Reducing carbon emissions

To help the people of Essex to reduce their carbon footprint, we worked with the Essex Climate Action Commission to create Climate Action Advice Packs. There are different advice packs for:

residents
schools
early years and childcare
businesses

The advice pack for residents is also available in an easy read format.

The Climate Action Advice Packs contain practical and cost-effective ideas on how we can all play our part in transitioning to a net zero county.

Carbon Cutting Essex app

Essex County Council has partnered with Greenredeem to launch the free Carbon Cutting Essex app.

The purpose of this app is to help people to make informed choices to combat climate change. It covers topics such as:

water
energy
sustainable transport
the built environment
health and wellbeing
waste and recycling

How the app works

Carbon Cutting Essex provides fun weekly activities with solutions, tips and money-saving suggestions. These activities include videos, blogs, quizzes and pledges.

You earn points for each completed activity. These points can then be used to enter prize-draws, donate to charity, and earn personal discounts and gifts.

The app also features a carbon tracker and a list of eco-friendly products and shops.

You can download the free app through:

Transport

Our transport choices impact our carbon emissions. By changing our habits to using more efficient ways of travelling, we can improve our emission levels. Efficient ways of travelling include:

walking
cycling
wheeling (using a wheelchair or mobility aid)

This will make our roads less congested and more efficient for buses and those without alternatives. It also offers health benefits by increasing our levels of physical activity.

Procurement

Purchased goods and services and capital goods account for 95% of the council’s carbon footprint. To reduce this impact, we will be considering the inclusion of carbon reduction plans (CRPs) in all our tenders over £100,000 per annum.

Potential suppliers will be asked to measure defined carbon emissions, set a net zero target, and provide an action plan to reach this target.

Our next steps will include:

measuring contract specific emissions
rolling out training to support our supply chain and local businesses in reducing their carbon emissions

Working styles

As a result of our commitment to hybrid and flexible working, we have reduced travel into our offices and around Essex by over a third. It’s estimated, since March 2020, that we have reduced over 5,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

We are continuing to track this benefit as we move throughout our ways of working programme and estate strategy.

Reducing carbon emissions