Burton on Trent Gardening Olympics

Marches Energy Agency visited Burton-on-Trent on Saturday (26th June 2010) to give information and advice about climate change and home energy efficiency.  Attendees of the Gardening Olympics were given the opportunity to work out their individual carbon footprint using a simple carbon footprint calculator.
 
On average the people of Burton-on-Trent were doing well with their efforts, nearly everyone we spoke to was doing something to reduce their carbon footprint, however they still had an average carbon footprint of 9,272kg. There is always something that could be improved to get those footprints down even lower and the 5-section carbon footprint calculator showed each individual the area that could best be improved for them; Be it using air travel less or buying more locally produced or organic food.
 
Many visitors who had already done a significant amount to reduce their carbon emissions were keen to learn more about Feed-in-Tariffs and their potential with Photo Voltaic Solar Panels.
 
We received queries about energy monitors for the home, renewable technologies for schools, energy saving lighting and alternative fuel types for off the grid households. Many people were keen to look at our light bulb library and were pleased to see that a new range of energy efficient lighting is being brought out. There was some discussion about issues people were having with the traditional low energy bulbs and we were able to give advice on these issues.
 
Over all, the carbon footprint calculators were very popular and often people were pleased to learn that their efforts were having a significant impact on their carbon emissions.