Climate Change
2019 August 26
Citizens Climate Change Challenge 2019-2030
Introduction
It is a common misconception that emissions reduction is the responsibility of governments and businesses, when ordinary citizens also create emissions, in their houses, travel and other daily activities. In addition, ordinary citizens could be much quicker, effective and efficient at reducing their emissions, than governments and businesses.
Many citizens are willing to voluntarily reduce their emissions, but are unsure how to go about it and how they will know if they are succeeding. Some will also realise that reductions are not necessarily a cost, but are likely to be of benefit, especially if they are wasting power, fuel and consumer goods anyway.
The Challenge
This Challenge is to measure your household emissions monthly and try to reduce them by 1% per month over the next 11 years to 2030 (that is the year the International Panel on Climate Change urges we should have reduced emissions by 50%). This can be done by using the free on-line Household Calculator, as well as the tips for reducing emissions and the emissions off-set provisions, on the Enviro-Mark Solutions website: www.enviro-mark.com. (ask a relation or friend to do this for you, if you don’t have access to a computer).
Let’s start now and make 2019 the first year that NZ’s emissions start reducing.
Guidelines
The Challenge can be a personal one, a household one and a community one.
Simply assemble monthly data (as you may already do for your finances), on - --- your power consumption (electric & gas)
--- your travel accommodation and distance or fuel (by private car, aircraft & public transport)
--- your household waste (recycled, composted & landfill)
Log-in and fill in the details on the Household Calculator, then Save or Offset (if you want to pay for forest plantings etc to cancel or reduce your emissions).
Compare your emissions with those of previous months to check if you have met the target of 1% reduction per month (there may be ups and downs from month to month).
To be part of an inter-community challenge, we can arrange a promo code to be available to use in the calculator for your community. Then you can track the average household emissions for your community and compare them with other communities.
Community Discussions
Redcliffs Residents Association (RRA) in Christchurch, asked Enviro-Mark Solutions and Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research if they could supply expert speakers and they supplied a climate scientist and a carbon footprinting specialist, who presented at their public meeting. This was very well received. It was particularly successful because it was advertised only to the local community and was small enough so that attendees could ask all the questions they had been wanting to ask (especially regarding climate change) and they received excellent scientific answers.
The Redcliffs Residents Association also invited observers from neighbouring communities so they could assess whether to set up their own events. Enviro-Mark Solutions and Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research have advised they could supply speakers for other communities if they are interested and copies of their presentations will be supplied for those communities to put on their websites for the information of residents.
Promoted by the Redcliffs Residents Association
Contact: Dave Bryce, email: ecosolutions@xtra.co.nz