What you can do to reduce your impact

Cheap and simple tips

There are a lot of simple things we can all do that will help cut carbon emissions, help the environment and save money on our fuel bills:

• Spend a few minutes completing a home energy check on the Energy Saving Trust’s website (new window) and you'll receive an impartial personalised report showing you how much energy and money you can save in your home.
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• Fit low energy light bulbs where you can - they use up to 80 per cent less electricity than a standard bulb, but produce the same amount of light and you can recycle your old bulbs at household waste recycling centres (new window).
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• Always turn off lights when you leave a room.
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• Turn things off at the wall when you no longer need them on.
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• Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping.
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• Turn your thermostat down - reducing your room temperature by 1ºC could cut your heating bills by 10%.
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• Insulate your home to make it more energy efficient - for information on what you can do try Suffolk Energy Action Link (SEAL) or the Energy Saving Trust (new window).
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• Wash lightly soiled clothes on economy or 30ºC.
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• Cover your pans when you cook and only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you are using an electric kettle).
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• Fix dripping taps - a dripping hot tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath.
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• Recycle paper, glass, plastics and tins.
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• Compost vegetable waste at home or put it in your brown bin.
  
• Invest in the most energy efficient appliances (new window) when replacing old ones.
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• If you are able - cycle or walk to places that take less than 20 minutes to do so.
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• Cut your car CO2 emissions and save money by following these smarter driving tips (new window).

Some other ideas

Avenues to explore after this are very much down to individual taste but you could think about ...

• Switching to an energy provider (new window) who invests in wind, water, or solar power.
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• Planning travel to ensure the most fuel-efficient environmentally friendly approach is always taken.
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• Buying a fuel-efficient car (new window) could save you up to three months’ worth of fuel every year.
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• Sharing your car (new window) is any easy way to cut your CO2 emissions and save you money.
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• Switching to food that is more fruit and vegetable than meat, less processed and packaged and travels less.
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• Reduce waste by opting to buy second-hand or try the Freecycle (new window) or Freegle (new window) websites.
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• Choosing hobbies and leisure pursuits that have a low environmental impact - jogging, cycling, walking, wildlife gardening, local volunteering, local outdoor sports or think about how often you enjoy higher impact activities.
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• Fly for long lifetime experiences rather than rushed exhausting weekends.
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• Enjoy longer breaks by train in Europe.

There are many more things you can do. They just take common sense. And if we all do them we will help to reduce man’s heavy footprint on the earth.