101 tips to help save the environment

[Andy Hamilton]

Another article here and I think we could 101 between us pretty easily.

1. Change to energy saving light bulbs
2. Insulate your loft
3. Go paperless on as many bills as possible
4. boil only the amount of water you need to make tea

[wulf]

5. Less heating: more clothes.
6. Less airconditioning: less clothes! (in fact, for many climates, what are you doing wasting time with airconditioning in the first place? )
7. Dishwashing... by hand.

Wulf

[Martin]

8. When it's hot enough, go nude! Save the cost of clothes and washing them!

[Shirley]

9. Grow your own veg

10. Buy loose fruit and veg rather than packaged.

11. Buy local!!

[multiveg]

9. Don't flush your liquid compost activator down the loo.

10. Think re-use before recycle - drinks cans make good toppers for canes so you don't poke eyes out, newspaper can make a mulch,...

11. Look at watering mature plants with grey water - bath/shower/washing up.

12. A power shower can use more water than a bath.... Perhaps soak away those aches and pains from gardening in a bath. Bath water is easier to collect than shower water (unless you have some sort of diverter fitted).

[Millymollymandy]

13. Get a dual flush fitted to your loo - or don't flush every time you have a pee.

14. Recycle your waste!

15. Get a compost bin going.

16. Fit water butts to your downpipes.

[Martin]

17 - Don't fly!
18 - Bath with a friend
19 - Don't buy a new car - keep the old one, and spend the depreciation on alternative energy products
20 - Be nice to your local chippie - make your own biodiesel

[The Chili Monster]

21. Plant trees and plants
22. Walk or cycle all or part of the way to work
23. Join your local recycle group

(depreciation is a paper expense, there's no cash to spend. However, you could spend the money you saved through claiming your capital allowance entitlement on office equipment, furniture and or other plant and machinery on alternative energy products. There's a first year capital allowance on low-CO2 emitting or electric cars used exclusively for business use!)

[Martin]

was probably too succinct! Round these parts, the lanes are full of Chelsea Tractors - first year depreciation can be up to £10,000 - my plan is dead simple, keep your car for several years, then the money you're NOT chucking down the depreciation drain can be spent sensibly! (it's also a lot more earth-friendly NOT to keep updating to new cars)
With the keen prices available from some companies, for £10,000 you could have a fully-fitted solar hot water system, AND a 2kw grid-tie wind turbine, leaving you another £2,000 to spend on other alternative energy products
(or a perfectly decent little car!)

[Wombat]

24. Insulate your hot water tank
25. Buy (and ride) a bike
26. Build & use a solar oven
27. Go organic
28. put in a composting toilet

[The Chili Monster]

Sorry, Martin, but depreciation is a paper expense, it does not translate into cash. It is a measure of the wear and tear of the asset to give a "current value" of that asset to a business, which incidentally may bear no relation to what the asset may fetch on the open market. That's why there are Capital allowances (otherwise imagine the rate of depreciation we'd all be using - we'd be deducting the depreciation charge (yearly depreciation amount) in the Profit and Loss as to reduce trading profits assessable for tax, and, let's face it the HMRC are far too bloody minded for that). You spend the money saved as a capital allowance on alternative energy products. For thos of us for whom chelsea Tractors are unnecessary, too expensive or just objectionable the FYA and Capital allowance for the purchase of most class of car is restricted to a maximum of £3,000 per annum for cars costing £12,000 and above (exceptions in previous post), which is reality for most of us... vans attract a better deal (since they are treated as out-and-out plant and machinery).

I'm going off thread here and so following on from Wombat's contribution:

29. Switch off appliances that are not in current use
30. File your tax return on-line to take advantage of the tax incentive and spend the savings on making your business premises more green

[multiveg]

31. how about a paper shredder! paper then can be used for pet bedding or if not too chemical, in the compost heap?
32. sign up for mail preference service which may reduce the amount of junk mail you receive.

Time for me to add some compost activator!!!!!

[Martin]

down here in the real world (well away from accountants) - I'm running an ancient car that's done nearly 140,000 miles - it's just got through another mot, which will be the start of my third year of ownership - it cost me £600 to buy, and would probably fetch £500 if I sold it - £100 over two years works out at about £50 pa for "loss of worth during that period" -if I'm not allowed to use the possibly technically inaccurate (but widely understood) "depreciation" word!
If I were daft enough, and if I had the money, I could have bought a new Range Rover each year, and would have around £20,000 less in cash/sellable goods after two years, than if I'd carried on with my "banger"- which could give the average house a very green top to bottom makeover!

[Millymollymandy]

33. Get rid of your central heating and install a wood burner.

[The Chili Monster]

Well, that's OK then Martin.

33. Reduce CO2 levels by not wasting too much time in debate on accounting policies

Importing Andy's contributions from another thread:

34.When we need to print for reference we use the other side of a bunch of invoices that my girlfriend bought back from her old job.

35.Reusing packaging for sending stuff off.

36.Making sure that the main network computer is the one that is used the most, so that two computers don't have to be on at once.

37.Turning off the monitor if downloading something and not at computer.

38.Listening to the radio through the computer.

39. Use draft print facility to save ink