Apologies for readers outside the UK – this Action page has a mainly UK focus.
As an Individual
Work out how to minimise your carbon footprint while maximising your quality of life!
Changing your lightbulbs will help and save you money but you need to look at the big picture… For example, if you are someone who takes lots of flights they could wipe out all your other carbon savings.
Visit the best online carbon footprint calculator to take the first step.
How to combine low carbon living with maximum well-being
Support your local farmers market Find out your nearest one by following these links:
- The Organic Directory
- Certified Farmers Markets
- National Farmers’ Retail & Markets Association
- London Farmers Markets
- City and Country Farmers Markets (London)
- Growing Communities (Hackney)
Sign up for a box scheme If it’s more convenient have local, seasonal fruit and veg delivered regularly to your door:
Eat less meat and dairy produce Expand your repertoire of healthy, meat-and dairy-free recipes.
Insulate your home Cut your energy use drastically and save £100s of pounds. Get a FREE energy check including advice on the grants that are available to everyone – not just those on benefits! FREE Home Energy Check
Sign up to green electricity Ecotricity is the only green energy company committed to investing in new renewable energy supplies. Switching is easy: call 08000 302 302 or go to: www.ecotricity.co.uk
Fly less Take the no-fly pledge, exprience the benefits of slow travel, holiday closer to home…
- Take the no-fly pledge
- ecoescape directory of green places to visit and stay in the UK
- The Guardian panel’s 10 best UK coastal resorts
- UK Marine Conservation Society Good Beach Guide
- UK Tourist Information
- British journey planner
- Green Tourism UK Certification Scheme
- Across England in a milkfloat
- More on milkfloats
- Do Nothing
- Take a tip from the Situationists
- Green Traveller
- Online backpacking mag with user-generated content
- Ed Gillespie’s Slow Travel blog
Take the train Taking the train can mean your holiday travel is 30 times more climate-friendly than taking the plane…
- Booking train tickets in the UK
- Eurostar
- European inter-rail passes for all ages
- The Man In Seat 61guide to worldwide train travel
- Tips for securing low-cost train tickets
Take up cycling Cycling to work or using a bicycle for local journeys will help keep you fit and mentally alert as well as cutting your dependence on petrol.
Use public transport Swap road rage and gridlock for time to read the paper, prepare for a meeting or read a novel. Transport Direct journey planner
Think about what you do for a living Could you live better by working less, working differently, consuming less and having more time for yourself?
For more tips on reducing your carbon footprint see:
- Chris Goodall’s How To Live A Low-Carbon Life
- Donnachadh McCarthy’s Saving The Planet Without Costing The Earth
In Your Locality
Multiply the effect of your actions by connecting up with others. Working with others on practical projects is energising. Transition Towns The Transition Towns movement is a fast-growing collection of communities who are actively building our post-fossil fuel future. If there’s not one in your locality yet, link up with others and start one.
For other groups in your locality check out:
What type of activist are you?
Watch this short film to find out why citizens (not shoppers) hold the keys to a better world, how to exercise your citizen muscles and what type of activist you are.
At the International Level
The United Nations talks have failed. Hope for an adequate, fair and international agreement faded after the collapse of the 2009 Copenhagen talks when Obama’s US delegation pushed through a woefully inadequate voluntary agreement with the promise of bribes that never materialised.
I compiled this list of resources back in 2009 and they may still be of interest from a historical point of view.
- Deal or No Deal?
- Climate Debt
- Evo Morales 20 Point Plan of Action
- Greenhouse Development Rights
- Contraction and Convergence
- Kyoto2
Take Direct Action
Due to the fast changing nature of direct action, some of these groups may be more active than others, some even dormant. Also, new groups are springing up all the time so the list is necessarily incomplete.
Why take Direct Action?
UK Groups
- Climate Rush
- Plane Stupid
- Food Not Fuel
- The Coal Hole
- Rising Tide
- Art Not Oil
- Liberate Tate
- Fuel Poverty Action
- No Dash for Gas
- Shell Out Sounds
- Climate Justice Collective
- People and Planet
- Greenpeace
- Frack Off
- No Tar Sands Network
- Occupy London Energy, Equity & Environment Group
North America
- Beyond Talk
- 350.org
- Rising Tide North America
- Tar Sands Blockade
- Sign the Keystone XL pledge of resistance
Resources