WWF - For a living planet

Colin Butfield, Head of Campaigns

Lives in Haslemere with his wife and young baby

2.2 planets

"I've just bought an eco-disaster. We spent ages looking for a house that's walking distance to town and public transport, not too far from work, and has a garden big enough to grow veggies - all at a price we could afford. After close to a year we finally found one and snapped it up. It's fairly typical of the average British 20th century home with inefficient heating and such poor insulation that much of our heating pours straight outside, wasting money and causing unnecessary impacts on climate change.

I figured this could be an experiment: could we turn an eco-disaster into an eco-home and, if so, couldn't this be done to most homes in the UK? Crucially, in order to illustrate this we had to make affordable, reasonable choices.

Through the Association of Environmentally Friendly Conscious Building I found Naturally Amazing - a local company that specialises in eco-friendly building and project management and we've just started work.

Some of the things we're planning can only be easily done while renovating but many can be done in any home right now. I will be posting some of the ideas we've had, decisions we've made, and the final result of our retrofit .

Simon McWhirter, Senior Campaigns Officer, Homes & Power.

Moving to South Wales, with his wife and young baby

1.99 planets

2008 is set to be a cracking year for me as we're moving to live in south Wales where we're building a house - as eco as I can make it of course! For the build I'm pledging to do as much as I can within the budget of a 'normal person'.

I will be sourcing the majority of components for my house build project in Wales from the local area - notably timber, slate and aggregate. I'm working with the main builder on an energy impact assessment on all materials and will quantify a reduction pathway for the build process when this is complete. I will neutralise the carbon associated with the build process with 'Gold Standard' certified offset projects and will endeavour to get the house an A-rated Energy Performance Certificate

We are planning on installing 275mm loft installation and super efficient thermal wall panels throughout the house. I will also be ramping up the airtightness of the building as a whole to maximise energy efficiency. I plan on installing solar thermal panels to provide over 50% of all our heating and hot water needs and the boiler we have chosen to provide the rest is 98% efficient.

In 2007 we downsized to one car, and this year we will increase the percentage of biodiesel used to run it. My commute to work, which has historically been by car twice a week, will now be solely by train.

I have enrolled on a seasonal cookery course for 2008 to help me maximise local produce and anything we can grow from the new house's allotment. We've installed a chicken and a wormery both of which are likely to keep my son entertained for many, many hours

Anthony Field, Senior Campaigns Officer, Special projects

Lives in Godalming with his wife and two young children

2.0 planets

It has now been six months since we moved into our 1930s semi, down the road from WWF's headquarters. The house was in need of renovation which gave us the opportunity to include many eco features such as new double glazing, insulation and a condensing boiler. We are really happy with the new sun pipe that brings daylight (and moonlight) into the heart of the house and means we can keep the lights switched off.

Having worked to reduce the home part of my footprint last year my attention turns to reducing my car use. I am joining the cycle to work scheme and will drop off the children on route - I'm not sure if they will enjoy the rain. The main challenge for me will be the uphill cycle home… but this will also improve my failing fitness - another resolution for this year.

We continue to be active in recycling, composting and reusing - passing on hand-me-downs and unwanted items as well as looking for second-hand things before shopping.

Finally we will have a veggie box delivered that I hope will be local and seasonal produce. I hope that this will help me to reduce my footprint further.

Owen Gibbons, Climate Change Bill Campaign

Lives with his wife in Dunstable

1.79 planets

After a year of working at WWF, and since having first completed the Footprint Calculator, I have re-calculated my footprint based on my lifestyle of the previous 12 months to see just how much I was practicing what I've been preaching.

The good news is that, having not flown for more than a year, I can smugly reduce this part of my footprint to a big, fat ZERO. This shrinks my overall footprint by 0.17 planets - what's that in 'Belgiums' (which seems to be the universal measure of comparison for geographical area)? I'd also hoped to amend my 'stuff' profile to indicate that I've bought no new appliances for the past year, but then remembered that we had to buy a new washing machine after our old second-hand model died. Do I get a tiny reduction for having got the most efficient model for both water and energy use?!

That means, since first completing the calculator in January 2007 and answering all of the tips, I've reduced my footprint from 2.49 planets to 1.79. Not bad, I reckon. The trick now will be to maintain this downward footprint size, which is where my resolutions come in.

I've done a year without flying and have my next three holidays (one outside of the UK) planned by surface transport. Seeing just how long I can last before my next flight is almost becoming a personal challenge. I reckon I can resolve now to do another year without flying – lets hope we have a drier summer than in 2007 so I don't feel the urge to jet off somewhere warm, sandy and sunny.

My wife and I are likely to move house in 2008. At first, I wondered whether there are any ecological footprint implications with moving house, but thinking about it – and as I've increasingly becoming aware since working at WWF – there's a footprint impact to EVERYTHING! Will we use ecologically-sound wrappings for transporting all things fragile (including the cat)? Can we find removal vans that run on bio-diesel or batteries? Will our new home be well-insulated? Add the possibility of having to do yet more DIY, or needing to buy new appliances, and it's clear that it'll be a challenge to minimise the footprint impact of our move, …and to enter less in the 'stuff' category at the beginning of 2009!

I otherwise pledge to switch to a fully green energy tariff when we move house (our current tariff is only semi-green as it doesn't guarantee that 100% of my energy is from renewable sources). Otherwise, I will likely continue to use our jute shopping bags, recycle (as well as write to my council asking why they don't accept aluminium foil or plastic food containers), be obsessive about switching off lights and unplugging appliances rather than leaving them on standby, and sticking to the rule to "only buy what you really need". I've also pledged to continue campaigning on climate change, but that's not difficult when campaigning for a stronger Climate Change Bill is my job!

Sophie Lindsay, Campaigns Officer

Lives with her partner in Woking

1.95 planets

Well, I am pleased to say that I have reduced my footprint by half a planet since I first took the footprint calculator. I have also almost achieved my goal of replacing over half of my light bulbs with energy efficient ones.

I have yet to find a local, organic veg supplier, as the first one I tried came with Kiwi fruit imported from New Zealand. Not exactly local!

Anyway, this year I will be reducing my car miles by working more from London.
Insulation is my key mission this year, which I intend to do by sorting out the loft space and putting in good quality insulation material, I will also put up heavy duty curtains for the bedrooms and kitchen, as well as look into draught proofing doors.

By far my largest project this year will be organising a One Planet Wedding! ! ! Apparently the average UK wedding can produce 14.5 of CO2 emissions (150 guests), so my target will be to minimise CO2 emissions during planning, i.e driving to wedding dress fittings, florists appointments etc as well as making sure all food, favours, decorations, flowers etc have the lowest impacts on water and CO2. I will also encourage guests to take alternative means of transport.

This is going to be quite a challenge!

Lucy Bertenshaw, Senior Campaigns Officer, Transport

Lives with her boyfriend in a flat in Surbiton

2.02 planets

I have always believed that you must practice what you preach. Therefore, in 2007 I made some changes to my lifestyle to reflect some of the changes that WWF feel are important for UK citizens to make, to live within the means of our planet. We all face challenges which make this difficult, either financial constraints or Government policies which hinder us. However, I have found that though I still can do more, I am certainly making my way towards a lifestyle that puts less pressure on our limited resources.

Last year I met my pledge not to fly. I went to Paris to visit a friend on the Eurostar which was reasonably priced because I booked in advance and was flexible about my travel dates. This year I intend to have a holiday in the Lake District and if I choose to go to mainland Europe, will once again take the Eurostar. I bought a mountain bike last year which is great for getting around town and a lot of fun in the countryside. I would love to cycle to work, however, 80 miles a day is beyond my physical ability!

There are not a lot of changes that I can make in my flat because it is rented. However, in terms of energy usage, I try to be frugal and now my energy is supplied from a green tariff. Although my council do not collect recyclables from flats, I take all that can be recycled to bring sites. I bought a compost bin which I am hoping more people in my block of flats will use. Now I have a water meter installed, I have seen savings on our water bill.

In 2008 I started buying a box of organic vegetables which gets delivered to my flat. The quality is good and although I have had to be more innovative with recipes to use some of these vegetables, it is always a surprise when the box arrives. I would love to buy all my food locally, however, there isn't always the selection.

I think more about buying things these days and reflect if I really do need something. I try and buy as much as possible from charity shops which has the win win of reducing the manufacturing of an item and donating money to a good cause.

Ian Duff, Campaigns Officer

Lives in London with his friends

1.97 planets

Living in London means life is far easier without a car, so I don't have to worry about that. In fact I mostly get around by bicycle, which I hope is also keeping me fit and healthy.

Probably the biggest decision I've made is not to fly. Aviation is the UK's fastest growing source of carbon emissions and is set to be the significant contributor if we continue business as usual. I don’t expect to make a difference to the UK's emissions but I do hope to be living proof that a life without flying can still be filled with adventure. For my summer holidays I took the train to a music festival in Hungary and stopped off along the way. We met loads of people, slept in a couchette and crossed the Alps, all while sipping on Serbian beers! I imagine I will fly again in the future but I feel that when I do it should be for a rare and long trip (...6 months in India sounds good!)

Diet is really important. Not eating meat and fish helps to keep my footprint down and I probably buy three quarters of my food stuff organic. Fortunately I live with like minded people and we buy our food together in bulk. This means we waste less and save money and time. Our garden produces tomatoes and green beans and we get our veg from the local farmers' market and eggs from Hackney City Farm (a real farm in the heart of London).

Most recently I have tried to buy only second hand clothes. I'm not a good shopper but live near loads of really good 'vintage' shops that sell quality fashion at bargain prices. I also got my bed from freecycle - it cost me and the forest nothing!

The biggest aspect of my footprint is my commute to work by train (about 30% of my total). To reduce this I would have to move house or campaign for South West Trains to source their electricity from a low carbon source - just as well part of my job is focused on transport - watch out SWT!