This page is especially for Spring Green readers - ie newbies to environmental action. If that's you then this is a great place to start.
(If not, then all of this will be VERY boring and old-hat. Stuff you've been doing forever - so you might want to check out our latest headlines - or take a look at grass-green or even darkest green where we will be adding stuff you might not have come across yet. The Essential Guide – For Barely or Not-Green-At-All visitors .... So, the message has finally got through – we’re lousy tenants and not only are we not protecting this wonderful home of ours – we’re actually causing it major damage! If this is the first time you’ve looked for help on Going Green – congratulations and thanks for choosing The Big Green. We hope to explain things in an easy way and give you encouragement – and lots of tips – on how to live a greener life and take action to help our amazing planet. Soon, we’ll be adding a Green dictionary to explain some of the common green terms that everyone’s so fond of at the moment. Like carbon footprint, sustainability and green wash for example. In the meantime, check out our list of top 10 basic tips. The stuff everyone should be doing by now J Top Ten Tips for growing greener without spending any – or at least very little - money. Turn down your central heating by just 1 degree C (Yes, we know it’s cold but if you put on a sweater or cardigan you probably won’t even notice)
Don’t keep the bathroom tap running when you’re brushing your teeth – all that precious water is just going straight down the plughole. Keep a small tumbler next to the toothbrushes and fill it to rinse your mouth (or at the very least, turn off the tap while you do your three minutes brushing)
Replace lightbulbs when they blow with new low-energy versions. They used to be fairly expensive but the price is falling all the time and you’ll recoup the cost in saved energy. Also, look out for special offers or free bulbs – B&Q recently held a promotion with British Gas where it gave customers a free low energy bulb if they took in a traditional light bulb.
Switch off lights whenever you leave a room (unless you’ve left someone else in there of course!) and keep doors closed to keep in the heat.
- Never leave your TV, video, stereo or other equipment in stand-by. It really isn’t that difficult to walk across the room to the power switch when you need to turn it back on J
- Use the recycling boxes that most local councils now provide for newspapers, cans etc. This reduces the waste going to landfill and reduces the demand for more manufacturing.
- Don’t lose heat in winter because of draughts. Put up thicker curtains and draw them at dusk to keep in the heat. If you have an ill-fitting door, use a draught excluder. (You can make your own quite easily from the leg of an old pair of wool tights stuffed with clothing that’s past its best or even stuffed with newspaper).
Don’t fill the kettle if you’re making a cup of tea or coffee for one person. Just fill it to the single cup level.
- Don’t use a tumble dryer or hang clothes over radiators to dry unless you really have to. Revive the tradition for letting them dry outside – it doesn’t use any power (except your leg muscles) and your clothes will have a fresh outdoors smell.
- Use a short, low temperature wash for clothes that are only slightly soiled and make sure you organise your laundry into as few washing batches as possible.
All of these tips will save energy and/or water – or reduce the waste going to landfill.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be giving you lots of tips on becoming “green” and we’ll also keep you up to date with special offers, latest news on saving energy etc.
And if you’ve got any tips you’d like to share, please let us know ! We’ll be offering a £10 prize every month (starting in December) for the best tip we receive. J Check in again soon Susan x | 
