These are not the
only causes of waste in the home. If all the possible savings are added
up for the average family, these could amount to as much as £4,000
each year - £60 bil for the UK as a whole. On average people
throw away 7 times their own body weight each year.
All of this waste
does of course add to global warming. In 50 years time, as a result
of rising temperatures, UN scientists estimate that there will be 10,000
more cases of food poisoning, 5,000 more deaths from skin cancer and
2,000 more cataract operations each year in Britain. Note that this
is in addition to the fears that many scientists predict about the effects
of global warming which include the possibility of an ice age developing
in northern Europe as a result of the Gulf Stream being effectively
'cut-off' - an outcome of melting ice in the Arctic)
When we look at
some basic statistics, the role we can play in reducing waste and helping
the environment can seem obvious. All we need is the will to make the
necessary response. Each year in Britain:
- 17 bil plastic
carrier bags are given away by supermarkets (290 bags for every person)
- 400,000 tonnes
of disposable nappies were used (8 mil nappies are thrown away every
day).
- the average family
thows away 208 Kg of paper
- only 17% of waste
is recycled and waste is increasing at the rate of 3% each year
- £5 bil worth
of energy is wasted (Note that within the next 20 years Britain is expected
to be importing 80% of gas)
- £1.2 bil
is spent on running fridges and freezers
- the health impact
of traffic pollution amounts to £11 bil (85 % of households in
rural areas have at least one car - 70% in urban areas)
The cost of managing
household waste is £1.6 bil and this is expected to rise to £3.2
bil by 2020. Of the 7,000 incinerators, 12 burn municipal waste.
20% of what comes through the letterbox is never opened and 60% is never
read.
What can be done?
FIOH believes
that this waste is scandalous because it is totally unecessary. If you
agree, we hope you will do something to address the problem and use
the money you have saved to ease the problems caused by injustice and
exploitation around the world.
Some measures can
be taken easily with very little effort and no initial financial outlay.
Others require a substantial outlay (e.g. solar installations) with
quite a long payback period. Most require a minimal financial outlay
with a short payback period (e.g. energy saving light bulbs and loft
and wall insulation).
Also, grants towards the costs of some energy-saving measures are available.
Saving electricity
- Replace all light
bulbs with energy efficient bulbs
- Switch off computers and television when not in use instead of leaving
on
stand-by
- Put an insulation jacket around the hot water tank and lagging around
hot water pipes
- Install 250 mm thickness of loft insulation between ceiling joists
- Install cavity wall insulation
- Lay fitted carpets over floor boards
- Replace single glazed windows with double glazing. For windows with
wooden frames a relatively cheap way of doing this is to use double
glazing units rather than go to the cost of replacing the glass and
the frames.
- Eliminate draughts around window frames and doors
- Turn the thermostat down 1deg C. This could save 10% of the cost of
running the central heating
- Remove furniture away from radiators and place aluminium foil behind
the radiators
- Use a gravity shower connection connected to the bath taps instead
of a power shower. Limit your shower to 5 minutes
- Use heavy curtains with a thermal lining
- Use a 'green' electricity supplier who sources electricity from renewable
energy
- Use energy efficient appliances (A to G rating) - 'A' rating is the
most efficient. Look out for the blue and orange logo.
- Use a 'Sava Plug' to connect fridges and freezers (350 watt max) to
siocket outlets. Make sure there is proper seal around the doors and
defrost when ice builds up.
- Using a 40 deg C wash rather than 60 deg C will save a third of the
amount of electricity used by a washing machine
- Put lids on cooking pans
