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Supported by Nantwich Town Council in association with Sustainable Nantwich.
Nantwich Climate Change Working Group made up of residents, key stakeholders and town council representatives, are developing the town’s first Climate Action Plan with the aim of the Town Council become carbon neutral, and to help and enable the community to reduce the town’s carbon footprint.
We are asking the people of Nantwich to ‘take the pledge’ and to try one or more of these easy changes, and help us to make Nantwich a cleaner, greener, healthier place to live.
Consider each of the ten points below and then think about which pledges you could commit to and comment on why you are doing so. Send these to us using the form below. Please also indicate if you wish to be kept up to date with Climate Action news from Nantwich Town Council.
1. Switch Your Energy Provider
Switching to a renewable tariff is one of the biggest impacts we can take as households.
Visit for example an energy comparison site that only lists renewable tariffs.
Whilst energy levels are at record levels it is likely you will be advised to remain with your existing supplier but you can register for updates once the situation improves. 
2. Switch Off!
Save energy at home and save money.
When your lightbulbs need replacing switch to LED bulbs. Switch off lights when you leave the room, turn things off standby, turn your thermostat down.
Become an energy saving super-hero at home too (this is another one that will save you some money!).
When your lightbulbs need replacing, look out for LED bulbs, this could knock up to £230 a year off your electricity bill.
Switch off lights when you leave the room. Turn things off standby – they’re still sucking up electricity. In fact leaving appliances on standby accounts for around 10% of a households energy usage. Turn your thermostat down by just 1C – doing this could cut another 10% off your energy bill.
While we all have to eat, there are lots of ways we can easily reduce that impact – try meat-free Monday, or even a vegan meal once a week, can you swap out one regular product for an organic, or a Fairtrade one from your weekly shop?
3. Move Your Money
Many banks and pension providers are investing in the fossil fuel industry. Put your money to green use. Visit websites such as Switch It.
Not something that many of us think about, but many banks and pension providers are investing our hard-earned cash in the fossil fuel industry, as well as other things we’d prefer not to support.
According to a new campaign called Make My Money Matter fronted by Comic Relief’s Richard Curtis, moving your pension out of fossil fuels is 27x more
powerful against climate change than giving up flying, meat and dairy combined!
And again, this isn’t necessarily the headache that most of us assume it might be. The website, Switch It, where you can pick your bank or pension provider from the drop down list and it will tell you how well (or otherwise) they perform when it comes to the planet.
And it will then give you suggestions for better performers if you’re looking to switch. (NB. If you’re looking to move your pension, do take professional financial advice first!)
4. Cut Your Digital Footprint
Data centres that store our e-mails currently use around 1% of global electricity demand. Delete any emails, photos and old files you no longer need.
Have you ever thought about how much energy it takes for us all to be online?
Probably not, but it’s a lot. If the internet were a country it would rank #3 in the world for electricity consumption. Data centres that store our e-mails currently use around 1% of global electricity demand, but on current trends, this could rise to 30% by 2030!
Some easy steps to take (that can be done from your sofa!) are:
– Delete any e-mails you no longer need
– Unsubscribe from any email newsletters or shops that you never read
– Switch your search engine to one like Ecosia – they use their ad revenue to plant trees, and produce twice as much renewable energy as they use, making them a ‘carbon negative’ organisation.
5. Reduce Your Food Waste
If food waste were a country, it would be the 3rd biggest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions after the USA and China. AND 50% of all food waste occurs in the home!
Both of these are shocking stats, but they are also quite empowering, as it’s something we can all do something about, relatively easily.
– Keep a note of all the food you throw away over a week and then take a look – is there something that’s getting consistently thrown away (bagged salad is a prime culprit here!).
– Make a meal plan – have a look at what’s already in your cupboards and fridge and make a plan for the week.
– Have an ‘eat me first’ box in the fridge for anything that’s about to go out of date.
– Sign up to apps such as the Olio app – allows you to share any surplus food you might have with people nearby.
– Compost your veg peelings, tea bags etc. Wormeries can work well if you don’t have any/much outdoor space.
6. Plant A Tree And ‘Rewild’ Your Garden
A tree is the best way to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Leaving a patch of your garden to ‘go wild’ can increase the numbers of bees and pollinators visiting by up to 10 times.
Despite all our technological wizardry and know-how, us humans have failed to come up with a more effective way to remove carbon from the atmosphere than the humble (and amazing!) tree. If you have a garden, allotment or any other outside space, planting a single tree will make a difference.
If you haven’t got space for a tree, then how about simply leaving a patch of your garden to ‘go wild’ and reduce your mowing frequency to every 4 weeks for the rest of the garden. Just by doing this, you can increase the numbers of bees and pollinators visiting your garden by up to 10x!
If you’re unable to do either of the above, then do consider making a donation to a charity like The Woodland Trust who are working hard not only to plant new trees, but to protect our existing precious ancient woodlands, which are a vital carbon sink.
7. Travel Smart
Could you commit to walking, or cycling a proportion of your shorter journeys say under half a mile? Can you car share or take public transport to lower the impact of your daily commute?
38% of journeys in the UK are under 2 miles – a distance that could be cycled in around 10 minutes, or walked in under half an hour.
Could you commit to walking, or cycling a proportion of your shorter journeys?
Find your home on a map and circle a half mile radius. If your destination is within this zone, then don’t drive.
Over a year you will reduce your carbon use and will be fitter as a result, so swap the car for a bike within your half a mile zone. Even just once or twice a week will help.
8. Reduce And Re-use 
Think reduce and reuse whenever you can – whether that’s coffee cups, water
bottles, shopping bags, or face masks.
Single use plastic is now more of a problem than ever when we take into account single use PPE.
According to scientists, disposables are no safer when it comes to Covid-19 than reusables, and they’re causing a huge amount of damage to our planet and our wildlife.
9. Eat Smart
Food production is responsible for around 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Reduce that impact by trying meat-free Monday, swap one regular product for an organic or Fairtrade equivalent, support local producers and retailers, this often results in lower ‘food miles’.
While we all have to eat, there are lots of ways we can easily reduce that impact.
– Try meat-free Monday, or even a vegan meal once a week
– Can you swap out one regular product for an organic, or a Fairtrade one from your weekly shop?
10. Use Your Voice 
And share your changes with your friends and family, your school, your workplace, businesses and elected representatives. Share the Nantwich Pledge too – invite them to get involved!
Share your pledge with us using the form provided, or via the Nantwich Town Council’s website, where you can find further information.
Our voices are more powerful than we know. Sign that online petition, send a message to your supermarket on social media, e-mail our MPs, Councillors, businesses and governments.
The more of us that speak up, the more likely we are to get change.
These files may not be suitable for users of assistive technology and are in the following formats: .pdf. Request an accessible format.
Let us know which of the pledges you are going to commit to and comment on why. Or maybe you want to sign up to find out more about what Nantwich Town Council are doing to fight climate change.