Merton Council is calling on all 10-16 year olds in the borough to help save the planet and become climate change champions this Energy Saving Week (19-25 October).

Over nine thousand Merton school children will receive their very own 14-page climate change booklet which contains top tips on making small lifestyle changes that can make a huge difference to the health of the planet.

The booklet includes a call to action for youngsters across the borough to let the council know what they have been doing to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) they generate in their daily lives. By sending the council their completed action list along with the calculation of how much CO2 they have saved, each champion will be in with a chance of winning a new bike or tickets to Kew Gardens.

The council’s community engagement officers will also be going into Merton’s schools to talk to the children about how every one of them has the power to influence the way their friends and family view the environment and live in a way that respects our fragile earth.

Pupils will also be encouraged to capture on phone cameras their views as well as their friends’ and families’ opinions about climate change and what they are doing to minimise their impact on the environment. They can then upload their films on to the council’s YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/MertonCouncil

More detail on the borough’s climate change initiatives is available in libraries in the form of Merton’s Climate Change Strategy. Residents can also visit http://www.merton.gov.uk/climatechange to take a look at the strategy and find out more about how they can save the planet and, in so doing, cash too.

Merton Council cabinet member for environment and leisure services Councillor David Simpson said: “The environment is at the top of our agenda. We have led the way internationally with the Merton Rule and now we are working with schools to get our young people thinking about how they can make a difference too.

‘Each person in Merton generates on average 4.7 tonnes of CO2 every year. We all have the responsibility and the power to change our environment for the better and we all need to be taking steps to bring our CO2 down. Thousands of small actions, like switching off lights in rooms we aren’t using, can make a massive difference to Merton’s overall CO2 emissions and our impact as a borough on the environment.”

-ENDS-