Leading a sustainable lifestyle

You can find out the impact you have on the environment by calculating your Carbon Footprint.

At home

For useful information about leading a more sustainable lifestyle both in the home and outside in the garden see:

In your community

Many local community groups help to tackle global issues with local action and are always looking for new members:

Find local environmental community groups

At work

West Oxfordshire District Council believes that becoming more environmentally friendly in the workplace can make a difference. Below are some of the things we have been doing which are resulting in energy saving efficiencies and saving money:

Recycling office waste - paper, card, plastics and glass*
Turning off lights and electrical equipment when they are not in use - even if just during meetings or lunch breaks
Monitoring our energy use in our major buildings
Using new energy saving technologies such as pool covers and variable speed drive to reduce our energy use
Installing energy saving lighting
Using 'save a flush' devices in office toilets
Saving water by reducing the frequency of washing council vehicles and equipment
Working with our waste and recycling contractors to reduce their fuel

Our newest council office, Elmfield, has many green credentials including:

Solar panels on the roof
Collecting rainwater in water butts for re-use in toilet systems
Taps that turn off automatically

*To find out more about office recycling see:

Commercial waste and recycling

Travelling to and from work

We have introduced schemes to help staff and councillors reduce carbon emissions, such as:

A carshare database for people to share lifts to and from work
Having local bus timetables available at our offices and also via the Traveline website
Encouraging people to walk or cycle where possible - cycle parking is available at our offices
A 'pool' bike for staff to use between our Witney offices

For more about our work travel scheme see our: