Just back from Robert Hutchison’s productive and enjoyable “Coffeehouse Challenge” for the first meeting of Winchester Action on Climate Change. It was fun session with a lot of positive energy and constructive, concrete ideas.
Most people in Winchester now agree that climate change is a problem – Robert has rightly identified that the challenge is to get local organisations and individuals to agree on action.
One opportunity is to learn from our neighbours. Eastleigh Borough Council has just installed their first Combined Heat and Power plant at Fleming Park and they’ve also put into place practical measures such as refunding the planning application fee to people who install renewable energy technology in their homes.
On a personal note, I’ve found the World Wildlife Fund footprint calculator an easy and useful tool to help me find ways to reduce my ‘carbon footprint’. It’s available online at http://footprint.wwf.org.uk