Looking at the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 was eye opening as it made me realise the government are setting more targets and plans to try and tackle climate change than I previously thought.
After researching further, I found through WWF that there is a target for Scotland’s electricity to be 100% renewable by 2020 and we are currently on track for this to be achieved.
I completed the WWF Footprint Calculator and discovered I had a carbon footprint of 140%.
This surprised me because I have been trying to improve my carbon footprint as I have become increasingly more aware of the dangers to the environment. My family and I try to be as environmentally friendly as possible-with double glazing, insulations and recycling.
However, I think what let me down was my reliance on my car. As I live in a rural area, there are not many amenities nearby, meaning I have to travel to a different town/city to do almost everything. I also work in a village 7 miles from my town and as I sometimes work split shifts, I find myself driving out and back up to four times a day. While there is a train station in my town, the trains do not run very frequently so most of the time it isn’t very helpful to rely on trains.
While it is not practical for me to give up driving, I could try and use public transport more often. If there are any days where the train would get me in on time, I could take it to university instead of driving. I could also use the train instead of driving if I go to Ayr or Glasgow to go shopping. I could also make an effort to walk more in the town instead of opting to drive for quickness.
References:
WWF, 2016. Tackling Climate Change in Scotland. Available at: http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/tackling_climate_change/how_we_re_tackling_climate_change/tackling_climate_change_in_scotland/ (Accessed: 6 October 2016).
