Climate change is something I have always been aware of. Throughout my primary education we had an Eco committee that were a very influential group, and by having this group we got the chance to learn about how we could help the environment. As I have gotten older I still keep the idea of helping in my mind however I am not very pro-active in doing so.
It is a topic that is quite often on the news. In recent years the majority of people have been issued with information leaflets, bulletins and resources that help us help the planet. Personally I find it really hard to recycle, I almost always forget. Which is why the use of various coloured bins for different materials is extremely useful. However, recently my local council have introduced a new recycling process and many people are finding it hard to get into a new routine and get their heads around the process. My mum has always been one to reuse bags, even before the government introduced their new legislation, and has many large reusable bags so rarely has to buy any of the smaller ones.
Before learning more about climate change I never realised how much the Scottish government was doing to help. While reading the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 I discovered that there is set targets for the years 2020 and 2050. I was also shocked to find out that scientists think that our global temperature could rice by 6 degrees Celsius within this century. That a rise of 2 degrees Celsius could mean more acidic seas leading to a destruction of food chains (WWF, 2017).
After completing a task to measure my carbon footprint I realised that I could be doing a lot more to lower it. A high percentage of my carbon footprint is caused due to travel as I highly rely on my car for travelling especially for university and work and commuting takes up a huge part of my day. I am going to take the first step on improving my carbon footprint by turning all appliances of by the main rather than leaving them on standby.
References
Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. asp 12. Edinburgh: The Stationary Office.
WWF. (2017) HOW BIG IS YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT? [Online] Available: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/ [Accessed: 28 September 2017]
