Zali Steggall: Warringah Roadmap to Zero launched to encourage people to reduce emissions
A new initiative to reduce Warringah’s carbon footprint has been launched by MP Zali Steggall. The guide names and shames banks that fund fossil fuels. Among the other suggestions are investing in solar panels and buying an electric car.
Manly
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Self-proclaimed climate change leader Zali Steggall has launched an initiative to encourage people to help reduce their carbon footprint.
Warringah Roadmap to Zero is available via Ms Steggall’s website.
It has advice on finance, energy, waste, transport, food and water, with easy, moderate and difficult suggestions to check off.
One of the suggestions on the list that the Warringah MP plans to tick off herself is the purchase of an electric car.
During the election, she was continually asked whether she had solar panels or an electric car which at the time she did not.
She has since installed solar panels on the roof of her Balgowlah home, which is one of the suggestions on the checklist.
And she said she is currently in the process of buying an electric car.
“As the roadmap suggests, we are encouraging Warringah users that when it’s time to buy a new car to upgrade to a more fuel-efficient model including an electric or hybrid car,” Ms Steggall said.
“I am currently doing that. My family car is on the market and as soon as it’s sold I will be upgrading to an electric car.”
Ms Steggall, who fought the federal election on environmental issues, said members can download checklists to put on their fridge to keep them accountable and help create “meaningful change”.
“The actions range from easy steps such as using a reusable coffee cup, to harder actions such as installing rainwater tanks,” Ms Steggall said.
“We also focused on the finance sector that includes information on how you can refinance your loans with an institution that does not invest or lend to fossil fuel industries,” Ms Steggall said.
“As more people sign up to our roadmap we want to create an online community where we can share and celebrate everyone’s actions.
“If we all work together, our impact will be significant.”
Some of the information many people will already know, such as walking instead of driving if possible.
But the website also delves into other areas such as finance where there is a link to a website with a list of banks and superannuation funds that invest in fossil fuels and how much they have loaned — and a list of “green” banks.
There’s also a section with a list of “clean” and ethical businesses, people are encouraged to support.
Ms Stegall’s team analysed Warringah data and found there are 147,333 residents, 63,956 households, three councils and 1500 schools, community groups and businesses.
The data shows that households make up 20 per cent of Australia’s total emissions, with transport the biggest source of emissions at 34 per cent.
Water heating within the home creates the next biggest source of emissions at 16 per cent with home cooling and heating at 11 per cent.