Valerie and Bernard Mickelburghs Mount Park Avenue home looks nothing out of the ordinary at first glance, but on closer examination a plethora of eco-friendly features are seen throughout.

Born in Croydon and married for 40 years, the keen-green couple have four grandchildren and two children one of whom nominated them for our Green Household of the Year award.

In the seven years since they moved into their South Croydon home, Valerie and Bernard have installed cavity wall and loft insulation, hippo water savers in the toilets, compost bins and water butts in their garden, thermo-valves on each radiator and use low energy light bulbs throughout.

On the roof there are 30 solar tubes and eight photovoltaic panels which help to heat the house and power electrical goods, with the excess energy sold to energy company npower for 7.9 pence a unit.

Bernard said: "We've always been eco-friendly. The planet is here to provide us with what we need, not what we want."

Despite the initial outlay for the larger eco-projects £4,000 for the tubes and £8,000 for the panels they are able to turn their boiler off for five months of the year and have cut all their energy bills.

"It really does pay for itself," explained Bernard.

"With the increase in gas prices, we are on the winning side, but we didn't do it for that."

Their next plan is to get a wind turbine installed on the side of their house, but the model they hope to get costs £15,000 so they are trying to get a Government grant.

Valerie said: "We're waiting to see the outcome of MP Malcolm Wicks' turbine. If he gets one he will set the precedent."

And another ambitious plan is to replace their current vehicle with an air powered car. The cars are manufactured in France, cost £7,000, reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour and for the 60 pence it costs to compress the air into valves, they will go for 120 miles.

"It's wonderful but no one in England will take on the franchise," said Valerie.

So in the mean time, they both use their bus passes and walk as often as they can to do their bit for the planet.

Bernard said: "We're going into a cycle of change. Unfortunately because of the destruction of the planet, we're bringing these changes forward. I could be planting coconut and banana trees soon!

"Sometimes we think what's in it for us' but you've got to put that mentally aside and think what's in it for the planet."

So do they think they are green warriors'?

"We're not quite there yet," said Valerie.

However, Bernard disagreed: "I'd stand there with a placard if someone wanted to pull a tree down."

For more information about the air car go to www.mdi.lu.