EROs - Efficiencies, Reductions and Offsets
Efficiencies
1. Install low-energy light bulbs. A 30 watt low-energy bulb can produce as much light as a 100 watt standard bulb and lasts up to 12 times longer.
Potential annual household saving: 200kg of CO2 or £47
2. Insulate your loft space and cavity walls. Loft insulation can reduce heating costs by a third and cavity wall insulation by a further 20 percent.
Potential annual household saving: 3.4 tonnes of CO2 or £380
3. Draught-proof your house. In a typical home 20 percent of heat is lost through ventilation and draughts.
Potential annual household saving: 181kg or £20
4. Use A++ rated electrical appliances. The EU energy rated stickers appear on most white goods and light bulb packaging.
Potential annual household saving: 227kg of CO2 or £55
5. Pack your freezer tightly. Even with a cushion! Freezers function best when they are stuffed and don’t have to work hard to freeze air space.
Potential annual household saving: awaiting figures
6. Insulate your hot water pipes and boiler. Fitting a 75mm jacket on your boiler will cut heat loss by 75 percent.
Potential annual household saving: 266kg of CO2 or £30
7. Drive efficiently. Reduce the journeys you make, brake and accelerate gently, keep tyres inflated and make sure your air filter is not clogged.
Potential annual household saving: 700kg of CO2 or £271
8. Get an energy audit. A professional can tell you how to improve your heating systems and suggest which appliances should be replaced.
Potential annual household saving: 2 tonnes of CO2 or £250
Reductions
1. Switch to an electricity supplier that generates power only through renewable sources. Wind, water and solar power are all available in the UK.
Potential annual household saving: 1.7 tonnes of CO2 - financial saving variable according to supplier
2. Don’t leave electrical goods on standby. Appliances can use up to 40 percent of their full running power when left on standby.
Potential annual household saving: 150kg of CO2 or £37
3. Unplug chargers for phones, laptops, digital cameras and music players. Most chargers continue to draw current when not plugged into the appliance.
Potential annual household saving: 7kg of CO2 or £2
4. Only boil the amount of water in your kettle that you need. In a week you will have saved enough electricity to light a house for a day.
Potential annual household saving: 45kg of CO2 or £11
5. Buy locally produced food. Food transport has increased by 23 percent since 1978, with Potential distances for each trip increasing by 50 percent (source Defra).
Potential annual household saving: 4 tonnes of CO2 - financial saving variable according to supplier
6. Turn off unused lights and reduce the amount of energy used by up to 40 percent. Lighting can account for half of a building’s total energy use.
Potential annual household saving: 4 tonnes of CO2 - financial saving variable according to supplier
7. Take showers not baths. Showers use around two-fifths less water than baths and use considerably less energy to heat the water.
Potential annual household saving: 4 tonnes of CO2 - financial saving variable according to supplier
8. Turn your central heating thermostat down by one degree centigrade and see your heating costs drop by around three percent.
Potential annual household saving: 4 tonnes of CO2 - financial saving variable according to supplier
9. Reduce the number flights you take and the distance you travel. Air travel is responsible for 3.5 percent of global CO2 emissions.
Potential annual household saving: 4 tonnes of CO2 - financial saving variable according to supplier
10. Wash your clothes at lower temperatures. Washes at 40°C instead of 60°C use a third less energy.
Potential annual household saving: 90kg of CO2 or £22
Offsets
1. Buy carbon offsets. Calculate your carbon footprint and invest in forestry and energy efficiency projects.
Potential annual household cost: £75
Click here for Global Cool’s current offset projects
2. Plant a tree. Up to 50 percent of the mass of a tree is carbon that has been removed from the atmosphere.
Over 100 years a tree can store 0.73 tonnes of CO2
Please note: Global Cool ask that you only offset your CO2 emissions after you have managed your efficiencies and reductions.
