Great Big Green Week - climate pledges

Community groups in Leicester are taking part in a nationwide campaign this September to highlight the need for urgent action on climate and nature ahead of COP26, the United Nations climate talks, happening later this year in Glasgow. Taking place between 18-26 September, the campaign known as the Great Big Green Week will see thousands of people across the UK organising events. The campaign aims to draw attention to climate change and destruction of the natural world, while also making a connection with these issues in local communities and showcasing actions to tackle climate change.  

We will be launching Great Big Green Week with a street stall in Gallowtree Gate tomorrow (Saturday 18^th September), between 11 am and 1 pm. We have been working with the City Council to develop a list of pledges that individuals and businesses can make to take action on climate change. Individuals will be invited to write their pledge on a green heart, which will then be displayed along with pledges collected by the City Council. We will be writing to businesses to invite them to make a pledge and these will be published here on their blog. When people have made a pledge, they will be able to have their photo taken in the group’s giant photo frame that carries a message to world leaders at the climate talks: ‘Leicester has its eye on you’. The photos will be shared on social media to call for action at the United Nations talks.

If you can't come to any Great Big Green Week events, you can still make a pledge! Here is our list of ideas.

Pledge ideas for individuals 

Transport

·       Find alternatives to driving your children to school or driving to work and try them out for a couple of weeks.

·       Avoid flying for a year.

·       Change to an electric car. 

Waste

·       Repair an item of clothing so that you can keep wearing it.

·       Buy second-hand clothing and electronics instead of new for a year.

·       Use a refillable water bottle and a reusable travel coffee mug.

·       Sign up for a vegetable box scheme to eat seasonally and reduce plastic.

·       Write a shopping list and only buy items on the list, to avoid food waste.

Power

·       Install loft insulation, draught-proofing or cavity wall insulation.

·       Turn the heating down by 2 degrees and wear another jumper.

·       Install solar panels on your house.

·       Get a heat pump.

·       Switch to a green energy supplier, such as Good Energy or Ecotricity.

Nature

·       Create a pond in your garden.

·       Leave part of your lawn to grow long to create an insect paradise.

·       Grow wildflowers to feed the bees.

·       Plant a fruit tree.

·       Stop using pesticides in your garden.

·       Switch to peat-free compost or get a compost bin and make your own.

·       Eat plant-based meals for one day each week.

·       Try going vegan for a month and learn new plant-based recipes.

And then talk to a friend about what you are doing!

Pledge ideas for businesses 

Transport

·       Install showers and secure bike parking at our office(s) to encourage cycling to work, removing parking spaces if necessary.

·       Initiate a Bike 2 Work scheme, see https://bike2workscheme.co.uk/tax-free/bikes.

·       Develop a ride sharing website for our employees.

·       Part fund public transport use for commuting, e.g., season tickets.

·       Make company car fleets all electric by <date>.

·       Make local delivery light goods vehicles electric by <date>.

·       Provide EV charging points for our company car park and investigate benefits of allowing public use too.

·       Make more use of video conferencing to reduce travel, especially flying.

·       Enable remote working for x% of employees, to save travelling.

·       Support the city council workplace parking levy proposals.

·       Purchase and use e-cargo bikes for short distance sustainable deliveries.

Waste

·       Replace plastic water bottle selling with office water filters/chillers run off the mains.

·       Provide branded refillable water bottles for our employees – good advertising!

·       Ensure no plastic is used in the wrappings of in-house refreshments.

·       Commit to using x% less paper and rely more on electronic storage.

·       Remove plastic from any packaging we use.

·       Upgrade or repair computing equipment and office furniture rather than buying new.

·       Talk to waste carrier to make sure materials are being recycled and discuss how to increase recycling rate.

Power

·       Replace lighting with LEDs to reduce energy use.

·       Switch to using 100% renewable electricity.

·       Commit to reducing our power use by x% through the installation of insulation.

·       When buying new equipment or machinery (e.g., computers, compressors), choose the most energy efficient options available.

·       Train staff on energy efficiency using the Carbon Literacy training scheme.

·       Develop a heat reuse scheme to cut power consumption, e.g., reuse waste heat from computer or production areas to heat offices.

·       Install solar panels.

·       Exploit government schemes for heat pumps to replace our gas/oil central heating.

Nature

Install green roofs, biodiverse roofs or green walls where possible – see Living roofs | Brown roofs | Biodiverse roofs | Ecology | P&P (green-roofs.co.uk)  

·       Let outside areas run wild, allowing natural processes to guide habitat management.

·       Work with NatureSpot to identify and record wildlife on our land.

·       Set up bird feeding stations and nest boxes/bat boxes in suitable outside areas.

·       Install natural flood management (such as ponds, areas of rough grassland) to slow the flow of water.

·       Reduce or eliminate the use of pesticides on all land that we manage.