Get EnviroWise About Water!

A scheme which proposes to help businesses save up to 30 per cent on their water and effluent bills is issuing a final call for participants to sign up.

The Rippleeffect, a water conservation project from Envirowise, offers businesses structured information and support to reduce the amount of water used.

Simple measures such as ensuring showers and taps do not leak, installing water efficient toilets and rainwater harvesting, could help firms make significant water savings even as the cost of water is set to rise by 22 per cent between 2010 and 2015.

"While cost-savings may be a key driver for water conservation, companies that do so demonstrate to customers that they are adopting best environmental practice. This in itself offers a competitive advantage."
Mary Leonard, Director, Envirowise

Saving water also helps save energy and emissions as the utilities use energy, often generated by fossil fuel burning to get water to residential and commercial taps.

Companies have until September 10th to sign up for the project.

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Burning Holes in Government Fuel Payment Plan

At the weekend it was leaked by a senior civil servant travelling on a train, that the government have it laying in the wings for a "Fuel Payment Plan", the one-off payment of £150 would be targeted at those in receipt of child benefits, the total number of people that are set to benefit from this windfall is estimated to be over seven million households, requiring in excess of £1 billion.

Taking into consideration the "Winter Fuel Payments" paid to 11.7m people over 60 years in age, which costs a further £2 billion pounds. A total of £3 billion is effectively subsidising energy, making it cheaper, less expensive to use. In times when we should be reducing energy, friend of the blog and chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust, Philip Sellwood, believes that this money would be better spent and more effectively in terms of energy reduction and environmental benefit (not to mention the 17.5% return to the government from VAT, instead of the 5% on fuel), if this money was invested into energy saving measures.

For example, £3 billion could easily insulate every cavity wall in the country. Saving those householders £720m a year, every year (without inflation of energy costs), saving 4.8m tonnes of CO2 annually.

Philip Sellwood posted his own back of envelope savings on his blog;

Our own stats show that with £150, a householder could:

Draught proof an entire house, saving around £25 a year with an outlay of around £90.
Buy a hot water tank jacket, saving around £20 per year, with an outlay of just £12.
Fully insulate all pipe work, saving around £9 per year, with an outlay of just £9.
Replacing existing light bulbs with energy saving ones. With a typical cost of around £3 per bulb it would be possible to replace every light bulb in the house. This could save around £45 a year or £600 over the lifetime of the bulbs!

My maths was never much good, but even I can see that by spending this £150 on energy saving measures means saving around £100 this year, next year, the year after....well, you get my drift!

My own quick back of envelope calculation suggest that each household would reduce their CO2 emissions by 710kg. £3billion would be enough to offer all these measures to every household in the UK saving 14.91m tonnes of CO2. If the government instead decided to invest all the money into wind turbines, and start their own government wind co-op they could install a minimum of 300 wind turbines with up to 2GW, almost doubling the current capacity, providing, clean green energy for 1.2m homes, or approximately 5% of UK domestic properties.

The scheme has not yet been given final approval. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (DBERR) confirmed that further help with fuel bills was being considered, but insisted no decisions had been taken. So now is the time to get it right, and make positive changes, so that the money makes a return socially, environmentally, and of course politically.

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Free Plug In Energy Monitor

(There was no hot pics of these ugly gadgets so I decided to go with no picture) ... Ok I have been looking around the house for items I bought intending to giveaway, and found these plug-in energy monitors. I bought them to use, not that really you need four of them, but I did intend to give away these three in the first place but procrastinated in doing so. These currently retail at £27.99 on Maplin, how scandalous, as they certainly didn't cost anywhere near that when I bought them. If you are going to buy them, you can get them for under £10 from other outlets.

These are really only usable in the UK, as they are the three-pin plug thing. Ok, to get one you have to promise you will send us a few measurements from your home, if you want to run out and do 100 items that would be great. The idea is then I can add the details here for other people to use.

Email ... support(at)howtosaveenergy.co.uk, with your name and address (UK ONLY), the first three emails will get one each. Please note we can not respond to everyone who misses out. But there will be more giveaways very soon.

Can You Afford to Fill Up? ... No, Try Our Petrol Saving Tips

BBC One's topical weekly investigative current affairs programme, Panorama, this week took a look at the price of petrol, how it is affecting the motorist and what can be done to encourage us to use less fuel and greener alternatives.

You can view the program on BBC iPlayer, until Monday 04th August (UK Only).

Changing your car to a new environmentally friendly model may not be easy for us all. But there are some ways you can reduce your fuel consumption, save money and help the environment too. The following simple tips could save the average driver £180 a year and reduce your CO2 emissions by 200kg per year.

• Do You Need to Drive?
  Short journeys that are generally less than two miles cause the most pollution and are inefficient in terms of fuel consumption. A straining cold engine will produce 60% more pollution than a warm one. A cold engine uses almost twice as much fuel and catalytic converters can take five miles to become effective. Walk or cycle where possible instead.
  
  
• Gear Changes
  Change up before 2,500rpm (petrol) and 2,000rpm (diesel).
  
  
• Plan Ahead
  Anticipate road conditions and drive smoothly, avoiding sharp acceleration and heavy braking. This saves fuel and reduces accident rates.
  
  
• Air Con
  Use air conditioning sparingly as it significantly increases fuel consumption.
  
  
• Kill Your Speed
  The most efficient speed depends upon the car in question but is typically around 55 - 65mph. Faster speed will greatly increase your fuel consumption.
  
  
• Don't Wait Around
  Drive away immediately when starting from cold - idling to heat the engine wastes fuel and causes rapid engine wear.
  
  
• Aerodynamics
  Roof racks, bike carriers, and roof boxes significantly affect your car's aerodynamics and reduce fuel efficiency, so remember to remove them when not in use.
  
  
• Plan Your Route
  Plan your journeys to avoid congestion, road works and getting lost. Sat Nav and online map services such as Google Maps can help you find the way.
  
  
• Tyre Pressure
  Under-inflated tyres are dangerous and can increase fuel consumption by up to 3%.
  
  
• Switch Off
  Stuck in a jam, switch the engine off if you expect to be there for more than a minute or two. Cutting the engine will save fuel and reduce emissions.
  

Stay Hydrated This Summer

As the Summer heatwave continues, we are all searching for ways to stay hydrated in the basking Summer sun. Before we all grab a branded PET bottle of the shelf of our local convenience store, in these times of the "credit crunch" remember that in the majority of cases you are simply paying for the plastic bottle, which I found out when looking at a B2B price list from Coca Cola, a 250ml bottle of water with sports cap costs more than a standard 500ml bottle, and a 750ml bottle with sports cap, is twice that of a 500ml bottle.

So simply if you want to reduce your spending, waste, energy consumption and environmental impact as well as reap the benefits of hydration can bring to your body. Simply get a water bottle, and carry it everywhere, of course you can reuse your old PET bottle, even if it says you can't (like Volvic bottles did, or maybe still do, its been a long time since i have seen one).

In the USA, 2.5m bottles are thrown away every hour, so what options are there to reduce? Buying a reuseable bottle such as that of Platypus bottles, which are in the league of premium water bottles, and shown above. Even more expensive are SIGG water bottles, which have a strong environmental focus on their website, and an eco-chic "I am not plastic" water bottle for $21.99.

What Help is Available for those in Fuel Poverty

With the recent price rises from Npower and other suppliers likely to follow suit, a large number of people throughout the UK now falls into being in fuel poverty. The Energy Retail Association estimates there was 4m people in this category in 2006 with a further 3m classified as vunerable, and this has been increasing year on year from 2000.

You may ask how to calculate if your household is in fuel poverty, the equation below we hope clearly shows how to calculate if you are in fuel poverty.

Fuel Poverty Ratio = ((Unit Fuel Price x Fuel Consumption) + Standing Charge) / Income

You should take all fuels into consideration (Gas, Electricity, LPG and solid fuels). Income is considered before tax and national insurance. For more information on how fuel poverty is calculated there is this very detailed document (PDF). Households are considered to be fuel poor if they spend over 10% of their income on fuel.

There is a range of assistance for those even not in fuel poverty, below is organisations and schemes that could help you alieviate the burden of fuel bills through benefits and grants;

Benefits

Winter Fuel Payments

If you are aged 60 to 79 and you are entitled to receive a Winter Fuel Payment, you will get either £100 or £200, depending on your circumstances in the qualifying week. If you are aged 80 or over and you are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment, you will get an extra £50 or £100, so you could get up to £300, depending on your circumstances in the qualifying week. You do not pay tax on Winter Fuel Payments.

For more information please visit the Pension Service: Winter Payment Website.

Cold Weather Payment

A Cold Weather Payment is paid automatically when the average temperature is, or is forecast to be, 0 degrees centigrade or below over seven consecutive days. To qualify you must satisfy the criteria for receipt. The Social Security or Jobs & Benefits office will advertise when a payment is applicable.

To receive a cold weather payment you must be receiving Pension Credit / Income Support / Jobseeker's Allowance (Income based) for one day in the period of cold weather and be receiving one of the following premiums:

• Pensioner Premium
• Enhanced Pensioner Premium
• Higher Pensioner Premium
• Disability Premium
• Severe Disability Premium
• Disabled Child Premium
• or have a child under the age of 5

£8.50 when the average temperature where you live is recorded as, or forecast to be, zero degrees Celsius or below, over seven consecutive days during the period from 1 November to 31 March. Specified Meteorological Office weather stations are used to obtain this information.

More information can be found at DirectGov

Grants

Warm Front (England)

Warm Front provides grants of up to £2,700 for heating and insulation measures in low income and other vulnerable households. The maximum grant for an oil central heating system is £4,000. Grants are available to owner occupiers and people who rent their homes from a private landlord. To qualify householders must:

• be in receipt of designated income related benefit or tax credit and have a child under 16, or
• be in receipt of a designated disability related benefit or Disabled Person's Tax Credit, or
• be aged 60 years or over and in receipt of an income related benefit.

Grants are also available to women who are in receipt of a maternity certificate (MATB 1) as well as a designated income related benefit (or their spouses).

The national telephone number for Warm Front in England is Freephone 0800 952 0600
Recent changes include:

• Central heating measures are available for all eligible clients (not just over 60's).
• Eligible customers not connected to mains gas may qualify for oil central heating.
• Clients who have previously received a grant from the Warm Front programme can re-apply to the Scheme Manager. However, they will not receive the same measure again. They will have a new balance, minus the value of all works previously completed under Warm Front.

For further information contact the designated Scheme Manager:

Eaga for enquiries from the West Midlands, South West, London, South East, North West and North East: Freephone 0800 316 6011 or Freephone Minicom 0800 072 0156.


Warm Deal (Scotland)

The Warm Deal in Scotland provides grants of up to £500 for energy efficiency measures and energy advice for those in receipt of one of a range of benefits. A lower level of grant can be claimed by householders aged 60 and over who do not receive these benefits. For more details visit the Scottish Executive or Scottish Gas

There is also the Central Heating Programme, which provides a central heating system, insulation measures, energy advice and an optional benefits check to people aged 60 and over and to tenants of local authorities and housing associations. Claimants must live in a home without central heating or where the existing system is broken and beyond repair.


The Home Energy Efficiency Scheme (Wales)

HEES in Wales provides grants of up to £1,500 for energy efficiency measures and energy advice for those in receipt of one of a range of benefits who have a child under 16.

HEES Plus offers grants of up to £2,700 for heating and insulation improvements to householders who are 60 or over and to lone parents with a child under the age of 16. In both cases claimants must be in receipt of one of a range of benefits. A lower level of grant can be claimed by householders aged 60 and over who do not receive a qualifying benefit. For more details contact HEES Wales: Freephone 0800 316 2815 or Freephone Minicom 0800 072 0156.

The Warm Homes Scheme (Northern Ireland)

The Warm Homes Scheme offers grants of up to £850 for insulation and heating improvements for owner occupiers and those who rent their homes from a private landlord. Claimants must receive one of a range of benefit payments and have a child under 16.

The Warm Homes Plus Scheme offers grants of up to £4,300 for an enhanced package of heating and insulation measures, including central heating. Claimants must be aged 60 and over and be owner occupiers or tenants of a private landlord. For further information contact Eaga Partnership: Freephone 0800 181 667 or Minicom 019 1233 1054

Energy Saving Trust

There is financial help available if you're planning to make energy saving improvements to your home. The Government, energy suppliers and local authorities all provide grants to help you implement energy saving measures in your home. To search for grants visit their grants finder or you can call them on 0800 512 012. There is also information on simple energy saving tips which could save you several hundred pounds annually

Local Councils

Your local council may also offer assistance, as this varies across each council area, you should contact your local council for more information and advice on the help they offer. To find your local council contact details visit DirectGov

Advice Service

Citizens Advice Bureaux

In 2005-2006 Citizens Advice Bureaux in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received 27,000 general enquiries about problems with fuel plus 45,000 enquiries about fuel debt. Following the prolonged series of fuel price rises we are beginning to receive evidence of CAB clients struggling to pay their bills. They can help you too, you just need to ask for advice.




There is also information on how to reduce your energy bills on the following blog posts;
Is it Time to Switch Energy Providers?
Winter Warming Tips
10 Things to Reduce Energy Use
Cavity Wall Insulation Grants
General Energy Saving Tips

Being Naughty ... Selling Out to Advertisers

You may have noticed my shallow attempts to monetise this blog with the paid for posting that have appeared in the last few days. There currently is two postings. The main reason that I have added these posts to the blog are as they offered reasonable money off the back of our pagerank status. But rest assured this decision was not taken lightly as the fee will be invested in either a competition featuring some energy efficient prize, or donated to an environmental organisation to help protect the world. As yet I have not came to a conclusive decision but if you have any ideas, please feel free to add a comment in the comments section.

Potentially I could distribute 72 stapless staplers or 123 energy saving bulbs to help the planet, but your ideas are probably more exciting.

Tesco Green Clubcard Point Rant

I am a Tesco shopper, mainly as it is one of the closest large supermarkets to my home. I have always used reusable carrier bags, since before the launch of Green Clubcard Points. At my local Tesco however Green Clubcard Points are not what they seem, as often I have left the store without the points being added, whilst this is not an issue for me (it's just an added benefit to being green), it just seems that Tesco are not keeping their promises, and that some who solely make use of the Green Clubcard Points offer as their main reason to reuse bags will simply stop. Going on the 4% rule (which normally refers to restaurants), where only about 4% of people actually complain, the other 96% might just simply never return or in this case reuse bags. Whilst I am criticising Tesco in relation to one store I'm sure this is just an oversight by some staff, and the green efforts by Tesco are highly commendable.

On a another note, Sainsbury's were giving out free bags for life all weekend. They might still have some left in store tht you could blag. Their efforts have helped to reduce 750 tonnes of plastic bags going to landfill.

Carbon Free Electricity

Thinking that my attempts to become carbon-less would be difficult were dealt a blow when investigating renewable energies and grants I visited my local energy supplier Northern Ireland Electricity. Under the assumption that I would need to really try I was amazed that for no additional cost I could have my energy purchased matched unit for unit from renewable sources ... yes ... free. However, I am rather sceptical to the reality of this, after signing up, I questioned what really happened. Did they simply decide to burn less coal and build another small turbine to power my household, no in other words what I believe really happened is they are allotting renewable energy units they are already producing, so in actual fact the amount of carbon still being created is probably more or less the same ... for a real revolution to occur I think we all (customers of NIE) would have to sign up for free "Eco Energy" ... however having said this I do feel the process was productive, it shows the concern is real and if enough people sign up they will then need to increase their investment in renewable production.



Pile The Pressure

The following regional electricity companies offer a free switch to renewables, visit their site now, it can take as little as 2 minutes and you essentially can reduce your carbon footprint by 4.5 tonnes instantly.


Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) - (Eco Energy) - (Sign Up Form)

Npower - (Juice-Clean & Green) - (Quote & Switch)


You may find that it is cheaper to go green with another supplier, uSwitch allows you to compare prices and tariffs across all mainland UK gas and electricity suppliers.



The following offer a switch to renewables for a fee;

• London Energy - (Green Tariff)
  
  • You will pay 0.42p more per unit (KWh) of electricity, approximately £13.86 per annum
  • The additional fee is matched by EDF and invested into renewable energies
  • Each unit is matched from renewable energies
    
  • You will receive two free energy bulbs
  • For more information please click on the links above
    
    

• Powergen - (Green Plan Fund)
  • On average you will pay £9 more per year
  • Npower donate to the Green Plan Fund for each unit used
  • Each unit is matched from renewable energies
  • Tesco clubcard points available for switching and each month (check tesco)
  • For more information please click on the links above
    
    

• Scottish Power - (Green Energy H20)
  
  • No information on pricing available
  • Each unit is matched from renewable energies
  • Recognised by Friends of the Earth
  • For more information please click on the links above

Hippos Save Water

Not only is water an expensive commodity it also takes huge amounts of energy to distribute water to each home in the UK. By wasteful use of water, you are also wasting energy. Toilet use accounts for up to one-third of domestic water use. With each flush you could be using 4 - 9 litres of water, if your toilet uses seven or more litres of water per flush you should consider installing a Save-A-Flush (for cisterns of 7 litres or more) or a Hippo (for cisterns of 9 litres).

A Save-A-Flush saves 1 litre of water per flush, about 2000 litres per year per person, and a Hippo saves up to 3 litres of water per flush, about 5000 litres per person per year. Water costs approximately £1.50 per 1000 litres in the UK.

UK residents can order a free Hippo or Save-A-Flush bag online at Thames Water. (Maximum of one per household in regions other than Thames Water)

Water saving tips

Each person in the UK uses on average 160 litres of water per day (60000 litres a year), this is eight times that of a person in a developing country, here are some water saving tips

• Cleaning your teeth with the tap off uses 1 litre of water, compared to leaving the tap running which uses 6 litres (save 5500 litres per year).
  
• Have a shower instead of a bath - this can save 300 litres of water a week. Be careful though - a power shower can use more water than a bath! (save 15600 litres per year).
• Fix Leaking Taps - dripping taps can waste up to 140 litres of water a week (save 7200 litres per year).

How much water is used for ...

... a bath	80 litres	8 buckets+
... a 5 minute shower (not power shower)	35 litres	3.5 buckets
... brushing teeth with tap running	6 litres/min	0.6 buckets
... brushing teeth with tap off	1 litre	0.1 buckets
... a dripping tap	140 litres/week	14 buckets
... a washing machine cycle	65 litres	6.5 buckets
... a dishwasher cycle	20 litres	2 buckets
... washing a car with bucket	10 litres	1 buckets
... a hosepipe/sprinkler	540 litres/hour	54 buckets

* A bucket is equivalent to 10 litres