Research shows that we boil, on average, twice the volume of water needed every time we use a domestic kettle.  Boiling too much water each with the average 3kW kettle is the same as wasting the energy used by around 50 light bulbs!

The main thing that sets the British designed eco kettle apart from your bog-standard electric kettle is that at the push of a button in the lid you can control precisely the amount of water that you boil each time' between one to eight cups of water each time. Boiling too much water each time you make a cup of tea of coffee is one of the biggest cause of wasted energy in the home and it is well acknowledged that boiling just enough water for your needs can make a significant home energy saving, and if your electricity comes from a coal or gas fired power station, that adds up to a lot of CO2 saved during one year.

But don't just take our word on how much energy the eco kettle will save; The Market Transformation Programme (MTP), that supports the development and implementation of UK Government policy on sustainable products, show in their report on the energy profile of kettles  that the eco kettle is really as good as it says it is!

The eco kettle is available online from several retailers including:

In the UK:

Nigel?s Ecostore

In the USA you can find a retailer at:

www.ecokettle.com

Way back in 1983 Katharine Hamlet  launched her first protest t-shirts; 'CHOOSE LIFE', 'WORLDWIDE NUCLEAR BAN NOW', 'PRESERVE THE RAINFORESTS', 'SAVE THE WORLD', 'SAVE THE WHALES', 'EDUCATION NOT MISSILES' - designed to be copied, with the objective of effecting change by being seminal, using the excess media coverage that the label was receiving.   

For more than 20 years she?s been campaigning on loads of environmental issues including for a worldwide nuclear ban.  The British Government  now wants to build a new generation of nuclear power stations and the results of this would affect Britain for the next million years. 

Katherine provides a detailed explanation, on her Worldwide Nuclear Ban Now website, about why the nuclear power solution to our energy needs is not very advisable; how it is not the solution to global warming (even the UK government's own advisory body on sustainable energy development say its not the answer to climate change), and what you can do if you want to stop the government going down the nuclear energy path (you can also check out those fantastic design classic t-shirts - now all 100% organic cotton and nuclear free).

Carbon offsetting is the green buzz-word of the moment.  But many critics of carbon offsetting suggest that before people even consider CO2 offsetting as a green option, they need to get their personal carbon dioxide production in check and massively reduce their carbon footprint.....

Here?s our top 10 tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint:

1. Green Energy
   Sign up to a green energy supplier that supplies energy generated by wind or hydro power.  It won't cost you much more that your current supplier and might actually save you money.
   
   
2. Fly Less
   Yes, we agree that it?s tricky when you so look forward to that summer sun, but for shorter domestic journeys, like when your need to travel between London and Glasgow, why not take the train.
   
   
3. Public Transport on Holiday
   When you arrive at your holiday destination, try to stick to public transport rather than making use of a taxi or care hire.  Most major cities have fantastically easy to use and good value public transport networks ? use them. 
   
   
4. Boil Only What You Need
   Only boil the water that you are going to use.  One of the biggest wastes of electricity in the home is a result of boiling a nearly full kettle to make just one cup of tea or coffee.
    
5. Turn Your Central Heating Down by One Degree. 
   Each degree that you turn your heating down by will save you around 10% energy ? with the cost of fuel the way that it is, you?ll save a fair bit of cash too.
    
6. Do Your Shopping in Just a Single Trip
   Better still, where you have the choice of local produce, buy local.  The transportation of food is one of the biggest contributors to co2 so always make careful choices in the supermarket.  Buy UK produced fruit and veg rather than those apples that have travelled half way around the world to make it to the supermarket shelf.  Do the same with wine and beer ? Europe produces some fantastic wine and the UK brews the best beer in the world ? food and drink tastes better when it has small carbon miles!  (why not even try your hand at making home-made wine or homebrew?)
   
   
7. Get Your House Insulated
   Cavity wall insulation for a three bed semi will cost you around ?300 and will save about ?100 on your heating bills ? for this return on your money; this has to be one of the best investments that you can possibly make.
   
   
8. Stop Using The Car So Much
   Stop using the car for work or the school run.  Lift share instead ? take it in turns with a friend to do the school run ? as well as reducing emissions, it?ll give you more free time for yourself.  Start catching the train or bus to work ? it?s less stressful with someone else doing the driving and will give you time to relax reading the paper or a book.
    
9. Swich-Off
   Don?t leave your electrical appliances on stand-by.  It?s often publicised that if everyone in the UK completely switched off their TV, DVD, stereo or computer, one less power station would be needed.
   
   
10. A Green Workplace
    Don?t forget about being green at work too.  Just because it?s someone else paying for electricity and heating don?t waste it.  Get your employer to write a green policy to raise their awareness.  A company that operates with green principles in mind is likely to save money and therefore be more profitable.

Did we miss something that you think should be in the top 10?  Please post your comments.

When it comes to installing alternative energy in your home, for most people some of the options available are simply not very practical and also far too expensive.  Adding a wind-turbine or solar panels to your roof could mean having to take out a second mortgage to cover the cost, and with the energy saving payback-time could run into several decades. 

For an economical and practical solution to meeting at least some of your home?s energy needs you should get back to basics and make serious considerations for wood fuelled heating.  Wood sourced from a re-newable and correctly managed source can be considered to be 100% carbon neutral. Wood differs from fossil fuels such as coal, gas or oil because it is part of the carbon/carbon neutral cycle. Although the fuels produce CO2, trees absorb CO2 and store it as carbon which makes up half the weight of the tree.  When the wood is burned it releases only the same amount back into the atmosphere, exactly the same as if the tree was left to rot.

You can pick-up a really efficient stove (that will run at about 80% efficiency) fo around ?1000 and are probably looking at up to the same again for installation costs, but cost savings can be seen within a couple of years.

In the UK many towns and cities are classed as ?smokeless zones?.  This has meant that in the past, wood-burning was an exclusive pastime for country folk.  For those of us who lived in towns and cities if we wanted a real fire it had to be smokeless, meaning burning smokeless coal or coke - not very environmentally friendly.   Today many stoves now incorporation the latest clean-burn air-wash technologies, more of the volatile by-products burn, causing double combustion and reduced emissions.  This means is that many stove models are suitable for using in smokeless zoned towns and cities.  With the huge choice of traditional and contempory designs available, there really isn?t any excuse for not having a wood-burning stove whether you live in a cottage in the countryside or flat in the city.  For  a complete list of the stoves that are  authorised  for use in smoke control areas please take a look at  The Smoke Control Areas (Exempted Fireplaces) Order.

If you are still not convinced about wood, take a look at the National Energy Foundation?s wood fuel website. 

And now that you are convinced, the two wood-burning stove manufactures that set the standard in the UK are Charnwood and Clearview .