Hi,

With the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit reaching its conclusion this Friday, it is highly likely that Governments will encourage us all not to fly. Aircraft apparently contribute significantly to global warming due to the carbon emissions as a result of the fossil fuels they burn.

When we do fly in future we may be asked to offset our carbon footprints in some way as a matter of course. Indeed Carbon offset companies already exist. The most frequent method used by companies is to offset your carbon footprint by planting a tree.  Trees of course absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and so help to reduce carbon emissions.

There are of course many ways to reduce our carbon emissions. One obvious way is to use our cars less often, particularly for short journeys. I am sure many of us are used to jumping into the car to visit the local shop for the odd grocery item or a newspaper, when we could easily walk. The great benefit of this method is that we will be taking exercise which is very good for our health.

What other methods can we use? I am sure that many of do not want to have to plant a tree every time we take a flight, but how about changing one of our light bulbs to an energy efficient light bulb. According to the experts if we change three standard 100w light bulbs with energy efficiency equivalents, we can save 1Kg of CO2 in eight hours.

Surely this is a very simple way to reduce our carbon footprints. The energy saving light bulbs are a little more expensive but they last longer and are perfectly adequate to light your home or office. They now come in different shapes and despite reports of them causing skin alergies in a very small percentage  of people, I would recommend them. I have changed more than 90% of the light bulbs in my house for energy efficient equivalents and am delighted with the result. you just need to get used to the light taking a little longer to come on.