Fit energy saving light bulbs

Energy saving light bulbs use 70% less electricity and last 10 times longer than traditional bulbs; in addition, many retailers sell these at reduced cost as part of their own CO2 reduction programs.

By fitting energy saving light bulbs you'll use less energy, which means less pollution from power plants. Your household will also be saving about 700 pounds of carbon dioxide a year.

If you aren't using it - switch it off

Why pay for electricity to power appliances that you are not using? Switch off your TV, computer and any other appliances you are not currently using.

Turn off your lights when you don't need them and you start saving within a minute or two. Prevent "phantom" energy losses by plugging these devices into a power strip and turning the power strip off when the devices are not in use.

Insulate your home

Adding more loft or cavity wall insulation to your home is normally the biggest single thing you can do to save money on gas and electricity and cut your personal contribution to climate change.

You can add insulation to almost any house. The loft and the cavity between your home's inner and outer walls are the best areas to insulate. Tackling these saves a lot of energy, and the work normally covers its cost within 2 years.

Turn down your boiler and central heating

Half the energy we use in our homes goes to heating. Turning down your thermostat by 1 degree can save over 10% of your CO2 emissions. The only difference you will notice is in your next energy bill!

Changing air filters annually, having your system checked annually and using a programmable thermostat are all easy things you can do. Just by using a programmable thermostat, you can save about 1,800 pounds of CO2 a year.

Use an electricity monitor

Electricity monitors are easy to use and widely available in most electrical retailers. They assess how efficient any appliance really is, counting consumption by the kilowatt-hour, the same as your local utility.

Electricity monitors tell you how much you've spent on electricity, each and every hour of the day. Now you'll know if it's time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is saving you money.

Use a renewable energy supplier

There are now a growing number of power companies who can supply green electricity at competitive rates, but not everybody realises that we can now all choose who supplies our electricity and therefore how it's made.

So wherever you live you can actually choose to have your home supplied by clean energy. Switching is the biggest single step you can take to reduce your emissions and protect the environment.

Everyday shopping

When it comes to everyday shopping try to incorporate the following buying habits:

• Buy local produce-less energy went into transporting them
• Find things that can be re-used and recycled - they need replacing less often, and mean less waste which produces CO2 as it breaks down
• Go for less packaging, less energy goes into making and delivering it
• Buy products that will last