Save energy while its cold

With the weather still extremely cold in many parts of the UK this week, the Independent ran two very interesting articles which might just surprise you. Apparently, this year is one of the warmest on record and the snow is a mere flurry compared to that of years gone by.

Astonishing as this all sounds, global temperatures are now generally reaching record highs. At the recent world climate talks, the Independent reported experts from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organisation had highlighted 2010 as one of the three warmest years ever recorded. Furthermore, the last decade also won the dubious accolade of the warmest since climate records began.

Furthermore, the Independent also pointed out that in 1927, for example, a Boxing Day blizzard produced 20 foot snow drifts in the Chilterns and many villages close to Croydon were snowed in for a week. In 1947, snow fell from late January until mid-March, with 15 foot snowdrifts which sadly resulted in the untimely deaths of around 2 million sheep. The 1960’s also saw the winter of ’64 -’65 which produced some whopping 25 foot snowdrifts and cut many remote farms off for a staggering 2 months.

The irony is that many of us will be struggling to keep the house warm right now but this doesn’t have to mean increasing the amount of carbon dioxide ‘greenhouse gas’ that increased heating normally produces. Carbon emissions are one of the ways in which the earth’s temperature is believed to be heating up. There are indeed workable real-world solutions to cut your households carbon footprint and stay toasty warm. The beauty is they all save you money on your bills and many are simply a modern rework of a traditional idea. There are simple steps like using draught excluders, hot water bottles and then did you know that you can literally recycle much of your household rubbish into fuel for your fireplace at zero cost? There is indeed nothing particularly new fangled or radical in amongst these vintage ideas, but they all work a treat and will certainly help you to save money over the long winter months.