It is a great day for Manchester’s tree huggers as the city has been named one of the most energy saving in the UK, according to a survey of 1,000 people.
We are such conscientious city dwellers that 71% of us switch off the light before leaving a room and always turn off the heating when out of the house.
The most surprising revelation in the study, conducted by Safestyle UK, is that 28% of Mancunians even turn off their WiFi modem when they’re not surfing the net or getting connected on social media.
This attention to detail makes Manchester a real rarity as, for example, 55% of people in Norwich and Newcastle admit to NEVER turning off their routers.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is young adults (18-24-year-olds) who are the most guilty when it comes to never turning off their internet with 79% across the country not giving it a second thought.
Manchester Friends of the Earth co-ordinator Ali Abbas was pleased to hear that his city is doing their bit to protect the planet.
He told MM: “It’s great to hear that Mancunians are leading the way on saving energy, and we hope this will inspire more people to follow suit.”
Manchester’s energy saving attitudes may be a little green glimmer of hope, but the state of the UK as a whole shows a whole lot of guilt and whole lot less action when it comes to cutting down our carbon footprint.
Although 72% said they care about global warming and the impact it is having on the world, the same amount of people confessed to leaving their TV on standby.
More than one in four (27.7%) will leave the lights on even when they’re not in the room and 35% of participants leave their chargers plugged in when they’re not in use.
And while 58% of the country said they feel guilty about not looking out for the environment, a whopping one in three leave their heating on when they go out.
To make matters worse, when asked if they thought they could do more to be greener, 42% said no.
But Mr Abbas thinks both people and businesses need to do more to try to tackle global warming.
He said: “If we’re going to do our fair share to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, we need every household and business to play their part.
“And we also need politicians to make climate change a priority, both locally and nationally, by phasing out coal, rejecting fracking and scaling up support for insulation and renewable energy.”
And Manchester really must follow Mr Abbas’ advice if hope to compete with Liverpool who are leagues ahead of the rest of the country in terms of saving energy.
A vast majority of Liverpudlians (85%) turn their lights off as they leave a room and they’re not just any old lights as 76% use energy saving lightbulbs.
And if you’re not in it to save the earth then why not be in it to save quite a few pennies as more than half (53%) of Liverpool say they spend less than £1,000 on their yearly energy bills.
Don’t worry, you wouldn’t be the only one going green with ulterior motives, in fact, 84% of the nation said they energy save to protect their bank balance and only 15% do so to protect the planet.
If you want to find out more about what Manchester is doing to tackle climate change head along to the AGM of Manchester: A Certain Future at 5.30 for 6pm on Tuesday July 7 at the Town Hall.
To register a place for free, click here.
Image courtesy of Jörg Schubert, with thanks.
