We're working to become a carbon neutral borough. Our Climate change strategy talks about our plans, but we can all make a contribution. We've put together seven actions you can take to help us tackle climate change.
Learn about climate change
Learning how our everyday personal and business decisions emit carbon dioxide can help to tackle climate change. Find out more at:
Understand your carbon footprint
Do you know where your emissions come from? Understanding that can help you to make changes and tackle climate change.
See Calculate your emissions to get started.
Other options include:
Consider your energy consumption habits
How much energy do you use? The average home in England has an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of D, meaning it loses almost £350 a year in an ‘inefficiency penalty’. Energy can be wasted by heat escaping from a drafty or poorly insulated home, as well as through inefficient appliances and the way we do things, like leaving on lights, filling the kettle with more water than is needed, or leaving devices plugged in even after they have finished charging.
Improving energy efficiency is about making sure that the energy you pay for is working for you. Upgrading an energy inefficient home can keep costs down and help you stay warmer in winter and cooler in summer.
A lot of energy efficiency measures, like insulating lofts, water tanks and hot water pipes, are low cost and can be easy to do. They lower the energy you need to use straight away, so they can pay for themselves quickly.
Find out more about energy efficiency, renewable energy and funding schemes to Save energy at home.
Changing your food consumption habits
Changing what you eat can have an impact on climate change. For example, dairy and beef are two large emitters from the food industry. In fact, they are so large that they can contribute up to as much as 70 per cent of your food related carbon footprint.
Adopting one or two non-dairy or meat days a week will reduce your carbon footprint. It could also save you money on your weekly shop! If you can't live without diary, why not try the 5:2 method. Here you eat meat on five days of the week and vegetarian for the other two days.
Eating local and seasonal food when you can will slash your carbon footprint. It not only reduces the freight miles of the food you consume, it supports the local economy.
See How to eat seasonally in the UK - a month by month guide and Local food Kent for ideas.
Reduce your food waste
Estimates suggest that the average UK family spends between £400 and £700 a year on food they don't eat. This equals up to 10 million tonnes of food wasted every year. So, one simple way to reduce your emissions is to think a bit more about your weekly shop:
There are many ways to reduce food waste. OLIO is a food sharing app, which connects you to local people to share any extra food for free. Apps like Too Good To Go let you buy unsold food at local food outlets at a discount, saving the food from going in the bin!
Rethink your transport
Public transport, walking or cycling are simple ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Did you know that around 46 per cent of carbon on the road comes from short car journeys of between five and 35 miles? You could swap these car journeys for public transport or other options.
See Kent County Council for sustainable travel ideas:
- use Kent Connected to plan your sustainable travel
- plan your bus journeys
- consider getting a lift share to work
- explore cycling routes in Kent
When driving a car, you can also reduce your emissions by adopting some new habits. For instance, stop idling. Turning off your engine when you are not moving reduces unnecessary emissions.
Reduce, reuse and recycle
We have all heard it before, but everything we use and buy in our society has a carbon footprint. So it’s important to think about how we can minimise the environment impact of what we use.
Reduce: By using less we can minimise the environment and climate change impact. It will also help you save some money in the process!
Reuse: Reusing stuff we already have stops it from going to landfill and incineration. It also helps reduce demand for these items. When you're shopping why not consider buying second hand. Apps like Depop, Vinted, Ebay, and Facebook Marketplace are a great places to start. If you have things in need of repair, instead of buying a replacement, try taking your items to a repair café.
Find your nearest repair cafe.
Recycle: Recycling usually produces less carbon emissions than the creation on new items. Recycled items are used to create other items. This reduces emissions from landfill and the production process to create band new goods.
Find out your carbon footprint
A carbon footprint is an estimate of the environmental impact of activities. It is measured in the amount of ‘carbon’ produced, which is usually short-hand for all greenhouse gas emissions produced. People, products, organisations and activities all have a ‘carbon footprint.’
Getting an idea of your own carbon footprint helps you to understand where little changes can have a big impact. Whether it is food, shopping, transport, or another activity, knowing your carbon footprint can point to where making changes in your everyday activities could make a difference.