Greener living with Miller Homes

Recycle Week (22 – 28th June) is about encouraging us to try something new in a bid to go greener and reduce the waste we produce. Family-owned housebuilder, Miller Homes, is in support of the week and is encouraging its Yorkshire residents to take part with a few simple tips on how to go green.

In fact Maureen Stephen, sales adviser at Miller’s eco-friendly development, Millennium Village, in Allerton Bywater is a keen recycler and actively encourages residents and visitors to reduce their carbon footprint and recycle more. “I’ve been recycling for years even before it became ‘popular’,” said Maureen.

“I got the recycling bug when I began renovating properties about 25 years ago and wanted to use typical materials of the period. This led to using reclaimed bricks and old fireplaces that people just wanted to throw away. I have always believed waste not want not so I started to separate my household waste and make the journey to the local recycling bank“, continued Maureen.

As Maureen advises: “It is really simple to go green and save energy whilst at the same time saving the planet and even saving yourself money!”

A few of Miller’s easy homeowners’ steps to a greener lifestyle include;

- When moving into your new home a good cup of tea is must – but don’t waste time and energy heating water unnecessarily – fill your kettle with just enough for the amount of cups you need
- Turn your thermostat down by one degree
- Only plug your phone charger in when you need to use it
- Use a watering can. A hosepipe gushes as much water in half an hour as an average family use in a whole day
- Collect rainwater for use on your garden
- Get back to basics and hang washing out on a line, a tumble dryer is one of the most energy hungry domestic appliances in the home
- Re-use supermarket bags

The construction of Miller’s properties is another way in which the eco-conscious housebuilder is pledging its support for greener living. Simon Ryan site manager at Millennium Village said: “We have a programme in place to actively reduce our site waste by 50%. We source materials from sustainable forests and plan our usage of materials better therefore reducing the waste.

“The excellent homes we build at Millennium Village have just achieved the highest rating possible from EcoHomes. The independent body assesses the environmental quality of a development by considering the broad concerns of climate change, use of resources, pollution, and impacts on bio-diversity.”

For those people wanting to live a greener lifestyle with little effort, the homes built at Millennium Village all come with a segregated kitchen bin for the separation of waste, a water butt to collate rain water and a rotary washing line to eliminate the energy consumption of one of the biggest, domestic appliance, culprits the tumble dryer.

Maureen concluded: “Everyone can play their part, no matter how small, in the fight to become a greener nation!”

For further information visit millerhomes.co.uk to find your nearest development.