Cardiff residents are making greener choices for a brighter future (original) (raw)

You can read a Welsh version of this article here

According to the Office of National Statistics, 75% of people in the UK worry about climate change.

But in Cardiff residents are already making the small greener choices – like walking or riding a bike when possible, switching to a green energy tariff, turning down the thermostat a degree, insulating their home or eating more locally grown seasonal food - that together, add up to a brighter future.

They’re not alone – statistics also show that across the UK, 81% of people have made some lifestyle changes - and through their One Planet Cardiff response to climate change, so are Cardiff Council.

The new solar farm at Lamby Way creates renewable energy to power 2,900 homes (Image: Aerial Photography Wales)

Cabinet member for climate change, strategic planning and transport, councillor Dan De’Ath, said: “One Planet Cardiff is our plan to reduce the carbon emissions the council produces and create a pathway to a carbon neutral city by enabling people living, working and visiting the city to make greener choices.”

So far One Planet Cardiff has:

• Delivered a new 9MW solar farm at Lamby Way that creates enough renewable energy to power 2,900 homes.
• Constructed new low carbon and “Passivhaus” standard council homes, complete with solar panels, heat pumps and electric vehicle charging facilities.
• Built a 7-mile network of cycleways – segregated from other road users.
• Planted more than 80,000 new trees.
• Switched all streetlights to LED bulbs.

Local resident Caroline on the Cathays cycle path (Image: A Jeffery)

Construction of a low carbon district heat network that will cut the carbon emissions of connected buildings by approximately 80% is also due to be completed by the end of 2024.

Councillor De’Ath continued: “These projects are the tip of a very large iceberg – we’ve now got the largest electric vehicle fleet in Wales, we’re building a significant flood defence scheme to protect the east of the city, retrofitting council buildings with energy efficiency measures – and much more. In fact, the work the council are doing on climate change touches every one of the approximately 600 services it delivers.”

New low carbon homes are being constructed in Wales (Image: Cardiff Council)

Residents are also increasingly making greener choices, whether that’s Heather from Splott, who says she loves the fact that when she walks to the office, she “does her 10,000 steps, easy”, Caroline from Roath, who enjoys starting the day on her bike instead of in a car because she gets to work and she “doesn’t feel stressed,” or Reuben, who spends his days driving the streets of Cardiff in an EV vehicle, charged with electricity from solar panels on the roof of his house, and whose “energy company pays me!”

“Nobody can do everything,” said councillor De’Ath, “But everyone can do something. Whether it’s picking the healthy option of walking or cycling where possible, saving money by turning down the thermostat by a degree if you can, or simply buying less and reducing the waste they create – every small green choice helps.”

Find out more about One Planet Cardiff, and how you can join other local residents taking action on climate change, here: www.oneplanetcardiff.co.uk

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