Green Advice
Benefits for you, benefits for wildlife – greening your place is not difficult!
Imagine a Mexican wave - if one person does it on their own – not much – but imagine the whole Millennium Stadium doing it – quite an impact! It’s the same with green actions – if we all did one thing, lots of small actions have a HUGE beneficial impact for us and wildlife.Saving money, seeing more wildlife - see what green actions can do for you.
click below to find out more
Energy saving ideas
Save 10 % off your electricity bill by turning down the thermostat by just 1 degree.
That’s about £100 on the average Welsh fuel bill!Help save some of the incredible £6 million pounds wasted in Wales by leaving TVs and other appliances on standby.
Turning your appliances off will save you money and if we all did this is would stop a quarter of a million tonnes of carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere. That’s 20,000 people’s annual CO2 production!Save up to £100 per light bulb by replacing bulbs with low energy bulbs.
Over their lifetime they could save you £100. Now think of how many bulbs could be replaced in your house and think of the saving...£250 of yours disappears out of windows and doors if they aren’t draught proofed!
It’s a simple job that gives big returns.All of these actions not only benefit your pocket but also benefit our wildlife which is increasingly threatened by climate change caused by our CO2 emissions. Want to do more? For more information visit www.est.org.uk
Water lot of savings
Save £40 a year by fixing that dripping tap
A washer costs just 30p – not a bad return.Flushing up to £250 down the loo a year with an old cistern!
If your cistern is pre 2001 it could be using up to 13 litres to flush your toilet. To reduce this fill a litre bottle with sand, tighten the top and put in the cistern. This will save you up £40 a year. Even greater savings can be made by fitting a dual flush cistern that only uses 4 litres of water on low flush.Shower and Share to save water!
A 5 minute shower uses a third of the water needed for a bath, and why not share a shower!More than a sprinkle…Imagine how much water a family of four uses in 24 hours.
A sprinkler uses that much in an hour!Water for free. Get a water butt and collect free rainwater for the garden.
You can also use your water from washing up to water plants on a rota round the garden.Save time and toughen up your plants.
Given little and often plants become lazy and dependent on you, their roots staying near the surface ready for the next little drink. If left to their own devices they will send roots downwards in search of water underground and become more self sufficient and less demanding on your time.All of these actions not only benefit your pocket but also benefit our wildlife which is increasingly threatened by our increasing demand for water sources. Want to do more? For more information visit www.wildaboutgardens.co.uk
Green your green space
Whether a garden, yard or window box you can help wildlife and enjoy getting closer to it.
Invite in the birds and the bees for free colour and pest control
Birds add another dimension to our garden – colour, movement and music as well as helping to control pests such as green fly and caterpillars. Put up a nest box and a bird table and watch as the birds add to your garden and know you arte helping to turn around the 20% decline of garden bird populations over the last 5 years.Put a bar in your garden – a nectar bar that is.
We depend on bees for their pollination of flowers for a third of our food and their numbers are dropping. Help them by planting up a nectar border to give them a place to refuel during their important job of pollinating our apples, strawberries, pears, plums, peas, beans, raspberries………. Visit www.wildaboutgardens.org for more ideas.Free soil improver and plant food. Start composting and get great soil for free whilst reducing your waste going to landfill.
Composting is easy - any peelings and cardboard can be put together in a heap to provide a soil improver, or use the council's brown bin.Let the wildlife do the work for you!
Improving your soil, feeding your plants, eating pests, beneficial wildlife will do all this- just reduce your use of chemicals and let them work their wonders for your garden.Your garden can help protect some of our disappearing habitats.
Just by using the excellent peat free composts available now you will be protecting peat lands and their wildlife for future generations.Ponds are disappearing from our countryside so why not put one in your garden and add beautiful feature that is great for wildlife.
All of these actions not only add to your enjoyment of your garden but also benefit our wildlife. Want to do more? For more information visit www.wildaboutgardens.co.uk
This project has
been funded by:
