Gain a complete understanding of carbon reductions in 7 easy sessions.

Price for the course is £79, or £15 for individual sessions.

Concession tickets for the course are £49, or £9 for individual sessions. 

This new landmark course from The Resurgence Trust and Carbon Savvy gives you a complete overview of how carbon footprints work, the global, national and individual perspectives, the biggest things we can do to save CO₂ and how these can raise our quality of life.

Featuring special guests from diverse fields who share their own experience of low carbon lifestyle choices, and their insights on how to approach climate action. With Satish Kumar, environmental activist; Penney Poyzer, from BBC2's No Waste Like Home; Peter Owen Jones, the BBC's "Extreme pilgrim", and more. See full programme below.

Who is it for?

Councillors, sustainability officers, teachers, decision makers and individuals who wish to learn more about CO2 emissions and be fully empowered to make decisions and communicate with others on this vital topic.

What you will learn

• How the carbon cycle works
• Global, national and individual footprints and how contraction and convergence links these
• Key elements of a UK carbon footprint and the fastest ways to reduce it
• How individual footprints drive system change
• The five major lifestyle areas and how to save CO₂ in each
• What psychologists say makes us happy and how this links to saving CO₂
• Why a positive, guilt-free approach is more effective and how to make it fun

About Carbon Savvy

“Carbon Savvy will come to be seen as a turning point in our approach to sustainability. This is the highest praise I could offer anything or anybody in these times.” – Sir Tim Smit, KBE, Founder, Eden Project

Course format

Times: 09:00–11:00 on Fridays Dates: 28 May to 9 July 2021

Schedule:

• 09:00–09:50 Presentation
• 09:50–10:00 Break
• 10:00–10:20 Guest speaker
• 10:20–10:25 Guest speaker Q&A
• 10:25–10:40 Exercise
• 10:40–11:00 General Q&A                     

A Carbon Ambassadors certificate is awarded to those who attend the seven sessions. All sessions will be available for viewing on catchup.

Testimonials

“Mukti is a truly inspirational speaker offering a new paradigm in the low-carbon lifestyle arena.”
– Barbara Quilliam, Isle of Man

“This letting-go-of-guilt has freed me up to such an extent, I’m now making better choices – and it’s thanks to this wonderful course.” – Annie Lewis, Devon

“Mukti’s message is a sparkling and refreshing fountain. He is accessible, uplifting and empowering, and makes light work of the questions we all have about climate change and what we can each do about it – small happy footprint by small happy footprint.” – Pete Yeo, Devon

Course content

Session 1: Carbon footprints (28 May)

What is the carbon cycle? What is contraction and convergence and how does it link global, national and local carbon reductions? What are top-down and bottom-up carbon footprints, and why is bottom-up more useful? What role can councils, business and individuals play? What are the ten biggest actions to we can take to save CO₂, and can they improve our quality of life?

Course presenter Mukti Mitchell is a sailor, a carpenter, author of ‘The Guide to Low Carbon Lifestyles’ and founder of Mitchell & Dickinson period insulation services and Carbon Savvy. He is known for sailing around the UK in a hand-built eco yacht to promote low-carbon lifestyles endorsed by the Prince of Wales and the prime minister.

Session 2: Transport (4 June)

How will we get transport to net zero? What are the merits of different power sources? How do different types of transport compare? How much difference do size and fuel make in cars, and how long should I keep my car? What’s so amazing about e-bikes, and how can we make our journeys better for health and wellbeing?

Guest speaker Barbara Haddrill worked at the Centre for Alternative Technology and famously travelled from Wales to Brisbane, Australia over land and sea to be a bridesmaid at her best friend’s wedding. She will share highlights of her travel experiences.

Session 3 – Shopping (11 June)

How can individuals influence manufacturing? How can we reduce the footprint of products by 80%? What is embodied energy, and how important are product miles? What are the rules of thumb for low-carbon shopping, and what is the ancient Indian BUD factor? How do our products affect our quality of life?

Guest speaker Satish Kumar will talk about our relationship with the material world and share personal experiences. Satish is a pilgrim, author and activist, co-founder of Schumacher College and editor emeritus of Resurgence magazine. His books include ‘No Destination’ and ‘Elegant Simplicity’.

Session 4 – Holidays (18 June)

How can we get the most out of our holidays? What are the most common holiday objectives, and how can we achieve them with a small carbon footprint? How far can I travel by different forms of transport on a tonne of CO₂? What are the carbon footprints of different kinds of holiday and activity? How can low-carbon holidays raise our quality of life?

Guest speaker Peter Owen-Jones will talk about the origins and meaning of holidays and share some of his own experiences. Known as the ‘maverick vicar’, Peter is an author and is the TV presenter of the two BBC series Extreme Pilgrim and Around the World in 80 Faiths.

Session 5 – Quality of life (25 June)

What do we mean by quality of life, and how does it connect to saving CO₂? How can we monitor our quality of life and track it over time? What do psychologists say makes us happy and doesn’t make us happy? How can lowering your footprint raise your quality of life and save money? What does Happy Planet Indexing say about happiness and sustainable living?

Guest speaker Nic Marks will talk about the international Happy Planet Index, in which countries like Costa Rica score both a high quality of life and a small carbon footprint. Nic is author of ‘The Happiness Manifesto’, creator of the Happy Planet Index and founder of Friday Pulse.

Session 6 – Heating (2 July)

What are the principles of a carbon-neutral home? How does the UK government plan to get Britain’s homes to net zero? How much heat is lost through each area of a typical home, and how can we conserve heat in buildings old and new? What does ‘ready for retrofit’ mean? What are the merits of new heating systems like biofuel boilers and air-source heat pumps?

Guest speaker Penney Poyzer will talk about how she turned her Victorian semi into a superhome. Penney has been dubbed Nottingham’s ‘queen of green’ for her BBC TV show No Waste Like Home, and she is chair of Nottingham Good Food Partnership.

Session 7 – Food (9 July)

What kind of food supports the highest quality of life? Why does an organic carrot from Kenya have a smaller footprint than a non-organic carrot from the UK? What is low-carbon meat, and why is UK meat better than international meat? How can I buy low-carbon food? Why is farming going to avert climate change, and how will carbon farming increase nutrition, sequester CO₂ and earn farmers more money?

Guest speaker Jonathan Smith will discuss low-carbon farming practices and his work with the Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit. Jonathan is a councillor for the Isles of Scilly, runs Scilly Organics veg box scheme and helped developed the concept of carbon farming.