healthier, happier and richer

While world leaders are in Copenhagen grappling with global greenhouse gas emissions, most of us have more prosaic issues to sort out this week – what to get friends and family for Christmas, how to do something for charity and, perhaps stirred by Copenhagen, how to do something to help reduce global emissions.

Over six million households in the UK currently need to spend more than 10% of their income on keeping warm – a figure that many predict to increase with the likely rise in fuel price over the next few years.

Have you decided you want to reduce your greenhouse gas emissions, but are stuck because you’re unsure how much carbon pollution you cause to begin with? Or you do not know which of your behaviours you need to focus on?

I like to buy organic food, because of all the good reasons one should buy organic. However, I also like to buy local food – for all the other good reasons that it’s good to buy local. So which should I buy?

Lana Berrington

I want to travel to Rome and Paris, and need a little help/direction before I can start. Any nuggets of wisdom would be absolutely great and very much appreciated.

Kim

Agriculture is only directly responsible for a small percentage of carbon emissions, but it is responsible for a higher percentage of total greenhouse gas emissions due to emissions of methane (particularly from cows) and nitrous oxide (from the use of manure and artificial fertilizers). As far as forests are concerned, as well as being beautiful, vital for biodiversity and home to millions of people, they are crucial carbon sinks.

It was 7:30pm on a glorious spring evening, early May, in Italy. I had finished work at two in the afternoon and could have got the plane back to London.

There is much talk these days of reducing our ‘carbon footprints’. But what does this mean in practice? Here is a list of things that I (and others) consider to be important if we are to take control of this important aspect of our lives.

Our website, Climateanswers.info, is broadly split up into three: technological answers, political answers and behavioural answers.

Why have we done this?

Well, this site is really about actions and not prohibitions – what we can do, rather than just what we shouldn’t. We do not wear hair shirts at Climate Answers and we are born optimists!