Residents' climate change toolkit

Easy wins for your home

Heating and powering our homes makes up a large part of our carbon footprint. Take a look at some of the suggestions below to reduce emissions and save money.

Use less heating

• Turn down your thermostat by a degree (unless you have elderly or young children in the house) and pop on a jumper instead
• Look into smart thermostats which can help you to use less heat, by only heating the rooms you need or by setting the heating for certain times

Use less water

• Take shorter showers (four minutes or less)
• Turn off the taps when brushing your teeth or shaving
• Use low-flow shower heads and tap aerators to reduce water consumption

South East Water, Thames Water and Southern Water supply local homes and give out free water-saving devices and advice to customers.
Find Your Water Supplier | Water UK

Using less water means less water overall needs to be made safe for drinking, in turn reducing emissions whilst saving you money.

Draft exclusion

Reduce drafts to reduce heat loss.

• Use thick curtains or moveable draft excluders around doors and windows
• Think about using letterbox brushes and strips of draft excluder around loft hatches

Find further advice and guidance from the Centre for Sustainable Energy

Swap your lightbulbs

Switching lightbulbs to LEDs saves energy on lighting costs and quickly pays for itself with the energy saved.

Switch off!

• Turn off electrical goods when not in use, avoid leaving devices on standby
• Even Wi-Fi routers can be turned off if you’re going away
• Turn off lights when leaving rooms
• Avoid the tumble dryer, dry your clothes on a rack or line

Switch to a green energy tariff

Switching to a green energy provider is quick and easy and many suppliers offer 100% renewable tariffs.

• Find out about green energy tariffs (Centre for Sustainable Energy)
• Check out your options using an Ofgem accredited price

Can you fix it?

If you have broken or damaged items:

• Have a go at fixing them yourself or find someone who can
• iFixit repair guides
• ‘Right to Repair’ rules mean manufacturers now keep spare parts and repair information available for certain household appliances such as dishwashers, washing machines, fridges, televisions for a number of years, giving you a chance to fix older models
• See if a local volunteer-run repair café or community workshop can fix items for free
• Chineham Repair Café
• Baughurst Repair Cafe
• Bourne Valley Repair cafe
• Hatch Warren Repair Cafe
• Kingsclere Repair cafe
• North Hants Repair Café
• Overton Repair Café
• Makerspace

If you are not able to fix an appliance and you have to buy new, ensure any new appliances are energy efficient models. All appliances have an energy rating, scaled A to G, with A being the most efficient.

Seek energy saving advice

Contact The Environment Centre - a local organisation offering individual tailored advice to help you reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint, especially for individual households.

View the government Find ways to save energy in your home guidance.

Encourage your landlord to make improvements

Landlords are legally required to ensure their rental properties meet Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES).

This is an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of E or better. If you rent a property that doesn’t meet these standards, you can report it by completing a Housing Standards Enquiry form.

Make a big difference

Generate renewable energy

Solar panels can help lower energy bills and reduce your carbon footprint. By installing solar panels on the roof of your home you can generate electricity from sunlight.

• Find out how solar panels work from this YouTube explainer video.
• Use the Solar Wizard, a free online tool to get an estimate of cost and how many panels your roof could have.
• There is an upfront cost to fitting solar panels but a typical system should pay for itself in 10 to 15 years. Find information about grants that may help to cover the cost of installation
• If your panels create more electricity than you use, you can:
• earn money by selling the surplus to the grid under the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme
• fit a battery to store your energy
• Take a look at our information about solar panels webpage to find out more.

Solar water heating systems use the sun to heat water. Information on the Energy Saving Trust website explains how this works. You will require space for solar collector panels and a hot water cylinder for this system. To ensure year round hot water you may need to use alongside a boiler or immersion heater.

Check permissions
Unless you are in a conservation area or a listed building, solar panels are usually permitted development, meaning you shouldn’t require planning permission. If you are in a conservation area it may still be possible. Email the planning team using the planning enquiry form to check.

Battery storage

Batteries are expensive but they work well and can help save you money when paired with:

• solar panels, which can charge a battery during the day and store ready for use when demand is likely higher
  
• a ‘Time of Use’ (ToU) energy tariff, enabling you to charge a battery when electricity is cheaper, for use when electricity is more expensive
• Find more information about Battery Storage on the Energy Saving Trust website

This principle could also apply to an electric vehicle (EV) which is essentially a battery on wheels! At the moment, discharging an EV to power your home, or to sell to the grid, known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is in its infancy, however, is expected to become increasingly popular.

Improve your insulation

Insulation measures vary in cost but could help reduce your energy bills and carbon emissions.

See if your house has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) which can identify ways to improve your energy efficiency.

Insulation measures could include:

• Draft-proofing
• Roof and loft insulation
  
• Pipe or hot water tank insulation
  
• Cavity wall insulation
• Floor insulation
  
• Solid wall insulation
• Replacing windows and doors

Find information about schemes we offer to support with improving the energy efficiency of homes

Check permissions
Ensure you check what work you are able to do to your property without the need for planning permission by using our planning portal. If you live in a conservation area, Area of Outstanding National Beauty or in a historic or listed building contact the planning team for the most up to date advice using the planning enquiry form.

Replace your heating systems

Burning fossil fuel, such as gas or oil, for heating is high in carbon. Replacing an old boiler or heating system with something more efficient will help.

A bigger step is to switch the heating source of your home to use an Air-source or Ground-source heat pump.

Find out more about heat pumps or contact our Green Team who can help you understand more about the type and size of heat pump your home needs.

Easy wins for your diet, lifestyle and consumption

Consider a few changes to your diet, lifestyle and consumption to reduce emissions and save money.

Food and drink

Our diet is often the second largest part of our emissions. Try some of these changes to help reduce your emissions.

• Think about reducing your intake of meat, especially red meat such as beef and lamb, and dairy products which are very bad for the climate. Use the BBC's food calculator to find out more
• Consider going vegetarian or vegan, or try going meat-free for a day or two a week
• Eat seasonally or eat frozen as air freighted fruit and vegetables will have a much higher carbon footprint than local, seasonal or boat shipped goods. Use the BBC’s seasonal food calendar or the guide to eating seasonally to help.
• Reduce food waste by planning meals, sticking to a shopping list, freezing as much as you can or getting creative with leftovers. Use the following sites for tips on reducing food waste:
• Love food hate waste
• Smart living (Hampshire County Council)

Buy less!

Everything we purchase has a carbon footprint, from manufacture to shipping, so buying less saves us money and helps our carbon footprint.

• Consider whether certain purchases are really required
• If buying, buy higher quality items that will last longer or buy second hand goods and clothes
• Try to repair old items or appliances before replacing them
• Be creative ‘upcycle’ products which may have an alternative use

Use the Smart living guide (Hampshire County Council) to find useful information on:

• Furniture
• Fashion
  
• Electricals
• Finding reuse/repair sites
  

Find more advice on the Ethical Consumer website

Minimise your waste

Reduce

• Consume and buy less
• Make simple swaps to reduce using plastics, such as choosing products without unnecessary packaging or buying a reusable bag, water bottle or coffee cup

Reuse

• Try to reuse or repair items, anything from coffee cups and packaging, to nappies!
• Find a repair cafe to help repair rather than replace items

Recycle

• View our A-Z of waste and recycling to see what you can recycle
• Sites such as Freegle or Freecycle are a great way to rehome old goods and prevent them from being wasted

Savings and investments

How we save or invest our money is hugely powerful.

• Think more about what banks or funds do with your money
• Look into investing or saving money that will help tackle climate change. Read the Government's framework for Green Financing for more information
• Ask your employer about your pension fund, encourage them to stop investing in fossil fuels, or other businesses that contribute to climate change

Some ethical ways to save or invest include:

• Green Savings Bond from NS&I the government will use the proceeds of this to help finance green projects
• Triodos bank has green or ethical accounts and options
• Abundance Investment has alternative ways to invest and support ethical projects directly

Find out more from the Ethical Consumer website

Talk about change

Share this guide and explain the importance of action to your friends, family and colleagues. Bring people on the journey with you.

You could become one of Hampshire County Council's Waste Prevention Community Champions

If you are in a position of influence at work, why not make sure tackling climate change becomes a key aspect of your company values and challenge your business leaders to take climate change seriously? Work with colleagues to change behaviours. Consider setting up a sustainability/climate champions group.

Make a big difference - Get involved

• Check out whether there is already a local climate action group in your area. If not, why not set one up?
• Lobby your local councillor, MP or other action groups for support and help to take action
• Use existing national awareness days like ‘cycle to work day’ as an opportunity to try out new ideas with others and get more support

Easy wins for your transport

Consider making changes to the way you travel to reduce emissions.

Travel less

• Consider whether journeys are essential and how you might be able to consolidate trips
• Think about working from home, where possible
• Where you have to drive, think about lift-sharing for journeys such as the school run or your commute - sign up to Liftshare
• Avoid unnecessary air travel, as flying emits the most CO₂ per mile travelled and emissions are particularly damaging as emitted at altitude
• For holidays, you could try places in the UK or reach others further afield by ferry or train. In Europe there are sleeper trains, to help you travel further
• Look at travel agencies such as Byway which offer flight-free holidays

Walk, run or cycle!

• Try to walk or cycle for short journeys. View our cycling to work, school or for leisure webpage
• For regular, shared journeys, like the school run, you could set up or join a ‘walking bus’ with friends and neighbours or ask your local school to help
• If you travel longer distances by train, consider cycling to the train station

Use public transport

Using public transport that is already running is a good way to cut emissions, and creates demand for additional provision.

• Although there is an associated cost to travelling by public transport, this could well be offset by avoiding parking charges for short journeys
• Basingstoke is well connected by bus / coach and rail to other destinations, locally, regionally and nationally. View local public transport links

Make a big difference - Go electric!

Switching to an electric vehicle (EV) can make a huge difference to your personal carbon footprint. The upfront costs are high but the long term benefits could be:

• Cheaper ‘fuel’ costs - especially if you can charge at home where electricity costs are much less than petrol/diesel per mile
  
• Use Zap Map's journey calculator to compare running costs
• Lower servicing and maintenance costs
  
• No vehicle excise duty
  
• Free parking in many locations
  
• No charges in ‘clean air zones’ in a number of cities

View the Energy Saving Trust guide on electric vehicles

Find out about the Electric Car Grant (GOV.UK) that could offer discount on the purchase of an EV.

Charging an EV

View information about charging electric vehicles (Energy Savings Trust)

The availability of charge points is increasing all the time and we are working with Hampshire County Council, responsible for local highways, to rollout on street EV charging options.

• Find public and home chargers wherever you are going by using Zap Map
• Find out more information about charging points available in our public car parks

For Home charging:

• Find information about Electric vehicle chargepoint grants which could provide help towards installing a chargers
• Switch to a 'Time of Use' tariff that has cheaper rates at off peak times, such as overnight or an EV-specific tariff

Easy wins for your garden

Make changes in your garden to help plants and wildlife flourish.

Protecting existing land and re-wilding

• If you have areas of grass, please don’t replace them with artificial turf. Grass is an important natural habitat and helps with natural drainage, which is important as incidences of extreme rainfall increase.
• Allow areas of your garden to grow wild and even plant wildflower seeds. This is great for biodiversity and looks amazing!
• Avoid using pesticides or pellets in your garden as they harm biodiversity
• Consider volunteering for a conservation group. Find a list of local conservation groups on our website

Tree planting (and other plants), where appropriate

When plants and trees grow they absorb carbon and lock this up within their ‘biomass’ – their roots, trunks and stems

So why not plant something low-maintenance and appropriate in your garden?

• Fruit trees can be a nice option and you get to enjoy their produce too!
• It is important that you choose the right tree for the right place. The Woodland Trust have advice on planting and maintaining trees
• If you don’t have a garden, consider window boxes or even small herb plants in pots.

Local or national organisations may be looking to arrange tree-planting days that you could volunteer for.

Composting

If you have space, composting is a great way to use up your unavoidable food and garden waste, such as peelings and cuttings. Find information about composting (Hampshire County Council)

If you buy compost, ensure it is peat-free. Peat is a hugely important habitat for storing carbon, among other things, so it’s vital we protect it.

Low maintenance and low impact planting

Consider low-maintenance vegetation options for the garden which may be more resilient to future climate change, such as reduced watering needs.
For more guidance on this visit the Royal Horticultural Society site

Watering

Collect rain water in a butt or a rain water harvesting system to reduce your need for the tap or hosepipe. It is also better for plants due to the absence of chemicals.

Make a big difference

A green roof on a shed or outhouse will absorb carbon and increase biodiversity and could be a good way to increase green spaces at your property.

There’s a handy DIY guide to green roofs available if you’d like to find out more

We'd love to hear from you

Do you have any other ideas that are currently missing from our toolkits? Or do you have any suggestions on how to make our toolkits easier to use? Perhaps you have some ideas on tackling climate change?

If so, get in touch, send a message to the Climate Change Team