Archive for the ‘Energy saving tips’ Category

This week is Energy Saving Week. In an effort to save energy and reduce some of our bills I’ve been on even more of an energy saving mission myself over the last few weeks.

“If the roof of every building was painted white, what impact would it have on the albedo of the Earth”. Over the last few years I’ve mentioned this to a few climate scientists and they’ve looked quizzical but then nodded…” he said.

This summer, everyone seems to have been talking about “hypermiling” - the American name given to the practice of managing to squeeze the maximum MPGs out of a tank of petrol by changing your driving habits…

After a slow start, the issue of greener computing is beginning to gather momentum. Read my five suggestions for using our computers more efficiently…

If you have a second, take a look at these great pictures in today’s Guardian from satellites of our changing earth… They’re from a new book called Fragile Earth. Scary they may be, but strangely beautiful too.

Did anyone notice that spot of good news last week? We’re so used to environmental news being relentlessly bad, but last week the UK government has calculated that British greenhouse emissions are down by 0.5%.

OK, so you’ve turned down the thermostat two or three degrees to cut your carbon footprint, but it’s January and much as you’d like to think you’re the new Ernest Shackleton, you have to admit it, it’s bloody nippy. Here are Nigel’s Five Top Tips for staying warm in 2008.

I’ve already given you my tips for a green Christmas, but here are comedian Ed Byrne’s opinions on how to recycle bottles without embarrassment after Christmas, where to put the blue ones from Bombay Sapphire Gin, and Santa’s carbon footprint - a special video recorded for recycle.com:

Ed Byrne- Recycle Now! - video powered by Metacafe

Trawling the web, I see The Daily Green suggests we all switch back to corded phones… remember them? Cordless phones, they say, are energy vampires. Plus there’s nothing more frustrating than being in a house on fire and discovering your DECT phone battery has gone flat…

Read more old-fashioned phones and new-fangled eco ideas…

Last week the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called again for a “green revolution” and suggested that the UK could be aiming for an 80% cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Hurrah. That sounds promising.

Or does it?