Finally have a green and happy New Year,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science Innovation Park.

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