Wokingham Borough Council is proud to launch an ambitious Planet Pledge campaign to inspire and encourage people to make changes to help address the climate emergency.
A Planet Pledge is a solemn promise an individual chooses and delivers over the course of the year to tackle the climate emergency.
Responding to the climate emergency
Over three years ago, the council declared a climate emergency which commits it to playing as full a role as possible in reducing the council’s carbon footprint to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Executive member for climate emergency and resident services, Cllr Sarah Kerr said: “We all need to do our best to inspire and encourage Wokingham Borough to lower its carbon footprint and we can champion this by launching a Planet Pledge campaign.
“There are many significant changes you can make to help tackle the climate emergency. Look around your home, your workplace and evaluate your daily routine to see what you can change. You could pledge to use active travel as your main transport, or pledge to install renewable energy sources such as solar panels, or pledge to shop locally or to cut down on single use plastic ending up in landfill. Together, we can all make a difference and help save our planet.”
Cllr Kerr’s 2023 Planet Pledges include:
- Keeping her family’s car mileage to less than 3,000 miles by replacing as many journeys as possible with active travel and public transportation, for example cycling, walking and using local bus services
- Using one blue sack for residual waste every three weeks
- Reducing meat consumption to two meals a week, eating vegetarian or vegan food for the rest of the week
- Reducing plastic consumption and transportation miles further by using local refill and zero waste and local produce shops as much as possible
Other Planet Pledges
The council’s chief executive, deputy chief executive and director of resources and assets, and members of the decision-making executive are also taking part in the ambitious 2023 Planet Pledge campaign. Some of their pledges include:
- Switching to products which consume less energy when home appliances reach end of life
- Installing solar panels at home to be more energy self-sufficient
- Holidaying in the UK instead of abroad
- Buying second-hand items instead of new
- Using local apps to minimise waste and passing items no longer needed to the local community
- Buying seasonal produce which is produced locally
- Reducing meat consumption by eating vegetarian food twice a week
- Installing a water butt to save rainwater to water the garden
- Upgrading loft insulation to the latest recommended standard
To see the full 2023 Planet Pledge list, visit the council’s Engage Wokingham website.
Share your Planet Pledge today
The council is working on a comprehensive carbon neutral plan for the borough, highlighting the importance of the borough taking a more aggressive approach to tackling the climate emergency. The council needs your help and is asking people who live, work, study and provide services in Wokingham Borough to empower others by sharing and actioning at least one ambitious pledge on the Engage Wokingham Borough website. People are encouraged to look at small and big behavioural changes they can make to help tackle the climate emergency.
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