Tumble dryers use a lot of electricity. On average, a tumble dryer uses roughly 4.5 kWh of electricity per cycle, depending on the machine. At the time of writing, each kWh of energy you use costs on average 27p and causes 0.25kg CO2, depending on your electricity provider. This means that you’ll be paying up…
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UPFs – Ultra-processed Foods
If something is ultra-processed, it’s going to have a larger carbon footprint, use more water to make, most likely be associated with factory-farmed meat or diary and the pollution, come from further afield, have more packaging and of course, not be so good for your body. What makes some food UPF though, now the acronym’s…
Diet and CO2 Emissions
The first of November was World Vegan Day, a reminder that a totally plant-based diet is the everyday reality for about 1% of the world population. Reducing our CO2 emissions is imperative so we could pick up some useful tips here, because reducing the amount of meat we eat is one of the top things…
Pesky Pumpkin Remains
Halloween sees people the world over getting creative with pumpkin carving and results in tons of wasted pumpkins if people don’t have the means, the time or the oomph to make good use of this great veg. The main rule is to make sure it doesn’t end up in landfill, where the rotting vegetable matter…
Green Banks
Santander, JP Morgan Chase, NatWest, the Bank of Scotland, Halifax, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Bank all have one thing in common – they will put the money in your savings and current accounts to work funding the fossil fuel industry, despite whatever pledges or Net Zero promises they have made.…
Home-made Home Cleaning Products
Supermarket big brand cleaning products include an array of chemicals that don’t break down in the sewage works – even if the water utility companies leaves them there for a long time rather than just allowing the sewage to spill into our waterways and shores. This includes parabens (preservatives), phthalates (perfumes), triclosan (an antibiotic), phosphates,…
Sustainable Clothing
The clothing industry is responsible for about 10% of global CO2 emissions. It also has a huge impact on water resources, labour and pollution, which involves a large amount of PFAS (‘forever chemicals’ that don’t biodegrade, but accumulate in the body). If you have heard politicians and economists going on about how best to tackle…
How to block Heat during Heatwaves
New climate research in the science journal Nature* shows how dangerously under prepared northern Europe and especially the UK and Eire are for the consequences of climate change and the need to keep cool in the unprecedented hot summers that are on their way. Rather than cranking an air conditioner up to full power, we…
Extreme heat – cities are struggling
The World Meteorological Organisation noted last week as Britons flock to their summer getaways that “parallel and stationary heat domes” have meant temperatures would top 40°C in parts of North America, Asia and across North Africa and the Mediterranean for days to come. This follows the hottest week in recorded history from 3-10th July, whereby…
Volunteer volunteer volunteer!
Organise! Organise! Organise! Join! Join! Join! One of the many ways to play a part in the fight against climate change is to volunteer your time and energy to help the organisations trying to mobilise society. Co-incidentally or perhaps not, EcoCounts is looking for a volunteer for this Saturday (July 1st 2023) to help at…