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Sustainable London

There are constantly warnings that climate change threatens London with flooding.

However residents seem to be reluctant to take action to reduce the production of greenhouse gases.

Every year millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, the main cause of global warming, are poured into the atmosphere.

So what should we be doing to become environmentally friendly?

And how green is your family?

The Murray family's green excursion

The Murray family from north London have agreed to go green for three months.

The Murray family generated loads of waste packaging

Dad Martin, mum Stella, 16-year-old Tom and eight-year-old Joseph all have to play their part.

We follow their story in this three part diary.

Martin's diary revealed:

"Not sure what we have let ourselves in for here but I think we will be OK.

"I do believe that as a whole people cannot carry on pumping out so much carbon without something being done but I think we are green.

"I am a member of Greenpeace, we recycle so much that we have to use the next-door neighbour's box and all our light bulbs are energy efficient.

"However, we will find out for sure tomorrow when Samantha Heath comes to do our carbon audit.

"I have dug out all our energy bills, Stella and I have recorded our average weekly mileage in our cars and we have kept all our rubbish for the week.

"I have even separated all the packaging from the rest of it!"

Samantha Heath is Head of the London Sustainability Exchange - an organisation set up to help people like the Murrays change their carbon creating habits.

Martin and Stella like to think they are environmentally aware. However, once Sam finished her audit they had a nasty shock.

Carbon dioxide audit

The central heating boiler is very inefficient - belching out tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Energy use in the home, including, heating, lighting and appliances all add to the Murray's so-called carbon footprint.

For the Murray family reducing CO2 output will be challenging

Then there are the Murray's two cars which are in constant use.

By Samantha's account the Murrays use 52kg of carbon dioxide 聟 about twice the national average. 52 gas-filled purple balloons represented this.

Martin thought the family were environmentally friendly; recycling, using energy saving light bulbs for a number of years.

Samantha set the family the target of cutting the number of balloons by half - from 52 purple balloons down to 26 over three months.

Audit shock

"It turns out that we are not a green as we thought; in fact we produce twice the national average of carbon emissions - 52 kg a day!

"Our sitting room was almost full of Samantha's purple balloons.

"I knew that the 19-year-old boiler and our two cars would have some effect on our green credentials but I did not realise just how much.

"Samantha has challenged us to reduce our emissions by half in just three months and Stella, Joseph and Tom are getting an idea just how much we will have to do to make that happen."

School run

Joseph Murray created a balloon chart to represent CO2 footprint

"First on the list is getting Joseph to school. Usually he goes the few miles in the car with either Stella or me but Samantha has insisted that we take the tube from now on or make use of the school's walking bus.

"I have not been on the tube for some time and my memories of it are not good, but we will give it a go even though Joseph is even less enthusiastic than I am.

"Samantha has also pointed out that nearly half of all our rubbish is made up of packaging, so it looks like we will be sorting our bins from now on and trying to remember to take all the plastics to the recycling centre.

"Reduce, reuse, recycle will be my mantra!"

Shopping and food

"Food miles are what we are thinking about today. Just how far has the food we eat travelled to get to our local supermarket?

"The further it comes the more carbon emissions.

"Stella shops most days and it is going to be a challenge to cut that down to once a week as well as looking at all the packaging to check for food miles.

"Samantha has taken Stella and Joseph off to the Supermarket to learn about food miles, shopping organic and cutting down on plastic bags.

"We may have to go without some of our favourite foods but cutting down on the packaging should be quite straightforward I hope."

Vegetable growing

"Samantha has issued her toughest challenge yet!

"I have to grow my own vegetables to serve at a celebration BBQ in three months time.

"I haven't the faintest idea how to tell a weed from a cucumber so I was quite relived when Samantha presented us with some courgette, tomato and cucumber plants but I am not sure how the radish and lettuce seeds will get on.

"We have chosen the end of the garden as our veg patch but the ground has not been dug in years so it was very hard going at first.

"We also seem to have chosen the hottest day of the year to start the gardening experiment."

Joseph Murray really enjoyed the gardening experience

"Tom was reluctant to help too much and spent some time on the swing offering directions.

"We have all the plants in now and the seeds sown so we will just have to see if they survive.

"Joseph has promised to water everyday, but not with a hosepipe!"

Efficiency moves

"We are six weeks into the challenge now and I think we are doing very well.

"I have had the boiler replaced; saving us 25% straight away I am told.

"Joseph has been going to school on the tube for the last weeks of school and we are into the habit of separating our rubbish out.

"I still forget to take the reusable bags to the supermarket but Stella has said she will keep reminding me.

"Samantha is due back today to recalculate our carbon emissions, I am quietly confident."

The verdict

"Looks like my confidence has been justified, Samantha has taken 12 balloons off our 52."

Follow the future progress of the Murray family in their bid to become greener over the next three weeks on 成人快手 Inside Out London TV and our website.

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