February 12, 2016, by Kirsty McKeown

Save Money AND Do Your Bit for the Environment!

Greatly impressed by the work that goes on in the buildings and grounds on campus to increase our sustainability, we wanted to share some tips with students living off campus.  Considering the environment can lead to personal rewards – being energy efficient at home will reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint, as well as making you feel good!

We have done some research to come up with our TOP 10 SUSTAINABILITY TIPS.  We have hand-picked some easy to make changes that require only a small amount of effort.  Let us know how you get on!

1. Use a lid when cooking; putting a lid on your saucepan will reduce the amount of energy needed to cook whilst cooking your food quicker. Dinner quicker and cheaper? Yes please!
2. Only boil the amount of water you need when making a cuppa: don’t fill your kettle up, you can use a cup or mug as guide for the amount of water you need.
3. Don’t throw away your unwanted items. One man’s waste is another man’s treasure – pass it onto friends, charity shops or put it on eBay to make yourself some extra cash!
4. Stop unwanted junk mail by signing up to the Mail Preference Service at www.mpsonline.org.uk Less waste and no more annoying piles of mail by the front door!
5. Save money by turning off lights, appliances and computers, rather than leaving them on standby.   Most utility suppliers provide electricity monitors for free so you can check how you are doing- you could save yourself up to £80 a year!
6. Although they are a little more expensive to buy, using low energy light bulbs can reduce your energy consumption up by 90% so they can be a good investment!
7. Layer up: putting a jumper on at home will guarantee you instant warmth instead of waiting for your room to warm up – saving money whilst doing so!  If you can turn the heating thermostat down by 1°C , this could cut your heating bills by up to 10%.
8. Set your washing machine to 30°C: 90% of a washing machine’s energy is spent on heating the water, therefore washing at a lower temperature will save you a lot of money.  Only using the washing machine when you can put on a full load is another easy way to save cash.
9. Turning down your water thermostat to around 60°C should be adequate for bathing and washing. This will save money as water doesn’t need to be heated to the maximum temperature to be hot enough for use.
10. Turning off the tap whilst cleaning your teeth, shaving or washing your face can stop you wasting up to 9 litres a minute by just letting the water pour down the sink. Taking a short shower rather than a bath could save you up to 400 litres a week!

For more information and to find out about a vast range of University of Nottingham Sustainability initiatives have a look at the Sustainability webpages www.nottingham.ac.uk/sustainability , follow @UoNSustain on Twitter or ‘Like’ the UoN Sustainability page on Facebook.

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