Actions for Residents

Get a Smart Meter

If you don’t have a smart meter and a home energy display, ask your energy supplier to have one fitted in your home. Save money on your energy bill by using it to get to know how your home uses energy, setting and tracking your progress against daily energy budgets, and see how low you can get your energy consumption.

Set and forget your boiler temperature

If you have a boiler with a separate hot water cylinder, try reducing your boiler flow temperature to 65°C. This will make your boiler more efficient whilst helping your hot water cylinder to reach 60°C to reduce the risk of Legionnaires disease.

If you’re unsure about how to make these changes, ask your heating engineer when you have your next boiler service. Make sure to heat your home sufficiently to prevent damp and protect your health.

Drop it by a degree

Try dropping your thermostat by 1°C to save money on your energy bills whilst making sure that you don’t compromise your comfort and health at home.

Eat more veg

Give your health a boost by increasing the vegetables in your diet.

Also increasing protein-rich plant-based ingredients, such as beans and pulses is a great way to have a balanced diet and reduce your carbon footprint. 

Buy seasonal

Enjoy fruit and vegetables when they are at their very best by buying them in-season from local food growers.

This will help you to avoid energy-intensive food growing practices such as artificially heated greenhouses whilst reducing the need to transport perishable goods over long distances.

Eat everything edible

Cut your food bill and reduce food waste by planning your next meal around what’s already in your kitchen.

Surprise yourself with new and existing recipes by typing your left-over ingredients into your favourite online search engine. If you already have high-carbon items in your fridge such as meat and dairy, prioritise eating these first.

Think reuse and repair

Have a cracked phone screen, a faulty household appliance, or clothing needing a stitch or two?

Give your things a new lease of life and save a small fortune by trying your local repair centre or your local repair café instead of buying from new.

Rent and share things

Next time you have a DIY or gardening project on, why not try using your local tool rental store or sharing tools within your community to save money and prevent the need to buy things from new. 

Find out more about renting tools on the Recycle Devon website.

Buy refurbished and second hand

Next time you’re thinking of buying a new phone or an item of clothing, buy it refurbished or pre-loved on the high street or use online marketplaces to prevent the need to manufacture things from new.

Repurpose things

Before throwing things away, have a think about how you can repurpose them to prevent the need to recycle or throw things away.