Making your life more sustainable
Nov 18 2008 by Francesca Craggs, The Journal
Sue Longstone
SO what do we mean by sustainable? How can you make your life sustainable? Turning the tap off while you brush your teeth, turning your thermostat down by 1º or cycling to work once a week will all help to preserve important resources such as water and encourage you not to rely on fossil fuels that will eventually run out.
These may seem like small changes, but if we all do them, together we can make a real difference to help the environment.
Even if we think we are already pretty green, there are always extra things we can do to make our lives more sustainable. In this Go Green supplement, and leading up to Christmas, the Environment Agency and our Go Green partners will be giving you lots of useful tips and advice on how to live more sustainably. This not only helps to protect the environment now and for the future, it also often leads to money savings for you and your family.
With large areas of our region being recently hit by extreme weather, the risk of flooding and storm damage is ever more real for us all. Our weather systems are becoming more severe, with storm conditions and heavy rainfall more likely. Now and in the future we need to be prepared for these conditions, protecting ourselves, our property, and our businesses. Staff at the Environment Agency are working hard to alleviate flood risk for householders and businesses by continually trying to improve their service. One thing you can do to help them and yourself is to check whether you or your business is at risk of flooding. If you are, you may be in an area that receives flood warnings.
Waste is another big issue for our region, and the agency is helping to address this through regulation of waste companies and sites. In the North East we send more than 4.5 million tonnes of waste to landfill every year. This means our waste disposal sites are getting ever fuller. This is not sustainable in the long term as we will eventually run out of space to dump our rubbish. We can all do our bit to reduce the waste we put in our bins by reusing, reducing and recycling as much as possible.
The Environment Agency, local authorities and others are working together to make plans for the future as sustainable as possible, including planning for new developments, long-term waste strategies, and sustainable transport planning. The Government is also providing homeowner grants to people to improve their energy efficiency. Insulting your loft, double glazing and cavity wall insulation can all make a big difference to your energy bills, saving you money, while looking after the environment.
As well as working for you and the environment, we at the Environment Agency aim to practice what it preaches. We have tough internal targets on waste, energy and water consumption, and is continually striving to reduce the number of miles staff travel on business. We have reduced the number of miles drive by nine million, preferring to travel by train and at the local office in Newcastle we have reduced waste by two-thirds over the past four years. Every office up and down the country has its own ‘Footprint Group’ made up of dedicated staff promoting sustainable living within our workforce and at our workplace.
Every one of us has the ability to encourage others to take action and learn from the example we set. I hope you enjoy reading this edition of Go Green and finish it feeling inspired.
Sue Longstone is Environment Agency Area Manager, North East
To find out if your business is at risk of flooding and register for this free service visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk or call Floodline on 0845 988-1188.
