Making Sure the Council Practises What it Preaches on the Environment Vol 74. - Water

T he Council often dispenses advice on a range of environmental matters to householders, and I know that while people recognise that there is a valuable role for the Council in providing information and guidance on these things, what they cannot stand is any sort of hypocrisy. Quite simply, the Council should practise what it preaches. That's why we've made sure that the Council takes a huge range of actions to get its own house in order, for example by switching off lights and IT equipment when they're not being used, using energy efficient hand dryers instead of paper towels in the toilets, banning bottled water for meetings and ensuring that more recycling takes place in Council buildings. Another area where the Council needs to practise what it preaches is water use. This is obviously something at the forefront of everyone's mind at the moment, with the ongoing drought conditions. So, I was pleased to welcome representatives of Anglian Water to Borough Hall yesterday to sign a 'Water Promise' on behalf of the Council. This commits the Council to aim to cut its water use in Council buildings by 20% by 2015. This will cut down on carbon emissions by 700 tonnes and achieve savings for local taxpayers through lower bills.

Actions like these, along with the sort of often quite quite small initiatives mentioned above, combine with bigger projects such as the pioneering hydropower plant on the River in Bedford to make a real difference not only in protecting the Environment but also in saving taxpayers'money. In fact, we're aiming to cut the Council's carbon emissions by 40% by 2015, and save £1.5 million each year through our ambitious carbon management programme.