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Flintshire County Council Supports Earth Hour 2015

Published: 23/03/2015

Flintshire County Council is supporting the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour, which takes place from 8:30pm to 9:30 pm on Saturday 28 March 2015. Across Flintshire, local businesses, organisations, families and individuals are being encouraged to get involved and take action against climate change, and to take steps to reduce their own carbon footprint. Flintshire residents are also being encouraged to sign up on the Earth Hour website to vote with their light switches on 28 March to show their support for international action on climate change – at www.earthhour.org Cllr Bernie Attridge, Deputy Leader for the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “Earth Hour is a fantastic global event. The Council has already taken a number of steps to reduce our own carbon footprint, improving energy efficiency and installing renewable heating and electricity generation systems on our own buildings and housing. Over 40 Council employees volunteer as Environmental Champions – advising colleagues about saving energy, reducing waste, and living and working sustainably. We’ve helped households across the County to save over £175,000 annually through improvements installed over the past year and saved over 20,000 lifetime tonnes of carbon from homes. Flintshire County Council is committed to making further reductions in carbon emissions and supporting initiatives in the county which enable community groups, businesses and organisations to do the same.” The County Council works in partnership with the North Wales Energy Advice Centre to provide information to people in Flintshire on saving energy in the home, which is a great place to start making real carbon reductions and cost savings. According to Defra and the Energy Saving Trust, the average household can save £340 on heating and electricity bills and around 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide by using energy more efficiently through installing insulation and draughtproofing, upgrading and effectively controlling central heating systems, switching appliances off at the wall, and eliminating waste electricity use wherever possible. Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney and has grown to the world’s largest mass participation event in history. Last year, landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness together with millions of homes and businesses across the world. If you are interested in planning an Earth Hour event in Flintshire, please contact Leanna Jones, Home Energy Conservation Officer on 01352 703766 and let us know what you’ll be doing. To find out more about saving energy in your home and for up to date information on support for insulation, heating and renewable energy, contact the North Wales Energy Advice Centre on 0800 954 0658 or 01352 876 040.