Newport topped the green league table of 60 cities which analysed residents' consumption using the Ecological Footprint - a tool which measures an individual's environmental impact.

Five cities in Wales were included – Newport, Swansea, Cardiff, St Davids and Bangor. Newport had the lowest footprint and Bangor the highest. In England, Plymouth had the lowest footprint whilst Winchester had the biggest. Glasgow came top and Edinburgh bottom in Scotland.

Although this is good news for Welsh cities, overall, the report demonstrated that city dwellers in the UK including Newport are consuming more than their fair share of natural resources. In fact the average city dweller in the UK is consuming the resources of three planets. Obviously, we only have one.

Morgan Parry, head of WWF Cymru said: "Our cities have the highest potential for eco-living due to local facilities, public transport links, dense housing and shared public resources. However, even the greenest city resident, can on average, only reduce their footprint by one third – moving from a Welsh average of a three planet lifestyle to a two planet lifestyle. This clearly indicates that moving to a sustainable one planet lifestyle is not just about consumers - government and business must also play their part to avoid the most devastating impacts on the environment."

The main factors affecting an individual's ecological footprint are: housing, transport, food, consumer goods and public and private services. Ecological footprint is made up of the land and sea area required to feed, provide resources, produce energy and to absorb their waste and pollution.

The report recommends steps individuals can take to reduce their footprint. These include: calculate your footprint at www.wwf.org.uk/calculator and devise a plan to reduce it, join a green community group, holiday closer to home and try to reduce energy use in your home and save money on bills in the process.

Key Welsh city facts

• The smallest footprints within Wales are in the urban south.
• The people of Newport have the lowest average footprint in Wales in food, transport, housing and consumer goods.
• All five Welsh cities scored in the bottom 25 - Newport (1); Swansea (9); Cardiff (15) and St Davids (21) and Bangor (24)
• In terms of capital cities, Cardiff ranked 15th whilst Edinburgh ranked at 50th. In each footprint sectors, Edinburgh had a higher result than Cardiff and is greatest for housing, consumer goods and transport.
• If Cardiff's food footprint was measured in allotments the average person would need 49 of them to provide for their food consumption.
• Bangor has the largest housing footprint which is the equivalent size to Portsmouth and Inverness, Scotland. In terms of surface area Bangor's housing footprint is 212 square kilometres. That's more than twice the area of Bangor itself (102 square kilometres).
• St Davids has the largest transport footprint of all Welsh cities, closely followed by Bangor. In fact a resident in St Davids has the equivalent transport footprint to a city dweller in Sheffield and Birmingham.
• Swansea's transport and housing footprint is the second lowest in Wales and is a similar size to Coventry.

John Griffiths, Assembly Member for Newport East and Deputy Minister for Skills, said: "This is a tremendous achievement for Newport. This report demonstrates that people in Newport are passionate about reducing their ecological footprint and want to play their part in tackling climate change.

"The Council's innovative recycling schemes have been matched by a collective effort from local people to change the way they think about their lifestyle habits and help reduce their waste.

"With some perturbing predictions, the future of our planet may look bleak but it is far from irreparable. What people want to see is more action and less talk. Newport is moving further and faster to reduce its carbon and ecological footprints and setting an exemplary record for the whole of the UK to follow."

Mr Parry added: "Everything we spend our money on has the potential to cause harm somewhere in the world whether it's disappearing forests, declining fisheries or climate change. But by increasing our understanding of these potential impacts and changing the way we do things we can reduce the negative environmental impacts while maintaining our lifestyle. What is needed is to step outside of the cycle of conspicuous consumption. People need to become active citizens – taking positive actions in their own lives as well as in their community to reduce their own footprint – and use their money wisely. By choosing responsible products and companies we can have a positive impact."

WWF'S KEY FOOTPRINT REDUCTION TIPS TO CITY DWELLERS
1. Measure your footprint and set annual targets to reduce it
It is much easier to reduce your footprint if you know what you are consuming and are aware of its effect. Measure your personal environmental impact and find out the best ways to reduce it at www.wwf.org.uk/calculator

2. Make your home as energy efficient as possible
This is one of the simplest tips to follow. Many measures can not only reduce your footprint but also save you money. For example, turning appliances off instead of switching them to standby, or improving your home's insulation.

3. Eat a local, organic, seasonal, low meat diet
Food that has been transported half way around the world can never have a small footprint, although its impact can sometimes be lower than intensively produced local food. Some supermarkets now indicate if their produce has been flown to the UK. A bonus is that the freshest food – unprocessed, locally grown and in season – is also food with a low footprint.

4. Think before you spend
Most of our footprint is down to the things we buy. Our houses are often cluttered with items we only use or wear once. The average drill is used for just 15 minutes in its lifetime. Rather than buying something, consider whether you could hire or borrow one instead.

5. Holiday closer to home
Flights comprise a large and growing part of our collective footprint. One passenger's share of a return flight to Australia will have the same impact on the climate as it takes to heat and power the average home for six years. Europe is now easier to reach by train than ever before. A passenger on a flight to Paris is responsible for 10 times more CO2 emissions than a person using the Eurostar.