Public services & other

• Water heated in homes for washing, baths and showers and cooking generates on average 875Kilograms of CO2 per household per year, equivalent to driving 1700 miles in an average family car.
• A reduction of just 5-6%per head will save 1.3 million tonnes of CO2e per year nationally.

Energy Savings Trust (2013) At Home with Water https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/reports/AtHomewithWater%287%29.pdf

• Try to limit your time in the shower to 5 minutes
• Fit a low-flow shower head to your gas boiler-heated shower

Doing this reduces the greenhouse gas emissions of a family of 4 people by 849Kg per year and saves from £60 – £360 a year depending on shower type and boiler efficiency.

Energy Savings Trust (2013) At Home with Water https://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/reports/AtHomewithWater%287%29.pdf

• It takes only 2 or 3 litres of water to fill a washbasin sufficiently for washing hands and face.
• A running tap releases 1 litre of water every 5 seconds so if you leave the tap running while washing you are using and heating 12 litres a minute. You do the maths!
  www.waterwise.org.uk

• The least efficient dishwashers only use half as much water as washing up by hand
• Don’t pre-rinse and make sure that it is full when you switch it on. This can reduce emissions from washing up by up to 72%.
• No dishwasher? Don’t leave the tap running and don’t use piping hot water. Leave dishes to soak before washing.

​www.which.co.uk

Filling a kettle to the 2-cup mark when you only need 1 doubles the amount of electricity you are using. This increases your greenhouse gas emissions and costs you money.

• Use the lower temperature settings on washing machines – 30oC is good for most washes
• Try to ensure your washing machine is fully loaded

• Treating water so that we may use it safely and pumping it to our homes uses energy and generates greenhouse gas emissions
• As climate changes, periods of drought will become more frequent so we need to conserve water

• A modern dual-flush cistern uses 4-6 litres of water per flush
• An old-fashioned cistern uses 13 litres!

So, if your cistern is an old-fashioned one, put a small water displacement device such as a brick in it to reduce the amount of water used.

• Most perennials and shrubs don’t need a lot of watering, even during dry spells
• Don’t water your lawn – even if it goes brown in a drought it will almost certainly recover.
• Install rainwater butts to collect rainwater for gardening
• Use grey water (from preparing vegetables or from washing up if it’s not greasy or salty) to water garden plants