Congratulations! You’ve completed the Sustainable Living in Congleton online course. Now it is time to put the learning into actions – and help others to do the same!
This course will have helped you understand more about your carbon footprint and its impact on climate change. This is such a vital issue for the future of the planet that nationally and internationally Governments and industry are changing laws and practices to reduce emissions.
The big picture changes are vital, but the decisions and actions that we take everyday are also necessary and make a difference.
In time the electricity system will become free of greenhouse gas emissions, so will most of our activities in our homes, travel and stuff we buy. But some things will still require our personal attention, in particular:
- Stop burning gas in our homes because it directly causes CO2 emissions.
- Reduce animal products in our diet and the carbon footprint of our food
- Minimise air travel as much as possible
- Economise on our energy use
- Shift to more sustainable shopping practices.
What’s Next?
There are plenty of opportunities to work with like-minded people in Congleton on environmental issues. Congleton Sustainability Group (CSG) is an umbrella organisation that supports many groups working on environmental projects.
The various groups and organisations working on green initiatives would welcome your support and help. If there’s not a group covering the area that you are interested in why not start one up – the Congleton Partnership or CSG will be happy to help.
Dane Valley Community Energy was set up as a Community Benefit Company to procure, install and operate a hydro-electricity generation plant at Havannah Weir. The objective is to generate carbon free electricity and utilise any profits for community benefit schemes.
Plastic Free Congleton is a small team of volunteers who are working to reduce plastic pollution and the use of single-use plastic in the town.
Active Travel Congleton is a not for profit community interest company promoting walking and cycling for short journeys up to 3 miles. Their mission is to enable residents of Congleton to walk or cycle to their destinations on quiet roads or dedicated walking or cycle paths.
Trees for Congleton is planting 30,000 trees in and around Congleton to help to reduce our carbon footprint as trees absorb carbon dioxide. This group is collating the number of trees planted and is always glad of more volunteers to plant.
Congletonfood4free shares ideas and information to encourage and inspire residents to grow food at home, in allotments, and communally in public spaces. Volunteers welcome!
Other things you could do:
- Join a green organisation such as Cheshire Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace
- Lobby your MP and your councillors about green issues
- Write to the Congleton Chronicle
- Join a local Facebook group covering an environmental topic
Thank you for taking the time to complete the modules. We hope you found it useful and will encourage you to make some changes to reduce your own footprint. If you enjoyed the on-line learning that’s great and we’d love to hear about it. If there are areas that you think we have missed or could improve that is important for us to know too so that we can continue to improve the experience for others.
We hope you now feel more confident about living green in Congleton. As you’ve learned, there are many local and national opportunities to help you to live more sustainably, and there’s a lot you could do today to start making a difference straight away.
