IES Blog

The Perfect 10:10

Posted : October 9, 2009 by Mart, Category: Building Regulations, Sustainability

As a company, IES is very proud of the fact that it can play a vital role in helping its clients to design buildings that are sustainable, energy-efficient and green. Indeed, it is the cornerstone of what the company aims to achieve, both through its product line and its support for carbon-reduction initiatives such as the 2030 Challenge. However, I often feel that as an individual it can be a little more difficult to see what role we can all play in helping to shape the future of the planet, as it seems like such a vast challenge. We often hear on the news about various government pledges to reduce carbon emissions, but it can easily feel like it is someone else’s problem - the policies introduced by our leaders will somehow be enough to solve the problem of climate change, and that there’s nothing we can really do to help.

I have to put my hand up here and admit that I am as guilty as anyone on this front. We all know about recycling and trying to use public transport more, but even though we know we could (and should) do more, it’s all too easy to simply think that it’s too big a problem and that our own individual actions won’t actually make any difference. But during my time at IES, I’ve come to realise more and more that we all have to take responsibility for what will happen to our climate in future - government policies and initiatives alone will not be sufficient to turn the tide on climate change, so we all need to accept that we have our own part to play.

That’s one of the reasons why I was very interested to hear about the 10:10 challenge, an initiative that has been set up here in the UK by the Guardian newspaper in conjunction with Franny Anderson, director of the climate change documentary, The Age of Stupid. The campaign is hoping to recruit thousands of everyday people to sign-up to a pledge to reduce their own individual carbon footprint by 10% over 2010, by simply making small, simple and achievable changes to the way we live our everyday lives. The campaign site gives lots of information to prove that we all need to take the time to make a difference and explains why the 2010 target is important. We’re all aware of the 2030 and 2050 carbon reduction targets, but the campaign explains that there is a growing belief in the scientific community that our carbon production levels need to peak and start to reduce within the next few years if we’re to have any real hope of our stopping the problem of climate change.

The campaign has already had a lot of positive press and publicity buzz, including various celebrity sign-ups and endorsement from politicians here in the UK. The plan is to continually grow the campaign over the course of the next year, including allowing people to share their own experiences and tips on reducing their carbon footprint. It is this aspect that I like the most - 10:10 is set up to show us that not only do we all need to take responsibility for reducing climate change, but that we can all do it in ways that are both achievable and meaningful. It’s not just about businesses or governments taking action - as responsible citizens, we all have to make changes for the sake of future generations. This can include obvious changes to our lifestyle such as flying less and not keeping electronic devices on standby, but the site also gives lots of other useful ideas for energy saving, along with an approximation of the amount of carbon each action could reduce the footprint by.

Whilst these changes for each of us alone will not be some magical “silver bullet” that means climate change is no longer an issue, I’m hopeful that the campaign will allow individuals to see that they can collectively help to make a difference and that it’s not all someone else’s problem. We can all be very good at talking up our responses to climate change, but ultimately our actions will speak louder.

Find out more about the 10:10 challenge by visiting http://www.1010uk.org and http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/10-10.

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Tags:Building, Environment, recycle, recycling, reduce, Sustainability