Go Green - Easy Green Ideas for Everyday Life

The ideas listed here are so easy, so simple, you'll wonder why you didn't think of them yourself. Print out this list (double sided of course) and tack it up somewhere where you'll see it; you'll be glad you did. The savings could be tremendous, and your grandchildren's quality of life will certainly be changed for the better.

Here are a few initial ideas to get you started:

• Help someone to see - bring your old glasses into a high street opticians for donation to people across the globe

• Give your computer a break - putting your computer or monitor into energy efficient 'sleep' mode can save up to 70% of the energy it would use normally. And laptops? As well as being the 'hipper' and more portable choice, they're 90% more energy efficient than that clunky desktop. Ditto inkjet vs laser printers

• That junk mail clogging up your post flap can be seriously cut down with one easy click. Sign up for the free Mailing Preference Service at http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/ today, and your letterbox (and the rain forest) will thank you

Cut back those home energy bills...

• Here's a basic: always turn the lights off when you leave the room

• 'If all UK households turned off their TVs at night instead of leaving them on standby, we would avoid emitting enough CO2 to fill the Millennium Dome 38 times each year.' (1)

• The same idea applies to chimneys. Closing off your chimney to avoid draughts when its not in use could save another 10-15% of your energy bill

• Citronella and beeswax candles make for romantic outside lighting with no electricity bill. Bonus: they keep those pesky bugs away.

• If you've ever had to deal with batteries for a digital camera you'll know this one already: rechargeable batteries can be a bit more expensive to start, but they're a life saver in the long run. And if you want to be really environmentally savvy: solar powered rechargers

• Don't waste heating on mice and bedbugs, set the timer on your heating to go off 30 minutes before everyone leaves in the morning, and to come back on again half an hour before the first person returns home.

• Go Mediterranean and skip the hefty electricity bills from the air conditioners. Instead, keep the shades down on sunny days and use a good quality fan.

• Do this at home with the kids, or in the office with co-workers: each month designate an official 'switcher-off' to make sure that lights, air conditioners (if you choose not to abide by the above tip), computers, etc, get switched off when not needed. And if your Official Switcher Off reveals a previously unknown Napoleon Complex, crown them OSO for life.

Grab a Ride with Tom & Cllr Colin Hall

Transport - getting from A to Z

• Avoid commuting at rush hour if at all possible - It's annoying for you and a drain on your petrol budget. And if you do venture out into rush hour and you look likely to be idling for more than thirty seconds just switch the car off. The petrol wasted by starting and stopping your vehicle is far less than that wasted by idling.

• A car's fuel economy drops off suddenly after the 45-55 mph mark, sometimes it really does pay to obey the speed limit.

• 'Put up a liftshare board at work, so that people commuting in from the same areas can save petrol and start up beautiful new friendships. We can't track down the figures at the moment, but we're sure there must be a few liftshare babies brightening up people's days across the world.'(4)

• For one journey a week, don't use a car! Kill two birds with one stone and burn off some crisp packets by walking instead of driving.

• Start a walking group for the neighbourhood rugrats, and rotate school run duty with the other parents.

Recycle Recyle Recycle Re-use Re-use Re-use

Tom gets his hands dirty recycling

• 'If 100,000 people who currently don't recycle began to do so, they would collectively reduce CO2 emissions by 42,000 tons a year.'(3)

• Recycle old mobile phones and printer cartridges through Oxfam, ActionAid, and many more. Or, take your old mobile into the store, and most retailers will give you a discount on your new one and refurbish the old one for those with fewer quid to spend

Save some [water] for the fishies

• Check out this nifty children's song written in 1985 by a classroom of 10 years olds and their teacher in environmentally conscious California. It's catchy, and you'll remember it for years (which may or may not be a good thing) http://cyberschoolbus.un.org/wed2003/water_song.asp

• Take a shower instead of a bath, there'll be an extra 40 litres in the water tank, and I've never really understood the concept of getting water dirty and then soaking in it to get clean.

• Washing Machines: only run them when filled. A front loading washer is much more efficient then a top loading one (who knew?). And 90% of the energy your washer uses is used heating up water, so wash those clothes on a colder setting

• In one week, a dripping tap will have wasted enough hot water to fill an entire bath. So turn your taps tight, fix any leaks, and enjoy the peace and quiet of a house without that annoying dripping.

Eat Green

• Use a toaster instead of the grill. Simple.

• Don't constantly open and close the oven - it knows what it's doing, and your checking up on it only slows it down. Plus, if baking exotic things like soufflé or popovers, they will actually be damaged by the bursts of cold air

• And for that fledgling radish garden - compost. Make-your-own-heap in your back garden for absolutely nothing

• Save some packaging and bruising journeys - buy your veg at your local farmers' market, and you'll have the advantage of knowing exactly where it came from. For those of you from Sutton, ours is in Wallington, 2nd Saturday of every month from 9am-2pm at the Old Town Hall & Library Gardens. For the rest of you: http://www.countrymanmagazine.co.uk/farmersmid5.html

• Recycle those empty bottles and cans: the energy saved from recycling one fizzy drink can run your television for a whopping three hours.

Written, Compiled and Published by Tom Brake (room 2, Kennedy House) with the helpful aid and inspiration of the following sources:

1: http://www.foe.co.uk/living/tips/avoid_disposable_batteries.html

2: http://www.est.org.uk/myhome/whatcan/10pointchecklist/

3: Gore,Al. An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. Rodale, 2006

4: 10 steps to a greener workplace. The Guardian. 23 September 2006

The Liberal Democrats and the Environment

The Green Tax Switch

Unlike Labour and the Conservatives, Menzies Campbell's Liberal Democrats have a firm plan to tackle climate chaos.

The Lib Dems will cut income tax and switch to green taxes on pollution instead. Then the more you choose to switch to greener living the more money you will save.

Sign up to back the Green Tax Switch

You can show your support for the Liberal Democrat's proposals by signing the petition at: http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/greentaxswitch

Say "NO" to Nuclear

Liberal Democrats want Tony Blair to scrap his plans to build more nuclear power plants.

Nuclear power is hugely expensive. They cost millions to build and it then costs millions to clean up their waste.

Sign the "No" to Nuclear petition

You can support the campaign by visting: http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/no2nuclear

A Greener Sutton

Sutton is proud of its reputation as a cleaner, greener borough but want to build on this and take its performance to the next level. They are therefore aiming to get at least 1,000 households in the borough signed up to our new 'Sutton's Planet Pledge'. This is where we can make 3 pledges to make improvements in our lifestyle, that together add up to some big changes! They are also offering information, support, and incentives to help our pledgers.

The Mayor was our first Citizen to sign up on 5 June!