An English village is attempting to be the first zero carbon village in the UK. Ashton Hayes, Cheshire, located 162 miles (261kms) from London, is working together as a community to reduce their carbon footprint and save some money as well.
Gary Charnock came up with the idea after hearing a climate change lecture. He then recruited fellow villager Roy Alexander to help make his plan a reality, which started when the Parish Council adopted Charnock’s proposal in November 2005. Now, solar panels, wind turbines and other renewable and low carbon technologies are increasingly finding their way into the town, reports the BBC.
"We have managed to reduce household carbon emissions in the village by 23%", Roy explained to the BBC. Each summer students survey the villagers about their lifestyles; energy use and travel, and then evaluate the village carbon footprint.
In 2009, Zerofootprint’s ‘Villages without borders project’ selected Ashton Hayes to use their advanced web 2.0 software tools that help communities’ record, measure and share their carbon emission data. The software also gives guidance on ways of lowering a community’s carbon footprint. Zerofootprint is an award-winning Canadian not-for-profit organization, dedicated to helping communities go green, and supported by The University of Chester.
Via BBC
Visit: http://www.goingcarbonneutral.co.uk/
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