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Š City of York Council 2010. Printed on environmentally friendly paper. Published by Marketing and Communications. This leaflet cost 0.16p per York resident to print, a total of £304. Printed by P. Turpin Associates, York.
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a g n i t a e e l Cr b a n i a t s Su k r Yo
Current actions to tackle climate change in York Together, we can all play a role in tackling climate change. Here’s what’s already going on:
Energy saving advice
The Sustainable City Education Programme (Picture Courtesy of York Press 2009)
Human activity such as burning fossil fuels to heat our homes or for powering our cars is producing harmful greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide and is contributing to climate change.
City of York Council is therefore committed to tackling climate change, and work has already begun across the city in areas such as energy saving, renewable energy, recycling and sustainable transport.
Climate change will have significant global and local impacts on our communities and on the built and natural environment. Such changes in York may lead to increased flooding, structural damage to buildings, loss of wildlife, additional pressure on the emergency services and disruption to the local transport networks.
By altering the way we do things in our homes and businesses, we can all reduce the amount our daily actions contribute to climate change.
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In partnership with the Energy Saving Trust advice centre for York, North Yorkshire and the Humber, residents are offered advice on saving energy and installing renewable energy in their homes. They can also find out what financial support they may be entitled to.
Community campaigns A number of community campaigns are currently ongoing across York. Examples include the Sustainable City Education Programme which is supporting schools and communities to tackle climate change; a project known as Hotspots that is tackling fuel poverty in homes; and a campaign called York Green Streets Challenge
which is working with certain streets across the city to reduce the amount of carbon they emit. Such campaigns are helping York’s communities to combat climate change.
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waste collections, bring recycling banks, household waste recycling centres and commercial waste collections. In 2008/09 York recycled and composted 45% of its rubbish.
Sustainable buildings All new buildings in the city are built to high environmental standards and, where feasible, generate energy from renewable sources on site. Examples include the council’s award winning Eco Business Centre and Eco Depot. The Cycling City initiative is one such example that is about getting people to want to cycle again; this has been achieved through a community-led partnership approach and the provision of better facilities. Other inititatives encourage residents to take public transport, drive wisely and fuel efficiently, and lift share.
Waste reduction and recycling Residents are encouraged to reduce, reuse and recycle as much of their waste as possible through a variety of services and initiatives.
Walking and cycling Various campaigns and initiatives happening across the city have encouraged residents to walk and cycle. 3
A wide range of waste and recycling services are offered across York, including household recycling collections, green garden
Residents of York can also gain local, friendly advice and support on composting from a network of volunteers called the York Rotters. For more details on the York Rotters visit www.stnicksfields.org.uk/yorkrotters or call 01904 412861.
Council action City of York Council also has a number of policies and programmes to tackle climate change, including a programme to cut carbon emissions from council buildings, transport, street lighting and employee travel, by 25% no later than 2013. City of York Council is also part of a national carbon dioxide reduction campaign called 10:10 and will reduce its own carbon dioxide emissions by 10% over a 12 month period between 2010 and 2011. Council strategies on schools, transport and planning also include measures to ensure the council and city reduce greenhouse gases.
Sustainable Community Strategy and the Without Walls Partnership On top of these actions to combat climate change, the Without Walls Partnership ( a group of organisations from across the city) has produced a document called The Sustainable Community Strategy – a strategy that will improve the quality of life for everyone in the city over the next twenty years. As part of the Sustainable Community Strategy, the Without Walls Partnership committed to the creation of a climate change framework and action plan for York. This comprehensive strategy and action plan will help the city to combat climate change from 2010 onwards.
Take action today Our everyday actions in our homes and businesses are contributing to climate change. Together, we can all play a role in tackling climate change.
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Residents Join the city and take action today to leave a smaller carbon footprint for York. ✓ One way to take action is to understand how your daily actions are responsible for creating carbon dioxide. A great place to start is by calculating your carbon footprint. It may sound complicated but it is not. Your carbon footprint specifically measures the total amount of carbon dioxide you create through your lifestyle choices and through the products and activities you consume daily. By understanding your footprint, you can then take steps to
reduce it. To calculate your carbon footprint, visit the ACT ON CO2 website at www.actonco2.com
Improve your home ✓ Turning your thermostat down by just one degree could reduce carbon emissions and cut fuel bills. ✓ Only boil as much water as you need in your kettle. ✓ Think about insulating your home. Loft insulation is the most cost-effective and energy efficient measure to reduce losses and the easiest to install. You could also consider installing draught proofing.
✓ Using low energy lighting can reduce the amount of energy used in lighting your home. Low-energy light bulbs also last a lot longer than ordinary bulbs and save you money. ✓ Call the Energy Saving Trust advice centre for York, North Yorkshire and the Humber for FREE on 0800 512012 to find out what energy savings you could make and what financial support is available to you. ✓ Stand-by energy is wasted energy. Switch everything off when not in use. You will save money too!
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Smarter travel choices ✓ Reduce the number of short trips you make in the car. Walk, cycle, take public transport or car share where possible. For more information visit www.york.gov.uk/transport ✓ Download a copy of City of York Council’s money-saving guide entitled Are you Carwise in York? designed to save you money on motoring costs and help the environment at the same time. Visit www.york.gov.uk/ environment/sustainability/ travel/ 6
✓ For help planning a route by public transport visit www.yorkshiretravel.net It can plan your journey for you.
✓ Nappies - consider using 'real nappies', rather than disposable ones. The UK disposes of about 800,000 tonnes of nappies every year, ✓ Buying a new car? Use the costing local authorities ACT ON CO2 online car £40 million. Real nappies now search tool to buy a fuel – use Velcro fastenings - no pins efficient, low emission car. Visit required, and many areas have www.actonco2.com for details. a nappy laundering service.
Re-use / Recycle ✓ Manage your food in your kitchen – make shopping lists and plan meals. This helps to stop food being thrown away. For more information go to www.lovefoodhatewaste.com /yorkandnorthyorks ✓ Buy goods with minimum packaging such as loose vegetables rather than pre-packed. Buy in bulk to help save packaging. ✓ Avoid using cling film and aluminium foil to store food. Put it in reusable boxes with lids or reuse margarine and other containers. ✓ Stop junk mail - you can stop junk mail coming through your door by writing to Mailing Preference Services, Freepost 22, London W1E 7EZ or Tel: 0207 2913310 7
✓ Donate good unwanted items to community groups or charity shops. ✓ Re-use carrier bags - take your own shopping bags to the supermarket or get a bag for life to use again and again. ✓ Donate unwanted furniture to York Community Furniture Store. ✓ Donate unwanted bikes to Bike Rescue. ✓ Use your kerbside recycling facilities and for larger recyclable items your local Household Recycling Centre. ✓ For more details visit www.york.gov.uk/environment /waste/
Compost and grow your own food ✓ Purchase a home compost bin and instead of throwing away organic kitchen and garden waste, you can create your own compost to use as a soil improver to help your garden to grow. The council also offers reduced price composters. ✓ Try to grow your own vegetables in your garden or in pots on shelves indoors or on window sills if you do not have a garden. ✓ Try and get your own allotment and grow your own food. For more information on allotments visit www.york.gov.uk/leisure/ parks/Allotments/
✓ Try where possible to buy locally produced goods and services. There are currently many local food and local organic food directories detailing local producers and farmers. A list of directories can be found on the Soil Association's Local Food website at http://www.soilassociation.org /Farmersgrowers/Routesto market/Localfood/tabid/155 /Default.aspx ✓ Try where possble to visit and support your local Farmers' Market. Farmers' markets are a great source of local food and local organic food. Markets are held in York in Parliament Street on the last Friday of every month. For full details of local farmers' markets, see the National Association of Farmers' Markets website at www.farmersmarkets.net ✓ For more details on composting visit www.york.gov.uk/environment /waste/
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✓ For more greener lifestyle advice, including additional tips, visit the ACT ON CO2 website www.actonco2.com or the City of York Council Sustainability pages www.york.gov.uk/environment /sustainability/
Businesses ✓ Large, medium and small businesses can all play a vital role in reducing emissions across York. Any business wanting to get involved should take advantage of the services offered by Business Link, North Yorkshire Green Business Club and the Carbon Trust. Please call North Yorkshire Green Business Club on Tel: 01904 554638 or visit www.here4greenbusiness.co.uk Visit www.yorkwow.org.uk for more details. Why not also take action today and carry out some or all of these easy ways to run a sustainable business: ✓ Work out the carbon footprint for your business and take actions to reduce it. For more information on this visit www.carbontrust.co.uk 9
✓ Buy goods that are produced from sustainable sources or that are less damaging to the environment. ✓ Generate energy from renewable energy sources. ✓ Develop projects to reduce, reuse or recycle waste. ✓ Raise awareness of climate change with all members of staff. ✓ Put into place plans to use less polluting vehicles and encourage staff to walk, cycle, take public transport and lift share whenever possible. Please contact the City of York Council’s Sustainable Travel Officer on tel: 01904 551328 for further support and advice. ✓ If building a new building or relocating, try and build to high environmental standards including the installation of renewable energy onsite. For more information visit www.york.gov.uk/environment /Planning/guidance/Design_ and_construct_draft-SPG/
For more information on what City of York Council and its partners are doing visit www.york.gov.uk/environment/sustainability/
Contact us City of York Council Sustainability Section on: General enquiries Tel: 01904 551550 Email: sustainability@york.gov.uk Post: 9 St Leonard's Place York YO1 7ET