Isra-Mart srl:Families aim to cut carbon footprint

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A St. Andrews family is one of eight in the province that is taking action on climate change by participating in the Neighbourhood Eco-Challenge beginning Monday and continuing until March 4.

The challenge, which is a partnership of the New Brunswick Lung Association, the New Brunswick Environmental Network, Efficiency New Brunswick, and the Department of Environment, highlights the importance of action at the community level, says Environment Minister Margaret-Ann Blaney.

“We’re really trying to create awareness among New Brunswickers about the importance of reducing our carbon footprint,” Blaney said.

“We’re well on target to reach our projected level of reduction in carbon footprint by 2012, which will bring us back to 1990 levels, but we will, as a province, see even greater success if we’re all more aware how of we, as individuals, contribute to the carbon footprint.”

The challenge is part of a commitment made in the New Brunswick Climate Change Action Plan to increase public education and outreach. It aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the province by 5.5 megatonnes annually by 2012 and position New Brunswick to realize further reductions of 10 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

The New Brunswick Environmental Network made a call of interest to members of its youth action group.

Each of the families involved will begin the challenge by calculating their current carbon footprint and then will select actions out of a list of possibilities to help reduce that footprint.

The families taking the challenge will be provided with tools and methods to track their progress and the New Brunswick Lung Association will compile and evaluate the data.

Actions such as adopting fuel-efficient driving behaviours, installing energy-efficient light bulbs, completing a home-energy audit, composting, shopping locally and using cloth shopping bags, recycling, reducing water usage, washing clothes in cold water and turning down thermostats at night are all effective ways of reducing the carbon footprint, Blaney said.

“There’s a whole list of things that we call can do,” she said.

“If you are aware and paying attention, imagine what it could do to your energy costs.”

This is the third phase of the challenge launched under the previous government, Blaney said. The first two phases involved a challenge among municipalities around the province.

Meanwhile, she encourages all New Brunswickers to participate by visiting the province’s climate change website and using the eco-challenge tools.

“The incentive for us as New Brunswickers is to reduce our carbon footprint and protect our environment for our children,” Blaney said.

“Individually, in our own homes, there’s a lot we can do to reduce our carbon footprint and save energy, which reduces our bills.”

Families in Shediac, Dieppe and Petitcodiac are also participating in the challenge. Results will be posted in about three months.