The Environment Agency will be able to measure exactly how many litres of water, tonnes of CO2, kilograms of waste and kilowatt hours we can all save here in Staffordshire.

Council asks Staffordshire to help the planet!

This World Environment Day Staffordshire County Council is asking their staff and the people of Staffordshire to make some small lifestyle changes that will have a huge impact on the planet. They want everybody to know that you don't have to be an Eco-Warrior to improve the environment - everyone can play their part to do something to help the planet.

Councillor Carol Dean, Cabinet Support Member for Schools, is urging everyone to make a promise "It is very simple to make some small lifestyle changes. If we all do our bit, we can make a big difference to protecting our environment for future generations. Last year, 25,000 people made pledges and helped to save 181 swimming pools worth of water from being wasted, helped to stop 191 dustbin lorries of waste being transported to landfill, and declined 3.4 million plastics bags (end to end, that's 1000 miles of plastic bags). 

"This year I would like Staffordshire to make a big contribution. Imagine what all us could do if we promised the earth this World Environment Day - go on, sign up!"

To promise - just click on the World Environment Day icon:

and choose from the promises below:-

I promise to take a shower instead of a bath.

I promise to put a water saving device in my toilet cistern.

I promise to turn the tap off when I brush my teeth.

I promise to use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones.

I promise to use a reusable bag when I shop, rather than plastic carriers.

I promise to air my washing in public - not in the tumble dryer.

I promise to boil only the water I need, rather than filling the kettle every time

I promise to share my car journeys to work with a colleague, cycle, or replace those car journeys with public transport at least once a week.

I promise to use a climate payback scheme to reduce the impact of any air travel I take.

I promise to organise or volunteer for an environmental project in my local community.

Then the Environment Agency will be able to measure exactly how many litres of water, tonnes of CO2, kilograms of waste and kilowatt hours we can all save here in Staffordshire.

Look at the difference we can make:

• If everyone in the UK shared their daily car trip to work - in a year we would save 3 billion litres of petrol, worth £2.8 billion, we'd save ourselves 24 billion miles of driving and stop the release of 6 million tonnes of CO2. In fact if we all shared a car trip to work, it would be like planting 5.4 million trees - that's a big breath of fresh air!
• If everyone in the UK simply turned the tap off while they brushed their teeth they would save 76 billion litres of water, every year. That's 31,500 Olympic sized swimming pools - enough drinking water for one third of the population of Ethiopia every year.
• If everyone in the UK stopped using plastic bags and switched to a reusable bag, we'd save 7.8 billion plastic bags - that's enough plastic to tie around the earth 103 times.
• If everyone in the UK volunteered to do an environmental project for one day - we'd spend 420 million hours improving our environment. That's the same amount of energy it took to build the Great Pyramid of Giza!
• If every family in the UK hung out just one load of washing once a week we would save 300 million loads of tumble drying, prevent 515,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, and save ourselves a whopping £88 million in electricity bills every year.
• If everyone in the UK swapped a daily bath for a shower we could save a 203 billion litres of water - enough to fill up Lake Windermere. In fact for every bath we take - up to three people could have a shower!
• If everyone in the UK stopped filling the kettle to the top every time they made a cuppa - we would save enough electricity in one year to run more than three quarters of the street lighting in the country.
• If everyone in the UK put a hippo or similar water saving device in their toilet cistern, we would save 91 billion litres of water every year - that's enough water for the Okavango Delta's real life hippos to happily splash around in!
• If everyone in the UK started using rechargeable batteries we would stop 20,000- 30,000 tonnes of batteries being thrown away ever year - enough to build more than 3 Eiffel Towers.
• If everyone in the UK gave a few pound or pence to a climate payback scheme each time they took a flight it would be like planting millions of trees. If all 16.9 million UK people who take short haul flights every year around the UK and Europe gave a small contribution to offset the 2.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions created - we could plant a new Sherwood Forest every two years.