Create your own green Switch List and you could WIn £100 worth of great eco goodies!

Celebrate the great green things you've already done and plan your next steps with our new 10 Done, 10 To Do campaign.

10 Done, 10 To Do is all about feeling good about the changes you've made so far to green up your lifestyle and looking forward to what else you hope to do to cut your carbon footprint even further.

As a registered user of the Big Green Switch website, you can build your very own personal Switch List of all the green actions you've done or plan to do in the future. To take part in the 10 Done, 10 To Do campaign, simply add to your Switch List a minimum of 10 green actions which you have already completed together with at least 10 new green actions that you hope to do in the future.

As a thank you for committing to make the switch to a greener lifestyle, we'll enter you into our free prize draw to win £100 worth of eco friendly products to aid some of your future green changes.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE AND ENTER NOW!

Soil Association Organic Fortnight - 6th to 21st September 2008

The Soil Association Organic Fortnight takes place from September 6th to 21st and sees people across Britain celebrating all things organic.

During the fortnight, individuals, businesses and communities will be hosting events to raise awareness of the environmental, health and social benefits of organic production. The campaign also gives everyone a chance to enjoy organic products from delicious food and drink to beauty and textiles.

Events will be taking place all over the country from organic breakfasts at work and farm open days to organic cookery lessons in schools and organic fashion shows. Click here to find an event near you.

The message this year is ‘Love Your Planet, Choose Organic’. Amidst growing concerns about climate change and food security, Soil Association Organic Fortnight provides a chance to look at why organic production - fashion, beauty, food and farming - is better for the planet.

The fortnight kicks off with the Soil Association Organic Food Festival, Europe’s largest celebration of organic, 6-7 September 2008, at Bristol Harbourside and closes on a high with the Soil Association Scotland's Organic Food Festival on 20-21 September.

The Soil Association website is packed with more information about the fortnight, including how you can get involved, a list of scheduled events plus the facility to tell others about any events you are planning yourself. The website also includes details of how to order campaign material for any events you choose to run plus information on how schools can also get involved in the fortnight.

Visit www.soilassociation.org/organicfortnight for full details.

WIN! £1000 to spend on organic produce!

InstantWin4Now.co.uk are giving you the chance to win a massive £1000 to spend on organic food to feed all the family and help to keep them fit and healthy! For your chance to win, click here!

WIN! £100 worth of eco goodies of your choice!

Discover the savings that you could make by living a greener lifestyle - and you could win £100 worth of eco friendly goodies of your choice!*

With the cost of living continues to rise, seemingly by the week, there's never been a better time to take steps to reduce some of your household bills.

By living a smarter, greener lifestyle, you'll not only be doing your bit for the environment and reducing your carbon footprint, you'll also stand to save a small fortune on your household bills at the same time!

We've pulled together 16 simple carbon-cutting ideas that will help you reduce your bills while also slicing a chunk off your carbon footprint. Collectively the tips could save you over £600 per year!

Size Up The Savings for your chance to WIN!

1) On each of the tip pages listed below, you'll see the "Size Up The Savings" piggy bank panel containing details of just how much a typical UK household could save in a year by carrying out that tip.

2) Take a look at each tip and make a note of the money-saving amount listed for each one. Once you've looked at them all, you then need to work out which three of the actions have the biggest money saving potential. (Of course, you could just guess - but we think you may be surprised by the actual answer!)

3) When you've got your top 3 money-savers worked out, click here to complete the Size Up The Savings entry form with the details.

All correct entries will then be entered into our draw to win £100 worth of eco friendly gifts and gadgets of your choice from Ethical Superstore.*

Our 16 "Size Up The Savings" money-saving tips...

	Switch equipment off fully instead of leaving it in standby mode			Choose top-rated energy efficient models when replacing old kitchen appliances
	Install cavity wall insulation to stop heat escaping through walls			Turn down your heating thermostat by a single degree
	Insulate your loft to stop heat escaping through your roof			Foil-back your radiators to reflect heat back into the room
	Wash your laundry at 30oC rather than at higher temperatures			Fit draught-excluders to any breezy doors or windows
	Cut your tumble dryer time by 25% by using dryer balls			Only boil as much water as you need when making a cuppa
	Fit an insulation jacket to your hot water tank to keep your water hotter for longer			Cut out one washing machine load per week by doing fewer, fuller washes
	Ditch chemical cleaning products in favour of natural alternatives			Replace your standard light bulbs with low energy equivalents
	Fit a Savaplug to your fridge to reduce its energy consumption			Improve your car's fuel efficiency by leaving the air conditioning off and keeping windows closed

Click here to complete the Size Up The Savings entry form for your chance to win!

* Terms & conditions apply

National Work from Home Day - Thursday 15th May

This Thursday (May 15) is National Work from Home Day when up to five million workers are expected to work from home across the UK.

The environmental benefits of working from home more regularly can be considerable as you reduce your commuting emissions with each day you do from home. Read more about the green benefits of working from home by clicking here.

Nearly 3.5 million people already work from home in the UK - 12.2 per cent or one-in-eight of the population - an increase of 600,000 since 1997.

The highest proportion of home workers is in the South West with 15.7 per cent, followed by Eastern England with 14.4 per cent. The lowest is in the North East with 9.3 per cent, followed by Scotland with 9.4 per cent.

National Work from Home Day kicks off the start of Work Wise Week, a series of events from Work Wise UK, a not-for-profit organisation which encourages UK businesses to adopt smarter working practices with the aim of turning the country into one of the most progressive economies in the world.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, is keen to extoll the many positives of working from home. Phil said: "Not only does it reduce the amount of commuting people have to do, enhancing their work-life balance, but many are actually more productive.

"Although many organisations practise the age-old philosophy of 'presenteeism', they should open their eyes to the new work ethic spreading across the UK and try out home working: they may well be surprised."

Home working is one of the smarter working practises being promoted through the Work Wise UK campaign, which is entering its third year. Others include flexible working, including condensed hours and nine-day fortnights, mobile and remote working. Work Wise partners include the TUC, CBI, British Chambers of Commerce, BT and Transport for London. It aims to encourage half the working population, some 14 million people, to be offered smarter working by 2011.

Find out more about National Work from Home Day and Work Wise Week at http://www.workwiseuk.org/.

For more tips and ideas for ways to go green in the workplace, visit http://www.biggreenswitch.co.uk/workplace?ito=1714&itc=0.

Are you aware of London Aware 08?

This weekend sees the first London Aware event being held at the Barbican in London.

At the event, you can expect to find all of the information, advice and inspiration you need to live more sustainably. Whether you are taking your first steps towards greener living or looking to go the extra mile this is the event for you.

You will find information from hundreds of companies and products that cover all areas of sustainable living from environmentally friendly transport to banking, health and even DIY.

London Aware 08 will also host two lecture theatres with a series of talks on climate change from speakers including Trevor Baylis, inventor of the wind-up radio and known for his appearances on Tomorrow's World, as well as Martyn Williams from Friends of the Earth, Arctic explorer Nathan Allen and IKEA's Charlie Brown just to name a few.

The exhibition is open daily from 10am on Saturday and Sunday and tickets are just £5 each. So if you're in the area, why not pop along and see what ideas and inspiration you might pick up from the event. More info.

Compost Awareness Week - 4th to 10th May 2008

WRAP and The Composting Association will be encouraging everyone to 'Green up their Environment' this Compost Awareness Week, Sunday 4th May to Saturday 10th May.

The week aims to encourage more individuals, businesses and organisations to get involved with composting.

From garden waste and shredded paper to food waste and cardboard, you may be surprised at just how much of your household waste could be going onto your compost heap rather than being sent to landfill.

A few composting facts to highlight the point:

• Around 30% of a typical home's waste is suitable for composting


• Over 27 million tonnes of green waste goes to landfill every year which could be composted instead.


• It's estimated that only one in every three homes in the UK currently do any composting.

If you're new to composting and want to get started with a heap of your own, check out our beginner's guide to composting. You can also find more composting tips and hints via The Composting Association.

For a large range of composting bins and accessories to help you on your way, click here.

Have a nice Earth Day!

Today, Tuesday 22nd April, is Earth Day.

Earth Day is the internationally-celebrated day of the environment - a time to encourage everyone to stop and take stock of their lifestyles and what impact they have on the environment.The annual event has run since 1970 and this year as many as 500 million people in more than 180 countries are expected to be taking part, staging events or getting involved in local or national environmental projects.

You can do your bit too simply by taking time during the day to look at your lifestyle and think about how it could be more eco-friendly. Visit the Big Green Switch for tips and ideas on how you can save energy, reduce your waste and do many other simple, everyday things to make a difference and live a smarter, greener lifestyle.

To find out more about Earth Day and what events may be happening near you, visit the official website - ww2.earthday.net

Real Nappy Week 2008 - 21-27 April

Real Nappy Week takes place 21-27 April 2008 and highlights how parents can make a real difference to the environment by choosing to use real nappies as an alternative to disposible ones.

In the UK we throw away around 3 billion disposable nappies a year, that’s 8 million a day that go to landfill site near you.

The annual campaign is co-ordinated by Women's Environmental Network (WEN) and the Real Nappy Campaign. Its aim is to to raise awareness of the benefits of modern washable nappies.

Click here for more details about the campaign or click here to find a campaign event near to you.

Click here for more tips and advice on reducing your household waste.

Switch off for Earth Hour - March 29th

Created to take a stand against climate chnage, Earth Hour uses the simple action of turning off the lights for one hour to deliver a powerful message about the need for action on global warming.

Originating in Sydney in 2007, the Earth Hour campaign has now gained global attention. This simple act has captured the hearts and minds of people all over the world. As a result, at 8pm on 29 March 2008 millions of people in some of the world’s major capital cities, including Copenhagen, Toronto, Chicago, Melbourne, Brisbane and Tel Aviv will unite and switch off for Earth Hour.

Cities around the world, including many in the UK, will be taking part in this amazing international event so why not make sure that you, your friends and family and everyone else you know are aware of the event and take part.

Find out more at the official website - http://www.earthhour.org/ - and remember to switch off on March 29th at 8pm.

Have a green Easter!

With Easter just around the corner, we've come up with a few simple ways to still enjoy all the tradition and fun of the holiday with less of the environmental impact.

The Big Green Switch guide to having a greener Easter is full of tips and ideas for a fun and eco-friendly holiday weekend.

Features include how to opt for a greener Easter egg with less environmental impact, other alternate green Easter gift ideas and our guide to decorating Easter eggs the natural way.

Plus don't forget our fab Big Green Easter Egg Hunt where you could win £100 of eco-friendly gifts and gadgets of your choice!

Click here for our tips for a green Easter.

Did you make the LEAP?

Tonnes of CO2 emissions could be cut as a result of pledges made to the Big Green Switch's Make the LEAP towards a greener lifestyle campaign.

Our campaign asked everyone to think of this year's leap day as an extra day in their lives and to pledge to put some time aside to do something green on the day.

We've been inundated with pledges from all over the UK from people pledging to do everything from fitting low energy light bulbs and starting compost heaps to foil-backing radiators and installing water butts.

Leap day pledges in action: Your photos have come into us of you tackling your green activities. Click here to see a selection of leap day pledgers in action!

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