Yuletide Tips

 

The Christmas holidays can be a surprisingly energy hungry time of year, often with lots of visitors, lots of cooking and lots and lots of lights! Here are a number of tips designed to help you keep a lid on your energy consumption - they may be common sense but you would be amazed how often we forget....

 

• They may be pretty but only have the Christmas lights on when it is dark and always turn them off when you are not in the house or when you go to bed.  If you think you might forget, put them on a timer!  If you go away for the holidays be sure to change the settings of the timer or turn them off altogether.
• Switch your Christmas lights to LED ones, they are 90% more efficient than the traditional variety.
• Extravagant Christmas light displays outside can cost as much as £100 in energy terms for December alone.  If using outside lights, try solar ones, they even work in our gloomier climate!
• Instead of sitting there watching television or playing on the new computer game, gather everyone together and play a board game.
• If you are having people over at Christmas, adjust your thermostat turn your heating down a degree or so, people are a great generator of heat.
• Plan your Christmas meal so that you cook as much as possible at the same time and then use the remaining heat to help warm the house.

 

Top Tip Activity

 

 

So many gifts now need batteries.  Treat yourself before Christmas to a battery charger and a stash of renewable batteries.  Alternatively try the AA size USB rechargeable batteries, allowing you to recharge them pretty much anywhere there's a USB socket.

 

Invest in a good solar panel charger to keep some of those electrical gifts out of the sockets.  They are available now for phones, ipods, ipads and laptops.  If you are giving an electrical gift to someone why not send them some rechargeable batteries as well.

 

 

 

Did you know?

A display of 100 5w Christmas lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas, will consume 60kwh of electricity, enough to power a 22” LCD TV for about 3 weeks.

 

 

Want to do more?

Christmas is not just a season to be jolly but it has also become a season to consume.  Having a greener Christmas doesn't have to mean no gifts, no cards and only brussel sprouts, making a just a couple of changes to your old habits can make a difference.

 

• It is estimated that 83 sq km of wrapping paper ends up in our rubbish bins each year - enough to wrap up Guernsey!  If you are buying wrapping paper, try to ensure it is recycled, alternatively try using the financial times, not only is it a stunning read but it looks great under the tree with ribbon around it!  Why not try using material and ribbons to wrap your presents which can then be reused year after year.
• Ingredients for the average British Christmas dinner clocks up a whopping 49,000 miles to reach our plates.   Do you have a farmers market near you - could you buy locally sourced food?
• Gifts - All too often when we don't know what to get someone we end up buying them more 'stuff' that will end up in a bottom drawer.  Why not spend some time in the kitchen making them something they will enjoy eating, perhaps a cake or buy them membership to an organisation; perhaps a tree or something they can watch grow or maybe an experience such as tickets to a play or simply give them your time by taking them out or teach them a new skill.

 

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