BRONZE - quick solutions!    SILVER – stepping it up!

GOLD – go for it!  PLATINUM – do big things!

1. Reduce

Avoid packaged goods – BRONZE

Rent or borrow – BRONZE

If it’s broken, try to fix it – BRONZE

Reduce junk mail – SILVER

Use all the food you buy – PLATINUM

Reduce rubbish by 1 black bin bag per week – PLATINUM

Recycle Now. http://www.recyclenow.com

Mailing Preference Service http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

Stop Junk Mail http://www.stopjunkmail.org.uk/default.php

WRAP http://www.wrap.org.uk/retail/case_studies_research/report_the_food_we.html

Love Food, Hate Waste http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com

2. Reuse

Reusable bags – BRONZE

Reuse packaging then recycle it – BRONZE

Use rechargeable batteries – BRONZE

Donate unwanted items – SILVER

Clothes swap – GOLD

Freecycle. http://uk.freecycle.org

Team Green Britain http://www.teamgreenbritain.org

3. Recycle

Recycle as much as you can – BRONZE

Compost your food and garden waste – SILVER

Wiggly Wigglers http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk

Green Gardener http://www.greengardener.co.uk

Green Cone http://www.greencone.com

4. Consumer power

Avoid buying bottled water – BRONZE

Choose recycled clothes – BRONZE

Eat less meat – GOLD

Eat local, in-season produce – PLATINUM

Grow your own – PLATINUM

Don’t buy more. Do things – PLATINUM

London on Tap http://www.londonontap.org/qanda

eBay http://www.ebay.co.uk

Keep & Share http://keepandshare.co.uk

Farmers Markets http://www.farmersmarkets.net

Eat fruit and vegetables in season   http://www.eatseasonably.co.uk

Information is from ecoteams site for registered members http://www.ecoteams.org.uk/

You are advised to check the live web sites for more up to date information. Christine 18/7/10

FACTS AND FIGURES 1 tonne = 1,000kg    0.5 tonne = 500kg

The average carbon footprint per person in the UK is 10 tonnes ie 10,000kg (from Climate Change Wales)

Methane (from decomposting rubbish) – green house gas about 25 times more potent than CO_2.

Rubbish

Rubbish per home per year 500kg (0.5 tonne).

90% of contents in average household bin can be recycled or composted.

30% organic, 33% paper & card, 3% textiles, 8% metal, 6% glass, 7% plastics, 9% misc, 4% fines.

⅔ household rubbish still goes to landfill, 25% being recycled or composted, remainder incinerated.

Over last 30 years the amount of rubbish sent to landfill in UK reduced by around 25% (ESA)

16% of the money you spend on an average product pays for the packaging. £472 average amount that people spend on packaging per year.

Food

Household food waste thrown away over 100kg per person/year (6.7 million tonnes for UK).

One tonne of food waste emits 4.5 tonnes of CO_2.

Eat all food bought each year, & compost food waste, save 550kg of CO₂ per year.

Stop good food going to waste – save over £420 on food bills. (presumably per person?)

Packaging

2008 UK packaging waste thrown away 10.7 million tonnes.

Limit wrapped goods, save 208kg CO₂ per year.

Stop receiving junk mail, save 104kg CO₂ per year.

Reusable bags, save 23 kg CO₂ per year.

Reuse packaging then recycle it, save 21kg CO₂ per year.

Batteries

Around 600 million UK household batteries – 22,000 tonnes, the equivalent weight of 110 jumbo jets – are sent to landfill every year. Only 1,000 tonnes of batteries used are recycled.

Average UK household uses 21 batteries a year, all of which could be recycled.

Donate unwanted items, save 144kg CO₂ per year (based on giving away 5kg of unwanted things each month)

Clothes swap. save <500kg CO₂ per year

Recycle all you can, save around 300kg CO₂ per year .

• Recycle electronic goods: 72kg (one piece electronic equipment per year)
• Recycle paper & cardboard: 65kg
• Use home recycling service: 62kg
• Use local recycling service: 62kg
• Recycle plastic waste: 20kg
• · Recycle glass waste: 20kg

Recycling aluminium can save 95% of the energy used in producing a new can.

Household waste, as much as 60% is biodegradable.

By 2005, approx how many PCs had been sent to landfill? 150 million. And what % were still fully functioning? 90%.

Compost food and garden waste, save 230kg CO₂ per year.

Plastic bottles save 4.86kg CO₂ per year

Bottled water Over two billion litres sold in UK every year – filling Wembley Stadium twice over.

Average cost 95p per litre, nearly as much as petrol, around 1,000 times the cost of tap water.

Import approx 25% of the bottled water consumed in the UK from France.

It takes 162g of oil and seven litres of water to manufacture a one-litre bottle

In 2007 13 billion plastic bottles were sold in UK. (Only one in five plastic bottles is recycled). This requires more than 7.5 million barrels of oil a year, enough to fuel half a million cars for a year.

Bottled water from France leads to 240 times more CO2 than UK tap water.

Bottled water, save 5kg of CO₂ each year (if reduce bottled water consumed by 1l per day). Tap water costs less than a penny, so you could save around £50 too.

Recycled clothes CO₂ saving per year: depends on the amount of clothes you buy

Eat less meat, saving 430kg CO₂ per year

Production of 1kg beef creates about 13kg of CO₂, the same as burning 6 litres of petrol.

Production of 1kg butter creates about 24 kg CO₂ .

Limiting meat and dairy consumption can reduce chances of contracting cancer and heart disease, which are responsible for 570 deaths a day in the UK.

Fish

Scientists agree that with current exploitation rates many important fish stocks will be removed from the system within 25 years. Up to 25% of fish caught are discarded. Farmed fish are not much better as most fish farms rely on ocean-caught fish to feed their stock.

Growing your own, save 2 tonnes + CO₂ saving per year

Don’t buy more, do things save 1 tonnes + CO2 saving per year