Emissions

He aha tēnei mea te tukunga? | What are emissions? 

An emission is something that has been released or discharged into the world and comes from a wide range of activities (cows farting, car exhaust, waste decomposing in landfill, hairspray).

Some emissions are more harmful than others. Greenhouse Gas Emissions, for example, trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, and they can linger for hundreds, even thousands of years! The more emissions we release, the hotter the earth will get and because these gases don't just 'fade away,’ we have to act now and quickly so the earth is at a livable temperature for future generations.

Countries around the world, including New Zealand, have committed to reducing their emissions to net zero by 2050.

Me pēhea te whakaiti i ngā tukunga? | How can we reduce emissions?

We don’t need to change our whole lives to look after the planet, but we do need to change. Small, collective changes can trigger significant societal shifts and build new norms.

Once you delve deeper into this, you’ll quickly see that reducing your carbon footprint can also reduce your costs.

These positive changes don’t need to be big! They can look like:

• Taking shorter showers

• Having one meat and dairy free day a week

• Changing your lightbulbs to LED at home

• Buying second-hand electronic goods

• Planting a native tree in your garden

• Ditching fast fashion and shopping second-hand