Supporting local businesses and ethical brands are some of many things that individuals can do for a better future, but have you ever thought about the impact of choosing the right bank? Simply letting your money “lay around” in your bank account can have a huge impact on our environment. Banks use your money, whether held in an account, pension or other investments, to loan to or invest in other businesses, which are often not environmentally-conscious. While not every bank subscribes to ethical objectives, there are some that do. Read on to find out what side your bank stands on.   Many ..read more

Cities have always been busy and densely populated. People flock there for work, or the opportunities that come for socialising and entertainment. However, in the modern world, a big population comes with big traffic issues, especially if many people are trying to drive cars. This can be a particular problem in older cities that were never designed to accommodate cars –- narrow streets and one way systems can quickly lead to a build-up.   Bikes can come in here as a potential solution for both reducing traffic and reducing carbon emissions. They allow people to move quickly around a compa ..read more

Are you thinking about insulating your solid walls, but unsure whether internal or external insulation would be more suitable? We’ll be looking at some of the advantages and problems associated with each way of insulating a solid wall. Firstly, do you have a property with solid walls? If your property was built before the 1920s it’s likely to have solid walls. You can tell by looking at the brickwork, a property with cavity walls will have bricks laid out in an even pattern and are all laid lengthways. Solid walls on the other hand will have alternating patterns, as some bricks will be paid ac ..read more

With the pandemic bringing a change to our working arrangements, professionals making the shift to home working have been given freedom over their office setup. For many people, this has given them the opportunity to personalise their working environment to suit their individual tastes and needs. But this new-found freedom to design your own space also presents an obvious opportunity to play your part in the fight against climate change.   If you’re passionate about the environment, there are so many different ways you can flex your eco-credentials from the comfort of your home office. He ..read more

The majority of condensing boilers in the UK aren’t running as efficiently as they should. They’re burning more gas, creating more emissions and costing households more money than they need to.   But households can easily improve their boiler’s efficiency by lowering its flow temperature – the temperature at which boilers heat the water that gets sent to our radiators. This simple change could reduce household energy use by 6-8%, without affecting the warmth of our homes and without the need for a visit by an engineer.   How can I lower my flow temperature? Nesta has developed a simp ..read more

The Scottish Government has recently set an ambitious target – all of Scotland’s houses will be net zero by 2045. This means that the country needs to decarbonise Scottish homes quickly and fairly. In Scotland, the energy consumed from heating contributes to 13%  of overall CO2 emissions, and makes up 30% of overall energy consumption. Of Scotland’s 2.5 million homes, 2 million use gas heating, and only 278,000 use heat pumps, electric storage heaters, or other low carbon heating systems. Heating decarbonisation is a huge feat, especially in Scotland’s cities: classic tenements are elegan ..read more

Electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids are becoming a common feature on the world’s roads, and their popularity has grown exponentially in recent years.   With growing demand comes a broader range of options, and manufacturers are latching on to this contemporary shift in consumer behaviour. In fact, as reported in this guide to the sustainability of electric cars, 74% of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) now have an electric vehicle plan.   Are you considering buying a car that doesn’t solely use petrol or diesel? If so, it’s important to understand the different types that are a ..read more

Our planet is changing rapidly, and if we want to stand a chance of reducing the effects of climate change, we need to change the way we live our lives. We spend a lot of time in our homes, especially now that many of us are working from home, so sustainability is becoming an increasingly important focus in the construction and renovation industries.   From smart home technology that helps us keep control over our energy consumption, to eco-friendly furnishings and decorations, there are plenty of ways you can consider the environment in your home design. But all of these changes cost mon ..read more

“Paving the way towards decarbonising the marine sector” (EMEC, 2018) The use of green hydrogen as a fuel for ferries is a new avenue, one that has never been carried out commercially in the UK. But off the remote archipelago of Orkney located 10 miles north of mainland Scotland, the ‘living laboratory’ provides the ideal location for this future development. At the forefront of renewable energy uptake, Orkney is a producer and supplier of green hydrogen. This archipelago enables the future of hydrogen as its fuel source and accelerating the hydrogen economy. It is in this living laboratory of ..read more