Green Lane sets an example for us all to follow

Thanks to an email from a constituent called Ian Lewis I was pleased to discover that Britain's "greenest street" is in Yorkshire & Humber.

Green Lane, in Leeds, took part and won the Green Streets initiative which involved several streets from across the country competing to see who could save the most energy.

While the houses on the streets were given help (such as solar panels and loft and wall insulation), most of the savings came from simply turning things off at the mains, not leaving lights on, cooking more efficiently, not over-filling kettles and ditching the odd appliance. The savings made were astonishing, with Mr Lewis and his family reducing energy consumption by 45%, with Green Lane managing an average of 35%.

As Mr Lewis points out, if we were all to follow Green Lane's example across Britain, Europe and the rest of the world, we could start having an immediate and significant impact on climate change.

These are very easy changes we can all make and must start making. And if we do, we'll not only start having a real impact on the environment we’ll have more money in our pockets too.

Congratulations to all involved in Green Lane's triumph and lets hope everyone else follows in their footsteps.

Click here and here for a little more on the Green Streets initiative