#WIN a Vektra Vacuum Eco Kettle #ZeroWasteWeek
I’ve been learning some amazing facts for Zero Waste Week which runs 5-9th September.
The theme this year is reducing food waste, which is a topic close to my heart.
What if I were to suggest that when you came home from doing your weekly shop, you threw one third of the food you’d bought straight into the bin?
Sounds crazy, right?
Well, that’s what many households are doing, without even realising!
AND, one third of the food grown on this planet never reaches a human stomach.
Something’s not adding up when we’re told we’re going to struggle to feed people in the future!
Maybe we need to think about wasting less and redistribution of food…
I’ve learned it’s not just food we’re wasting.
We’re wasting drinks too.
And as tea is our nation’s favourite, I was shocked to learn we’re throwing away £110m of tea per year.
That’s not very British, is it?
Not only that, but the average household boils the kettle 1500 times per year and the Energy Saving Trust has found that three-quarters of British households overfill their kettles, wasting a total of £68m each year.
So here’s a simple pledge for Zero Waste Week – why not take care to only boil the amount of water you need AND take five minutes a day to kick back, relax and actually enjoy your favourite cup of tea before it goes cold?
Win a Vektra Vacuum Eco Kettle
I’m going to make it easier for you with your chance to win a fantastic Vektra Vacuum Eco Kettle which has generously been provided by the team at Boiler Guide. It’s ingenious design combines kettle and vacuum flask technology to boil water efficiently then keep it hot for up to four hours.
Simply enter the rafflecopter below and I’ll choose someone at random on Friday evening next week. PLEASE NOTE – this is only open to UK residents.
Never put hood food in the fridge, it messes up the temperature in the fridge which uses more electricity to regain the correct temperature
turn off lights 🙂
Turn off all appliances and sockets when not in use
Switch off sockets/lights when you aren’t using them.
Set your computer to sleep or hibernate mode instead of using a screen saver so it uses less electricity during periods of inactivity.
We have an Eat-Up day to empty the fridge every few days : enormous fun and new meal combinations emerge !!
If you end up boiling too much water put the rest in a flask for your next cuppa!
Draught-proofing of windows, doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can save energy
Educate your children on energy saving – will help us all and our future.
Always put enough water in your kettle for just what you need.
Use a standby device to switch off all your appliances.
switch off anything that you are not using
Make sure your home is well insulated in the winter and ventilated in the Summer.
Lights off every time you go out of a room – makes a huge difference
use energy saving light bulbs
LED lights have come a long way over the past few years, more efficient, more choice (fittings, size, colour etc) & prices have come down a lot. It’s well worth changing over from incandescent or CFLs to save energy and/or to get a better quality of light.
Turn the tap off whilst brushing one’s teeth
Don’t be afraid of growing as much of your own food as you can, whether you live in a house with gardens or a city flat. There is nothing more delightful & satisfying as eating home grown veggies & herbs, and you need only pick/harvest as much as required. Any excess can be preserved in all sorts of creative ways. Fresh, money-saving & healthy! It’ll certainly reduce any wasteful food habits.
@Sarah Lewis: @Sarah Lewis: we always do this too!
Always turn lights of when not using and turn things of at the plug when not using.
My top tips are:
Never fill your kettle up, only boil what you need
Heat your home while you cook, leave the oven door open after you have finished so that it heats your house a little.
Put on extra clothes instead of turning heating on.
Do your laundry in cold water…it is just as good
Keep your fridge and freezers full, as they have to work harder when empty
Turn off all lights at night and make sure they’re off when everyone’s out
dont leave the radio or tv on for the dog while your out
When making a hot drink using the mugs / cups you plan to use, fill them up and pour them into the kettle, plus quarter of a mug / cup extra to allow for evaporation, this way you’re only boiling what you need therefore saving both water and energy.
Turn off the television if you are not really watching it its surprising how many people have their tvs on and they are on their computors, reading or doing some other activity and its just a waste of electric
turn your hot water setting down a notch and do not leave the tap running when doing dishes
Turning off lights after leaving the room. My daughter goes from room to room and all the lights end up being on at once!
If you’re not using it switch it off! Lights, computer, tv, infact anything. You may only save a little bit each day but over a year it’s quite a lot.
Turn lights, TV etc off when you leave a room
Turn the tap off when brushing your teeth.
use energy saving bulbs and dont leave thing son standby turn them off properly
Don’t leave things on standby. Switch off
Always turn lights off and turn heating down a notch or two.
use energy saving light bulbs
Unplug EVERYTHING you dont use at night time.
Turn the light off everytime you leave the room 🙂
We try not to use the central heating for as long as we can and wrap up in warm jumpers or blankets instead. We also keep the thermostat low at 17-18C to save energy in the Winter when we do have to turn the heating on.
Also we turn everything off at night to save energy.
Walk everywhere you can to save on petrol costs, petrol emissions and to feel fitter and healthier
Set an alarm to remind you that your phone will have finished charging so you can unplug it! Saves energy, is better for your phone and safer too!