Longer living appliances
The longer we are able to use an appliance or piece of equipment, the more we recuse it’s carbon footprint: the carbon footprint of manufacture is spread over a greater number of years, and the carbon footprint of recycling it is deferred.
- Before buying anything new, do some research to discover which make or model is most efficient to use, is durable and easy to repair.
- Regular cleaning. Dirt and dust can all damage surfaces and wear moving parts.
- Keeping your oven and hot plates clean, prevents burnt on food from reducing their heating capacity. Ditto for irons.
- Remove crumbs from toasters – they can catch fire!
- Dust the cooling coil of your fridge so that it can operate efficiently. (Working efficiently saves on energy and prevents premature wear of motor).
- Regularly defrost freezers and ice compartments to enable them to work efficiently.
- Ensure there is a sufficient air space around both fridges and microwaves so excess heat can dissipate easily and enabling them to run efficiently.
- Remove dust from ports a d keyboards on mobile phones, tablets and computers.
- Clean screens on mobile phones, tablets etc to maintain their touch sensitivity. Fingers are naturally greasy.
- Invest in a protective case for your phone or tablet
- Keep mobile phones, tablets etc up to date with software updates.
- Remove unused apps as they will be a drain on your battery life.
- Avoid letting mobiles phones, tablets etc get too hot (don’t leave them in the sun) not too cold.
- Ideally don’t overcharge your batteries not let them run completely flat. The ideal is between 20% and 90%.
- Replace the battery in your phone etc rather than buying new.
- To conserve your battery turn off phones etc when not in use – eg at night time.
- Clean seals around the doors of fridges, ovens and washing machines etc.
- Replace seals when they do wear out.
- Descale washing machines: the harder your water, the more frequently this will be needed.
- Avoid over or under loading your washing machine.
- Measure out laundry liquid – too much can lead to a build up in the machine
- Empty pockets before washing to ensure small coins etc don’t get into your washing machine where they might cause damage.
- Clean out the drain filter from your washing machine to prevent damage to the pump and / or flooding.
- Descale kettles.
- With LED televisions you can prolong the life of the screen by reducing the background level of lighting and by limiting the number of hours you watch.
- Organise an annual maintenance check for your boiler.
Writing this, I am reminded that I should keep my gardening tools clean and the wooden handles re- oiled.
The Green Tau 
One thought on “Eco Tips”