Breathe a sigh of relief. After the coldest winter in decades, the clocks go forward by an hour on Sunday 28th March, signalling lighter, brighter evenings and the start of spring. Embrace this extra hour of daylight - and stop wasting energy and money at the same time.
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Sleep in and exercise after work – outside!
Start your own vegetable patch
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Forget dragging yourself out of bed at the crack of dawn. With the extra hour of daylight, the evenings will be light enough for an hour’s exercise after work. Save yourself some money by cancelling the expensive gym and arrange an after work football, netball or rounders match at the local park. Or join a kickball, volley ball or softball league. Exercising with others is a great way to keep you motivated and meet new people.
If you live close enough, use the extra hours of daylight to start cycling or walking to work. Incorporating your exercise into getting to and from work will save you time and money as well as reduce your carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The daily exercise will also get you fitter and healthier in time for summer.
If you’re considering buying a new bike, the Cyclescheme provides tax-free bikes to employees as part of the Government's Cycle to Work initiative. The scheme is linked to over 1,400 independent bike shops and also covers accessories and helmets.
If you already have a bike but haven’t used it for a while, it’s worth taking it to a cycle shop to make sure it’s road safe. Or check it yourself, if you know what you’re doing. The most important things to do are to clean and oil the chain, check the gears work and fit lights for when you are out after dark.
Veggies can be grown throughout the year and are a free, tasty and carbon neutral alternative to shop brought produce. Use a vegetable calendar to plan what to plant and when.
Read our feature on Gardening here
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Don’t forget to adjust your heating and hot water automatic timers when the clocks change!
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It’s getting lighter and warmer outside, which means more natural light coming through the windows and hopefully an end to chilly evenings. Remember to switch of lights when you don’t need them. And try changing your heating settings to reduce the amount of time your heating is on for. Little changes like this can make a big difference to your annual heating and electricity bills.
Spend an hour washing and cleaning out your car. When washing the outside, use a phosphate free, natural cleanser like Ecover Car Wash and Wax which won’t harm the environment as much.
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Embrace the bucket and sponge and leave the hose in the shed! You’ll save loads of water and burn off extra calories.
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Use this time to clear out the inside of the car and to remove roof racks if you are not using them. The extra weight from rubbish or things left in or on the car increases your petrol usage.
Boilers account for over half the CO2 emissions in a gas heated home. By replacing an old G rated boiler with a new high efficiency condensing boiler and improving your heating controls, you will significantly cut your home's CO2 emissions and could save as much as £235 a year.
Find out more about upgrading your boiler
Tax free bikes for employees >
Grow your own veg using a vegetable calendar >
Ecover Car Wash and Wax >
Upgrade your boiler >
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