You can help in the home by:

• Recycling organic waste such as vegetable peelings on a compost heap. This can then be used for garden compost and it creates a habitat for slow worms and hedgehogs. You could also buy a wormery, which will also provide liquid fertiliser for your plants.
• Sorting out your rubbish and recycling items such as paper, plastic, milk cartons, cans and glass. This will reduce the amount of countryside needed for landfill. Visit Recycling at home for information on recycling in the Vale.
• Making more use of environmentally friendly and recycled products.
• Buying locally produced, organic food or growing your own. Visit the Soil Association website for useful advice.
• Saving energy. Electricity production uses up non-renewable energy resources which in turn contributes to global warming, so turn lights and appliances off when they are not being used. Figures from the Energy Saving Trust on standby power use in the UK home are astonishing:
  • Stereos on standby cost £290m and produce 1.6 million tonnes of CO2
  • VCRs and DVD cost £194m and produce 1.06 million tonnes of CO2
  • TVs on standby cost £88m and produce 480,000 tonnes of CO2
• Ensure your house is properly insulated so heat is not being wasted.