Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones | I'm on your side

If you haven’t already, do sign up to the Climate Friendly Bradford on Avon Declaration, to ensure the town is carbon neutral by 2050.  The launch last weekend was a great success. 

Bradford on Avon has recently seen off strong competition to become the South West contender in the British Gas Green Streets competition.  The success will allow financial help to 100 homes in the Bradford on Avon area, to help upgrade their energy efficiency. Selected households will receive up to £1000 of free insulation and other improvements.

As world leaders discuss the issue of global climate change in Copenhagen, it is impressive to see how much can be done at a local level to make a change. I urge others to sign up to the declaration and hope other local towns will follow Bradford on Avon’s lead. 

There are a number of simple measures every household can take to help save energy, and also reduce bills.  These include using energy efficient light bulbs, turning the heating down by just one degree, turning off appliances rather than leaving them on standby, using showers rather than baths and not overfilling the kettle. 

The key to this is that it is both realistic and practical. There are adjustments we can all do which can make a major contribution to fighting climate change. None of these items are either costly difficult to put into effect but collectively they add up to a big difference.