Being a confident, eco-friendly consumer

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This week is National Consumer Week and the campaign aims to raise awareness on some of the issues consumers face across the country. The focus for 2021 is ‘eco-friendly consumer decisions’. We want to help encourage people to take the necessary steps to be more environmentally friendly in a safe and confident way.

Making smart consumer decisions

When buying any product or service, whether it’s in-store or online, it’s important to make sure you’re keeping safe and shopping smart. Paying with a credit card is actually one of the safest ways you can buy products because of the extra protections you have that you don’t get through paying cash or with a debit card. You should be careful though, when paying with a credit card you’re technically borrowing money so you should be wary that anything you don’t pay back that month will accrue interest.

It’s important to do your research if you’re unsure about a product. Check the reviews and how legitimate the seller or company is. If you’re still unsure about something, you can always get advice by calling our Consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 or visiting our website for more consumer advice. 

Shopping eco-friendly

You should be wary of vague terms and slogans like ‘all natural’, ‘green’ or ‘eco’ and pretty marketing images. Although they do sound and look convincing, they aren’t clear in meaning and can easily be misinterpreted. A business should make it clear how their service or product benefits the environment but if you aren’t sure, you can read the small print or go to the company website to find evidence. 

It shouldn’t be difficult to find proof of a company’s eco-friendly claim. Something to look out for is a reputable certification mark which can indicate a business aligns with an environmental standards scheme.

You can get more tips on shopping eco-friendly by reading the Green Claims Code here.

Energy efficient improvements to your home

Making your home energy efficient is a great way to save money whilst being environmentally friendly. However, it’s important that you feel confident in doing so, especially if you’re investing money into these changes. 

There are a variety of ways to make energy efficient improvements to your home. These can be things such as simply making sure your central heating is working properly and using timers and thermostats to only heat your home when necessary, or making improvements like installing insulation or a new heating system. 

If you’re planning to make improvements to your home, make sure you research the company you’re interested in doing the work for you and get written quotes. Some may be fraudulent traders or scammers who pretend to offer government grants. You can also check out traders using certified schemes, such as Trust Mark. You should always get a written contract before you give a contractor the go-ahead to work on your home. Make sure payments are done through a secure method and be wary of any potential scams.

Sometimes, things still go wrong and if they do, we’re here to help. If you need advice or want to speak to an adviser, call our free Adviceline on 0808 2787 801 or visit cawb.org.uk.