What You Can Do
Take a look at ways you can take positive action.
From fixing a dripping tap to not mowing your lawn, there are hundreds of simple ways to take positive action that will reduce your carbon footprint. Get inspired by our local heroes who have taken the initiative and discover how you can do your bit too.
Making A Difference in Bude
Bude is full of people and organisations who decided to make a difference. So many innovative environmental ideas that started here are now national or global.
The UK’s first refillable coffee cup scheme was started in Bude by a teacher who despaired of the 2.5 billion single-use cups that are destined for landfill in the UK every year. The 2 Minute Beach Clean was the brainchild of a Bude surfer who realised that collective action was the only way to tackle marine rubbish. The Bude Cleaner Seas Project pioneered ways of persuading tourism industries and accommodation providers to encourage visitors to take positive actions to protect bathing water quality. One example was persuading tourists to think before they flush. And it's not just about projects that reached a wider audience - Transition Bude's Growing Club started as a way of combating food miles and spreading the message that growing your own can be easy and fun.
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All these initiatives were the result of people refusing to sit back and allow what was happening in Bude to affect our shared environment. It’s easy to feel daunted or sceptical and possibly think: 'will it really make a difference if I get involved?' The good news is: yes, it will. In your home, at work, in the community and out and about, there are many easy ways you can help, and save time and money too.
At home
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Save 1p an hour or £87 a year simply by flicking off a switch, unplugging a charger or turning off a tap
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If every household in the Bude Community Network Area switched off a few appliances and used a little less electricity and water to save just 1p each an hour, it would add up to a saving of nearly £1 million a year
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Turning down your room thermostat by one degree saves up to £90 and 360kg carbon dioxide a year
In the garden
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Give yourself a break from mowing the lawn. Allowing wild flowers to bloom among the grass can produce ten times more nectar for bees and other pollinating insects
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Start a vegetable patch. Grow 1kg of baby carrots for just 25p – so much cheaper than the supermarket, and the food miles from your garden to your kitchen are zero!
Out and about
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Support local shops and businesses – it's not only environmentally friendly, it's also great for our economy. If every adult in the Bude community network area spent £5 per week locally, the amount of money in Bude's local economy would be boosted by more than £3.5 million a year, benefiting us all
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One in four cars during the morning rush-hour are on the school run. Don't be a statistic – walk, cycle, car-share and ask your children's school about walking buses
For more tips on how to save money and the environment,
check out our weekly campaign
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