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Photo credit: Rosie Davison |
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Happy Christmas and welcome to this month’s edition of our Climate Change newsletter!
Since declaring a climate emergency, Northumberland County Council have laid out clear objectives to help tackle climate change in the county:
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Cutting the council's carbon emissions in half by 2025. Making Northumberland carbon neutral by 2030. |
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It’s not going to be easy, and we'll need everyone to get involved and do their bit to help reduce Northumberland’s carbon emissions. That’s why we’re bringing you useful tips on a monthly basis to help reduce your carbon footprint and save money while you’re at it.
Don’t forget to check our website for more info 👇👇👇 |
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| Climate Change Public Q&A Event
We want to hear from you! We’re hosting a virtual public Q&A session on Wednesday 27 January with Council Leader Glen Sanderson and a panel of climate change officers. We want you to know what we’re planning to do as a local authority to tackle climate change, and we’re opening the floor to your questions.
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Waste Less This Christmas
Did you know over Christmas we generate around 30% more waste than at other times of the year? A lot of this can be recycled or composted. Here are some tips on how you can waste less this Christmas.
Use recyclable paper – Northumberland County Council recycle all plain wrapping paper, but we cannot recycle any paper made with glitter or foil.
Recycle your Christmas cards – you can pop your Christmas cards in your recycling bin too, so long as they don’t have glitter or other ‘bling’.
Buy savvy – buy second hand or give homemade gifts.
Use your leftovers – visit Love Food Hate Waste to make the most out of your leftover food.
Or compost it! – don’t forget to compost your fruit and vegetable peelings over the festive season.
Clean your recyclables – don’t forget to clean residual dirt from your cardboard boxes before placing them in your recycling bin.
Don’t dump your batteries! – unsafe battery disposal in general waste bins can cause fires, recycle your batteries at your local Household Waste Recovery Centres (HWRC). Many retailers and supermarkets also provide battery recycling containers inside their stores.
Recycle your Christmas tree – we recycle real Christmas tree's at our HWRCs into good quality compost, soil conditioner and wood chippings to be reused in the county. We’ve even extended collections across the county this year, visit our website to find out more.
Don’t forget to put your bin out – bin collection dates will be a bit different on the week commencing 28 December. Find out your collection dates here.
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| Make your home warmer for less this winter 🏡
Have you applied for a Green Homes Grant yet?
The new Government grant scheme offers up to £5,000 off energy efficiency improvements on homes, including cavity wall insulation, roof insulation, double glazing, ground source heat pumps and much more.
The scheme will cover two-thirds of the costs towards improvements for homeowners and landlords, with low income households offered vouchers to cover all improvement costs under £10,000.
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To apply simply follow these four steps:
STEP 1: Check your eligibility using the Simple Energy Advice website
STEP 2: Check what energy efficiency or low carbon heat improvements may be suitable for your home
STEP 3: Find certified installers in your area that are able to carry out the work and get a quote on costs
STEP 4: Apply for the voucher 👉 www.gov.uk/apply-green-homes-grant
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What’s coming up in the New Year
We are in the process of revising our Climate Change Action Plan to cover the next two years in detail and to demonstrate how we can achieve our target of a net zero Northumberland by 2030. It will be published in February 2021.
We are working with Connected Kerb to apply for grant funding for a pilot of electric vehicle charging points, to benefit residential areas without access to off-street parking. More details on this scheme will come in January.
Finally, we are handing out the Free Trees next week at collection points across the county. We look forward to seeing you there! If you haven't booked your collection slot yet, please drop us an email climate@northumberland.gov.uk |
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From all the Climate Change team, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
This email has been produced by the Northumberland County Council Communications team. |
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| You can also view this email online here if it doesn't display correctly |
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