According to a new survey conducted by Barratt London, 86% of Brits want to become more environmentally conscious in the new year, however 26% confess they don’t know where to start.
Making sustainable changes is a priority for many Brits, however, implementing these can often be more difficult for those living in city centres, with 69% of survey respondents agreeing it’s a challenge.
To provide city-living homeowners and renters with useful advice for a more eco-friendly 2025, Barratt Redrow head of sustainability delivery, Gareth Rondel, shares his expert advice for sustainable living in every season.
“Living sustainably isn’t something that happens overnight. Choosing to be more environmentally friendly can mean making small lifestyle changes over time. If you aim to make one eco-friendly lifestyle change every month, it can make a great impact on your environmental impact after a year.”
Winter
The winter months can be cold and dark, meaning people use more energy heating and lighting their homes. By cutting down your energy usage, you can easily have a sustainable impact, as well as lowering your energy bills.
January - Use draft stoppers on windows and doors
9 in 10 Brits (89%) are unhappy with the amount of money they spend on energy bills in winter.
Draughty homes are a major source of energy wastage. According to the Energy Saving Trust, draught-proofing around windows and doors can save you around £40 per year on your energy bills and potentially more as costs continue to rise.
If you don’t live in a new build apartment, older balcony doors can be especially bad for draughts, but thankfully there are a few things you can do:
- Buy a draught runner to go along the bottom of the door.
- Reseal the gap around the edges of the door and doorframe.
- If you have a sliding door, make sure that there are no gaps in the back of the mechanism when the door is fully closed.
- Limit the amount of time your balcony door is open when using the balcony in winter.
- If you still find that this area is cold after sealing any draughts, think about covering the door with a heavy curtain which can act as an additional layer of insulation.
February - Switch to LED bulbs
4 in 5 Brits (80%) said they would consider implementing green technology in their homes in 2025.
As the days remain dark at this time of year, lightbulbs see more use in the mornings and late afternoons compared to summertime. While you may not think it, older halogen light bulbs create a lot of heat during use, wasting a lot of energy. LED bulbs are a much more energy efficient alternative.
Contrary to popular belief, LED bulbs can come in a variety of colours and hues, meaning that you can shop around for a warmer or cooler warmth level. According to Energy Star, LED bulbs use up to 90% less energy than older incandescent bulbs and last 35-50 times longer, or 2-5 times longer than fluorescents.
March - Adjust your heating
Using a thermostat to control your heating could save you money without you even noticing. According to a 2022 analysis by UCL, turning down the heating in your home by just 1°C could reduce your yearly energy bills by £130 per degree between 22 and 18 degrees.
Bedrooms are an area which often waste a lot of energy too. When people heat their apartments, they often heat every room, even though they will spend most of their day in the living room or kitchen. By being conscious about the rooms you’re heating, you can massively cut down on your total energy waste.
New build homes are all highly energy efficient and are built to high standards, meaning that you won’t have to worry about improving your home. View Barratt London’s range of new apartments in London today.
Spring
Springtime is traditionally a time for people to begin working on their gardens after the winter. Gardens can be a useful asset for sustainability, allowing you to compost and grow your own food, but you can apply similar measures to apartment living by focusing on indoor gardening and improving air quality.
April - Start a windowsill herb garden
More than half of Brits (57%) would consider starting a windowsill herb garden in 2025.
While growing a garden full of vegetables may not be possible in an apartment, you can still exercise your green thumb on a smaller scale. All you need for this is a windowsill that receives 6 hours of sunlight, an adequate pot or container, and seeds or seedlings.
Basil, parsley and chives are great herbs to begin with if you’re starting out. Mint is another herb which can thrive in various conditions, but it can be invasive to keep it separate from your other plants. Thyme and rosemary are also good choices, especially if you have a warm apartment as these herbs are both drought resistant. The most important thing is to make sure you’re growing herbs you’ll want to use in your cooking to maximise their use.
If you water and fertilise your herbs correctly, they should be ready to harvest when they reach 4-6 inches tall. Regular harvesting of your herbs encourages new growth so don’t be afraid to start using your herbs in meals. As well as being tasty, growing your own herbs can help you become more sustainable, cutting down on your need for imported goods and eliminating the need for plastic packaging.
May - Use air-purifying plants
More than 4 in 5 Brits (82%) would consider using houseplants to increase air purity in their home.
Not only are plants a nice way to introduce natural elements into your apartment, they can also improve your apartment’s air quality. Not only are these cheaper to buy than electronic air purifiers, they require no energy to run, preferring water, soil and sunlight.
There are a number of plants which have air-purifying properties:
- Peace Lily (toxic to pets, so consider placement)
- Spider Plant
- Bamboo Palm
- Snake Plant
To find out more about their different properties, visit our page on the best air-purifying houseplants.
June - Participate in a community garden
Only a third of Brits (36%) know how to get involved in community gardening.
Just because you don’t have a garden doesn’t mean you can’t find one to work on. Community gardens are an amazing way to get into gardening when you live in an urban area like London.
Not only are community gardens a great sustainable measure, by growing plants and food, it also gives you a chance to connect with other people in the community around you.
There are a lot of useful resources online for local community gardens across London which you can get involved in. You can use this interactive map to find community gardens looking for volunteers in your area.
Summer
As most UK homes are built to hold heat for the winter, summer can prove especially hot for those living in apartments. Use these months to focus on environmentally conscious methods of cooling your apartment and conserving water.
July - Improve your apartment’s ventilation
7 in 10 Brits (71%) say their home gets too hot in the summer months.
Indoor spaces can easily become stuffy and sweltering in the summer heat. There are a few ways you can increase the airflow and optimise fan placements to have the optimum cooling effect on your apartment.
Cross ventilation is an effective and easy way to increase airflow through your apartment and move warm stagnant air out of your home. By opening up two windows on opposite sides of your apartment, you allow the breeze to move through your rooms as one window lets air enter and the other lets air exit.
You can also consider using more strategic fan placement. While fans do use electricity, they use a great deal less than air conditioning units so are more environmentally friendly by comparison. By positioning your fan near an open window, you can use it to draw in cool air from outside or push warm air out. Ceiling fans also help to circulate air and can greatly reduce the feeling of stuffiness in your rooms.
August - Use houseplants to cool your apartment
Two thirds of Brits (63%) didn’t know you could use certain plants to naturally air-condition your home.
Air conditioning can be a major drain of energy during the summer months, having a massive environmental impact. Not only that, but with the cost of installing just one air conditioning unit up to £3,000, it’s not an accessible solution for many. However, did you know that you can cool your home using common houseplants?
Houseplants naturally transpire, meaning they draw water up from the soil where it evaporates out of the leaves. Transpiration also cools the area surrounding the plant, bringing down the temperature of your apartment.
Here are the seven best air conditioning plants:
- Snake plant
- Peace lily
- Aloe vera
- Bamboo palm
- Boston fern
- Golden postos
- Spider plant
September - Install low flow or aerator shower head
Almost three quarters of Brits (73%) take more showers than baths.
Unsurprisingly, showering uses a lot of water, but there are ways to have the same quality shower experience while cutting down on your water usage.
Low flow shower heads are very simple, they restrict the flow of water through the shower head. While these are an effective way of cutting down on your water usage, they can also help increase the pressure of your shower, improving your experience on the whole.
Aerator shower heads work by mixing the water with air, making the water droplets produced by the shower head larger and making you feel as if more water is coming out than there actually is. Similarly to low flow shower heads, aerators also allow you to cut down on your water consumption while increasing your shower’s water pressure.
Autumn
The end of the year can be a hectic time for buying new things, whether they’re festive treats or just new items for around the home. One sustainable step you can take is to be more conscious of how you source new items and dispose of old items.
October - Optimise your recycling habits
More than three quarters of Brits (78%) said that they could improve their recycling habits in 2025.
Recycling isn’t always as straightforward as some may think and that can act as a barrier for many, preventing them from making more environmentally conscious choices.
A previous study by Barratt Homes found that three quarters of people admitted to putting items in the recycle bin without checking if it was recyclable. Interestingly, 40% of people are unaware that cartons can be recycled, and a third (32%) wrongly thought that kitchen roll could be recycled.
You can improve your recycling skills by learning what materials your local council is able to recycle. Your building management may also have more information on what you’re able to recycle.
There are also a lot of local recycling stations where you can deposit specific items which cannot be recycled using your normal bins, such as batteries. You can use this recycling locator to help you find local recycling stations near you.
November - Go thrifting for new furniture
7 in 10 Brits (71%) have bought second hand furniture before.
An exciting way to source furniture more sustainably and on a budget is to look second-hand. Cities and densely populated areas can be amazing hotspots to discover furniture finds and source hidden gems.
Once you have an idea of what item you might be looking for, you can either begin your search online or in person. Social media and online marketplaces can be a great way to score quick wins and help local people find a new home for their preloved items. Alternatively, you could look for furniture in your local charity shops or thrift stores. Buying in person can be better for people who are less certain about what they’re looking for as you may be inspired by some other items on display.
According to RightGreen, only 17% of disposed furniture in the UK is recycled, meaning that the rest ends up in a landfill. Buying preloved furniture is an amazing way to cut your carbon footprint as it takes 1000x more CO2 to produce new furniture than it does to refurbish.
December - Turn old clothing favourites into new soft-furnishings
3 in 5 Brits (60%) have upcycled furniture before.
As the weather begins to turn, you might want to treat yourself to a comfy new blanket or some new pillows, but did you know that you can make them out of favourite old clothes?
You can make a homely memory blanket out of old favourite t-shirts. This can be made relatively easily by cutting your desired t-shirts into squares, arranging them into your pattern, sewing them together, attaching them to a backing, and binding the edges with strips of fabric.
If you’re feeling a little nervous about making a full blanket and want to start smaller, a memory pillow could be the perfect way to go. Start by choosing an old favourite t-shirt you’re ready to repurpose, cutting the t-shirt beneath the arms to create a square or rectangular tube, then sewing the top and bottom, leaving enough space free to add stuffing before you sew the pillow shut.
There are two top tips for making memory pillows from t-shirts. Firstly, sewing them inside-out means that the seams will end up inside the pillow when you’re finished, making it more comfortable for you to use. Secondly, you can make your own pillow stuffing at home by shredding other older t-shirts, towels, cloths, and other pieces of fabric.
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Methodology
Barratt London surveyed 500 UK adults [15/12/2024].
