Poll shows half of British homes using less energy

Over half of people in Britain have taken steps to reduce theamount of energy they use at home in the last year.

As governments prepare to meet in Copenhagen to discuss climatechange, a new YouGov survey, on behalf of the Methodist Church,found that 55% of people have cut their home energy use byswitching to low energy bulbs or switching appliances off ratherthan using standby, for example. By doing so, they have both savedmoney and cut their carbon footprint.

The survey showed that older people are more likely to have cuttheir energy consumption than younger people, with 64% of over 55staking steps to reduce energy consumption against 33% of 18 to24-year-olds. And Londoners are lagging the rest of the country,with only 45% of people in the capital cutting their energy use inthe past 12 months.

The survey also found that 22% have bought more locally producedgoods or food, both helping their local economies and cutting thegreenhouse emissions caused by transporting items over longdistances. And 19% have driven less, switching instead to publictransport, cycling or walking.

The Revd David Gamble, President of the Methodist Conference, said:"These results show that people are already doing things that cuttheir carbon footprint, whether they know it or not. Helping tosave the planet can often also be a way to save money. People mightfeel powerless in the face of climate change, but there are thingswe can all do."



All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Totalsample size was 2005 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th- 30th November 2009. The survey was carried out online. Thefigures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults(aged 18+). Further data is available on request.