Schools should introduce an energy efficiency course to their curriculum as a means of teaching young people about conservation needs, it has been suggested.
The teaching only needs to be a couple of hours a week, with the aim of educating young people about simple energy saving measures, including how they must turn off lights when they leave a room, a representative from the National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) believes.
Andrew Leech, director at the NHIC, said: "The parents have got to tell their youngsters. It doesn't go down very well with them because the young people say, 'That is nothing to do with me – you pay the bill'. But the youngsters have got to be told."
This advice follows the Carbon Trust's recommendation that businesses should turn their heating down by one degree to save money on fuel bills.
Lowering heating by this amount can enable firms to save up to eight per cent on their fuel consumption costs, the group advised.