Our Derbyshire goes green - issue 94

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Message from Councillor Tony King, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration

Councillor Tony King

Last week Cabinet approved a new Carbon Reduction Plan, which details how we will take action to reduce emissions from our own buildings, street lighting and fleet of vehicles in order to achieve the pledges we made in May 2019 to reduce carbon and take action on climate change.

Between 2009/10 and 2018/19 we reduced our greenhouse gas emissions by 48% but we aim to reach net zero on property, street lighting and our fleet of vehicles by 2032.

From talking to many employees, I know that you care about reducing our carbon footprint and are already doing lots of things at home and at work to make a difference. 

We're using our social media campaign, #GoGreenDerbyshire, to showcase some of the great work that is being done. Please follow us on Facebook or Twitter and share any suggestions or examples of things you have been doing to help inspire others.

Kind regards

Tony

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Installing LED street lights

Street light replacement

Since 2016 we’ve installed over 71,000 LED street lights across Derbyshire and aim to have converted them all by April 2022.

In 2009/10 we emitted 18,121 tonnes of CO2 from street lighting and this reduced to 6,617 tonnes of CO2 in 2018/19, a reduction of 63%.

The large reduction in energy use has benefited council budgets as well as the environment with current savings of just over £2million in energy costs.

The LED lights also offer other advantages such as lower maintenance costs, allowing better facial recognition on CCTV cameras and giving us the option to dim lights when they are not needed.

Find out more about when we plan to replace street lighting in particular areas. 

Taking steps to reduce your footprint

There are lots of things you can do to help reduce the amount of energy we use at work and at home. By working together and remembering the small things we can make a big impact.

  • Make use of skype messaging and video calls to hold meetings rather than travelling to meet people face to face – if you’re not sure how to use skype there are help articles available through the IT service desk online.

  • Double check that computers, printers, TVs and other electrical equipment are turned off overnight and not just left on standby. Leaving a PC on overnight uses enough energy to print 800 A4 pages.

  • Keep windows and doors closed when the heating is on – turn down radiator valves or thermostats if it’s too warm. 
  • Make sure you are recycling properly both at home and in the office. You can read our A to Z guide on waste for advice on reusing and recycling a wide range of items. We are developing some guidance to help minimise and eliminate single use plastics across the council - more information about this will be available soon.
  • Little things like making sure lights are switched off when you leave the room and only filling the kettle with the amount of water you need, all add up and make a difference.

For more tips on how to save energy, visit the Everybody’s talking about climate change website.

You can use the WWF questionnaire to help you calculate your environmental footprint and identify ways that you can reduce it.

Introducing electric pool vehicles

In spring 2020 we will be introducing a new electric pool of fleet vehicles including eight Nissan Leafs and two e-bikes.

The aim is to support the pledges made in May 2019 by reducing the financial and environmental cost of employees using their own vehicles for work related business.

The vehicles and bikes will be managed centrally to make sure they are used as much as possible and will be available for booking through an electronic system. Initially, the vehicles will be based at County Hall in Matlock where we already have the electric charging points needed. We hope that if the scheme is successful we will be able to introduce more vehicles to other areas.

More information about when the vehicles will be available to use will be shared in the new year.

Have a carbon conscious Christmas

Christmas wrapping

From buying wrapping paper and Christmas cards that can be recycled to making your own gifts and decorations, there are lots of things you can do to have a more environmentally friendly Christmas.

We’ve pulled together lots of ideas to help you increase recycling and cut food waste which are all available on the Christmas recycling pages of our website.

If you’ve got any other ideas or suggestions, please email wastemanagement@derbyshire.gov.uk

Switching to electric

Thinking of making the switch to an electric car? You can charge your car at one of the nine charging points at County Hall in Matlock and we are working with partner organisations on a plan to install more charging points across the county over the next 10 years.

Find out more about electric vehicles and charging points in our myth buster.

'Budi up' and car share

Sharing your journey to work reduces congestion, saves money and is better for the environment. It also means you are eligible for priority parking spaces at some bases:

  • County Hall - 39 places
  • Chatsworth Hall - 6 places

To start using the Derbyshire County Council employee car share scheme you need to register with the Car Share Derbyshire website to find someone to share with.

You need to form a ‘budi team’ on the website and this automatically requests your permit to be sent to you. You can then begin taking advantage of the priority parking spaces. Please make sure you display at least two up-to-date car share permits when you park. If you're travelling alone then you can't use the car share spaces.

For more information, contact the sustainable travel team on 01629 538156 or email sustainable.travel@derbyshire.gov.uk

Jake and Jack

Pictured: Car sharers Jake and Jack who work in Economy Transport and Environment.