Going Green Could Save Money
21/07/2008
Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently made headlines for advising the people of Britain to save money by not wasting food, but could a more frugal approach to living benefit the environment as well?
It's a known statistic that we throw away approximately a third of the food we buy, but were we simply to buy two thirds of the usual amount we would ease the burden on the environment as well as our wallets. Landfill would be 4.1m tonnes lighter without the extra waste, and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced.
The other big threat to family finances and the environment is gas heating, which is becoming prohibitively expensive. Solar thermal heating could be the solutions. A recent study by solartwin shows that families could generate up to 70% of their hot water using the method. This would save £232 a year in cash, and 665kg a year of CO2.
Sustainable living seems to be coming back into fashion. Author Will Sutherland has published The Concise guide to Self-Sufficiency, which draws on the principles outlined by John Seymour, the 'grandfather of the sustainability movement' in the 1960s. All sorts of green and frugal tips are covered in the book, from what to do with leftovers, through to how to string onions.
It's a known statistic that we throw away approximately a third of the food we buy, but were we simply to buy two thirds of the usual amount we would ease the burden on the environment as well as our wallets. Landfill would be 4.1m tonnes lighter without the extra waste, and greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced.
The other big threat to family finances and the environment is gas heating, which is becoming prohibitively expensive. Solar thermal heating could be the solutions. A recent study by solartwin shows that families could generate up to 70% of their hot water using the method. This would save £232 a year in cash, and 665kg a year of CO2.
Sustainable living seems to be coming back into fashion. Author Will Sutherland has published The Concise guide to Self-Sufficiency, which draws on the principles outlined by John Seymour, the 'grandfather of the sustainability movement' in the 1960s. All sorts of green and frugal tips are covered in the book, from what to do with leftovers, through to how to string onions.
