Eco Worrier - Times Online - WBLG

Green energy

This week, in Body&Soul, I interview Juliet Davenport, one of the few women in the world with a passion for talking about utility bills. Six years ago, she started up Good Energy, the only company to offer 100 per cent renewable energy to homes in the UK. Now the company has 18,000 sign ups.

After an hour in her company, I, too, was a green energy convert. I rushed home, committed to switching my supplier to a green one. Immediately. After joining up - which can be done swiftly over the phone - the closest power station would still feed my home, but for each unit of electricity I used, a green supplier would provide the national grid with the same amount from a renewable sources - such as wind, solar and hydroelectric. What’s not to like?

Green: the new black?

As I write, the Tory leader David Cameron is being towed by a dog sledge somewhere near a polar ice-cap in the Arctic circle. No, he's not going to extreme lengths to escape his first election campaign; he's checking out the evidence of the effects of climate change with a team of scientists from the WWF.

Turning your computer off

Q: Should I shut down my computer during my lunch hour?

Depending on the length of your lunch, probably not. Setting your monitor to sleep is the thing to do, or you can simply turn it off - powering the monitor accounts for 80 per cent of a computer's energy consumption and contributes to a third of the electricity used in a modern office.

Calling all rain collectors

Annmarie from Staffordshire is thinking about installing a rainwater harvester. She is impressed by the literature but she is holding back because she doesn't know anyone who actually has one. Can anyone reassure her or provide tips based on their own experience?

In search of enlightenment

Q: If you are planning to return to a room within an hour, isn’t it economical to leave the light on? My husband says it’s not.

Good grief, my green sensibilities are appalled. Who on earth has been giving you such inaccurate energy- saving advice? Jeremy Clarkson? One hour is a long time to be lighting up an empty room. No wonder star-gazers have teamed up with the Campaign for Rural England to demand increased curbs on light pollution.

Looking for a planet and purse friendly car

Q: I’ve resisted for years, but I’m learning to drive. I would like to buy a green car but I’m on a tight budget.

It’s not easy being green with a newly acquired driving licence tempting you. It’s tougher still if you don’t have a spare £20,000 for a Toyota Prius, with a combined electric and petrol engine.

If you don’t have that sort of dosh, I’d suggest getting an old banger; there’s no point being flash if you are still having the odd encounter with the kerb. And buying second-hand is a form of recycling — the magic R word instantly bumps up your eco-status, especially if you choose a car with a high figure for miles per gallon and a low one for carbon dioxide emission.