“Going Carbon Neutral” campaigns not only push for reduced energy usage and carbon emissions, they also strengthen community. The small town of Ashton Hayes in the UK launched the concept by conducting an audit of the town’s energy use, which helped determine which changes would reduce carbon emissions the most. To change their collective behavior, residents launched campaigns and projects – all with a light, festive, guilt-free approach and without government involvement. Since then, many other towns around the world have launched similar campaigns. Learn how to join them here.
Take action
- Launch your own campaign with Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral’s guide A Practical Toolkit for Communities Aiming for Carbon Neutrality.
- Learn another perspective on launching a campaign with this guide from the Canadian town of Eden Mills, So You Want to Go Carbon Neutral: It Takes a Village.
- Develop a solid energy strategy for your town covering conservation, electricity, heating, and transportation with Local Energy Scotland’s Community-led local energy plan toolkit.
Get inspired
- A participant in Ashton Hayes found that the campaign not only enabled her family to cut their household energy use in half, it also led them to use green construction methods, start a garden, get to know their neighbors better, and participate more in community life. Read about it in The Guardian article My village is going carbon neutral.
- Eden Mills Going Carbon Neutral in Canada focuses on retrofitting buildings, planting trees, and celebrating all behavior shifts, large and small.
Source: Local Futures
Production: Mobilized News