Swimming legend Mark Foster was joined by children from Glendower Prep School to help launch a new campaign this week that could help save Londoner’s millions and help the environment.
 
The event was hosted by the Energy Saving Trust and Waterwise at the Imperial College Swimming Pool to help raise awareness about a new free advice hotline (0800 512 012) for Londoners, providing tips and advice about how to save water and money.
 
According to the latest research if Londoners cut down their shower time by just one minute they could save around £18M per year – the equivalent to 110,000 tonnes of CO2, filling Wembley Stadium 14 times.

A new survey commissioned for the campaign to look into Londoners water habits has also revealed that:
 
 ·      Londoners claim to spend longer in the shower than anywhere else in the UK – spending 9.21 minutes compared to the 8.45 national average.
 
·       Londoners claim to bathe more than anywhere else in the UK taking around 122 baths a year. That’s 25 more than the claimed national average. It’s also 38 more baths than claimed by the Scots and 54 more baths than claimed by the Welsh.

·      If heated water was scarce the first thing most people in London said they would sacrifice washing was their car. 
 
Top energy saving tips from the Energy Saving Trust include:

1) Every minute you cut off your daily shower could save you between £5 and £10 off your energy bills over the year.
 
2) If everybody in a four person family replaced one bath a week with a 5 minute shower, you could save between £5 and £15 per year off your energy bill. This saving would be even greater if you use an electrical immersion heater.

3) Using a bowl to wash up twice a day rather than leaving the hot tap running could save around £25 a year on a household's gas bills.

4) Don’t use hot when cold will do – for example, rinse plates and wash vegetables in cold water.

5) Wait until you have a full load before turning on your dishwasher or washing machine.
 
6) Choose eco setting or lowest temperature setting when using your washing machine.
 
7) Insulating your hot water cylinder is one of the simplest and easiest ways to save energy and money in your home. Putting a 75mm thick hot water cylinder jacket on your hot water will save around £35 a year. By insulating any visible hot water pipes you can save around £10 more off your annual gas bill.
 
8) A dripping tap wastes around 5,500 litres of water a year. If you are on a water meter fixing the tap could save you over £18 a year.
 
9)  Your roof collects about enough rain water to fill 450 water butts every year.  You can use this for your garden, your houseplants, or even to wash your car.
 
10) Using a bucket and sponge to wash your car generally uses about a tenth of the water you would use compared to washing with a hosepipe.

If you would like more information about how you can save water and energy please call your local Energy Saving Trust advice centre on 0800 512 012