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At home

All our homes generate carbon emissions and, hence, contribute to climate change. However, remembering to do a few things at home can turn that around so that your home can be part of the solution rather than the problem.

Here are some of our top tips for contributing to sustainable development at home:

• carry out a home energy check, you can save energy and reduce your bills
• use energy saving lightbulbs
• turn off appliances that are not in use
• only use the heating for as long as you need to
• only boil the amount of water in the kettle that you need for the number of drinks you are making
• switch your household electricity supplier to a green supplier
• install a water meter
• put a brick in your toilet or order a Save-a-Flush bag (see below)
• fix dripping taps
• turn off the tap when cleaning your teeth
• only use the washing machine when you have a full load to wash
• have more showers than baths
• avoid installing power showers
• wash your car with a bucket of water rather than a hose pipe
• use environmentally-friendly cleaning products
• recycle, reduce and reuse
• buy goods with little or no packaging
• use cotton nappies rather than disposable ones
• drink tap water rather than bottled water
• reuse shopping bags
• buy a strong re-usable bag
• repair things before binning them
• donate unwanted items to charity
• buy refillable products where possible
• recycle as much as possible of what you can’t reuse
• recycle your green waste
• recycle your mobile phone
• invest your savings in an ethical bank account

Save-a-Flush bags

Flushing the toilet accounts for about a third of all the water we use in our homes. Low and dual flush toilets use water more efficiently but installing an easy to fit Save-a-Flush (hippo) bag can save 1 litre of water each time you flush the toilet. These easily installed Save-a-Flush bags are available free of charge to domestic households within the Portsmouth Water area of supply with full installation instructions.

To get one, either call Portsmouth Water on 023 9249 9888 or fill in the form on their website. Alternatively, post a request giving your name and address to Portsmouth Water, PO Box 8, West Street, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 1LG.

For further information please visit the Save-a-Flush link to the right.

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