Page 10 - link magazine

10 The Link Magazine • October 2002

After Johannesburg. Now what? Save energy,
The 'Earth Summit Johannesburg 2002. What was that all about? ^ save your money
asks Swindon Agenda 21 Coordinator Lyn Forrester. The recent Rio + 10 Earth Summit
By anyone's standard, interest in firms a commitment August provided inJohannesburg failed to produce
the Johannesburg summit was by members to 'build passers-by with any binding targets for action on
extremely high. a humane, equitable the opportunity to climate change beyond the Kyoto
Some sixty thousand delegates and caring global so- discover the or- protocol agreed in 1997, writes Jo
from 160 nations gathered in South ciety cognizant of the ganisations in- Badham.
Africa to reaffirm a commitment need for human dig- volved in sustain- Yet climate change is still hap-
to Local Agenda 21 (signed at the nity for all'. ability issues lo- pening. Parts of Wiltshire have ex-
first Earth Summit in Rio 10 years The summit illus- cally. perienced severe flooding over the
ago) and underline agreement that trated very clearly the Information past two years, and 'freak' weather
'protection of the environment and huge range of issues was available on events globally appear to be hap-
social and economic development important to main- reducing waste, pening more and more frequently.
are fundamental to sustainable de- taining quality of life, eco-friendly trans- Climate change is caused by a
velopment'. how an increasingly port, health, wild- build-up of carbon dioxide and
But what does this mean? Quite wide audience is be- life, safety, and en- other gases in the atmosphere.
simply, sustainable development coming concerned ergy — all areas in Twenty five per cent of all UK
is about protecting or improving with the state of our which people can carbon dioxide emissions comes
quality of life — not just for today environment, and how we a ll need make choices to live in a more sus- from the energy we use in our
but for our children and their chil- to work together (and individu- tainable way. homes. An average household is
dren too. It's not about achieving ally) to do our bit to look after our To find out more about sustain- responsible for 7.5 tonnes of CO,
bigger and better at the expense of planet and those living on it. able development and doing your being released into the atmosphere
others but about learning to live in But you didn't need to go to bit for the environment, contact annually.
harmony — with each other and Johannesburg. A'Rio + 10' event me on 466167 or mail: lforrester@ Achieving a planet saving cut in
our life support system — the planet. in Swindon's town centre on 30 swindon.gov.uk your energy use is not hard to do
There is a very delicate balance and with Energy Efficiency Week
between humans and the environ- Sustaining Swindon coming up from 14 to 20 October,
ment. Everything we do has an why not make a personal commit-
effect on the environment and The 21st Century Swindon Forum holds its annual meeting on Tues- ment today to improving energy
other people. Climate change, de- day 15 October, 6.30pm at the Drove Centre, Drove Road, Swindon. efficiency in your home?
forestation, over-population, pol- At 7.15pm there will be a public Swindon Council, NickSedgewick, Insulating your loft to 8"
lution and diminishing natural re- meeting on 'Sustainable and Envi- Front Garden developers Bryant (200mm) could save about 850kg
sources affect us all. Overcoming ronmentally Friendly Housing De- Homes and Kate Gordon from the of CO, (if you have none now). It
poverty is an issue for everyone. velopments in Swindon.' Council for Protection of Rural could also save you up to £50 each
The new Johannesburg Declara- The speakers include Alan England. year on your fuel bill.
tion from the 2002 summit con- Wvlde from Social Housing at The Forum is a voluntary net- Low energy light bulbs are a
work which brings together or- good investment. They produce
ganisations and individuals who the same light as standard bulbs
work for an improved quality of using about a quarter of the en-
life for this and future generations ergy, and they can last up to 8
without exploiting others, destroy- times longer.
ing and polluting the environment For information on energy effi-
or wasting resources. ciency week, handy hints about
Anybody interested in the envi- keeping your home warm, healthy,
ronment locally is invited to at- energy efficient and planet
tend both the AGM and the public friendly, contact Warm Hearted
meeting which are free of charge. ^ Homes, your local Energy Effi-
Further details from Eddie ciency Advice Centre on
Bedwell on 722473. FREEPHONE 0800 512 012.

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