A working mum from Mayo has reduced her carbon number by more than two thirds as part of a competition organised by the Change.ie campaign and The Last Word on Today FM. After eight months of effort, Mairead Carney from Kiltimagh has reduced her carbon number by 74 per cent to claim the winning prize of a €10,000 sustainability makeover for her home or lifestyle. She plans to use the prize fund to construct a cavity wall and insulate her attic as well as towards growing more vegetables in her garden.
The contestants’ carbon numbers were calculated on the Change.ie personal carbon calculator and were monitored and judged over an eight-month period by sustainability consultants from the Change campaign and Cultivate.
Carney said that while it did take a considerable effort to reduce her carbon number, she feels the changes are very worthwhile and are saving them money too.
Mairead lives with her teenage daughter, Saoirse. Before the competition started, Carney had a carbon number of 15.39. She drove extensively for work, grocery shopping, and bringing her daughter to sports and other activities. She also took several flights each year including a shopping trip to New York and visits to the UK and Dublin. Since the competition started last October, Mairead has changed her lifestyle considerably and has reduced her carbon number from 15.39 to 3.86 – that’s more than a reduction of 74 per cent.
She hasn’t taken any flights since the competition started. She took some simple and low-cost steps to reduce her home energy usage and cut her electricity bill by almost one third, such as hanging clothes on the line instead of tumble drying and replacing electric blankets with hot water bottles.
She placed aluminium foil behind radiators to increase their efficiency and reflect maximum heat into the room. She insulated most of the water pipes at home to reduce the costs of heating water. She reduced the temperature on the thermostat of her radiators and boiler.
Despite living in a rural area, Carney does not always drive these days and has cut her car usage by almost two thirds. Instead of taking the car everywhere, Carney now shares the drive for the grocery shopping and her daughter’s extra curricular activities with neighbours and friends, and she uses public transport where possible.
“I’m amazed and delighted that our contestants got so engaged with the competition, to an extent that I reckon they, as well as us, didn’t really expect,” says Matt Cooper, presenter, The Last Word. “They were great craic too whenever they joined us on the programme, bubbling with enthusiasm whenever they came on air and really convincing us that their newly chosen lifestyle was enjoyable as well as environmentally worthwhile. They were all a great addition to the programme.”
Change is a Government information campaign on climate change for householders, business and the public sectors. For more information visit www.Change.ie or lo-call 1890- 242 643.
