Sustainable residents

Below is some helpful information on how the residents of Charnwood can make their homes and their lifestyles as sustainable as possible.

Get a smart meter

How much do you know about the energy you use every month? Being aware of your energy usage and what you’re spending most on can really help to reduce your bills and your carbon footprint.

A simple way to do this is by getting a smart meter. You can get these for free from your energy provider and they will track your electricity and gas usage. You’ll be able to see straight away when you’ve used more power than you’re comfortable with, which will help remind you to take energy saving measures!

Find out more about how to get one, how it works, and what you stand to gain.

Wash at 30 degree

The choices you make while washing our clothes can have quite the impact on the environment. We've put together a Laundry Survival Guide to give you an idea of some of the actions you can take to make your washing more sustainable:

• Wash at 30 - washing your clothes at 30 degrees instead of the usual 40 or 60 could use around 40% less energy.
• Load up - even if you run your washing machine with a small load it still uses almost as much water and energy as a full load.
• Air dry - each time you run your tumble drier it produces 1-2kg of CO2 - that soon adds up. Air drying your clothes is much more environmentally friendly and it helps your clothes last longer too.

Love food, hate waste

The average household bin in the UK is around 30% food waste. Not only is that a waste of money, but it’s a waste of all the resources that went into producing that food. Think of the energy used to grow, harvest, transport, store and sell your weekly shop.

Where do you start if you want to reduce your own food waste? We’ve broken the process down into a few simple steps to help you start to throw away less:

• Storage – keep your food fresher for longer by storing it according to package instructions and making sure your fridge is at the right temperature.
• Date labels – do you know what those dates on your food really mean? It can be confusing, so check out this guide and don’t forget, you can freeze most items right up to and including their use by date
• Portions – Make sure you only cook what can be eaten so it doesn’t end up in the bin. Check packaging for recommended portion sizes or use this portion planner
• Planning – one of the easiest ways to cut down on food waste is to only buy what you need, so a meal plan and shopping list are some of the best tools you can have
• Leftovers – cooking in bulk and making smart use of leftovers is our final tip for wasting less. Find lots of recipes on the BBC Good Food website for inspiration on how to do just that.

Calculating your carbon footprint is the best place to start if you want to try and reduce your impact on the planet.

Visit the Carbon Footprint Calculator and follow the instructions to calculate your carbon footprint.