What can you draw without a pen nor pencil, chalk nor charcoal?

Can you be in charge of your curtains this week? Have you ever stopped to wonder why you really need them … just another job like making your bed? Drawing your curtains at the appropriate times of day can help reduce your carbon emissions – saving electricity used for lighting, and reducing energy use for heating your home.

Before you tug at any curtains, please check with your parent /carer!  In the morning your challenge is to open your curtains as soon as you are up – do you really need to turn the light on at all?  In the evening, your curtains have a different use. Can you close them at dusk, when it is getting dark outside – this will help keep your home warmer, and reduce your heating-related carbon emissions.

Don't forget to HIT THE RED BUTTON to tell us when you've been drawing your curtains at the right times! 

Humans when they are cold tend to put on jumpers, coats and hats.  Animals that live in cold climates are well prepared for the cold with thick fur coats. What does your house ‘wear’ to stay warm?  Insulation … a bit like a jumper … it’s made of materials that don’t allow heat to pass through easily.  Home roof insulation is often made of fibre-glass or rockwool (so don’t touch it with your hands), or foam boards, or in some cases even with sheep wool!  Maybe you could ask your parent/carer to show you what it is – you may have some visible in a roof space, or could hunt down some lagged pipes? 

Carbon emissions from heating our homes needs to be reduced for us to help do our bit to combat climate change. Improving the insulation in our homes is one way to reduce our heating related emissions – UK government advice suggests that roof insulation should be at least 270mm thick – that’s nearly the length of a standard ruler!

Using our curtains to let in natural light in the morning and prevent heat escaping through our windows in the evening is one way we, as Young Climate Warriors, can help reduce carbon emissions from our home.  Remember to HIT THE RED BUTTON when you have been ‘in charge’ of the curtains!