Shillington Lib Dem Dreaming of a Green Christmas!

9.02.10pm GMT Mon 12th Dec 2005

Alison Graham, a Lib Dem campaigner in Shillington, is looking to help locals be greener this Christmas, as well as giving tips for energy efficiency all year round. Alison said "It's really just easy practical advice to keep bills down and help save energy. We also wanted to respond to the fact that the council will not be recycling Christmas trees this year by providing the service ourselves" Alison's tips will be in the local magazine, and the article in full is here:

How to Keep Your Money at Home……

Mid-winter is here: but perhaps our thoughts are not so much on blazing Yule logs, as on our rocketing energy bills this cold winter.

You can cut household energy bills in four very simple ways. And they make a difference…

don't leave appliances with remote controls, such as TVs, VCRs, DVDs, PCs and laptops, printers, microwaves, cookers, mobile chargers and dishwashers, on stand-by. Over one hundred and fifty million pounds' worth of electricity is wasted every year in the UK, on TVs and VCRs alone - enough to close down one in twenty electricity power stations in the country.

do the washing at 40 degrees whenever possible - washing at 60 degrees uses a whole 30% more electricity.

buy energy-saving light bulbs - the price has dropped fantastically - (try B and Q or Wilkinsons), and they have a 12 year life span.

boiling a kettle full of water (the equivalent of about nine mugs of coffee) takes about five and a half minutes - enough energy to run an energy-saving light bulb for nine hours, so boil only what you actually need.

· and a Christmas tip - recycle cards (check out Tesco's for collection), your packaging (green bins) and trees.

· As the council says it's not collecting trees this year, we plan to offer you a choice of days on which we will collect your tree, for a donation of one pound, and get it shredded for you to collect later, as mulch for your gardens. (Keep an eye on the village post office, where details will appear after Twelfth Night is over).

AND, here's the best news. By cutting consumption we are reducing not only our bills, but household carbon emissions as well. So let's start to save money, and help the environment and the planet at the same time - for our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren…

In the village, some of us have formed a small group to think about how we can help in practical ways. Join Us?

If you have some suggestions to make, please contact Alison Graham, tel. 01462 713543, or email: amwgraham@hotmail.com