Top Tips for Greener Homes in Surrey

Now that we’re heading towards the end of Cop26, it’s shaping up to be the year people become serious about going green. Although it will take larger corporations to get on board with firm commitments, we can all play our part today. There has been a surge in people who want their local areas to become more environmentally active. With this in mind, we’ve made a short guide on having a greener household in Surrey.

At WH Cox & Son, we consider ourselves to be a greener removal and storage company. We understand that our actions directly impact our local community, the UK, and the globe. From our efforts to reduce our carbon emissions and other environmentally sound practices, we’ve learned a few pieces of useful information along the way. We will use this article to give our followers some practical, accessible ways of improving everyone’s environmental impact.

How Can I Make My House Greener?

We’ll begin by running through a brief checklist of simple things you can apply straight away. Every option will improve your carbon output and be environmentally friendly.

Turn off appliances – Leaving your electricals on standby needlessly uses up energy. Turn them off, and you could see vast improvements to your bills and carbon emissions.

Switch to renewable energy – Changing your energy supplier to one that’s 100% renewable is an excellent green energy tip for any home. Switching is simple as well; plus, all the electricity you use is effectively carbon neutral.

Don’t waste food – Over seven million tonnes of food waste happen in the UK every year. This isn’t just a colossal waste of food and money; it adds to the creation of Co2 originating from landfills.

Recycle more – You can recycle almost everything, from batteries, paper, glass and even cars. Before you throw it away, take a minute to find out if you could recycle it instead.

Reduce plastic – Using less plastic isn’t as difficult as you might think. Take your reusable bags to the supermarket, don’t use single-plastic bags for fruit and veg, and avoid bottled water.

Buy local – From clothes to food, the closer these products are made and bought, the less carbon occurs from their transportation. You’ll also be supporting your local economy.

Grow vegetables – Growing your own veg isn’t just a good way to save money. It’s also possible to cut down your carbon footprint and be eco-friendly. Windowsill boxes work for herbs and small veg and a larger container for bigger vegetables or an old tyre with soil for potatoes.

Are There Environmentally Aware Removals Companies in Surrey?

We can’t speak for other removals companies, but at WH Cox & Son, we’re always looking at ways to improve our environmental impact. We reuse all our removal boxes and packing materials if they’re in good condition. And for anything that is no longer of a suitable standard of use. We do our best to make sure very little goes into the waste bin.

The WH Cox team is big on recycling everything possible, and we make regular stops at the various recycling points in Surrey. It’s possible to help customers do this for unwanted storage or removals items; we’ll try to accommodate it. The local charities and upcycling collectives are always looking for donations.

For us, the most crucial thing any company can do to improve their impact on the environment is efficiency. This is the primary way every business can reduce carbon emissions, even more so in our industry. To do this, we assess and plan every removal’s job to find the shortest distance possible. Additionally, we’ll arrange a moving time to avoid traffic.

Add or Improve Insulation and Seal Windows –

When we consider the most significant contributors to household energy waste, heat loss is one of them. We lose a surprisingly large amount of heat, often due to poor insulation or other structural issues. However, try to avoid being hasty when it comes to tackling this because you need to know the full facts. That’s why we suggest having an energy audit undertaken in your home.

This survey will uncover all the strengths and weaknesses of energy-loss, and where air sealing will be a requirement. The roof is often the chief offender for this type of waste, although poor sealing of doors and windows is another source. Once you improve your insulation, you’ll keep warm at much less expense while significantly reducing waste.

Adding or fixing insulation won’t be cheap, but there’s another problem to consider. If there’s a defect that’s allowing dampness into your home, the eventual outcome is rot, and that’s costly to fix. If you make the necessary improvements now, you’ll increase your energy efficiency and avoid any expensive repairs in the future.

Smarter Energy Use: Change to LED Lightbulbs –

We’re focusing on the hotspots for energy waste in the home, and this section is all about light. In the colder months, it’s not just the lack of heat that increases energy use. Due to the shorter days, we need to put lights on earlier and for longer. And if you’re still using the traditional filament lightbulbs, you have another option for better household energy.

Incandescent bulbs expend lots of energy and often need replacing due to burnout and breakage. If you turn on one of these lights in winter, the sudden spark can lead to the bulb popping. Additionally, you’ll only get between 750 – 2,000 hours of light if they manage to survive the sudden change in temperature without exploding.

Comparatively, if you buy an LED lightbulb instead, you’ll have illuminations for around 35,000 – 50,000 hours. That’s a whopping difference in energy performance that might save you replacing the bulbs for several years. There is a caveat – some cheaper LED options don’t have the same high performance. But even the more affordable options will outperform an ordinary bulb several times over.

Recycle, Repurpose, Reduce –

When it comes to our environmental impact, we can always look at things from two different standpoints. The first is to ensure that there’s always a counterpoint to whatever influence comes from something we do. We’re able to do something about things like waste products that occur from our consumption. The other is to be proactive and limit the impact we might have before taking action.

This all falls into what we’re calling the three R’s: repurpose, recycle, and reduce. People will be familiar with the concept of recycling, but it’s worth going over this again in more detail. There are numerous recycling points spread around Surrey, and you can click this link to see which is closest to you. Surrey Councils also has some recycling initiatives in place, and it has never been easier. 

When it comes to repurposing, this is something that most of us can explore in our day-to-day lives. Something as simple as a durable food container can be used for other purposes, which could be to reuse to store food instead of Tupperware. Others include things like makeshift toy boxes and pencil cases. It’s simple enough to avoid throwing something away if there’s a possibility to recycle or repurpose instead. This is something you can do with minimal fuss or expense. It centres around thinking more about the purchases we make and reducing waste. We think about things like avoiding products that use a lot of single-use plastic, like straws and utensils. And actively try using purchasing durable, reusable bags instead of plastic. By applying some of these simple things to your routine, you’ll be making a significant impact on your environment.

WH Cox & Son – Part of the Go-Green Solution in Surrey –

As individuals, it might seem like making some changes won’t do much in the grand scheme of things. But as a collective body, we have enough power to impact our local and national environmental status positively. And we owe it to future generations to do everything possible to help battle climate change by keeping global temperatures under 1.5 degrees.

WH Cox & Son is always looking for better working practices making every relocation and storage job more efficient. Every removals and storage service entail stringent efficiency measures to enact our continually improving greener workplace measures. Customer service and affordability are also paramount factors when we create every individual removal and storage quote.

If you’d like more advice on how you can go green and help improve Surrey’s environmental impact, click here. We’ll provide information on our range of services and pass on any relevant carbon footprint information.