World Environment Day 2008
‘CO2 – Kick the Habit!’
World Environment Day is a United Nations led event to stimulate worldwide awareness of environmental issues.
Did you know: 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions come directly from the actions we take as individuals?
As individuals, we all have a role to play in controlling climate change. By changing one thing, you can make a difference. Read our list of energy saving tips below, pick one or two, and see how you can kick the carbon habit!
To celebrate World Environment Day, Somerset County Council will be visiting local districts with energy saving advice for the home, travel and recycling.
These will be held on the following days from 9.30am to around 4pm
| Monday 2nd June |
Bridgwater - Fore Street, town centre |
| Tuesday 3rd June |
Yeovil - Old Bandstand Area |
| Wednesday 4th June |
Wells - Market Place |
| Thursday 5th June |
Taunton - By Market House, town centre |
| Friday 6th June |
Minehead - Wellington Square |
The Quantock Hills AONB service will also be getting involved on June 5th with a free, guided walk and quiz on the Coleridge Way, Quantocks. The walk will start at 2pm and will last around 2 hours. To book a place, please call Esther Harbour on 01823 357791.
We hope you will come along to an event in your area to give your support and perhaps see what you can do to “Kick the Habit”.
Just one thing – how can you reduce your C02 footprint:-
Fun Facts
- If everyone in the UK draught proofed their homes; we'd save around £130m (source Energy Saving Trust)
- Using just one energy saving light bulb could save you up to £7 and 26 kilograms of CO2 a year (source Energy Saving Trust)
- You could save up to a third on your heating bills with a high efficiency-condensing boiler
- By turning your thermostat down by 1°C, this could cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent. You could save around £40 per year. (source Energy Saving Trust)
- A pc monitor switched off overnight saves enough energy to microwave six dinners (source The Carbon Trust)
Recycling:
- Take a reusable bag with you when you go shopping, why not keep one by your keys and purse or wallet so you don’t forget it.
- Make a shopping list and stick to it, avoiding “buy one get one free” offers on food that you will probably throw away.
- Remember to recycle items such as glass jars and aluminium drinks cans as the energy used to recycle is less than primary production.
- Reduce the amount of biodegradable waste you send to landfill by either home composting your waste or by using leftovers to make new meals.
Walking
Walking doesn’t pollute. Car users are regularly exposed to up to three times more pollution as pedestrians when they are sitting in traffic.
- Twice as many women (15%) walk to work as men (7.3%). (DfT 2003)
- At a moderate pace, a person of average fitness can comfortably walk one and a half miles in 30 minutes.
- Walking a mile burns the same number of calories as running a mile.
- Regular walking can halve your risk of a heart attack.
Cycling
- On a bicycle you can travel up to 1037 kilometres on the energy equivalent of a single litre of petrol.
- On a bicycle you consume a fiftieth of the oxygen consumed by a motor vehicle, and expel no pollutants.
- Britain has the highest level in Europe of obesity among 10 year olds. The medical profession says that getting children onto bicycles is the best way to combat increasing obesity levels in the young.
- On a bike you can have your cake and eat it. A moderate half-hour each-way commute will burn 8 calories a minute, that’s the equivalent of 11kg (almost two stone) of fat in a year.
- Cycling 4 miles a day (about 20 minutes) reduces the risk of heart disease to half that of someone who takes no exercise.
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