60 Steps to 60% Reduction - Hackney City Farm

Hackney City Farm has become one of the 10 finalists for NESTA’s Big Green Challenge. The prize is £1million and the competition is to find a community carbon reduction scheme. Over 500 organisations applied and we are honoured to be amongst the final 10, all of whom have been given £20,000 to run their project idea for a year."Our idea is simple: 60 Steps to 60% Reduction. We hope to demystify and enthuse our community about carbon reduction. To do this we have recruited 15 Green Ambassadors who we are training in our 60 Steps and will then be able to take this out to their community and start their own carbon reduction schemes. Its really like a pyramid scheme except its for the good!""The Farm itself aims to reduce its own carbon footprint by 30% this year (2009) we’ve already started to make progress. In the coming year we are replacing our old boiler, installing some renewable energy sources and trying to get all our visitors and users to change their behaviour so that we can save more carbon.We know it can be scary when you hear the news about climate change and it is easy to think you can’t make a difference, but we’re here to change your mind.Over the year there will be events, training and information on simple steps you can take towards reducing your carbon footprint. It’s up to you how much you get involved and how many steps you take, but we’ll be there along the way."Here’s three steps that can help you on the way to reducing your carbon:MeasureUnless you understand how much carbon you are using now it’s really hard to reduce it. If you want advice on how to read meters or want to understand how those numbers relate to carbon just ask us!Ask “What’s wrong?”If we don’t understand why we’re making changes then we wont bother with them. Once you learn about the impact all of us have on our planet/home/school/park then it’ll make you want to change more.Take a step at a timeIf you try and change your whole lifestyle at once you will get fed up, tired and irritated with it. Decide what’s really important to you now and think about what is actually achievable and then take a step. You’ll soon find how easy and practical it can be to be green.To find out more and get involved email gustavo@hackneycityfarm.co.uk