Carbon plans that make you cut down: Transition Towns, footprints and more

That was the title of a piece in The Observer yesterday - and looked at activists making big changes to their lifestyles to limit their environmental impact.

They note that in the past year, seven carbon reduction action groups, or Crags, have started in the UK. Their members commit themselves to measuring their carbon emissions: they agree limits and can be penalised by the group if they exceed their carbon budget. At the launch of the last one, in Leeds just before Christmas, speakers included the journalist George Monbiot.

Carbon allocations vary between groups, but in Warwickshire for 2006 it was 4.5 tonnes, 10 per cent below the UK personal average of 5 tonnes (the UK per capita average is 11 tonnes if you include industry emissions), and the group is looking to tighten it by another 10 per cent every year - a tall order when you consider that the government's own target for CO2 reductions is 60 per cent over four decades.

If members don't meet the target then they pay 4p per kilogram - the price put on carbon by the group. Those who live within their carbon budget will decide what to do with the fund - however not all groups are penalising over-emitters, and some are putting limits on how much any individual can be made to pay. In future, Crags may trade carbon allowances between groups.

Locally in Cheltenham a new project is being launched along similar lines - the One Tonners. Although as yet the details are still to be decided by the group - there first meeting in Feb already has over 30 people interested. Projects like this are exciting as they show others what can be possible.

I've already mention Transition Towns Stroud - our own local project that is a group of people finding better ways to cope with the challenges of Peak Oil (& Gas) and Climate Change. We are working with TT groups across the UK to set up sustainable, satisfying and fun ways of living differently. Infact I've a meeting tomorrow to look at that more.

Many other projects are also springing up like Sustainable Thornbury which is supported by a Bristol University project. They had an excellent conference last year which brought together many other local projects including Sustainable Redland (Bristol) and the Chew Magna Go Zero project. It was very good to meet others from the region and explore different ways forward. Other examples include Sustainable Redhill, Planet Positive and Ashton Hayes Going Carbon neutral.

All have their merits but to me the Transition Towns offers some of the best ways forward - in Totnes hundreds of people have already got involved. Do please join us if you are interested - it is very early days - in the meantime The Observer offered this bit on how to measure your own footprint:

First dig out your gas and electricity bills. You'll need a year's worth, but if you aren't a good record keeper, your supplier may be able to help. If you are a British Gas customer, you can switch to online billing and see a graph plotting your gas and electricity consumption.

For £60 you can also buy a smart metering device from British Gas called Electrisave that will monitor how much electricity you are using in real time. Remember, if you are on a green electricity tariff (now being offered by British Gas - at no extra cost until March - Ecotricity and Good Energy), you don't have to include electricity in your calculations.

Estimate your annual car mileage. A rough estimate can be made by dividing the number of years you've owned the car by the number of miles on the clock. Then divide by the number of people in your household over the age of 18 before going to the next step: calculating your CO2 emissions. There are several websites to help. The calculator used by carbon reduction action groups is at www.carbonrationing.org.uk. A less complicated tool is at www.climatecare.org.

For air travel there is a drop-down menu that will tell you how much carbon is used for all destinations. The Royal Society's website, www.rsacarbonlimited.org, uses Climate Care's calculator, but also allows you to choose from different energy-user profiles if you don't have your own details to hand. Intriguingly, it also allows you to compare your carbon footprint with the average, and with individuals such as David Miliband, George Monbiot and Jon Snow.

Finally, if you want help reducing your carbon consumption but don't want to sign up to an action group, you can join a 15,000-strong community called the Community Carbon Reduction Project, or CRed (www.cred-uk.org). There you can find out steps you can take to cut carbon, make personal pledges, and receive ongoing online support in carrying them through. The goal of the community, which started out in East Anglia but has branches around the country and in the US, is to cut CO2 emissions by 60 per cent by 2025.