Eco Top Tips

Whether you're using them to store digital photos, they came free with your Sunday paper or magazine subscription, or you're a music or movie buff, the humble CD or DVD seems to be everywhere these days. Despite the promises on Tomorrow's World that they would be indestructible, they clearly aren't. Add to that our throw away society, and the numbers of the little plastic discs going to landfill soon mount up (it's estimated 2500 tonnes of discs end up in landfill each year!).

Companies and individuals are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on the environment. In the past, the main focus had been on chemical pollutants and outputs resulting from business and manufacturing practices and processes. Now, with the growing concern over climate change we are asked to monitor our energy use and carbon emissions, try to reduce them, and minimise the negative impact on our planet.

It's amazing how much water we get through in the so-called developed world. From cooking cleaning and washing, the average usage in the UK is around 150 litres per person per day!

Here's some simple and effective steps we can all take to reduce our use of this precious resource.

1. Check for home for leaks, hidden water leaks can be wasting water without you even being aware of it
2. Turn off tap while cleaning your teeth, shaving or washing your face. You can waste can up to 9 litres a minute by just letting the water pour down the sink

In the past few years, many in the computing industry have affirmed their commitment to helping to develop a sustainable world. These days, the number of options for Green Web Hosting has risen along with consumer’s awareness of the need to reduce carbon emissions and offset energy usage.

There's lots we can all do to save energy (and so save money) around the home, and they don't have to cost much either. In fact many of the best energy saving tips cost very little or nothing to implement, as they about changing habits. Thry these for starters:

1. Take control of your heating - turn down the thermostat by 1degree or more
2. Turn off or turn down radiators in rooms that don't get much use
3. Don't leave taps running - use the plug
4. Share your bath water!
5. Insulate your water pipes, especially the hot water pipes

We all get used to seeing the "think before you print" tag at the end of emails but sometimes things really do need to be printed! There's no need to take a guilt trip, because there are lots of ways to lessen the environmental impact (and financial cost!) of churning out those precious paper pages... here's our advice:

1. Think first! And if you must print....
2. Printing both sides saves twice as much paper (duplex)
3. Double up (more than 1 page per sheet/side)
4. Use "draft" or "fast" mode - this uses a lot less ink