While some New Year resolutions are already falling by the wayside, Mairead Carney, a mother of one from Kiltimagh, has found one she can stick to that saves her money and helps tackle climate change. Mairead found her carbon number at Change.ie and has since begun making small, cost-effective changes to her and her family’s lifestyle.
“I have one daughter and we’re a single income family so anything that we can do to make our house more efficient and reduce our bills is worthwhile. One of the reasons I entered the competition was to make life more affordable for my daughter Saoirse, with college and different things coming up,” said Mairead.
“Transport has been a huge challenge for us. I travel a lot for my job but I’ve succeeded in reducing my mileage from 500 miles a week to 230/240 miles a week, and I have also started looking at other options for work such as phone conferencing. I’ve even decided not to take a holiday to Barcelona as a Christmas present to myself because of the effects the emissions from planes have on the environment. The best part of it all is that we can see real savings in what we spend,” she added.
The biggest contributor to climate change is carbon dioxide, which mostly comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, gas and peat. Much of what we do involves the use of energy generated through burning these fuels and so the way we live, work and travel has a huge bearing on climate change. The total impact of all of our activities — how we heat our homes and workplaces, how we travel, what we consume — is called our carbon number. Reducing our overall carbon number is the challenge we face in order to reduce the impact of climate change.
Mairead is one of four contestants battling it out for a first prize of a €10,000 makeover for their home, garden or lifestyle in the “Know Your Number” competition run by Change.ie in partnership with Today FM’s The Last Word.
“I did a lot of bartering over Christmas and swopped three bags of turf for a buggy for my friend. I also swopped a bag of my daughter’s old clothes for some wreaths for Christmas. I gave vouchers for babysitting instead of buying presents and wrapping paper.
“I’ve also got the whole community in Kiltimagh on board, it’s great to have the support of your neighbours,” continued Mairead.
To keep an eye on Mairead’s progress, visit www.Change.ie or www.Todayfm.com
