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Welcome to Helston Footprints!

In 2019, alongside Cornwall Council, Helston Town Council declared a climate emergency, with the goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. In order to know how to get to “carbon neutral” we need to know what carbon emissions we are responsible for, and where they come from – this is where Helston Footprints can help.

The Helston Footprints project started in January 2021. We are here to help on the journey to carbon neutrality, by supporting our community to investigate their carbon footprints. If you want to get stuck in , you can go straight to the GIKI Zero app and join our Footprints team by clicking here (remember to click Join Teams if you want to join people in your area or organisation). Otherwise, read on!

What is a carbon footprint?

A carbon footprint is an estimate of the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that a person emits each year based on their lifestyle.

Our carbon footprint comes from fossil fuels we use in day to day life, for example to heat our homes and travel around, but there is also a carbon footprint associated with things that we purchase from outside our local area, the raw materials they are made from, how they are manufactured and the fuel for transporting them to the UK and to our homes.

All of us have a carbon footprint, and in the UK the average carbon footprint per person is estimated to be between 10 and 12 tonnes. The target globally per person is 2.5 tonnes – so almost all of us need to reduce it dramatically over the next decade. (FAQs | Giki Zero)

Taking action to contribute to the health of the planet by considering our impact on it can be daunting and Helston Footprints will support individuals and organisations in Helston through this process – to understand, track and lighten their footprints upon the planet.

We are doing this by partnering with GIKI Zero and The Carbon Buddy. ‘Giki’ stands for Get Informed Know your Impact and is an online app that was set up for one simple reason:

We are facing a climate and environmental emergency and most of us want to do the right thing, but it’s hard to know what “right” is. Almost none of us want climate change, endangered wildlife or plastic pollution but, the reality is, it’s a consequence of the lives many of us lead today.

Jo Hands / GIKI

We are using GIKI Zero so everyone can build their own personal plan to protect the environment. This means people can use their choices, and their voices, to preserve the planet on which we all depend. GIKI Zero allows us to measure how we progress as a community – so far the Helston Footprints team is working to save over 80 tonnes of carbon, equivalent to driving 13 times around the world find out more in our September blog here! GIKI Zero also tells us how much water and plastic we are saving and how much land is potentially freed up for nature by the choices we make.

For people who would prefer not to work with an app, we also have a small supply of “The Carbon Buddy” workbook by Colin Hastings, which will help individuals to explore the same issues.

By encouraging everyone in our community to work together, the goal is to scale up our impact to reduce green house gas emissions for the Helston Community. Many people are already doing something to help – our vision is that with a bit of direction, encouragement and for those who want it, a bit of healthy competition, we can really get Helston walking on the road to a lighter, brighter future for all!

So please join us – in the words of Sir David Attenborough:

What happens next is up to everyone of us

How do I get involved?

You can go straight to the GIKI Zero app and our Helston Footprints team by clicking here. You can also join us on Facebook or check out Sustainable-ish, an active Facebook community working on carbon reduction where you’ll find great tips and super-interesting blogs!

Working with the University of Exeter

A big thank you goes to Chloe and Chetan from the University of Exeter who supported the first phase of this project as part of their Masters Degree in Sustainable Development.

You can find a copy of Chloe’s final report here and Chetan was inspired to develop some VLOGs to help people understand the science behind climate change.

The Helston Footprints Team would like to wish them both all the very best in their future work in sustainability.


Get in Touch!