25th November 2008

Dear Sir

J Ridge (letters November 22) is frustrated that his personal efforts to go
green are undermined by the wasteful practices he sees around him. We agree that individual action is not enough. That is why Green councillors in the city are working to make it easier, cheaper and pleasanter to be green than not. We are fighting for better public transport, good local shops, more
locally grown food and locally manufactured products from sustainable
resources, local schools, work and leisure facilities near to home,
insulation, renewable energy and more.

These aims will only be fully achieved when government talk is backed up by real action. For example, a government programme to properly insulate all homes in the UK would massively cut fuel bills and create thousands of green jobs.

Turning the thermostat down, using low energy light bulbs and emptying the car boot, as J Ridge has done, will cut carbon emissions. They are also
common sense measures that will save money, helping you find your way
through a prolonged recession. But as he rightly points out, political
change is also needed.

Yours etc

Cllr Jillian Creasy, Sheffield Green Party