National Trust offer day off for Great Green Leap Day

The National Trust is giving all its staff and volunteers a day off on February 29th to encourage them to take action to reduce their carbon footprints.

All Trust staff are being given the opportunity to spend the day at home or in their local community on Leap Day, making changes to improve their environmental footprint - from switching to energy saving lightbulbs to establishing a compost heap.

National Trust director general, Dame Fiona Reynolds, said: "Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we are facing today.

"At the National Trust, we are looking at the impact of all our activities and how we can reduce this impact. Now we want our staff to do the same."

The Trust also helps to encourage other businesses and organisations to follow suit in encouraging their employees to live greener lifestyles.

Fiona Reynolds added: "There are over 29 million employees in the UK; if just one million changed one light bulb and turned their thermostat down by one degree, it would save 351,000 tons of carbon."

For great energy saving tips and ideas that you can have a go out on February 29th, or any other time of the year, visit the Big Green Switch website.

E-Day (Energy Saving Day) 2008 - Feb 27th

The UK's first ever Energy Saving Day (E-Day) will run on 27 February 2008.

E-Day will run from 6pm on 27 February to 6pm the following day and during those 24 hours, everyone in the UK will be asked to try and cut energy use in their home, school or office.

The National Grid will be monitoring the demand for power on a minute-by-minute basis throughout the day to provide feedback on how the UK has performed during the day and hopefully demonstrate the potential long-term impact that we could all have if we made every day an E-Day.

Find out more about E-Day and how you can get involved at the official website - http://www.e-day.org.uk/.

Make the LEAP towards a greener lifestyle on February 29th!

As 2008 is a leap year, we all have an extra day to play with today. But, as it only comes around once every four years, rather than treating today as "just another day", why not make the most of it and do something special?

The Big Green Switch is inviting you to make a pledge to do something green during Feb 29th.

While many people are keen to do their bit to help the environment, they often say that they just don't seem to find the time to take the action they need to. So why not think of February 29th as an extra day in your life and use it to put some time aside to do something positive and green!

Make your pledge and let's all use our extra day to make the leap to a smarter, greener lifestyle!

Here are just a selection of suggestions for things you could do on February 29th to help reduce your carbon footprint:

• Install low-energy light bulbs in your home
  
• Plant a tree
  
• Draught-proof any breezy windows and doors
  
• Draught-proof your letterbox
  
• Cancel your junk mail
  
• Leave the car at home and walk/cycle everywhere
  
• Switch your bank account to online/paperless statements
  
• Switch your utility bills to paperless billing options
  
• Foil-back your radiators
  
• Start a compost heap in your garden
  
• Spread your existing compost out into your beds
  
• Switch your energy supply to a green energy option
  
• Enquire about getting cavity wall installed
  
• Enquire about getting loft insulation installed
  
• Defrost your freezer
  
• Get recycling bins organised in your home to help you sort your waste more easily
  
• Give your car a service and check your tyre pressure
  
• Install a water-hippo or other displacement device in your toilet cistern.
  
• Swap your bank account to a greener, ethical account
  
• Set-up a recycling scheme in your workplace
  
• Work from home to cut out your commuting emissions