Theme for August - Eco driving

I tend to find ''eco driving' a bit of a conflict of terms, but in this instance it means getting more miles to the gallon and thus reducing your carbon footprint.

We traded our thirsty 4x4 for an MPV this year. The 4x4 gave us 23 mpg. Our people carrier gives us around 55mpg; so we've already made a massive difference to our fuel consumption.

Tips for eco driving include:

Before you drive

• De-clutter your boot and remove the roof rack if you don’t need it
• Plan your trip: try and combine several short trips into one longer one
• Time your trip: avoid peak times if you can and check local radio for delays
• If you’re going somewhere unfamiliar plan the route to avoid detours
• Arrange to share the journey if possible – more “people miles” per gallon

How to drive smarter:

• Drive off from cold, just don’t rev the engine
• Change up the gears early - between 2,000 and 2,500 rpm
• Drive in the highest gear possible without labouring the engine
• Keep your distance from the car in front and look as far ahead as possible to avoid unnecessary braking
• Step off the accelerator as early as possible (but remain in gear) when slowing down or driving downhill
• Avoid excessive speed: at 70 mph a car uses approximately 10% more fuel than at 50 mph
• Park so you can drive straight off again

Lucie, the lady running Carbon Watchers, reckons her fuel consumption has changed from 45 - 48 mpg since using these tips.

It is reckoned that smarter driving or eco-driving could save you up to £220 and half a tonne of carbon per year.

There are a couple more tips that I am aware of; getting regular services on the car and checking the tyre pressure is correct.

I've now signed up for the Energy Saving Trust MPG calculator; so I'll be interested to hear what that comes up with.
We only have one car and there are always the three of us in it, we combine errands, plus we only do around 6000 miles per year. So there is probably little else we can do to change our figure on this month's challenge.

Theme for July - Reducing water consumption

We're back onto water again! In April we looked at capturing free water, such as installing rain butts.

We now have 4 in the garden, all full thanks for the recent rain. We're considering using them to flush the toilet, but until the weather improves for hubby to be able to get safely on the roof, that won't be happening.

This month we had to focus on the water we pay for i.e the stuff that comes out of our taps and look at ways we could reduce waste.

Tips included:

1. Catch it: always put the plug in or a bowl underneath when you are running the tap.
2. Re-use it: unless the water is really greasy and dirty you can usually re-use it for something, the garden is always good but other ideas include rinsing the dirt off the car before washing or giving your unwanted drinking water to animal.
3. Cleanest first: really a variation on re-using, if you wash the cleanest things first you can re-use the water on the dirtier bits after, at least for a pre-wash. Works for dishes, surfaces, floors, cars, dogs – everything!

We don't have a water meter here and I've been advised by the water board not to fit one as my usage means my water bill would increase!

However, I believe that over the next few years, water meters will be compulsory, so now is a good time to get into some better habits. Apparently, you can have a meter fitted and if you find it is not cost effective you can go back to unmetered; as long as you let the water company know within 12 months.

I must admit, I was quite shocked to think we used so much, but we have old toilets which require a lot of flush water, a mud magnet for a child (baths, washing) and DH does love to run that tap when he brushes his teeth.

This week my daughter was lying in the bath musing over whether a bath was a waste of water. Pouring all that water down the drain seems like a terrible waste and I'd love some way to capture it easily. I have to admit, if it requires much work it will be something I won't do.

it would be great to have that water captured in a tank, but with a downstairs bathroom we don't have much force of gravity.

Still, it made for an interesting home education experiment - how long does it take a dripping tap to fill a washing up bowl of water :)

We discovered too that the average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water per day. That's just astonishing...

I tried a couple of calculators recommended by Carbon Watchers and got the following results:

99 litres per day from the BBC water calculator (it didn't ask for drinking and eating requirements, which I thought was very strange!)

Over on the Thames water calculator, we just had a reading of 'low' for our water usage; it gave little information and I wouldn't recommend it.

So anyway, what can we do. Well, I don't really know. We already share bathwater; DD will bath after me or I'll share it with DH. Yes we *could* fit aerated taps, but I really don't think that will happen. One thing that might make a difference is putting a shower over the bath - I might be more inclined to use it as I ALWAYS take baths. I hate our shower room; it's manky and needs refiting, so I can't bring myself to go in there! Lame I know, but there we are; that is my eco confession!

Regarding washing I only ever wash with full loads and I simply do not agree that a dishwasher is more efficient than washing by hand. It depends on how you wash, surely? If I wash up twice a day using a washing up bowl each time, then that is only 18 litres of water. I'm sure a dishwasher would use more than that. plus I can use my water on the plants, whereas dishwashing water ends up down the drain. Plus most of the time I wash up without washing up liquid; unless things are greasy there is no need for a product, which I would then need to rinse off.

So I'm yet to be convinced on this dishwashing vs handwashing arguement.

There is an intriguing statistic on the Carbon Watchers site, which I don't actually understand:

The average family's annual water use releases as much CO2 as two transatlantic flights, according to Waterwise.

What on earth does that mean?

Anyway, we were sent a showerbob which is a timer for the shower; I must admit I've been using it for soft boiled eggs as it's three minutes LOL!