Win a free month-long bus pass!

We can't ignore one big thing holding us back from the cleaner, greener Scotland we all want: our car habit.

Many of us have at least one car journey each week that we could swap for cycling, walking, or public transport - and we've got a great prize on offer today for people who want to start making this important change.

For a chance to win a free month-long Stagecoach bus pass - valid on both local networks and longer express journeys – click here to sign up to the Scottish Government's Greener Together campaign.

You’ll be joining a movement of over 13,000 Scots helping create a greener country for us all.
So do your bit for Scotland and enter our competition now! Good luck. The organisers will notify all winners by Friday Friday 27 April.

New STV show to highlight sustainable living

It's called Too Good to Waste, and in it, eight famous Scots - including Kaye Adams, Fred MacAulay and Shereen Nanjiani - take up the challenge to cut back on their wasteful ways.

Watch the trailer now to get a sneak peek of the celebs opening up their homes and their lives to the green lifestyle experts:

Video - Interactive Recycling Bank

The Scottish Government’s fun, interactive recycling bank visited five cities across Scotland, to raise awareness of the benefits of recycling more items, more often and show people what common household items such as paper, plastic, glass, metal and cardboard can be transformed into through the recycling process.

Watch what happened here…

Let’s go greener together

People across Scotland are being encouraged to ‘Go Greener Together’ and to help make Scotland a cleaner, greener place to live.

Whether at home, at work or in the community, we all need to consider how we – and the people we live and work with – could be greener, and what we can do to help Scotland’s environment now and in the future.

Taking action now will help make Scotland cleaner and greener for all of us. Find out what you can do to get involved and go greener by visiting http://action.greenerscotland.org/ecssignup for more information and advice.

New Scottish Government Campaign to promote Greener Lifestyles

The Scottish Government has launched a new campaign to encourage people to work together to reduce Scotland’s carbon emissions and live more environmentally friendly lifestyles.  The campaign uses a television advert to encourage people to visit a new web site http://www.greenerscotland.org/. This contains information themed around the ten key behaviour changes the government are concentrating on along with a very clever tool called My Greener Plan that assesses visitors’ current environmental behaviour and suggests small changes which would make a difference. People can opt to register for the service and receive updates and further suggestions.

Here is the TV ad:

This campaign fits in very well with the work of Eco-Congregation Scotland because we are using the same ten key behaviour changes as a framework for our work with church congregations and members.

We encourage people to visit the web site and use the information and  My Greener Plan. The intention is that the amount of information available and links to other organisations will continue to grow.

The Ten Key Behaviour Changes

These were identified by the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Behaviour Research Programme.

Home Energy
1. Installing a more efficient energy system or generating your own.
2. Keeping the heat in.
3. Better heating management.
4. Saving electricity

Transport
5. Becoming less reliant on the car.
6. Driving more efficiently
7. Using alternatives to flying where practical

Food
8. Avoiding food waste
9. Eating a healthy diet high in fruit and vegetables, locally in season where we live
10. Reducing and Reusing

Campaigning on Climate Change with Christian Aid and SCCS

Eco-Congregation Scotland works closely with Christian Aid. We are currently running a series of Eco Workshops together which highlight the effect that Climate Change is having on countries around the world as well as Scotland and what we might do in response.

Christian Aid is a member of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS). SCCS are currently trying to keep the Scottish Government on track regarding their momentous Climate Change Act Moment in 2009.


Why is it important?
Scotland ’s Climate Change Act is world-leading. With a 42% emissions reduction target by 2020, it's in line with scientists' recommendations if we want to protect people and nature from the devastating impacts of climate change. But while we're leading the way with our Climate Act, it'll be impossible to meet our commitments if there isn't adequate funding. We must make sure that our government takes action to create a cleaner, greener and more sustainable Scotland , and a better world for us all. The Scottish Government is planning next year's budget now for Parliament to consider - so please help us put the pressure on to ensure they allocate enough public funds for action on climate change - such as insulating housing and providing better public transport.


Send a special email to your MSP 
If one of your MSPs is listed below, you have an important role to play in helping Scotland move towards a low carbon future. The Scottish Government has published their draft budget, but it does not currently fund even the minimum activities required if we’re to meet the greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets in our Climate Change Act. This group of MSPs has high influence when it comes to reducing Scotland’s emissions – if your MSP is listed below, please take action today.

If you’re not sure which constituency you live in, find out here.

Aberdeen South and North Kincardine
Maureen Watt MSP, Convenor of the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Committee

Airdrie and Shotts
Alex Neil MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Capital Investment

Caithness, Sutherland & Ross
Rob Gibson MSP, Convenor of the Rural Affairs, Environment and Climate Change Committee

Clackmannanshire and Dunblane
Keith Brown MSP, Minister for Transport and Housing

Cunninghame North
Kenny Gibson MSP, Convenor of the Finance Committee

Lothians region
Gavin Brown MSP, Convenor of the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee

Key behaviour changes in combating climate change.

The following is a list of ten personal behaviours which the Scottish Government has identified as being key to reducing Scotland's carbon emissions. Eco-Congregation Scotland already addresses many of these through our programme, but we thought it would be useful to circulate the list. They are all relatively small and achievable changes. Which of these are you addressing in your personal lifestyle?




Key Behaviour Areas Set

Home Energy
1. Installing a more efficient energy system or generating your own. (Replacing inefficient boilers with condensing boiler and/or microgeneration (e.g. solar water heating, biomass boiler, heat pump))
2. Keeping the heat in. (Insulation, draught proofing, double glazing)
3. Better heating management (Turning down heating thermostat to between 18C-21C, reducing the hours heating is on, and turning down hot water thermostat [to a max of 60 degrees]).
4. Saving electricity (Buying energy efficient appliances, lightbulbs, TVs and other products, when these need to be replaced. Washing clothes at low temperatures.)


Transport
5. Becoming less reliant on the car. (Walking, cycling, using public transport and/or car sharing instead of driving)
6. Driving more efficiently (Using a low carbon vehicle [fuel efficient, hybrid, alternative fuel or electric] and
following eco-driving principles)
7. Using alternatives to flying where practical (e.g. train or teleconferencing for business)

Food 
8. Avoiding food waste
9. Eating a healthy diet high in fruit and vegetables, locally in season where we live

Consumption 
10. Reducing and Reusing (This could involve reusing and repairing products to give them a second use and only replacing when necessary. Avoiding unnecessary packaging.)


(From Scottish Government CLIMATE CHANGE BEHAVIOURS RESEARCH PROGRAMME UPDATE: FEBRUARY 2011)