Don't forget to turn off your fairy lights Ever since I found out that 15% of household electricity is wasted by leaving TVs, Hi-fi's and other appliances on standby ? costing each of us an average of 37 per year ? I make sure I turn things off when I?m not using them. In general lighting accounts for 15% of household electricity, and 100-string Christmas tree lights left on for 10 hours a day over the 12 days of Christmas produce enough carbon dioxide to inflate 60 balloons - so make sure you get energy saving light bulbs for your house, and at Xmas, try these solar powered rope lights or these outdoor solar powered christmas fairy lights for some winter sparkle without adding to your carbon footprint. Christmas cards An estimated 1.7 billion Christmas cards are sent each year in Britain, the equivalent of 200,000 trees, and around 1 million Christmas cards are thrown away every year. I try to send recycled Christmas cards (like these designer ones ), but you could make your own, or send texts or e-cards instead. After the big day, make sure your Christmas cards don't go to waste ? take them to a Woodland Trust recycling point. I like to buy recycled Christmas cards from charities and donate up to 20% to less fortunate people at the same time. Recycled wrapping paper There's no point recycling rubbish if you don't buy recycled products! It's estimated that 83 square kilometres of wrapping paper end