Immediate Action is Needed to Reduce Climate Change

Last week, the IPPC reported their latest findings. The report states that climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying and that it is ‘unequivocally’ caused by human activities.

Now we need immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to stabilise our climate. It is therefore of paramount importance that everyone considers the actions they can take to reduce their contribution to climate change. In this blog we look at the measures Mumby’s Live-in Care is taking to reduce their carbon footprint.

What causes climate change?

Climate change is caused by increases in greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere and raise air and sea temperatures. They are primarily produced through the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, for electricity generation, transport, agriculture, mining, and land use and forestry.

What are the climate changes?

Scientists are observing changes in the Earth’s climate in every region and across the whole climate system. Many of these changes are unprecedented in thousands of years and some, such as continued sea-level rise, are irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.

Climate changes include:

• Increasing air and sea temperatures – increasing heat waves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons.
• Changes in rainfall patterns – more intense rainfall and associated flooding, as well as more intense drought in many regions.
• More frequent and increasingly severe extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods, and bushfires.
• Sea level rise – more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and coastal erosion.
• Permafrost thawing, loss of seasonal snow cover, melting of glaciers and ice sheets, and loss of summer Arctic Sea ice.
• Changing ocean ecosystems due to more frequent marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, and reduced oxygen levels.
• Worsening air quality changes in the spread of infectious diseases, threats to food and water quality and quantity and effects on our mental health.

Who is most at risk of health effects due to climate change?

People who are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change include children, pregnant ladies, older people and people with pre-existing medical conditions, and people living in rural and remote areas.

What can we do to reduce limit climate change?

Strong and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and other greenhouse gases would limit climate change.

Actions you can take to reduce your contribution to climate change

Individual action can make a difference to climate change and can benefit your health too. If we each make changes, our collective action will make an even bigger difference.

• Leave the car at home – use public transport, walk or cycle. If driving is unavoidable investigate trading in your diesel or petrol car for an electric or hybrid model and think about the way you drive.
• Eat less meat and dairy – eat more locally sourced fresh and seasonal produce such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains.
• Reduce your energy use – put on an extra layer and turn down the heating a degree or two, turn off lights and appliances when you don’t need them and replace light bulbs with LEDs or other low-energy lights. Check you have proper insulation. Switch energy supply to a green tariff to invest in renewable energy sources.
• Cut back on flying
• Respect and protect green spaces – create your own green space or plant a tree at home or with an organisation such as the Woodland Trust.
• Reduce consumption and waste – avoid single-use items and fast fashion. Try not to buy more than you need. Repair and reuse. Avoid wasting food. Donate or sell second-hand items. Drink tap water rather than bottled water.

Actions Mumby’s Live-in Care takes to reduce their contribution to climate change

1 Mumby’s Live-in Carers work from home

Live-in Carers live in their client’s home so this job creates few carbon emissions. Cars contribute to greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution caused by exhaust fumes from traffic that pose a serious threat to public health. Air pollution has been shown to affect the health of unborn babies and increase the risk of dementia.

Domiciliary care has a large carbon footprint as carers visit numerous client’s homes. This is greater in rural areas where travel distances between clients are further.

2 Mumby’s carers are encouraged to use public transport to get between placements.

3 Online meetings and telephone conversations

We offer online and telephone communication for staff training, meetings, and support. Additionally, we offer these communication channels to our clients.

4 Fruity Thursday

The office staff are encouraged to eat seasonal and local fruit each week by the provision of a fruit platter every Thursday.

5 Reduce energy consumption

In the evening we turn all the lights off in the office. During the day, we keep a respectful temperature. We encourage our carers to maintain sensible energy consumption in the client’s home.

6 Reduce waste

• Mumby’s strive towards a paperless office. We think before we print. When we need to print we use biodegradable eco-efficient paper. In addition, we re-use the paper as notepaper.
• Our online PASS system keeps all client data and records.
• We reuse disposable PPE. Also, there is no need for carers to use PPE in the home when they are living with a client.
• We buy hand sanitiser gel in bulk and decanted into small personal bottles for all of our carers and staff to use and keep safe.
• Kitchen crockery and glasses is provided in the office instead of disposable cups. Staff use their mugs when the local mobile coffee shop visits each day.
• Recycle bins are provided in the staff kitchen.

7 Respect and protect green spaces 

Our live-in carers will help their clients to tend their garden so they both can enjoy the benefits of gardening, nature, and being outdoors.

8 Greener energy provision

We are researching air source heat pumps for heating the office, and the installation of solar panels on the office roof.

Contact Mumby’s

We’d love to hear from you. So, whether you are considering live-in care or would like to know more about our initiatives to reduce our carbon footprint. Please contact our friendly and knowledgeable team by calling freephone 0800 505 3511 or email info@mumbys.com. We’ll look forward to speaking with you.