Moving your family whilst keeping your carbon footprint low

We are all conscious of the environment and want to be seen to be doing our bit. Moving home in a big diesel glugging van and offsetting your carbon footprint seems like a contradiction in terms but you can make a difference.

Choosing a home can have many environmental consequences. For example, your location determines how far you will travel for work, shops and schools. Moving home often involves buying new appliances and making changes to your property, so it's a good time to think about how you can save energy and water.

If you're buying a property built since 2002 you could ask the seller about the property's 'SAP rating' (Standard Assessment Procedure rating). The SAP rating is based on the energy costs associated with heating, water heating, ventilation and lighting. Rating is on a scale of one to one hundred. The higher the number, the greater the energy efficiency and the lower your running costs would be.

When looking at properties, ask whether there is wall and loft insulation, and find out how old the boiler is. If the boiler is more than 10 to 15 years old it is unlikely to be very efficient. Replacing it could save you a third off your energy bills.

Moving home is often a time when you buy new appliances or furniture, and can be a good time to change habits, for example by switching to energy efficient light bulbs. Here are some other ideas:

• if you're buying new appliances, choosing energy efficient ones will save money and help tackle climate change
• turn over a new leaf by not leaving machines on standby, which wastes a significant amount of electricity
• buying second-hand, or renovating items like furniture, carpets and curtains, can help save raw materials and energy, and will cut waste
• when buying timber products like furniture or flooring, check they are from a sustainable source

When you start your clear out and pile up the items to throw away there are so many opportunities to recycle. Metal is in short supply (it must be if people are stealing postboxes!) so leave the metal out for collection. Old furniture can be posted on sites such as Freecycle whereby someone comes and collects your unwanted items at no charge to you or them. Remember your junk may be someone else's treasure chest.

Make sure your removal company are using recycled boxes and consider passing them on to someone else or might be moving or ask your company to collect and recycle your boxes.
If you don't already have one, think about getting a compost bin to recycle your garden and kitchen waste.

If you're lucky you may have inherited some wildlife features if you have a new garden, such as a pond or bird boxes. But there are likely to be other things you could do to encourage wildlife, like putting up feeders, or choosing plants that will attract a variety of insects and animals.

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