1. Connect your appliances properly

Make sure your appliances are plumbed in properly. If they aren′t, waste water can run into storm drains and straight into rivers without being properly treated, harming fish and other wildlife.

2. Buy energy efficient appliances

Think about the running costs as well as the purchase price - a small monthly saving from a more efficient appliance could add up to a substantial saving over the lifetime of your appliance.

When the time comes to choose -look for the smallest product for your needs to cut energy consumption and protect the environment - two different sized fridges can have the same efficiency rating (for example, a European Union (EU) energy label ′A′), but the smaller one will use less energy and cost less to run.

To know more about energy rating and labelling read Energy Labels .

3. Look for the label

When buying a new appliance, there are two key energy labels to look out for:

• the Energy Saving Recommended logo can only be used on the most energy efficient products, usually the top 20 per cent of those available
• the EU energy label is now obligatory for all white goods and ovens in the UK; it grades products from A (best) to G (worst) for energy use (the scale now goes up to A++ for fridges and freezers)

You could also look at how water-efficient a new appliance is - as a rule, the more energy efficient a machine is, the less water it will use. EU energy labels show litres of water used per wash.

• when choosing a washing machine, a good guide is to look for a machine that uses less than 50 litres per wash
• for dishwashers, try looking for one that uses less than 15 litres per wash

• UK dishwashers ranked by water efficiency
• UK washing machines ranked by water efficiency

4. Dispose of old appliances safely

It′s important to recycle your old appliances. Dumping old machines can lead to harmful chemicals escaping and causing pollution. What you can do with them:

• many of the major stores will take away your old appliance when they install a new one - ask if they will do this when you buy
• councils have to collect unwanted white goods from householders
• you can take your old appliances to the local tip for free
• Disposal of bulky items