DID YOU KNOW?

To find out how many planets of resources we use, we had to measure our ecological footprint (or eco footprint). An eco-footprint is a way of estimating whether we are living within the earth’s resource limits. It shows how much land is required for each person, for everything they consume (products and resources) and produce (waste and emissions) per year.

In 2010, the eco-footprint for the USA was 4.4 planets, and for Malawi it was 0.4 planets, while the UK’s footprint comes in at 2.7 planets. Cardiff’s footprint is just slightly over the UK average at 2.9 planets.

Further information

www.oneplanetcardiff.co.uk www.footprint.wwf.org.uk www.footprint network

WHAT THE COUNCIL IS DOING›

WHAT IS A ONE PLANET CITY?›

The City of Cardiff Council has been using the ecological footprint to inform policy and for awareness raising and the City Council’s One Planet Cardiff document and website provides the vision for environmental sustainability across the city.

The City of Cardiff Council’s aspiration

is for Cardiff to be a one planet city by 2050. One Planet

Cardiff focuses on the key impact areas of energy,

transport, food, waste, water, place and people and there are separate fact sheets on

these issues.

Cardiff today, like most other UK cities,

is a three planet city. If everyone in the world

consumed natural resources and generated carbon dioxide

at the rate we do in Cardiff, we would need three planets to support us.

• Energy – use energy efficient appliances, switch off appliances when not in use, improve loft and wall insulation and turn down your central heating.

• Waste – Reduce, re-use, recycle. This means reducing the amount of resources and materials that we consume, re-use existing resources if possible, or recycle them. Compost any food waste in a compost bin or wormery.

• Food – Grow more food, either in gardens or an allotment. Buy fresh local produce when possible and minimise waste that’s thrown away.

• Transport – Use alternatives to the car including public transport, cycling and walking. Travel less by air, buy more fuel efficient cars and when there is not a suitable substitute for driving, then car share if possible.

• Household – Repair goods rather than throwing them away, buy second-hand goods, and think about whether certain goods are really needed anyway.

For more information on One Planet Cardiff see www.oneplanetcardiff.co.uk

SOME SIMPLE TIPS TO HELP…