The Parish Council worked with Groundwork East and the Suffolk Climate Change Partnership to help Kersey residents to make changes which would reduce their carbon footprint.
The estimate is that if every household in Kersey made five simple changes we could, in one year, reduce our carbon footprint by 200 Tonnes CO2. That is the equivalent of 63 return flights from London to Perth in Australia and, in achieving that, each household could also be saving an annual average of £140 on utility bills.
Groundwork East has provided 12 information sheets, see below, on various ways to save energy, including a list of No Cost Actions, a Draught Proofing Advice Sheet and a Water Saving Advice Sheet.
Low Impact Living in Suffolk is a new campaign making it easier for Suffolk residents to improve energy efficiency and lower the energy use of their homes.
Our homes are responsible for generating 20% of all UK carbon emissions, primarily through the heating and energy they use. There are many ways to reduce these emissions, with Low Impact Living in Suffolk sharing steps through the www.greensuffolk.org website.
The news recently has been filled with accounts of floods and fires which have resulted in loss of lives and homes and which scientists believe are caused by climate change. Turning off the lights more often seems a tiny response to a global disaster but, done by enough people, it can count.
These are the 5 simple things we can all do to start reducing our carbon footprint:
1. Switching off appliances at the wall when not in use
2. Turning your thermostat down by 1°C
3. Only fill the kettle with the amount of water you need
4. Hang out the washing instead of tumble drying
5. Spend 1 minute less in the shower
All of our actions add up and if we all make some small changes to our lifestyles, we can make a difference.
These small changes will also reduce energy consumption which will be of benefit with ever rising energy costs.
