Can you wean yourself off waste and save a small fortune? That's the challenge of Come Off It day, as CHRIS TITLEY reports.

IF the Evening Press's weather forecast can be believed, today was due to be mostly fine, if a little chilly. That will have pleased Candida Spillard.

Dr Spillard, you see, was planning to spend most of the day gardening. Admittedly this is not earth-shattering news, unless the earth in question resides in her flower beds. Yet it could, in a small and simple way, help save the planet.

Her garden, as is the way of these things, is outdoors - in this case a particular patch of outdoors found off Stockton Lane in York. As such, it is solar powered. The only bulbs it requires are the sort that bloom. It is fuelled by nothing more than elbow grease and flower power.

By contrast, the indoors is a veritable drain on energy. Every home now bristles with appliances which burn up electricity and gas at an alarming rate.

Dr Spillard's home is far more energy efficient than most. Every light bulb is of the long lasting, low consuming variety except one. That lived in the bathroom and is being replaced today. To reduce her energy use still further, she must abandon the comforts of home and take to her plot.

The new bathroom bulb and a day's gardening leave are her contribution to Come Off It day. Dreamt up by Dave Hampton, a Buckinghamshire man who styles himself the "carbon coach", it is a day when we are being asked to become more aware of the power we waste.

Or, as Dave puts it: "Let's come off the grid, let's come off our addiction to carbon-based power, and let's say 'Come off it' to all those who pretend we still need dirty old-style fossil and nuclear power."

He wants everyone to "flick the switch and commence generation of one of the world's largest and most overlooked power sources - not megawatts but negawatts.

"Negawatts are created by harnessing people power or, more specifically, people's power of restraint.

"If every house saves just a few watts, that's one fewer new power station that we need to build. And if every house saves 100 watts through simple actions such as switching off a light that's not really needed, or being careful not to overfill the kettle, we'd save not one power station but several."

People are being urged to replace at least one old fashioned bulb with an energy efficient one, "then, go around the house and switch off anything that you can easily do without, and try to avoid any unnecessary electricity use".

The next time you turn off your telly in disgust at the second-rate, brain-rotting mush which now passes for entertainment, do it properly. Don't leave that little red light glowing on the set.

According to the Energy Savings Trust, consumers waste £200 a year on electricity bills for appliances they have not turned off properly.

Televisions and electrical items use up to 85 per cent of their full power when left on standby. This results in about one million tonnes of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere, having a major effect on global warming.

The worst culprits include televisions, which waste £12 idling on stand by a year, and computers, which waste as much as £50.

Nationally, TVs left on standby alone cost £88 million, and set-top boxes squander a further £11 million. However, seven out of ten consumers "still fail to recognise how television usage might affect climate change".

"If everybody switched off something, if they went round and exchanged a hot light bulb for a cool one, they would save 20 or 30 watts," says Dr Spillard.

"If you multiply that by 25 million households, that adds up to a medium-sized power station."

And these actions cause little or no pain: it takes her 90 seconds at night to check everything is switched off and unplugged - which has the additional benefit of reducing the fire risk.

Today's campaign concentrates mainly on electricity use because a typical 'thermal' power station - one that burns a fuel to make steam to generate electricity, including nuclear plants - loses about two-thirds of the energy as heat, Dr Spillard explains.

"That's why there's all the fuss about wanting smaller power stations with 'heat mains' piping the heat to local homes and businesses. It's also giving the people at the National Grid rather a lot to think about."

Electricity companies have been asked by the Government to advise customers on cutting down their power usage. "I have a problem with that. If I am selling something to somebody, I am the last person to ask to encourage them to use less of it."

Dr Spillard, who is undertaking a masters degree in architecture, the environment and energy use, suggests that every household's bill payer takes a weekly reading of their electricity meter. This would quickly identify any anomalies like "the 100 watt bulb left on in the attic".

Moreover, all power savings could also be seen as doing our bit for Britain, at a time when we are too reliant on importing energy from other countries.

As a Green Party councillor, Andy D'Agorne is all in favour of the Come Off It initiative. It fits with a motion he is tabling at a City of York Council meeting this month.

He said: "The theme of it is that energy efficiency and renewables are far preferable to new nuclear power stations."

The campaign allows everybody to do their bit. "Like many things, lots of people making a small effort can make a significant contribution - although it's equally important that we get the Government to take action as well, certainly by putting more investment into renewable energy," said Coun D'Agorne.

More than 40,000 new homes could be built in York and North Yorkshire in the next 15 years. He would like the city council to be given more powers to compel builders into creating the most energy efficient homes possible.

"The buildings we are putting up now hopefully will be with us for 60 years. By the end of their lifetime, it will be even more important than it is now that they get the maximum value for the energy they use."

John Cossham is another York resident trying to live a green lifestyle. Also known as the children's entertainer Professor Fiddlesticks, he has low energy light bulbs throughout his Hull Road home, a straw trap to ensure his used bath and washing up water is suitable for garden use and insulation in the loft.

He composts leftovers, including unsold fruit and veg he buys for a penny a bag from local greengrocers. Food is cooked on "more or less carbon neutral" smoke-free wood burning stoves, which also heats his water.

But, Mr Cossham says, he could still do more.

He would urge anybody switched on to a greener lifestyle by the Come Off It campaign to consider changing their electricity user. He is a customer of Good Energy Ltd, which supplies 100 per cent renewable electricity from the sustainable energy of wind, sun, or running water.

And he would like York and North Yorkshire councils to ditch plans to build an incinerator to burn waste. It would be much more environmentally friendly to recycle everything possible, he argues, then establish an anaerobic digester.

One of those is set for Scarborough. It will dispose of "wet waste" products while producing electricity for the UK grid.

Until then, why not simply spend more time in the garden?

Ten ways to save power and money

1) Turning your thermostat down by 1C could cut your heating bills by up to ten per cent and save you about £30 per year

2) Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should not need to be set higher than 60C/140F

3) Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows

4) Always turn off the lights when you leave a room

5) Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave appliances on charge unnecessarily

6) If you're not filling up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher, use the half-load or economy programme

7) Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle)

8) A dripping hot water tap in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off

9) Replace your light bulbs with energy saving recommended ones: only one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £78 over the lifetime of the bulb - and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs

10) Do a home energy check on www.est.org.uk, the Energy Saving Trust website. Just answer some simple questions about your home and the trust will give you a free, impartial report telling you how you can save up to £250 a year on your household energy bills

Source: the Energy Saving Trust

Updated: 08:45 Tuesday, April 04, 2006