What is Climate Change or Peak Oil or Global Warming ?
If you want to learn a little more about, we have created a short list of some interesting articles to read and videos to watch. Take time at this stage to learn more. It is important to know what the issue is before you start trying to find your own solutions. Talk to your family, friends, neighbours about it and get their views too. You may also want to research topics like Optimal Population, Deforestation, etc.

Recommended Reading [online]

• WWF Climate Change Campaign
• IPCC - Climate Change Reports
• 2nd annual report on Scotland's Climate Change Programme

Recommended Watching [online or DVD]

• An Inconvenient Truth
• Home

The Story of Stuff - The hidden truth that lies behind the STUFF we buy, use and scrap.

Another Greenpeace Film.

Greenpeace Film about de-centralising energy production.

Explanation of the Tipping Point. Something we want to avoid at all costs.

Is Global Warming true or false, should we do something or not....

Good video explaining what the Transition Town movement is all about.

The Powerdown Show - Transition Towns and Energy Descent Pathways from Rob Carr on Vimeo.

Recommended Books
Linlithgow Climate Challenge have worked with Linlithgow library to provide a range of informative books stock which you can now borrow.

How much am I contributing to greenhouse gas emissions ?
Perhaps the best way to begin your personal or family campaign, is to take a baseline measurement of your current carbon footprint. To do this, there are many Calculators available on-line which step you through questions about your lifestyle and energy use.
Note : If you use more than one calculators you'll soon find that they give different answers, and this is because they use different criteria and questions. e.g. Some ask purely about energy consumption from cars/flights/home heating and lighting etc, while others also ask about shopping habits, and how much meat/veg you eat weekly as this can have a sizeable impact.

Carbon & Ecological Footprint Calculators Use a carbon calculator to find the emissions for your household or footprint. [some examples below]

• UK Government Calculator - Act-On-CO2
• WWF Calculator
• Resurgence Calculator
• BP Calculator
• Google Carbon Footprint Project

What can I do ? Select a few things that you are going to change and discuss them with your family or people you live with. BBC Bloom is a good tool to help you choose. Start with some of the easier projects like changing light bulbs and switching off electrical devices, and move towards tougher changes as you gain confidence in your successes.

Still needing help ?
Contact the Linlithgow Climate Challenge and we will help you start your own carbon reduction programme. We can advise on ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home, direct you to grants and funding for home improvement/renewable energy etc.

Sensitive and tougher Issues
Population. Global population sizes are ultimately at the heart of the overall issue with Global Warming and depleting earths resources. We all have a part to play in trying to balance the finite resources on the planet with the number of human beings that exist, as well as adapting our lifestyles to be more sustainable. There are approx 6.8 billion people on the planet and unless we raise & debate this difficult topic, then we could see it rise to 9 billion very soon.

See : http://www.optimumpopulation.org/