The New Green Consumer Guide
Green Wishes

In researching The New Green Consumer Guide I was struck by the number of things that we could be doing so much better. As Al Gore says in his Oscar winning film The Inconvenient Truth, the technology is with us to combat climate change it’s the will that’s lacking.

With that in mind I drew up my top 20 wish list – below are 10 of them.

Many of these are not directly consumer-related but I believe that if we demonstrate our support for these sort of initiatives, we can make them happen.

We need to work together, writing letters, greening our shopping habits and making our views known – effectively using our vote as consumers and citizens to change the world for the better.

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1. SWITCH TO DECENTRALISED ENERGY

Wind TurbineInstead of large-scale centralised power stations whether they’re coal, gas or nuclear, we should be setting up a system for home-produced energy, from a range of sources.
As much as 60 per cent of the heat produced by large-scale coal and gas power stations is wasted – it simply wafts into the atmosphere through the cooling towers

2. SOURCE MORE ENERGY FROM THE SEA

Crashing WaveIf we put more investment into wave and tidal power, we could get a sizeable part of our energy needs from the sea.
It’s estimated that marine energy could provide as much as 20 per cent of this country’s electricity and be cost-competitive

3. USE METHANE FROM ROTTING WASTE

Waste BinThere’s huge untapped potential for using gases released from rotting waste to power vehicles and heat buildings.
Methane is not only produced animal wastes but rotting food too. It is about 24 times more powerful in it’s global warming impact than CO2, once it’s released to the atmosphere.

4. CHANGE ELECTRICITY CHARGING

LightningLet’s pay power companies more money if they sell less electricity and encourage them to charge high energy-users more, per unit of electricity, rather than less.
If everyone in developing countries used the same amount of energy as the average consumer in richer countries, global consumption would increase eight-fold by 2050

5. GREEN BUILDING POLICIES

Electrical PlugAll new buildings should be super energy and water efficient.
One-third of all energy is used at home, and over 80 per cent of that is used for heating – saving it is probably the most important thing we can do to help the environment

6. REQUIRE ENERGY-EFFICIENT LIGHTING

LightbulbAll new light fittings should work with energy-efficient bulbs.
One expert claims that if 90% of the lighting in American came from LED lights it would save the equivalent energy output of 133 power stations.

7. INTRODUCE WATER METERS NATIONWIDE

Water DropsWater meters should be fitted in all UK households.
Global water use per person has tripled since 1950, and people in wealthy countries use ten times more than people in poor countries.

8. MAKE COOLING CLIMATE-CHANGE FRIENDLY

Cooling gases used by transport vehicles, supermarkets and other retailers should be climate-change friendly.
The gas that replaced CFCs in most fridges and freezers, hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs are 1,400 times more powerful than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

9. RECYCLE COMPUTERS AND ELECTRONIC WASTE

CircuitboardNo computer or electronic waste should end up in landfill sites – almost all can be recycled.
An average 21 year old in 2003 would produce 3.3 tonnes of WEEE in their lifetime but someone born in 2003 would generate nearly three times that amount - 8 tonnes.

10. PROTECT FORESTS

TreesDraconian measures should be introduced to protect forests from agricultural expansion, such as from soy or palm oil.
We’re currently losing natural forests at a rate of 30 hectares every minute, or the whole of Hyde Park every five minutes.

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