13-Jun-2006
- Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth!
Take a shower not a bath! Share a car trip with
someone you like, or even someone you don’t! Air
your laundry in public and save electricity! Go
on do it - it’s UN World Environment Day!
This World Environment Day we
are asking mums and dads, kids, families and individuals
to make some small lifestyle changes that will
have a huge impact on the planet. We want everybody
to know that you don’t have to be an Eco-Warrior
to improve the environment – absolutely anyone
can do something to help the planet.
We will be asking Tamworth shoppers
to ‘promise the earth’ on 17 June 2006 for World
Environment Day in the Castle Grounds, Tamworth.
We are joining Staffordshire
Wildlife Trust at their ‘Wild about Tamworth’
event between 11am and 4pm. Brian Jenkins MP for
Tamworth will also be joining us at our exhibition
stand to make his own promises and celebrate World
Environment Day at 11.30am.
By encouraging passers by to
make a small promise to change their lifestyles,
we hope to make a big impact on the environment.
In return for their promises shoppers will receive
a freebie or two to help them stick with their
lifestyle changes.
At the our exhibition stand
we will have experts on hand to give out advice
on how to keep World Environment Day promises
and explain what World Environment Day is all
about.
Brian Jenkins, MP for Tamworth
said, "It is vital that we all do our bit
to protect the environment for future generations.
Action is needed at all levels. The Government
is working hard towards international co-operation
on issues such as Climate Change and all of us
can promise to make small lifestyle changes which
can make a big impact on our environment."
Rob Lunt, Environment Agency
Officer, said; "We will be at the Castle
Grounds in Tamworth town centre on 17 June 2006
to celebrate World Environment Day and encourage
all the shoppers in Tamworth to make their own
promises. All people in Tamworth have to do is
make some simple lifestyle changes. Last year
nationally, 25,000 people made pledges and helped
to save 181 swimming pools worth of water from
being wasted and helped to stop 191 dustbin lorries
of waste being transported to landfill."
More information
This years World Environment
Day promises
Just go to www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed
and promise to do the following:
I promise to take a shower
instead of a bath.
I promise to put a water saving
device in my toilet cistern.
I promise to turn the tap off
when I brush my teeth.
I promise to use rechargeable
batteries instead of disposable ones.
I promise to use a reusable
bag when I shop, rather than plastic carriers.
I promise to air my washing
in public – not in the tumble dryer.
I promise to boil only the water
I need, rather than filling the kettle every time
I promise to share my car journeys
to work with a colleague, cycle, or replace those
car journeys with public transport at least once
a week.
I promise to use a climate payback
scheme to reduce the impact of any air travel
I take.
I promise to organise or volunteer
for an environmental project in my local community.
Then the Environment Agency
will be able to measure exactly how many litres
of water, tonnes of CO2, kilograms of waste and
kilowatt hours we can all save.
Climate change in the Midlands
Climate change is now one of
the biggest challenges we face. With scientists
predicting more winter flooding and summer drought,
water shortages and hosepipe bans, such as those
now being faced in the South of England, will
become ever more likely in the Midlands too.
The UK climate has varied greatly
over time due to natural causes, but human activities
are now believed to be causing major changes to
the climate by raising the levels of certain gases
in the atmosphere. These gases are called greenhouse
gases as they increase the amount of energy trapped
in the atmosphere so raise the temperature of
the Earth. How much our climate changes in the
future depends on how much greenhouse gas we release.
There is evidence that the climate
in the Midlands is already changing:
Five of the ten warmest years
of the 20th century occurred in the 11000s, these
were 11000, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999
Annual mean temperatures over
Central England increased by 0.6ºC between
1901 and 1998
Annual rainfall totals have
increased by 3% since the 1930s, but seasonal
changes have been much more dramatic. December
rainfall has increased by 38% and July rainfall
decreased by 31%
Sea levels have risen by up
to 2mm per year on the East CoastThe UK Climate
Impacts Change Programme (UKCIP) has predicted
that the Midlands’ climate will continue to get
warmer and wetter, with more storms and flooding
in the winter and more droughts in the summer.
It is likely that this will lead to changes in
the way we live and work and to the bio-diversity
of the region. We are advising regional bodies
on the likely impact of climate change, and on
strategies to mitigate the effects and to adapt
to the changes.
Wild about TamworthWild about
Tamworth is organised by Staffordshire Wildlife
Trust.
Holly Smith
