Reduce your footprint!

Have you made your New Year’s Resolutions yet? You can bet your bottom dollar that half the people in your life will have resolved to improve themselves in some way by starting a new diet, looking for a change in career, or packing in a nasty habit.

But how many of us think about improving the planet when we make our resolutions? Hands up. We all may talk about it, but not many of us actually do anything about it.

Manchester Confidential would like you to make one of your New Year’s resolutions to reduce your Carbon Footprint in 2007. If you’re sat scratching your head and wondering what on earth a Carbon Footprint is, allow me to explain.

Carbon Footprint is all about recognising your personal responsibility to the planet – working out how you as an individual are currently damaging the earth and looking at ways of reducing your footprint.

Carbon footprint is a measurement of the impact of human activity on the environment, in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases produced, measured in Carbon Dioxide. You can work out how much carbon you produce by visiting the website at www.carbonfootprint.com, and then you can look at ways in which you can reduce your emissions, or at least offset them by helping to reduce carbon emissions in another part of the world.

One of the best ways to reduce Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is to plant a tree, which will breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. But the most important thing is to aim to reduce your own personal carbon dioxide output.

You can do this in a number of ways, including switching your energy supplier to one which uses renewable energy sources to supply your electricity, turning off electrical appliances after you have finished using them, and hanging out your washing to dry rather than using the tumble dryer.

Easy. Visit www.carbonfootprint.com now to find out how you can make a difference in 2007.