Many of us would like to reduce our environmental impacts and this page has some information to help guide you.
Some advice from Sustainable Wells on how to reduce your carbon footprint. . .
Drive less – walking or cycling for short journeys, using public transport for longer journeys emits a lot less CO2 than driving alone in a car. If you could go car-free you would save around 2 tonnes of CO2e per year and helps ease many other problems in Wells. If you need a car, switching to an electric one substantially reduces CO2 emissions and other pollution. Try and avoid travel if it’s not really necessary – could you work from home more or video conference instead of travelling for some work meetings?
Avoid aeroplanes – flying releases large amounts of CO2, far more than other forms of transport. A single transatlantic round trip results in more emissions than the average person emits from housing and transportation in an entire year. Even a flight within Europe is 1/2 to 1 tonne of CO2 per person.
Review your diet – Eat less meat (especially beef and lamb – ruminants release a lot of methane, a very potent greenhouse gas) and dairy foods. If you can move to a plant based-diet that saves around 1 tonne per year. Eat more locally sourced seasonal food, and try not to waste any of it. An added benefit here is that a lower carbon diet is often healthier and cheaper too!
Use less energy – insulate your home more if you can, turn down the heating in winter, wash clothes in cold water and dry clothes outside instead of with a tumble dryer, turn off gadgets rather than leaving them on standby, look at the energy efficiency if you are buying appliances, LED bulbs use around 80% less than old style incandescent. Some of these are quite small effects but they all add up and if everybody did them . . . Switching to a green energy tariff encourages the development of renewables in the UK, but it doesn’t actually change the source of your electricity! Also, see our post: How to save £££ on your heating bills AND get warm and cosy
Buy less stuff – everything you buy takes energy to make, transport, display and the totals can be large. Reducing the number of things you buy and making better use can have a hugely positive effect. The emissions from “stuff” are often ignored from carbon footprint calculations but for many people are the largest source of emissions!
Spread the word – Help other people reduce their carbon footprints. The more people that shrink their footprints the better. Use your vote to help elect leaders with effective policies to address climate change.