Do you need to spend tens of thousands of pounds to reduce your carbon footprint? It is well known that expensive heat pumps and electric cars reduce our carbon footprint. However, what is less well understood is that adopting eco-friendly habits can improve your finances and you don’t need to spend any money or compromise your lifestyle! It is possible to save over £1000 a year and reduce your carbon footprint by 2 tonnes per year (which is probably roughly a quarter of your carbon emissions) by adopting these few habits

Swapping meat for plants

Up to £560 can be saved per person by cutting down on meat in your diet and adopting a plant-based diet. Research by Oxford University shows that switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet can save up to a third on food bills. Being a flexitarian means about 14% on your food budget. However, pescatarians end up with a slightly more expensive diet, being about 2% more expensive than the average diet.

Control heating in your house

Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves can save you up to £75 on heating bills. Also turning down your thermostat by one degree and save you a further £60 over the year.

Switching off the light

Changing all your bulbs to LED bulbs in your home and switching off the lights when you leave a room can save you £65 a year on your electricity bill.  

Carrying a reusable bottle

In the UK, individuals spend £338 a year on bottled water! This adds to the problem of plastic pollution as well as adding to greenhouse gas emissions. This is something we can have for free if we carry a reusable bottle in our bags. All food outlets are obliged by law to provide tap water for free, so it should be easy to refill your bottles when you go out.

Changing how you wash your clothes

You can save £24 a year by lowering the temperature your wash to 30 degrees. Also line drying clothes instead of tumble drying them another £55.