Doing a lot, can we do more?

Doing a lot doesn't necessarily mean you're doing enough. That's why I announced at a meeting of the Council's Executive this week that we've asked council officers to start work on what further measures we can take to both cut the Council's carbon emissions even further and what actions we could take to help Bedford Borough become carbon neutral.

Of course, we have already been working successfully to cut our carbon emissions, with a massive 53% fall since 2010 at council buildings. And by saving energy we've also saved taxpayers' money too.

From our streetlight replacement scheme that has saved around 1,500 tonnes of carbon (and around £170,000) already, to our commitment to scrapping all single-use plastic from the Council, to our expansion of renewable energy at car parks and leisure centres (solar), and at Borough Hall itself (solar/biomass). We are also switching our vehicles to gas from liquid fuel from conventional diesel, trails have shown a 37% reduction in nitrogen dioxide and a 90% reduction in particulate matter. Protecting our environment has been a clear priority.

Nevertheless we face a climate emergency, and we owe it to current and future generations to ensure we are doing all we can to tackle it, at all levels. And again, saving energy is saving us money.

So we're ready to do more than simply maintain our extensive range of activity, and to identify whether we can make it even more extensive, and even more effective.

Best wishes

Dave

P.S. I recently wrote a column for the Bedford Borough Bulletin about our commitment to scrapping all single-use plastics, and you can read it on my website here.