But what can I do?
Updated on 10 June 2005
We have received many emails with questions on how to be more green around the home. Here is a selection of them with answers provided by the Department for the Environment, food and rural affairs.
What should we do with plastic bags?
Reuse bags wherever possible, using the Bag for Life scheme where you can. The Waste and Resources Action Programme wrap.org is currently working on behalf of Defra with UK retailers to improve their own Bag for Life schemes which aims to reduce the number of one-use plastic carrier bags.
Why does each local authority have different recycling schemes? Why don't they all get together and adopt the same procedures?
Local authorities have to operate in different circumstances, in rural and inner city areas. Local authorities need a waste management service which reflects their unique operating conditions so Defra can only advise but not prescribe.
Recycling only appears to be obligatory for householders. Business rate payers are required to organise their own refuse disposal. Why aren't business rate payers obliged to recycle in the same way as householders?
They are - producer responsibility is an extension of the 'polluter pays' principle, and is aimed at ensuring businesses who place products on the market take responsibility for those products once they have reached the end of their life.
An example is landfill tax, or tax payable when businesses dispose of waste to landfill. It is increasing every year to reach a top rate of £35 per tonne with the money going back to organisations that help businesses that have good recycling practices. European directives on packaging place responsibility on producers to collect and recycle. See the producer responsibility guidelines for more information here.
How much waste is generated by businesses compared with households? What recycling measures would you recommend people to do at work?
For every tonne of household waste we produce, commercial, industrial and construction businesses produce another six tonnes. Nearly one tonne is produced by services (shops, banks and insurance companies); a further two tonnes by the industries which make the goods we buy; and three tonnes are produced by the construction industry.
Top tips for businesses re recycling are available
here, the website for the current Recycle Now campaign.
What happens to the waste placed in a recycling bin? Where does it go?
It depends on the local authority. Separated, clean recyclable material is acceptable for export. Some waste is treated and recycled in the UK. The Waste and Resources Action Programme is working to stimulate further capacity for recycling in the UK for a range of different types of waste see wrap.org. which is trying to improve the development of domestic markets for materials that can be recycled. More information is available here.
Is recycling paper a good idea? Printed paper has to be "de-inked" to make it re-usable, which involves the use of chemicals, power and heat. Is there an environmental cost to recycling paper?
It is often wrongly assumed that this involves "bleaching" the ink. The ink is removed by dispersing the recovered paper in water, adding soaps and bubbling air through the mixture, like the way a clothes washing machine works. Depending on the whiteness of the paper required, the cleaned recovered pulp may then be bleached, often using peroxide, and typically using considerably less bleach than is normally used in virgin paper production. It is better however to reduce and reuse paper.
Click next for more of what you can do to be green.
What difference do energy saving lightbulbs make?
For each bulb you fit, you could save 44 kg of CO2 and £7 every year. If every UK home replaced three ordinary bulbs with energy-saving ones, we would save over 1.5mtonnes of CO2 annually and the electricity equivalent to the output of a typical power station every year.
What about boilers?
From 1st April 2005, all boilers installed in England and Wales must be condensing boilers in the 'A' and 'B' bands. High-efficiency condensing boilers are more efficient than standard boilers (spelling savings of up to a third on typical annual heating bills) and also benefit the environment by reducing your home's CO2 emissions by one tonne.
If every UK home had a high-efficiency condensing boiler, we would save 17.5 million tonnes of CO2 per year and enough energy to heat nearly 5m homes for the same period.
An insulating jacket for your hot water tank can reduce its heat loss by 75 per cent and save 150kg of CO2 and £10 - £15 every year. We could cut CO2 our emissions by two million tonnes every year - enough to fill 11 million double-decker buses - if everyone in the UK put a jacket on their hot water tank.
Is recycling a good idea and how do I go about it?
The average home produces around one tonne of rubbish annually. To cut this down, separate and recycle your paper, glass and plastic waste.
Opting for recycled and recyclable products with minimal packaging will also help to reduce the environmental impact of your waste. If every UK home recycled 50 per cent of their rubbish, our annual CO2 emissions would fall by up to 6m tonnes. To find out where you can recycle in your local area, contact your local authority or simply reuse your old carrier bags when you go shopping.
Does heating the home create CO2?
Uninsulated walls account for up to 33 per cent of the heat lost in your home so insulating them is one of the most effective ways to save energy in the home. Filling cavity walls could save around one tonne of CO2 and up to £100 every year. Grants are available through EST to help with the costs.
Click next for more of how to be green.
I keep hearing about how bad appliances are for the environment. Is this true?
The next time you replace your kitchen appliances, look out for the Energy Efficiency Recommended (EER) logo (an orange and blue label) as an EER appliance uses less energy and will cost you less to run than ordinary appliances.
An EER fridge-freezer for example, could save you 230 kg of CO2 and £35 a year. If we upgraded the UK's cold appliances to energy-saving ones, we would save 6m tonnes of CO2 each year - enough to fill over 35m double-decker buses. We would also save over £950m worth of energy annually.
Detergents are bad for the environment as well aren't they?
Natural cleaning products can be used on the filthiest of homes. White wine vinegar can bring sparkle to windows, lemon juice and warm water is a great alternative to bleach and baking soda can remove stains from carpets as well as dissolve dirt and grease. Alternatively, opt for phosphate-free products that do not upset the balance of the natural systems in rivers and lakes.
Just what effect do cars have on the environment?
Road transport is responsible for 26 per cent of the UK CO2 emmissions, we should be walking or using public transport whenever we can. Reduce the amount of CO2 your car emits by switching off your engine when stuck in traffic jams and sharing lifts when you can.
Regularly tuning your car and checking tyre pressures will also help to cut your CO2 emissions. Motorists who drive 100 miles a week generate 1,430 kg of CO2 a year, but people travelling the same distance on trains would be responsible for 319kg, and those travelling the same distance by bus for just 268kg. Better still, walk or cycle.
What is all this about turning the tap off while brushing your teeth?
Don't leave taps running, opt for a shower instead of the tub (they use just two-fifths of the hot water needed for a bath), wash your car with a bucket instead of a hose and use your washing machine only with a full load.
Set your washing machine to as cool a wash as possible. Modern washing powders are just as effective at lower temperatures. Washing your clothes at 40 degrees rather then 60 uses a third less electricity, so a third less CO2.
What can I do in winter?
By turning down your thermostat by just one degree, you could reduce your home's CO2 emissions by 400kg and save around £30 a year on your energy bills.
If we all did this today, we would save over £650 million worth of energy and nearly nine million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year.
