Climate change  |  19 Aug 2022

Share this story

A Christchurch City Council survey shows nearly all respondents are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their day-to-day lives.

Ways you can lower your emissions

  • Petrol and diesel road transport are our biggest source of emissions. Walking or going by bike, bus, scooter, ride-share or an electric vehicle (EV) instead are big ways to help, and can save time and money.
  • Sorting the right stuff into the right bins reduces waste going to landfill, lowering emissions and saving money.
  • Making our homes energy efficient and adopting good habits like switching off lights and appliances when not in use will lower your household’s emissions and reduce your power bill. 
  • Shopping close to home means shorter trips and fewer emissions. It also means showing our small businesses and communities some love – even better if we walk, bike, use an EV or take the bus instead of the car.
  • Working from home for one day a week can mean cutting emissions from two trips in a vehicle. Talk to your employer about options that would suit both of you.

Learn about other things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.

The recent public Climate Change survey heard from around 3400 people. Of those surveyed, 97 per cent of respondents are already taking some form of action to try and reduce their emissions. The most common actions were recycling, reducing waste and buying local.

In addition 76 per centagreed that they are prepared to change their own behaviour in order to reduce their emissions.

Climate change was seen as important, or very important, by 79 per cent of respondents, which mirrors results from previous Council surveys.

See the full survey results.

“While it’s positive to see awareness remains high, we all have more work to do to address climate change. The good news is, people are already taking action and seem prepared to do even more ,” says Council Climate Resilience Lead Tony Moore.

The Council launched a campaign this year to raise awareness of its target to halve emissions by 2030 (from the baseline set in the 2016/17 financial year).

Transport makes up about 54 per cent of the total emissions from Christchurch District. The survey found 60 per centof respondents know that how we travel is the top contributor to our emissions.

However, there is a misconception about how much waste actually contributes to emissions compared to other larger sources. The Council’s emissions tracker estimates waste makes up 8.6 per cent of the District’s total emissions.

“Every action helps, but there are definitely some things we can do that will have a much greater impact on our footprint. For example, flying and driving less, biking, walking, catching the bus and improving the energy efficiency of our homes can all have a big impact and will save money and improve wellbeing,” says Mr Moore.

“We are putting the challenge out to everyone to consider what changes you can make, whether big or small, in your everyday life to reduce your own emissions.”

Find out more about what we’re doing to reduce emissions and how you can help.