The Eco Bloke

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Does your bum look big? Take the stairs!

Lifts (elevators for our friends across the pond) use an enormous amount of energy to help you do a job that your legs and stairs were designed for.

Next time you are in a situation where you may use a lift, why not take the stairs – just once? Who knows you might like it.

But it takes longer! – Maybe, but how much of your time do you actually spend waiting for the lift to come to your floor? Stairs are usually much faster.

You have heard of Solar Power, Wind Power and Wave Power, but with England in the middle of one of the coldest winters ever recorded, could we make use of Snow Power?

A small town in Japan is doing just that and not just in the winter…

Check out this CNN report.

Could you make a Snow Powered Fridge to use for the next few weeks so that your regular fridge can be switched off? Just image the energy saving you would make while making use of all that free energy. Now thats low-carbon living…

Time to Get 'Turned On' by Switching Off!

This week in the run up to the 2010, I will be blogging with suggestions for you New Years Resolutions.

In this post we are going to talk about saving energy and money by cutting down your usages of electricity by switching off things that are not being used.

Here are some of the things that you can do to drastically cut your electricity usage today.

Insulated to Perfection

Walking to the shops last night in the snow, it was interesting to see which roof-tops the snow was settling on and which it wasn’t.

Snow is a great way to see if your roof is adequately insulated or not. In the UK the recommended thickness of loft insulation is 270mm. Why not grab a ruler and go and see if your loft insulation is thick enough?

The reason that snow sits on a well insulated roof is that insulation is trapping the warm air in your house, keeping you more comfortable and saving you energy and money on your heating bills.

Shower Power!

Following on from my post If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down, I wanted to stay with the bathroom and saving water theme for today’s post.

Below is a list of 6 water saving tips for when you STINK!

1. Firstly it is a great idea to check your taps for leaks. Just one leaky tap could cost you and the planet 90 litres a week in water. How to Fix Bathroom Taps.
2. Leaving the tap running while brushing your teeth wastes 9 litres of water a minute. Use beaker to knock this wastage on the head.

A fascinating topic broke out in the comments section of a post that I wrote the other day called How would you deal with Climate Change Deniers?

The comments made by Gerry told of a technology that uses magnets to generate electricity.

This got me thinking as I had seen something on this a few months ago; however when I spoke with a few friends who dismissed the idea I completely forgot about it.

Rather than me rambling on, I think the best idea is that I post three video clips here that explain the concept of using magnets to generate electricity.

Time to go nuts for soap nuts

Do you really know what’s in your washing powder and the effect that it has on the environment when you’re done with it?

Many people don’t.

But to save yourself from worrying about it, why not GO NUTS!

SOAP NUTS that is!

I was first introduced to soap nuts when watching the BBC program – ‘It’s not easy being green’ last year.

Soap nuts are friendly to the environment as they are both natural and organic. They come from an entirely renewable source and are grown naturally in India and Nepal.

Cooker Hob Gas Energy Saver

There are many ways that we can save on energy day to day, but today I want to cover some specific tips that you can use when cooking at home.

If you cook regularly then these tips could help you reduce your energy consumption by 12-80%, massively reduce your carbon footprint and save you money!

1. Put a lid on it! Covering your pots and pans when heating will allow them to reach their optimum temperature quicker. This means you will be using less energy and your food will be ready in a shorter time. A bonus if you are in a hurry!