Make a difference

With some little changes in your lifestyle, you can reduce your impact on the climate and reduce your carbon emissions - try these tips:

  1. Watch your waste! Food in landfill produces methane, a greenhouse gas thought to be 20 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. What’s more, the average UK household spends £424 a year on food that goes in the bin. Save yourself money, throw less food away and try to buy products which have less harmful environmental impacts from their production, packaging and transportation. Look out for companies accredited with a Carbon Footprint marker from the Carbon Trust.

  2. Feast on fruit and veg. Eating more fruit and vegetables and less meat could reduce your food footprint by up to 40%. That means that food miles are drastically reduced. Did you know that the average Christmas dinner in the UK could have travelled 30,000 miles by the time it reaches your plate? Farmers markets and local shops tend to sell in-season foods. Purchasing all your produce from local producers could reduce your footprint by about 4%. See www.infoscotland.com/ourfuture for more info.

  3. Remember the three Rs. With the average household producing 1.17 tonnes of waste, changing how we dispose of things could make a massive difference. Always remember the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

  4. Age of enlightenment. Did you know that ending the use of the traditional tungsten bulbs would mean a 2% cut in energy use in the UK. That’s the equivalent of shutting down an entire power station. If every house in Scotland installed one extra energy-efficient light, the electricity saved could power 23,000 homes for a year. Lighten up and switch to energy-saving bulbs!

  5. Fresh and Low approach. The quality of air is linked to climate change (according to a recent study commissioned by DEFRA http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/10210/print ). That means we all need to lower our emissions to stop polluting our fresh air. Carbon dioxide (C02) emissions from transport are the fastest growing contributor to climate change. Today, 58% of our car trips are less than five miles and 25% are less than two miles. Replacing a short car journey with a walk or cycle ride will reduce your footprint.

  6. Cutting back on air travel will also have a big impact because aircraft consume large amounts of fossil fuels and create greenhouse gases. Choosing one long-haul flight less per year could reduce your footprint by 24%. Walking or cycling for short journeys could reduce your footprint by about 4%. [source: www.infoscotland.com/ourfuture]