Celebrating Nottingham’s Ambition to become the UK’s first Carbon Neutral City by 2028.
At the start of the year, with the local Greener Meadows group, we introduced our ‘Chilli Pepper Pledges’, to challenge ourselves and make a change in our lives which would have a positive impact on our carbon footprint. Now, to celebrate Nottingham City Council’s 28 day challenge, we have upgraded our Pledges to celebrate our City’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2028. Watch our video below and find out how you can get involved AND win a prize!
Why a chilli pepper?
Our Greener Meadows workships began early this year, providing education and interactive activities around Climate Change. As around a half of our carbon emissions come from the products that we buy, our first task was to look more deeply at the ways that everyday items contribute to Global Warming. We challenged ourselves to unpick the carbon emissions created by a simple supermarket pack of chillies.
After identifying the challenges, we thought about more sustainable alternatives, and how the whole community could access these.
Our 28 Chilli Pepper pledges
- Switch to a renewable / green energy company (we can help with this!)
- Don’t get in the car this weekend, instead, explore the green spaces on your doorstep.
- Go car-free for a week, instead you could hop on your bike, walk, take the tram, train, bus or even a canoe!
- Create a sanctuary for wildlife in your back garden, make a hedgehog a sleeping spot, or a habitat for a bumblebee.
- Reduce animal products and join Meatless Mondays for a month!
- Buy no new clothes for 28 days, charity shop finds are allowed!
- Source your food this month from local producers – this could involve signing up for a local vegbox, visiting a local greengrocer or joining the neighbourhood movement.
- Ditch the packaging from your fruit and veg, buy loose produce or invest in some reusable & washable mesh bags. You can use them even in the bigger supermarkets.
- Recycle something you never recycled before – even an old tired tyre could be given a new lease of life.
- Have a mending session, invest in a sawing kit – you can saw the holes in your socks instead of throwing them away.
- Look into insulating your home, or upgrading your current insulation, it can regulate the temperature of your home, making it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. We can help with this!
- Next time you are giving your fence or walls a fresh lick of paint, look into eco friendly alternatives which are better for your lungs, and for the environment.
- Grab a bin liner and a glove, and pick up some litter next time you’re going on a stroll in the park of nature reserve.
- Start a compost heap in your garden or better yet, look into getting a worm farm.
- Swap one regular food item for a vegan alternative for a month – whether it’s milk, cheese, or sausages, there are plenty of choices around.
- Write to your MP about climate change, let them know about any ideas to make your local area greener.
- Sow seeds to grow your own herbs for a month – you don’t need much space for this as a small tray could fit on your windowsill.
- Find out how green your bank is – could you move to one which doesn’t invest in fossil fuels?
- Save water and challenge yourself to have a 3 minute shower for a month!
- Look into renewable heating and energy technologies next time you are considering home improvements, as an energy charity, we can advise you on this!
- You could make your lunchtimes zero waste by using reusable beeswax wraps or lunchboxes, so you don’t throw anything away!
- You could have a power free hour every day for a month! Turn off your phones, computers and TV. Instead, you could go for a walk, eat dinner round a table with your family or play board games instead!
- Cut your food waste: plan all your meals at the start of the week for a month, make shopping lists and only buy the ingredients you need!
- If you do need to get new clothes, for your next purchase go for organic alternatives made from natural materials like organic cotton or hemp.
- Cut out single use items for a month. Avoid disposable cutlery, drink bottles and food containers, razors and masks.
- Choose palm oil free products for a month. Be warned, it can be found in the most unlikely products, including soaps, skincare and shampoo – so make sure to check the ingredients!
- Recycle your old tired plastic bags, batteries and ink cartridges in any big supermarkets.
- Leave behind plastic bottles this summer, get a reusable water bottle and fill it up at the tap.
The Chilli Pepper prize
The prize for completing one of the 28 pledges is a homegrown chilli pepper plant you can collect from the Arkwright Meadows Community gardens!
All we need you to do is:
- get in touch with us by emailing sonia.tyrna@nottenergy.com, and sending us a short video or a photo so we can see how your pledges are going or
- tag us in your social media posts, you can find us on Twitter (Nott_Energy) and Facebook (@Nottingham Energy Partnership)
In return, we will email or post a voucher for your Chilli Pepper prize, which you can take to the Arkwright Community Gardens and exchange it for a home grown plant.
See how Nottingham & Nottinghamshire residents are getting on with their pledges below:
We’re looking forward to seeing your pledges!
