The Galloway Footsteps initiative, a programme of online events designed to inspire and inform about the individual changes you can make to reduce your carbon footprint, culminates in the final event on 04th August at 7.30pm.
Galloway Footsteps was launched on in May 2021 with a series of 4 online events designed to inspire people to take action to reduce their environmental impact, and to show them concrete steps to do so. Attendees are then invited to join ‘Team Galloway’ – an online community within Giki, where individual efforts are aggregated into a team score, illustrating how quickly small decisions can start to make a difference.
The programme is hosted by the Galloway Glens Scheme and is a partnership between the Galloway Glens, the D&G Council’s Environment team, the Crichton Carbon Centre and the Galloway and Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere. Another key partner is Giki, an online tool that allows you to measure, track and reduce your environmental impact in an engaging and credible way.
The 4 online events were designed to keep the Team Galloway engaged with their efforts and hear from inspiring speakers to encourage participants. The first event focussed on ‘What you Buy’, including a speaker who created less than a bag of rubbish in two years. The second event focussed on ‘What you Eat’, exploring the decisions we make with food and questions such as seasonality and eating local. The third event focussed on ‘Inside the Home’, exploring the impact our homes can have on our carbon footprint.
The last event, taking place on the evening of 04th August, explores changes we can make ‘Outside the Home’. This is a broad topic, from transport to gardening practices. Speakers on the night include Nicky Hume from Borders Forest Trust giving an overview on how best to maximise the survival chances of a tree we plant, and Councillor Dougie Campbell, the Council’s Environment Champion, setting out how individual actions can support the work of larger organisations as we tackle the carbon reduction targets. The last event will also allow us to look back at the work of ‘Team Galloway’, identifying actions taken and those remaining – concentrating on the single changes you can make that will have the biggest impact.
More than 35 people have signed up to Team Galloway so far, and in 3 months the team have already made commitments that will save more than 42,000kg of Carbon production, and save more than 1,900 single use pieces of plastic.
To book your free place at the ‘Outside the Home’ event at 7.30pm on 04th August, click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/galloway-footsteps-outside-the-home-tickets-153647795693.
If you’d like to catch up on any of the previous events, they are all available on the Galloway Glens YouTube channel.
Helen Keron, Education and Community Engagement Officer for the Galloway Glens, said
“Sometimes the sheer scale of the problem of climate change can feel overwhelming, so it’s been amazing to hear from all of our fantastic speakers about the individual changes we can all make that really do make a difference. We’re so impressed with how well Team Galloway has got on – and remember, it’s never too late to sign up for Giki just as yourself, and see the changes you can make to do your bit to help. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on the 4th August!”
Jenna Cains from the Galloway & Southern Ayrshire UNESCO Biosphere, added:
“Galloway Footsteps is a great ‘hands-on’ action initiative for people looking for ways to contribute to combatting climate change. It would be wonderful to see other communities across the GSA Biosphere get the same opportunity.”
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