Our Top Tips on Energy, Waste and Usage

Horizon want to work with residents to help make the world a better place for future generations. The information below contains a number of suggestions that could both save you money and collectively make a very positive impact on the planet.

We want to do our part and by implementing these tips, we believe together we can make a difference.

ENERGY

Energy Facts

Turning the thermostat down by 1°C could cut heating bills by up to 10%
Washing clothes at 30°C instead of 40°C uses around 40% less energy
Unplugging your PC overnight could save you as much as £35 per year
One energy saving light bulb can save you up to £9 per year – that adds up to more than £100 over the course of the bulb’s lifetime
By boiling only as much water as you need, you could save enough energy in a week to run a TV for 26 hours
The average household could save up to £300 a year on energy bills and two tonnes of carbon dioxide by being more energy efficient
Change your electricity to a green supplier such as Good Energy and get 100% of your electric from renewable sources; good-energy.co.uk or on 0845 456 1640

Energy Saving Tips

Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.
Make sure your hot water cylinder thermostat is not set higher than 60°C/140°F.
Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
Don’t leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily.
Dry washing on a clothes line outside whenever possible.
Put the lid on a pan to reduce the amount of time and energy it takes to boil.
Walk, cycle or take public transport wherever possible.
Share car journeys where possible; www.nationalcarshare.co.uk or www.freewheelers.co.uk or join a car club carclubs.org.uk.

WATER

Water Savings Tips

Simply turning the tap off whilst you clean your teeth could save as much as nine litres of water a minute
Don’t overfill the kettle when making a cup of tea. Only fill and boil what you need
Taking a shower rather than a bath could save you up to 400 litres of water a week
Fix dripping taps – a dripping tap can waste 90 litres of water a week
Don’t let the cold water that comes through before a tap runs hot go down the drain – use it for watering plants or put it into a water butt in the garden
Keep a jug of water in the fridge to prevent wasting water every time you wait for the tap to run cold
Only use the washing machine and dishwasher when you have a full load
Consider buying a water butt to collect rain water for the garden – using rain water not only saves mains water but also the energy used to treat it
Putting a water-saving device, or simply a plastic coke bottle full of water, in your toilet cistern could save three litres of water every time you flush

WASTE

Did You Know?

On average, every person in the UK throws away their own body weight in rubbish every seven weeks.
The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will power a colour TV for 15 minutes or a computer for 20 minutes.
100,000 tonnes of plastic bags are thrown away in the UK every year – that is the weight of 70,000 cars. Carrier bags dumped in landfill take 100 years to decompose.
If you recycle your paper, in just seven days it could come back as your newspaper.
50% of food purchased in the UK goes to waste.
The UK produces enough waste every two hours to fill the Albert Hall.
The UK produces more than 434 million tonnes of waste every year.
Glass bottles can be recycled into house insulation. Plastic bottles can be recycled into fleece jackets.

Waste Saving Tips

Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Register with the Mailing Preference Scheme to avoid receiving junk mail; www.mpsonline.org.uk or Tel: 08457034599.
Use shredded wastepaper as a substitute for animal bedding or cat litter.
Donate unwanted items to charity shops or give them away through www.freecycle.org.
Compost kitchen and garden waste.
Recycle as much household waste as possible – contact your local council to find out about recycling facilities and services in your area.
Choose to reuse – take shopping bags with you and if you cannot avoid an occasional plastic bag then re-use it.
Write a shopping list to help you only buy what you need to avoid throwing away excess food, paint etc.