Eco Council are working towards getting the Green Flag Award for the school. As part of their work they are encouraging families to decrease their carbon footprint. As November is Cut Your Carbon Month, please support Eco Council in completing these simple actions.
Completing these 6 simple actions with family and friends will raise awareness, change behaviours, and Cut Your Carbon - a greenhouse gas responsible for driving climate change.
So grab a magnet, stick this checklist to your fridge, and take action!
Make 5 miles of travel ‘active’. Did you know, a petrol car creates around 1kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (or ‘CO2e’) every 5 miles? ‘Active Travel’ - such as walking, scooting, wheeling, or cycling - doesn’t emit anything! So, we’re
challenging you to make 5 miles of travel active. Whether it’s a single 5-mile trip, or five 1-mile trips... ditch the drive!
Go plant-based for a day. Meat production is responsible for around 14% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Choose a day to go plant-based and discover how delicious cutting carbon can be! By switching from a meat-based diet to a plant-based diet, for just one day, you can reduce your emissions by nearly 3kg CO2e.
Turn down the heating by 1° for a week. Heating is the biggest source of carbon emissions in many homes. So pop on a jacket and drop the thermostat by 1°. Completing this challenge could prevent an additional 6kg CO2e!
Buy nothing new for 1 month. The production of every item that you buy has a carbon footprint. Write a list of every non-essential item that you bought (or was bought for you) last month. Put them into categories - e.g. clothing, toys, or cosmetics - and don’t buy anything from one of these categories for 1 month. If you purchase 1kg less stuff during the month, you can save an average of 6kg CO2e.
Substitute 4 baths for 4 showers and limit them to 4 minutes. Cleaning and pumping water to our homes creates carbon emissions. So does generating energy to heat it. This means that shorter showers are good for our planet! Limiting 4 showers to 4 minutes will save around 1.5kg of CO2e. We recommend using a 4-minute song as a timer that you can sing-along to!
Switch off all of your non-essential electrical devices for an hour. Electricity can account for 25% of your home’s carbon footprint. Think about when your family uses the most unnecessary electricity, maybe you’re gaming, or perhaps watching TV? At that time, turn off all non-essentials for 1 hour and do something device-free!