Live Cooler, Smarter, Greener
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North East Derbyshire District Council is committed to improving the environment and promoting the conservation of natural resources. However, we cannot do this alone and we need your help as an individual to make this happen.
Consumer power counts - major retailers are "greening" their way of doing business, as they know people care about what damage our way of life is doing to the world. Take a step back for a moment and think about how you can join your local community in tackling the biggest challenge we now face. By making the smallest of changes to the way we live, together we can make a big difference to climate change.
What is Climate Change?
We are hearing every day about climate change and global warming. It is on the news, taught in schools and talked about in the pub. We know it will cause major problems in the near future if we do not act now.
It is important to remember that greenhouse gases have been kept in balance by natural processes, such as trees, plants and the oceans absorbing gases. The cause for concern is that greenhouse gases are now at the highest level since the dinosaurs walked the Earth, as human activity is producing too much greenhouse gas for the natural world to handle.
Why Is It Happening?
The greenhouse gases we are producing are at twice the level that can be absorbed and removed. Some of the main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, methane and water vapour. These excessive levels of of gases are trapping too much heat in to the atmosphere and this heat is "bouncing" back to Earth instead of escaping. This has already begun to trigger major shifts in weather patterns.
At the moment some weather shifts are seen as beneficial, such as the UK's warmest year on record was 2005. However these benefits are known as "false positives", as they will be very short lived. In only a few decades time we will have reached a point where any climate shifts will be nothing but damaging to all life - plant, animal and human. While it is too late to avoid some effects of climate change we can act now and together we can lessen these effects and even turn some to our advantage.
So What Can We Do?
Live Cooler, Smarter, Greener has been split in to 6 sections for ease of use:
Hints and tips on how to minimise your waste.
Ideas for reusing and benefiting from your waste, such as donating or composting.
Recycling initiatives run by North East Derbyshire District Council and other contacts to help you recycle more effectively.
This is a section that will be constantly changing and will contain information and links regarding sustainability, biodiversity and all things that affect the environment, both locally and nationally.
Advice on how to be more energy efficient, cut your energy bills, information on grants and much more.
Information on various initiatives and schemes that the Environmental Sustainability Team are involved with, such as Safety Crew, The Real Nappy campaign and the Free Tree scheme.
Together the little things we do make a big difference, so let's make the choice for the benefit of you, your children and for future generations.
Cooler, Smarter, Greener News
Everybody's Talking about climate change at the moment! The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Local Authorities Energy Partnership (LAEP), supported by DEFRA, have created a website giving information on how people living in the two counties can do their bit.
You can also calculate your Carbon Footprint on this site. This will show you how much impact that you as an individual are having on the planet.
A new idea to help reduce the effects of climate change is The Big Green Challenge competition. The challenge is designed to get people working together to develop new approaches to saving energy and reduce emissions. The prize is available to encourage change and innovation. Can you help reduce emissions in your community by 60%? Are you up to the Big Green Challenge?
The Going Green Guide is a website containing lots of links to green ideas including organic food/drink, gifts, recycling and even clothes!
Please Note: the Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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