You count! Do your bit to help stop climate change!
You can’t have escaped all the media coverage on the issue of climate change over the last few months. The seriousness of its impacts is filtering through but without urgent action from each and every one of us, climate change could have a devastating effect to life on earth. Hundreds of millions of people will be put at severe risk of drought, floods, starvation, and disease, and by the middle of the century up to one third of land-based species could face extinction.
You may think that there’s not much that you individually can do to combat climate change, but if we make small changes to our lifestyle practices we can really make a difference. You’ve probably seen similar energy saving tips before but how many of them do you actually carry out?
Tops Tips to decrease your carbon footprint
1. Replace your light bulbs with energy saving recommended ones: just one can reduce your lighting costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb - and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary light bulbs.
2. Turn off household appliances such as lights, TVs, computers, and mobile phone chargers when you’re not using them. Use your appliances efficiently: only boil the water you need in the kettle, hang washing up instead of using a tumble drier, totally fill up the dishwasher and washing machine before putting them on.
3. Cut down journeys: use public transport, cycle or walk. Car share where possible. Drive at a lower speed to increase fuel efficiency. Consider a more fuel-efficient model when buying a new car.
4. Adjust your thermostat by as little as 1°C and you can cut heating bills by up to 10 per cent.
5. Apply the ‘three Rs’ to everything you can to reduce manufacturing energy costs. Reduce the amount of packaged products you buy, reuse shopping bags and recycle when ever possible.
6. Plant a native tree – one tree can absorb a ton of Carbon Dioxide in its lifetime.
(Source – Energy Saving Trust, for free, impartial advice visit www.energysavingtrust.co.uk/northernireland or ring their Energy Advice Line on 0800 512 012)
The Wildlife Trusts are part of the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition made up of most of the UK's leading environmental and international development organisations. The coalition aims to build irresistible popular pressure on politicians to act to bring a halt to climate change. We encourage you to support us by visiting www.stopclimatechaos.org and signing up to the i-count campaign.
