Improve the energy efficiency of your home. Upgrade your heating system, choose to purchase energy efficient appliances with a high energy efficiency rating and insulate your home to prevent energy loss and reduce your household’s carbon emissions. Warm and Safe Wiltshire is a Wiltshire Council provided service that provides energy saving advice to residents.
Switch to a renewable energy provider for your home. Chippenham-based Good Energy is a renewable energy provider promising to provide 100% renewable electricity for your home.
Switch to low carbon travel wherever possible. Using public transport or active travel (walking/ cycling) instead of a petrol or diesel private vehicle will reduce your transport emissions. If you can switch to an electric car you will reduce your vehicle tailpipe emissions to zero. Although the initial cost of purchasing an electric car is higher than a petrol or diesel equivalent, the running costs over its lifetime are much lower which should help to balance the initial outlay.
Reduce, reuse, recycle! Everything we buy has a carbon footprint due to the emissions emitted during the making and/or transportation of the product. By reducing your consumption and reusing products whenever possible you will greatly reduce your consumption emissions. Recycle whatever you can no longer use. Corsham Recycling Hub is now enabling Corsham residents to recycle a wide variety of normally hard-to-recycle waste.
Reduce your meat and dairy consumption. Meat and dairy accounts for 83% of farmland use and produces 60% of agriculture greenhouse gas emissions. The Vegetarian Society claims that switching to a vegetarian diet for a year would save the same amount of carbon emissions as taking a small family car off the road for six months.
Buy Local! And choose seasonal fruit and vegetables to reduce the number of food miles your food is travelling.
Reduce your food waste. Approximately 1.3 billion tonnes, which equates to one third of the food produced worldwide for human consumption, is waste. This food waste releases methane gas into the atmosphere and speeds up the impacts of climate change. Planning your food shops and sticking to recipes, as well as using up leftovers, will reduce your food waste – and save you money.
Support local and sustainable businesses when purchasing new items. Check the environmental credentials of the businesses you choose to support and check how far your purchases are travelling to get to you.
Volunteer to improve your local environment. Join the Corsham Nature Conservation Volunteer Group to help out with planting and conservation projects. Email bsearle@corsham.gov.uk if you would like to be added to the mailing list and be informed of upcoming projects that need volunteers.
Calculate your personal carbon footprint. You can see what activities in your daily routine are the biggest contributors to your personal carbon emissions. The WWF Footprint Calculator is just one you can find online.