Action on Climate Change
EcoTeams come to Waltham Forest!
HEET has started up an EcoTeams project in Waltham Forest, in partnership with Global Action Plan, to help people reduce their impact on the environment.
An EcoTeam is a group of 6-8 people who meet to make simple, effective changes for a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. Previous teams have reduced energy usage by 21%, reduced waste by 20% and cut household bills by around £150 per year. Being a part of an EcoTeam is a great way to learn how to lead a healthier lifestyle and make new friends. One EcoTeam member said, ‘I was already aware of the issues but EcoTeams helped me to take action.’
EcoTeams meet once a month for 4-5 months when they share ideas on shopping ethically, saving resources, saving energy and travelling wisely. Throughout the project, team members carry out simple monitoring so they can see their own ‘before’ and ‘after’ results, and they receive plenty of useful tips, web-links and information.
Every EcoTeam has a team leader who organises and runs each meeting and Global Action Plan is providing free training in October, which will help team leaders to help others take small steps toward a more sustainable lifestyle.
EcoTeams could include people from your church group, youth group, sports club, parents’ and toddlers’ group, club for retired people, residents’ group, neighbourhood watch group or from your street; the list is endless! Meetings are held locally (usually within walking distance of participants’ homes) and on dates convenient to the team.
HEET’s Tom Ruxton said, ‘It is difficult to know how to respond to all the gloomy predictions about climate change, and tempting to think that anything we do as individuals is insignificant. EcoTeams offer an enjoyable way in which people can come together to take positive actions, jointly, that will safeguard the environment but also save them money. The plan is to get 15 EcoTeams up and running in Waltham Forest this year, so that could be 120 households all taking action on climate change. We are very excited to be working with Global Action Plan on this project and hope that we can provide a local perspective that will link people into some of the very positive things that are happening in Waltham Forest already.’
HEET is looking to continue the Ecoteams project throughout 2009. If you are interested in getting involved at a later date, or for more information, contact Liz Rowlands at HEET.
