What can you draw without a pen or pencil, chalk or charcoal?… your curtains! Have you ever stopped to wonder why you really need them … do they just feel like another job to do? Drawing your curtains in the morning – letting the sunlight flood in can reduce the need to turn on your lights, saving electricity. How about drawing your curtains in the evening, how can that help our planet?
This week … your challenge is to close your curtains when you’re back from school. When you see it starting to get dark outside – can you stop what you’re doing and head off to close your curtains? You’d be helping to keep your home warmer and reduce your heating-related carbon emissions. Before you tug at any curtains, please check with your parent/carer!
As humans, we put on jumpers, coats and hats when we get cold, but how do you think animals that live in cold climates keep warm? Penguins have dense oily feathers and a thick layer of fat, birds fluff up their feathers to trap air, and sheep grow a thick wool coat. Learn about how polar bears stay warm here. What does your home ‘wear’ to stay warm? … Curtains and insulation! Insulation is made of materials that don’t allow heat to pass through easily – listen to this ‘fun radio’ podcast about home insulation. In most roofs you’ll find insulation made of fibre-glass or rockwool (don’t touch it with your hands), foam boards, or in some cases even sheep wool! Ask your parent/carer if they could show you some insulation around your home – in your roof or even around water pipes.
Lots of things are already happening to reduce the impact of our home heating on climate change – have you heard of any ideas? New technologies, like smart meters, are helping us to heat our homes only when needed. New ways of heating our homes are also becoming more common – such as ground or air source heat pumps, hydrogen heating and heat networks. Some new homes are being designed so you don’t need central heating at all – check out how a passive house works.