Tips for minimisation
We put together tips for reducing energy and water consumption and sorting waste. Welcome to minimise your housing emissions with us!
How to reduce energy consumption
Saving energy is an important environmental act and saves money at the same time.
Adjust the temperature
– Heating your home uses a lot of energy, especially in winter. On average, heating costs are reduced by 5% when the home temperature is lowered by just one degree.
– The ideal temperature for your home is around 20-21 degrees Celsius, while a couple of degrees cooler in the bedroom is still sufficient.
– Measure the temperature in the middle of the room, a good metre above the floor. Make sure the radiators are not covered by curtains or furniture. If the thermostat is covered, it will not sense the room temperature correctly.
– Ventilate quickly through the windows with a cross-draft fan. Do not keep doors and windows open unnecessarily.
– It is a good idea to check the seals on windows and doors regularly. If necessary, contact the maintenance company
Avoid wasted consumption
– Standby appliances and chargers hanging in the socket consume electricity stealthily. It is a good idea to switch off and unplug appliances when they are not in use. A plug-in extension lead is a handy way to minimise wastage.
– An electric sauna is often the biggest energy guzzler in the home, so it’s best not to keep it unnecessarily warm.
Save energy in the kitchen
– Heating with a microwave saves up to 90% of electricity compared to an oven.
– Take advantage of the oven’s residual heat: the heat remains in the oven for up to 20 minutes after switching off.
– When it comes to saving energy, the good old advice – cook in a low liquid and use a lid – still applies.
– A kettle uses less energy than a cooker, so it’s also a good idea to use it when cooking.
– Only put properly chilled food in the fridge and freezer.
Pay attention to lighting
– Lighting in the home accounts for around 10% of the electricity consumed. Turn off the lights in an empty room and replace them with energy-efficient LED bulbs.
– Washing windows can significantly increase the amount of natural light in your home, as dirt on windows can take up to 40% of sunlight.
Be smart about how you use electricity
– Nationally, there are two peaks in electricity use on weekdays: in the morning between 8 and 10 am and again in the early evening, usually between 4 and 5 pm and again between 7 and 8 pm. If at all possible, move electricity-intensive chores such as washing dishes or washing machines outside peak hours.
– It is necessary and sensible to balance your consumption, whether you are on a fixed price or exchange contract. The higher the price of electricity, the higher the risk of power shortages and blackouts.
– You can monitor the state of the electricity system, for example, through the monitoring service of the Finnish Grid Company.
Sources: Motiva, WWF
Tips from our residents to reduce energy consumption
“Make food for several days at once, putting some in the freezer if necessary.”
“Check the seals on doors and windows.”
“Unplug appliances immediately when not in use.”
“Turn off lights when it’s daylight.”
“Curtains away from radiators.”
“Don’t wash or dry clothes in your home – use the laundry room and drying rooms in the house.”
“Replace light fittings with LED bulbs.”
“Chargers, TVs, computers, etc. draw power even when they are turned off – so unplug all appliances that draw power when not in use.”
“Use natural sunlight whenever possible. During the day, open blinds and curtains to let natural light in, and turn off lights when they are not needed.”
“Take care of appliances and their maintenance.”
“Choose electrical appliances that use little energy.”
“Defrost accumulated ice in the fridge/freezer.”
“Wash full washing machines.”
“Get thermometers in rooms and adjust temperatures to suit. By lowering the temperature in your living space by one degree, your heating bills will drop by 5%. Lower the temperature in your home when you go away for several days.”
“Make the most of the initial and residual heat from the oven.”
“Take the stairs whenever possible – avoid using lifts.”
“When cooking, use a microwave as much as possible in place of a conventional oven/stove.”
“Chill leftover food after cooking and eating on the balcony before putting it in the fridge.”
“Ventilate the apartment quickly with a dehumidifier.”
“Reduce the use of hot water.”
“Use economical lamps + turn off unnecessary ones.”
“Unplug unused chargers.”
“Use the microwave and kettle instead of the stove.”
“Turn off the radio and TV when you are no longer listening to or watching programmes, also turn off the lights in the room when you are no longer in the room.”
How to reduce water consumption
Heating domestic hot water takes about 17% of the energy needed to heat a home. Minimising water consumption also reduces energy bills, as hot domestic water is about three times more expensive than cold water.
Change the way you wash
– Shorten your shower time.
– Avoid running water unnecessarily. Turn off the shower while soaping.
– Reduce the power of the shower.
– Reduce the number of times you wash your hair, as you don’t usually need to wash your hair every day.
– Make sure children do not stay in the shower for long periods. Teach them to wash quickly too.
Check the condition of water fixtures
– Repair leaking taps and a faulty toilet flush tank as soon as you notice the problem by contacting the maintenance company.
Wash only full machines
– Wash full loads of machine laundry. Use the economy and under-load programmes for exceptions, which will also save electricity. Not all clothes need to be washed after every use, prefer airing.
– Use a dishwasher at the right temperature for washing full-size machines. Also take advantage of the machine’s quick or economy wash programmes. Rinsing dishes with running water can increase rinse water consumption by up to six times compared to a dishwasher.
Sources: Motiva, WWF
Tips from our residents to reduce water consumption
“Take shorter showers and turn off the water while shampooing/deterging.”
“Always turn off the tap when you don’t need it. Bottle up your drinking water in the fridge so you always have ready cold water on hand and don’t have to drain long to get a glass.”
“Don’t do the dishes under running water.”
“Wash a larger number of dishes with the same washing water / only wash full loads of laundry.”
“Prefer a jogging bath.”
“Take shorter showers. Reducing shower time can significantly reduce the amount of water used.”
“When brushing your teeth, take a cup of water and don’t let the water run all the time.”
“When doing laundry, turn on the fast programme.”
“Take the leftover water from the kettle, for example, and put it in a container. You can use the water later for rinsing out cartons of yoghurt, for example, or when you put a dirty dish to soak or water your flowers.”
“If you have children you should get them a bath, 15 minutes in the tub uses much less water than a long shower.”
“When you take a shower, you should set the egg timer to tick so you don’t forget to go in.”
“Check the taps and ask for them to be replaced if they drip.”
“Collect rainwater for watering plants instead of tap water.”
“Only use the washing machine and dishwasher when they’re full.”
How to sort your waste better
Waste sorting saves nature and reduces the environmental impact of landfills. The best ways to reduce waste are to make sensible product choices and to recycle or reuse goods.
Biowaste includes:
– leftovers, fruit, root vegetables, vegetable and egg shells
– coffee and tea grounds with filter bags
– fish scales and bones
– edible fats and oils (soak up the liquid ones, e.g. in kitchen paper)
– tissue paper, e.g. kitchen paper and paper napkins
– plant waste and potting soil
– pet litter based on vegetable fibre, wood and bentonite
– newsprint or eggshell as a litter
Soak up the runny fats, oils, liquids and broths in tissue paper, egg carton or newspaper. Any kitchen paper, handkerchiefs and napkins that can be sorted into biowaste work well as a litter trap, absorbing moisture and preventing the biowaste from freezing.
Preferably pack your organic waste in a paper bag
Waste that can be sorted in the bio-waste bin should preferably be packed in a paper bag. A paper bag is the best option for treatment in a biogas and composting plant. A fully compostable bag for bio-waste can also be used. A paper bag or paper wrapping can be folded from newspaper. Bio-waste should not be packed in plastic bags, such as plastic shopping bags, fruit bags or plastic bin liners bought in rolls.
Tips for sorting organic waste in the kitchen
- If your kitchen waste bin doesn’t have space for bio-waste, you can easily collect it in a smaller container on your kitchen worktop. There are many different options for collecting biowaste in shops, but you can just as easily use an old pot or similar.
- Try to keep your organic waste in the kitchen as airy as possible.This way it will be drier before you take it out to the biowaste bin. The less moisture in the bag, the better. A paper biowaste bag and a perforated or lidless collection container will help dry the waste.
- Soak up the runny fats, oils, liquids and broths in your biowaste in tissue paper, egg carton or newspaper. Any kitchen paper, handkerchiefs and napkins that can be sorted into biowaste work well as litter, absorb moisture and prevent the biowaste from freezing.
- Close the mouth of the bio-waste bag carefully when you take it to the bin.
Separately sorted bio-waste reduces the amount of mixed waste generated. The sorting of bio-waste is also important because only sorted bio-waste can be used to produce both local compost fertiliser and biogas, which can be processed into transport fuel.
Plastic collection includes:
– Plastic food packaging, including aluminium-lined plastic bags, sacks and wrappings
– packaging for detergents, shampoo and soap
– other household plastic packaging
– EPS or polystyrene packaging
– All empty and dry plastic packaging, including PVC plastic, is eligible for plastic packaging collection.
If the product is plastic and the packaging is plastic, it belongs to the plastic packaging collection. The packaging is clean enough for collection when it can be stored for a few days at home without causing major odour problems. The packaging should not contain a lot of food residue, but small stains are not a problem.
There may be other recyclables among the plastics
Remove caps, lids, pump parts and the like and place them in the collection container separately. These parts are often made of a different plastic than the rest of the packaging. Doing so will improve recycling.
Not all plastic is plastic waste
Other products made of plastic, such as children’s toys, plastic household items, buckets or similar, are not included in the collection of plastic packaging, as they are not packaging. So sort them into mixed waste.
The cardboard collection includes:
– corrugated board packaging
– cartons, e.g. milk and juice cartons
– cardboard containers
– cartons for dry products, e.g. cereal and biscuit packets
– paper bags and sacks
– pizza boxes, egg cartons
– toilet roll and kitchen roll casings
– cardboard multipacks for beverages
The collection of glass packaging includes:
– clear and coloured glass containers, such as glass jars and bottles remove caps and lids
– you can leave the collars and labels in place
– rinse dirty glass containers with cold water if necessary
– please return bottles with a deposit to the return points in shops.
Metal collection includes:
– tins
– non-refillable beverage cans
– Metal lids, caps and closures
– aluminium liners, foils and lids
– non-pressurised aerosol cans
Paper collection includes:
– newspapers and magazines
– advertisements and brochures
– envelopes, including those with windows
– copying and printing paper, colour and white
– drawing paper and notepaper, coloured and white
– recycled paper
– telephone and product catalogues
– soft-cover books and inside pages of hard-cover books (with covers removed)
– booklets
– paper bags made of white paper
Textiles
Take the discarded textiles that were previously sorted as energy waste to a recycling point:
– Sorting station Pilleri, Sapelikatu 7
– Hollola sorting station, Paassillantie 114
Dry and clean clothes and household textiles, such as trousers, shirts, skirts, sheets, towels and tablecloths, are eligible for the collection of discarded textiles. However, for reasons of hygiene, for example, underwear, socks, blankets, pillows, rugs, cuddly toys and the like may not be collected.
Mixed waste is:
– plastic household items, buckets or similar children’s toys
– plastic kitchen chips and cups
– baking papers, butter wrappers, cling film, freezer bags
– photographs, negatives, films, slides, X-rays
– pieces of wood, pieces of chipboard
– plastic packaging rims
– string and ribbons
– gift ribbons, adhesive tapes and gift wrap
– candleholders
– coffee and crisp bags, empty pharmaceutical blisters and other aluminium-containing packaging not suitable for metal collection
– nappies, sanitary towels
– shoes, bags, rain gear
– rubber, leather and imitation leather products
– PVC plastics, 03-labelled and other unidentified plastic products: toys, hoses, handbags and gloves, ejector foils and plastic caps
– incandescent and halogen lamps and fuses
– mirrors, porcelain, ceramics and glassware
– vacuum cleaner bags, cigarette butts and chewing gum
– packaging containing foodstuffs and large bones e.g. ham bone
– VHS and C-cassettes, CDs and DVDs and their plastic cases, computer discs and cartridges
Stay up to date on sorting
The Salpakierro website has comprehensive and up-to-date sorting instructions and good guides.
Go to the Salpakierro website
