What can I do?

To understand your carbon footprint and see where you can have the biggest impact and make the most carbon savings, take the WWF’s carbon footprint calculator.

Climate change is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world today and we need to reduce our carbon emissions to achieve Net Zero. Carbon and energy are inextricably linked, and we can all take steps to reduce our energy consumption. This will not only reduce our carbon footprints, but it will also save money too! Some tips include:

• Switch off lights and appliances when not in use. On campus if there are no obvious light switches, they will be controlled by motion sensors.
• Draught-proof your doors and chimneys and close curtains in the evening.
• Move big items of furniture such as sofas and beds away from radiators.
• Turn the thermostat down by 1 degree.
• Dress for the weather, wear warmer clothes in cooler weather and lighter clothes in warm weather.
• Take shorter showers (4 mins) and turn the temperature down.
• Watch your cooking habits – only fill the kettle with the amount of water you need, put a lid on your pans, don’t leave the fridge and freezer door open too long, and batch cook your food.
• Wash your clothes at 30°C and air dry instead of tumble drying.
• Keep your appliances clean to make them more efficient – this includes cleaning your oven, defrosting your freezer and cleaning tumble dryer filters.

Avoiding and minimising waste wherever possible will help to save the energy and resources used for the production and reprocessing of materials, and end of life treatment; as well as the negative impacts to biodiversity and ecosystems when waste enters the environment. Make your motto ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’, following the tips below for ways to reduce waste across all areas of your life:

• Buy less and use what you have. Reducing your consumption is the biggest step you can take to reducing waste and safeguarding resources. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it!
• Avoid disposable and opt for reusable. This includes coffee cups, plastic bottles, straws, cutlery and shopping bags.
• Choose products with no or less packaging. This might include refill options, shampoo bars or simply choosing loose fruit and veg.
• Repair or upcycle broken items or those you want to give a new lease of life.
• Sell or donate anything you no longer want.
• Buy second-hand, rent, or swap! Use sites like Depop, Vinted, Ebay and Facebook Marketplace to purchase pre-loved, or By Rotation, Hurr and Fat Llama to rent.
• Only take what you need, this includes food and freebies at events or on holiday.
• Go digital. Make notes on a laptop or digital device, use QR codes instead of taking flyers, and switch to paperless banking.
• Follow care labels or instructions to keep your items in good use for longer. This includes your clothes, electrical items, and homeware.
• Check labels and local recycling so you know what you can and can’t put in different bins.
• Dig out your unwanted electricals and cables from your ‘drawer of doom’ and help stave off a potential shortage of copper! Find out where you can recycle them at Recycle your Electricals.

Saving water is crucial as water supply is expected to become more unpredictable in the future. Reducing our water consumption will also save the energy and resources required to clean, heat and pump water; help to save money as many houses are now on a water meter; and can help protect biodiversity as water is then not directed away from important habitats! Our top tips include:

• Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth and applying soap when washing your hands.
• Opt for a shower over a bath.
• Reduce your shower time to 4 minutes.
• Fill your washing machine and dishwasher.
• Use the correct flush in a dual flush toilet.
• Fix leaky taps at home and report faults on campus to Estate Helpdesk.
• Get a water butt to store rainwater so you don’t need to use a hose in the summer.
• Install water saving devices such as eco shower heads and kitchen tap aerators.

Changing your travel habits by becoming less reliant on personal cars and instead switching to active travel such as walking and cycling, even a couple of times a week can have a great impact on your health, carbon footprint, and other environmental considerations such as air pollution. Ways to improve your travel habits include:

• Prioritise walking and cycling where you can, particularly shorter journeys.
• For longer journeys take public transport or try carpooling if public transport isn’t available.
• Travel economy rather than business or first class on trains and flights.
• Take less trips abroad and try holidaying closer to home.
• Consider whether you need to attend conferences and meetings in person, or whether they can be attended online instead.
• Extend your trips if you do go abroad and join them up with other commitments such as work trips.

Humans have had a wide-ranging impact on biodiversity from the effects of climate change to land use changes and the impact of plastics in the marine environment. We need to support our plants and animals to thrive and not just reduce but reverse the loss of biodiversity that we see today. Ways that you can help include:

• Let the grass grow, even just a small patch of lawn can help.
• Choose to plant native plant species and let them flower.
• Encourage wildlife, feed the birds and hedgehogs, buy or make an insect hotel, and offer them a water source.
• Volunteer with university or community projects such as The Growing Project (students), Get Growing Project (staff) or with local conservation charities.
• Volunteer litter picking, huge numbers of animals are killed each year from plastic in the environment as it disrupts habitats, and they can eat or get trapped in it.

Lots of resources, including both energy and water are used to grow, harvest, process, transport and cook the food we eat. When food is wasted, those resources that were used to produce the food are also wasted. The management of food waste also has an impact on carbon and other greenhouse gases. Whether it’s the planet, your health or saving money which motivates you, below are some tips to make your food habits more sustainable:

• Reduce your meat and dairy and try Veganuary if you can.
• Eat local and seasonal produce.
• Eat less processed foods.
• Eat everything you buy and get in the habit of freezing leftovers, bread, fruit, and veg.
• Donate surplus food to food banks and charities.
• Understand date labels and use your intuition, ‘use by’ is for food safety but ‘best before’ is about quality.
• Whether it’s potatoes in a vegetable patch or herbs on your windowsill, try growing your own food.

For more information visit the Love Food Hate Waste website.

More ideas that you can do to get involved in sustainability include:

• Register to vote and take part in local and general elections. Research the policies and manifestos of different candidates and make your voice heard by voting for those which you align with most.
• Check out our activities and events, we have a number of regular and one-off activities so if you’re short on time but want to join in then there’s something for everyone.
• Join an environmentally themed society through JMSU.
• Volunteer! There are often opportunities to volunteer for the environment and sustainability such as with zero waste projects or with local parks and environmental charities.
• Tell us what activities and events you want to see this year and share your ideas with us by emailing sustainability@ljmu.ac.uk.