Reducing

Energy savings at home

• Don’t leave your electronic devices on stand-by mode, if you’re not using them;
• Use CFL lamps or LED wherever you can;
• Isolate your house (walls, floor, roof, double glazing);
• Eat less meat;
• Use less dairy products;
• Grow your own (organic) vegetables;
• Turn down your heating with 1 degree Celsius during the day and 10 degrees Celsius at night;
• Don’t allow unnecessary advertising magazines to be delivered;
• Transfer your energy source to green gas and electricity;
• Purchase a water heater on solar energy or another more economical device;
• Use sun and wind to dry your clothes.

• Turn off the lights, computers and heating when leaving your office after a day of hard work;
• Use CFL lamps or LED wherever you can;
• Don’t leave your electronic devices such as printers on stand-by mode, if you’re not using them;
• Print as little as possible and when you do print, do so in duplex. Save remnant simplex printed paper as scratch paper;
• If you attend to many international meetings, think about a video-conferencing system, or start simple and use skype with a webcam;
• Use green gas and electricity;
• Come to the office by bike or public transport and stimulate your colleagues/employees to do the same;
• Purchase sustainable goods: Fair Trade, organic, environmentally friendly furniture (FSC);
• Don’t use plastic cups. Or use plastic that is made from biological fibres such as corn plastic;
• Send e-invoices (electronic; saves paper and stamps);
• Make sure that the toilets have a water saving system;
• Give your employees a workshop in energy saving driving;
• If you have company cars, choose the most economical cars, or lease them.

Do you want more advice on how you can encourage your colleagues/employees to become ambassadors of energy savings at the office? Get in touch with Climate Partners.

Concerning the vacation overall:

• Go less often, but for longer periods;
• Discover nearby destinations;
• Don’t travel unnecessary long distances: sun, beach and beautiful nature are often found within considerable short distances;
• Travel by coach or train.

Tips per transportation mode:

Coach: shuttle coaches are better than scheduled coaches, be aware of sustainability labels and environmental policies of coach companies.

Train: a high-speed train is more contributing more to climate change than ‘ordinary’ international trains.

Car: travel with as many people in a car as possible and choose a economical car when hiring/or buying one. Also your driving style and the tire pressure influence the energy usage. Transportation of a mobile home, bicycles and other items on a roof rack cause a higher energy consumption.

Airplane: a direct flight causes less emissions than the same trip with stopovers. Be aware of environmental policies of airlines and whether they have a young or old fleet. Large, fully occupied airplanes emit less carbon dioxide per passenger in comparison to airplanes that are only half occupied. Every extra kilo of luggage causes extra emissions.

How to leave the house when you are on vacation?

• It’s best to turn off your refrigerator while on vacation. Don’t forget to leave the door open to prevent fungus;
• Pull out all plugs from the sockets, also those with chargers and devices that stay on standby modus;
• Use a time switch and LED- or CFL lamps in case you want your house to appear as if someone is there;
• If you are away for more than five days you can turn off the pilot light from the heating system;
• Don’t forget to turn down the heating system for the whole period you’re away.