What you can do

To address our region’s changing climate, we need to change the way we live. Everyone can help make a difference.

Let’s take action for our climate

We know that we need to make some changes to the way we live, travel, eat and consume if we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canterbury/Waitaha. These changes don't have to be big - think about opting for public or active transport one day a week, hanging your laundry on the line instead of using the dryer, having one meat-free meal a week, or choosing pre-loved clothing over new.

Every action adds up to reduce the impacts of climate change, and these small changes are not only better for our planet, but also our communities, our wallets and our health.

If we all do a little, we can change a lot.

Here are some things you can consider doing

Our favourite resources for a carbon conscious lifestyle

Be prepared for future hazards

Lend nature a hand

Conserve our precious water

Move on from a throwaway economy

Take active or public transport

Be more energy efficient

New Zealand is fortunate to be rich in the clean resources that will fuel our future – wind, geothermal, hydro-power and solar. We need to use more of them, so we can start to eliminate fossil fuels like coal and reduce how much natural gas we use. This will mean changes to the way we heat our water and power our homes and businesses. Find out more about home heating.

There are many tips you can implement for reducing energy use at home and work, as well as low-cost actions you can take every day, such as:

Use energy-efficient light bulbs. According to EECA, LED lights use about 85 percent less power than incandescent bulbs, meaning an 85 percent reduction in carbon emissions. An LED bulb can save you between $100 and $300 over its lifetime.
Turn off power to things you don’t need. While many modern appliances use much less power in standby mode than old ones, they are still sucking up power. It can account for almost 10 percent of your power bill. Save money by turning off when not in use.
A great way to make use of our amazing sun is to put solar electricity (photovoltaic) panels on your house. This will change the sunlight directly into electricity to use in your home and save you money. Installing a solar water heating system to directly heat your water can save you more money!
Other simple things you can do include insulating your home, taking shorter showers and line-drying your clothes.

Assistance to switch your home to an efficient heat pump is also available:

Warmer Kiwi Homes is a Government programme offering insulation and heater grants to low-income homeowners.

If you need to upgrade from an older-style wood burner to a new, cleaner form of heating, you can visit Environment Canterbury's home heating guides for advice on the different options and what low-income financial support may be available to you.

Businesses can also make a difference

Learn the many ways your business can make a difference and move towards a thriving, low-emissions economy. Gen Less and EECA provide information and programmes your organisation may be eligible for, along with co-funding, loans or expert advice to help with energy efficiency and emissions reduction.

Be well informed

Buy local, be ethical

Care for the dunes

We have a small window of time to prevent the worst-case climate change projections coming to pass.

At the same time, we need to prepare for the effects of climate change that are already locked in.

In 2022, the New Zealand government issued two major climate plans: the emissions reduction plan, which sets the direction for climate action for the next 15 years, and the national adaptation plan, which looks at the impacts of climate change now and into the future and sets out how Aotearoa New Zealand can adapt.

Regional adaptation planning is also underway and local plans will follow, but there are plenty of ways Waitaha/Canterbury individuals, whānau, households, businesses and organisations can shape our own low-carbon future right now.

You might even find there are benefits that stretch beyond this into other economic, health and environmental impacts.

We used to live low carbon, we can do it again.