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Frequently Asked Questions: Membership for individuals and households

WinACC Membership

Calculating my footprint

Using the Act on CO2 calculator

WinACC's choice of calculator

Reducing my footprint

Use of my personal data

 

WinACC Membership

Who can become a member of WinACC?

Anyone aged 18 or over who lives in the Winchester district and is willing to measure their carbon footprint and take responsibility for reducing it. You can join as an individual or a household.

If you represent an organisation which would like to join WinACC, please click here for more details on organisational membership.

What are the benefits of joining WinACC?

You will become part of a vibrant movement which is committed to reducing the carbon footprint of the Winchester district, meeting the challenge of climate change and realising the benefits of low carbon living. If you wish you will receive the twice-monthly WinACC Update email which will keep you informed of what WinACC is doing, and how you can get involved. You will be entitled to vote at WinACC General Meetings and be invited to an annual WinACC Party.

Does it cost anything to join?

No, WinACC membership is free of charge.

How long does membership last?

Membership lasts for 12 months. We will contact you about one month before your membership expires, to ask you to submit a new Carbon Footprint Report in order to renew your membership.

What if I live outside the Winchester district?

Individual/household membership is restricted to people who live in the Winchester district. However, if you are interested in our work, we would welcome you as a supporter of WinACC. You can do this by following Step 1 of Join WinACC to register your contact details. You will then receive our twice-monthly “update” email to keep you informed of our activities.

If you work in the Winchester district, we hope that you will encourage your employer to join as an organisational member of WinACC.

I know someone who would like to join WinACC but doesn’t have internet access. Can they join?

Yes. Please ask them to contact us to discuss how they can do this. For example, they may be able to use the internet at the library or take part in one of our carbon footprint surgeries.

Do you accept every application for membership of WinACC?

We review every membership application, but we expect to accept all applications which are made in good faith.

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Calculating my footprint

What do you mean by my “carbon footprint”?

Your carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide that has the same warming effect as all the greenhouse gases which are attributable to you in a year. Click here to find out more about the activities which contribute to your carbon footprint.

How do I calculate my carbon footprint?

The government has developed a simple-to-use “carbon calculator” called Act on CO2 which you can use to measure your carbon footprint. You should register your details on the Act on CO2 site before you start so that it saves your footprint details: this will enable you to update them in future, for example when you renew your WinACC membership in a year’s time.

Act on CO2 enables you to calculate either your individual or your household footprint. If you want to join WinACC as an individual member, please calculate your individual footprint; if you want to join as a household member, please calculate your household's footprint.

I’m having difficulty calculating my footprint. What do I do?

Try looking at the FAQs on the Act on CO2 site. If you’re still experiencing difficulties, please contact us.

Can I update my footprint details more than once a year?

If you would like to provide an updated figure for your carbon footprint, you can do this by submitting a new Carbon Footprint Report.

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Using the Act on CO2 calculator

What information do I need about my energy usage?

You do not absolutely need any information to calculate your footprint since the Act on CO2 calulator will ask you questions about your energy use and will make estimates as to how much you use.  However, you will get a more accurate calculation if you gather together the following information:

  • A recent gas bill.
  • A recent electricity bill.
  • Annual mileage for each vehicle.
  • Average fuel consumption (miles per gallon) for each vehicle.

Ideally you should input the number of units of gas and electricity you (or your household) have used over the last 12 months. If you don’t have this information available, you will need to estimate it. When doing so, remember that energy bills are often based on estimated readings and so may not accurately reflect your usage. Also, you will use more energy in winter (due to heating your home) and so just looking at your last monthly or quarterly bill will not give you a realistic picture of your annual energy use. However, Act on CO2 does ask you to specify which quarterly bill you are using.  As gas and electricity prices vary, it is better to provide Act on CO2 with the number of units of gas and electricity you use rather than the amount of money you spend on them.

If you do not have meter readings to enable you to calculate your energy use for the last 12 months, take readings today if you can so that you can measure your footprint more accurately when you renew your WinACC membership next year. Indeed, monitoring your energy use throughout the year is an important step towards reducing your footprint - see our heating and electricity and appliances tips for more information.

Should I include my business travel?

No, your footprint should include your travel to/from work and your personal/leisure travel, but not the traveling you do as part of your job. This is because business travel forms part of your employer’s carbon footprint. If you are self-employed, we suggest you exclude your business emissions from your individual carbon footprint and register your business separately as an organisational member of WinACC.

How can I find out more about the calculations underlying my Act on CO2 footprint?

There are some FAQs on the Act on CO2 site which tell you more. 

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WinACC's choice of calculator

Can I use a different carbon calculator to measure my footprint?

No, if you are joining as an individual or household, we ask that you use Act on CO2. This is because different carbon calculators measure people’s footprints differently and we want to ensure that our members’ footprints can be compared with each other. It is also important that your footprint is calculated in the same way each year so that you can see how well you are doing at reducing it.

Why did you choose the Act on CO2 calculator?

We wanted to direct people towards a calculator which was well-presented and easy to use, and Act on CO2 scored well in both these areas. The government is hoping that it will become a kind of “industry standard”, in the sense that other calculators will become more consistent with it over time.

Are there any shortcomings of the Act on CO2 calculator?

We are aware that there are a number of shortcomings of Act on CO2 and we address these in the next two FAQs. However no carbon calculator is perfect – there are inevitably a lot of estimates and assumptions underlying its calculations – and we felt that Act on CO2’s shortcomings were outweighed by its advantages (see previous FAQ). The most important thing about your carbon footprint calculation is that it gives you a feel for how large it is and which areas of your lifestyle are the main contributors to it. .

Does Act on CO2 fully take into account the harmful effects of flying?

As we explain in our flights tips, the contribution of air traffic to global warming is on average 2 to 4 times higher than the corresponding carbon dioxide emissions alone. However, Act on CO2 just allows for 1 times the carbon dioxide emissions and so understates the harmful effects of flying. It also only asks for very limited information about your flights which does not enable an accurate calculation. We therefore recommend that you visit atmosfair to calculate your flights footprint more accurately – atmosfair allows for approximately 3 times the carbon dioxide emissions and lets you calculate the footprint of each flight by taking into account the departure and arrival airports. However, when entering your footprint on the WinACC membership form, please just enter the figure calculated by Act on CO2.

Does it matter that Act on CO2 doesn’t take account of indirect carbon emissions?

Like most carbon calculators, Act on CO2 only takes into account the carbon emissions you are directly responsible for, such as those due to heating your home and personal travel. You are indirectly responsible for other emissions, known as “indirect” or “secondary” emissions, such as those related to the production and manufacture of the food and other goods you buy. (Click here for more details.) These indirect emissions are taken into account in the carbon footprint of the organisations that produce them on your behalf – if you were to include them as well, this would be double-counting. Nonetheless, it is still important that you try to reduce your indirect emissions. See our top tips for more details, in particular our food and reduce, re-use, recycle tips. To estimate your indirect footprint, visit carbonfootprint.com and select the “secondary” tab.

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Reducing my footprint

How do I reduce my carbon footprint?

When you have calculated your footprint using Act on CO2, it will provide you with a personalised list of suggestions for reducing it. WinACC has also developed some comprehensive 'Top Tips' on low carbon living.

My carbon footprint is already low. What if I can’t reduce it further?

We realise that some of our supporters have already taken significant steps to reduce their footprint and may find it difficult to make further reductions. In that case, we would be pleased to receive a membership application based on:

  • The main measures you have already taken to reduce your footprint;
  • A commitment to maintain a low footprint; and
  • One or two measures you intend to take in the next 12 months to help others (individuals or organisations) reduce or further reduce their footprints.

What if the things I am doing to reduce my footprint are not measured by Act on CO2?

This doesn’t matter. When reviewing your Carbon Footprint Report, we look at the statements you make about reducing your footprint as well as the size of your footprint. For example, you might take steps to reduce your indirect carbon emissions by buying more sustainable food and purchasing fewer brand new goods. 

I expect my carbon footprint to increase next year. Does that mean I can’t join WinACC?

Not necessarily. We expect all WinACC members to make a serious commitment to reducing their footprints. However, we recognise that there may be reasons why a person’s footprint increases in a particular year, despite the efforts they are making to lead a lower carbon lifestyle. For example, they may need to travel regularly to visit a close relative. If you feel that special circumstances apply to you, which make it reasonable for your footprint to increase next year, please give details when completing your Carbon Footprint Report.

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Use of my personal data

Who will know that I am a member of WinACC?

We will include your name in our list of members. We also hope that you will tell people that you are a member and thereby help us spread the word about the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their carbon footprint.

What will you do with my carbon footprint information?

Everything you tell us about the size of your footprint and the steps you are taking to reduce it will be confidential to WinACC unless you give us permission to publish it. We will include your data in summary statistics about WinACC members’ carbon footprints but it will not be separately identifiable. Click here for further details of how we will look after your data. If you are willing for us to publish your footprint information, for example by acting as a case study on how people are reducing their footprints, please tick the relevant box on your Carbon Footprint Report.

What will you do with my contact details?

Your personal contact details will be stored securely by WinACC. We will use them to contact you about WinACC’s activities, primarily through the twice-monthly “update” email, and to ask you to renew your membership in a year’s time. If you do not wish to receive any further communications from us, please let us know and we will remove you from our mailing list. We will not pass your contact details to any third parties. For more information about how we look after your contact details, click here.

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If you have a question which is not covered above, please contact us.

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