Seven ways you can help tackle the climate crisis

It’s time to act on the climate crisis today, not one day. And we all have a part to play. By making some small - and a few more major - changes around your home, we can help to reverse the dangerous effects that the climate crisis is having on our planet:

• Try to reduce how much you consume, reuse what you can and recycle where possible
• Power your home with renewable electricity
• Choose low-carbon heating with an air source heat pump
• Travel more sustainably with public transport and electric vehicles
• Reduce food waste and consider a more plant-based diet
• Make sustainable fashion choices
• Share and pass on your top tips to encourage others to take action for climate 

There is irrefutable evidence of the impact that climate change is having on our planet. The Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate, meaning that our climate is now classed as being in a crisis¹. The release of carbon emissions into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels have caused dangerous changes to our climate, leading to excessively high temperatures, forest fires, droughts and floods.

Read on for more information and tips on how you can help stop the climate crisis. 

Reducing your use of single-use plastics is an easy way to help the environment. Most of us already reuse plastic carrier bags or use cloth alternatives when shopping, have swapped single-use coffee cups for a thermos and invested in reusable water bottles.

Another easy change is to avoid items in plastic packaging when you can by buy them without, such as opting for loose fruit and vegetables or items in recyclable cardboard rather than plastic packing. Make recycling even easier by labelling your recycling boxes to help you sort your waste and flatten cardboard boxes, plastic bottles and cans to maximise the space.

One of the best ways to help prevent further damage to our climate is to choose renewable energy sources.

You can help protect the environment and cut your carbon emissions by installing solar panels to generate renewable electricity from the sun. By choosing to power your home’s appliances with solar you help to reduce the greenhouse gases and harmful pollutants emitted by burning fossil fuels to generate electricity.

And install a solar battery to store the electricity you generate and reduce your reliance on the grid even more. Storing your electricity to use when it best suits you, means you can use more of your own renewable electricity. You can even earn money by selling any excess electricity generated through the Smart Export Guarantee (SEG).

If you’re an E.ON Next customer, you’ll already benefit from 100% renewables-backed electricity as standard² – meaning that any electricity you use from the grid is backed by renewable sources such as wind, solar and biomass. 

Improving the energy efficiency of your home’s heating reduces the amount of energy needed to comfortably heat your home and lowers your carbon footprint as a result.

Consider investing in an air source heat pump to generate your own cleaner heat. This environmentally friendly energy source heats your hot water and radiators or underfloor heating and is around 3 to 4 times more efficient than LPG, oil, electricity and gas boilers³. And with the UK Government’s Boiler Upgrade scheme, you could save £5,000 on the cost of installing a new air source heat pump.

But if you’re not yet ready for a heat pump, upgrading to a new A-rated, gas boiler, which runs on far less energy than older, inefficient boilers can help to cut the energy you use to heat your home and hot water.

And to make your heating more energy efficient, fit a smart thermostat and individual smart radiator thermostats to each of your radiators. 

If you’re in the market for a new car, switch to an electric vehicle. Electric vehicles don’t produce any exhaust emissions, meaning your electric car won’t produce the greenhouse gases or air pollutants which contribute to smog and health problems.

You can minimise your carbon footprint even further by charging your car at home, either using the electricity from your solar panels or with a 100% renewables-backed electricity supply².

There are many ways that what and how we choose to eat can either contribute to or reduce the impact we have on the planet.

Simple changes such as eating what’s in season, shopping from local growers and producers and eating a more plant-based diet can all help to reduce the carbon emissions associated with the food we eat.

In the UK, we throw away 4.5 million tonnes of food from our homes⁴ and tackling this is key to tackling the climate crisis. Only buy what you need, use up any leftovers to create a delicious, new meal and freeze anything you won’t use immediately.

For more tips on how to more sustainable in the kitchen, follow us on Instagram @eonenergyuk where we’ve partnered with some of the best sustainable chefs in the UK to inspire you with a summer of planet friendly cooking.

It’s easy to get swept up in the latest trends, but the fashion industry is responsible for around 10% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions⁵ so making some small changes to your fashion choices can have a big impact.

Being more mindful when it comes to clothes shopping can help you to select a few timeless pieces, in good quality fabric, that you can wear again and again – rather than flimsy, generic fast fashion. And you don’t need to buy new either. Why not consider buying second-hand clothes from charity shops, vintage shops and apps such as Depop or Vinted – or even renting an outfit for special occasions.

You can also increase the lifespan of your clothes by washing them less frequently as well as repairing any loose hems, missing buttons or holes. And if you no longer love the clothes in your wardrobe, give them to charity, sell them or recycle them.

^{1. Nasa: Climate Change: How Do We Know?}

^{2. Electricity sourced from E.ON’s renewable generation assets, supply agreements with independent UK wind generators and the purchase of renewable electricity certificates. The electricity supplied to your homes comes from the National Grid. Find out more at eonenergy.com/renewable}

^{3. Based on a Daikin heat pump installed by E.ON.}

^{4. BBC: The simple formula to cut your diet’s carbon footprint}

^{5. BBC: Can fashion ever be sustainable?}