Over the years I have probably stayed in hotel rooms more than my own bed. There are lots of downsides to travelling with work, from hours on the motorway to having to listen meet deathly dull regional sales managers from Slough who want to talk about their golf handicap. By far the thing that I miss the most though is home cooked food. This video shows a slightly crazy solution to the problem:

Some people have well and truly embraced environmentally friendly ways of life, but others are less convinced. Here we look at a good way of convincing the doubters, by illustrating how their businesses could save money by adopting environmentally friendly practices. There are a number of excelent ways that you can reduce your business energy costs. Consider whether you can implement these in your workplace.

Switch off unnecessary appliances

Switching off a computer and monitor when not required can cost as little as 30 per cent of the cost of leaving them on 24 hours a day.

Timers can be installed to turn off photocopiers and other equipment when not in use.

Take care to switch off lights when the last person leaves, and leave lights off in unoccupied areas. Also consider areas where lighting may not be required all day, for example close to large windows. Where lights may only be required for occasional short periods, such as in bathrooms, you can install motion sensors that switch the light on when someone enters.

Energy-saving bulbs can use up to two thirds less energy than conventional bulbs.

Reduce paper dependence

Think about any records held in paper form – is it feasible to store them on computer? You may well find that a paperless office is more efficient anyway: it will be less cluttered and it is less likely you will lose an important document.
Consider whether you can print double-sided, and thus use only half the paper you do now.

Recycle more

Just about any kind of paper can be recycled, including junk mail and envelopes. Place your recycling bins in prominent areas and ensure employees are aware of what can be recycled.

Insulate your premises

Keep doors and windows closed, especially when the heating or air conditioning is on. Use draught excluders, and consider installing loft insulation. Enquire about whether you may be entitled to any grants to insulate your premises.

Consider having double glazed windows. Around one fifth of the heat lost from a building can be through the windows, but double glazing can reduce the loss by half.

Control your heating

Turning the central heating down by one degree Celsius in winter can reduce your heating bill by as much as 8%. In the summer, substantial reductions can also be gained by increasing the temperature at which the air conditioning comes on.

Take care not to place furniture in front of radiators, as this will reduce their effectiveness. Also avoid placing cooling vents near hot office equipment such as computers and photocopiers, as then the cooling system will need to use more energy.

Consider areas of your premises where there may be less need for heating. These could be areas where people do not usually spend long periods, such as store rooms, corridors or bathrooms; or areas where physical work is carried out.

Use renewable energy

In the United Kingdom non-renewable energy used by businesses is taxed under the climate change levy, but renewable energy is not. Non-renewable energy bills can increase suddenly. With renewable energy you will not have this worry.

The Carbon Trust offers interest-free loans to businesses wishing to embrace renewable energy, and tax breaks under the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme for those investing in certain types of renewable energy equipment.

Most modern energy companies also offer a green tariff nowadays like this npower Juice tariff, a certified green energy tariff with electricity that is matched to 100% renewable sources.

Steps you could take to embrace renewable energy include:

Installing a wind turbine: Payback period – the time before you recoup the cost of converting to renewable energy via cost savings – could be as little as four years, but these require planning permission, and the wind is not guaranteed to blow all the time.

Installing solar panels: Can generate a large proportion of the energy you require. Solar energy can also be used to heat water as well as generate electricity. No planning permission is required for solar panels on a small scale, but again this is an intermittent technology as solar energy is not generated at night.

Until it was withdrawn last year the National Savings and Investments Index-Linked Savings Certificates were popular with investors.  The void that has been left by the withdrawal of this product has been filled by a bewildering array of  imitators.

With the current bleak savings situation, with its low interest rates  it is not surprising that investors are keen to find places t0 protect their money from the ravages of inflation. Most of these products are coming with a lot of small print however, so it is important to know what you aare getting yourself into.

The vast majority of the index-linked bonds available will lock your money in for five years. This is a big negative for several reasons. You might need the money at some point during that five years, and the hefty penalties for taking your money out could more and offset what you would be benefiting from.  More importantly, the investment environment can change dramatically during half a decade.

This is the main sticking point with these kinds of bonds. The situation regarding interest rates is certain to change dramatically over the next five years. There is a broad consensus that both the British and European rates will be climbing sooner or later.

What will be returned by these kind of bonds depends on how inflati0n changes between when they are purchased and when they mature. The best time to get in on this kind of action was probably over a year go. It is always prudent to think long and hard before committing to investments, indexed-linked bonds are no exception to these.

Other than the issues already discussed another thing to watch out for is whether the bonds you are interested in are covered by the FSA compensation scheme should something go wrong. Most seem to be, but there may be some that do not – so fine tooth combs need to be applied to the details.