An environmental group based near Lichfield is launching a carbon footprinting survey.
The Whittington and Fisherwick Environment Group (WFEG) project will ask villagers to record their energy use online and allow the group to calculate the size of the area’s carbon footprint.
The data collected between September 5 and October 24 will allow a comparison to be made with previous years and allow residents to see if their efforts to achieve a low carbon future have been successful.
Last year saw 105 households take part and to try and encourage more people to take part, contributors this year will be entered into a prize draw for £50 worth of vouchers from Tamworth Co-operative Society.
Spokesman Julian Floyd said:
“This survey is vitally important because it helps us get funding for new village projects by showing community support. This year we’ve been able to help our school get a grant to install solar panels on the roof, and get County Council funds to become an energy efficiency flagship school.
“We’ve also got funding for the Village Hall to install low energy lighting, enabled 70 households to get free energy monitors, helped start the Village Food market and much more besides. And we’ve got several more really exciting projects in the pipeline.”
Villagers who don’t have internet access can complete a paper questionnaire and local Wolverhampton University student Liz Harris will be visiting homes in the village to answer queries and help with completing the survey.
To complete the carbon footprinting element of the survey residents need their energy bills for the last year (electricity plus gas or oil) and car mileages. The survey also includes questions to find out what people think about WFEG’s activities.
People living outside the Parish can still use WFEG’s website facility to calculate their footprint – but it won’t be counted in the total for the two villages.
For more information contact Mike Kinghan on 01543 432238 or email mike@wfeg.org.uk.