One Planet Campaign -If everyone lived as we do in the UK we would need three planets to support us. The vast majority of threats to our environment – our atmosphere, our rivers, our seas, our forests – are direct results of the way we over-consume natural resources and dispose of our waste.

Nobody gets up in the morning and decides to wilfully contribute to climate change, to help cut down a tropical rainforest, or to deprive people in other parts of the world of a decent standard of living. But unfortunately our apparently innocent daily decisions all too often have these invisible consequences. These are some of the hidden costs of ‘three planet living’ for all of us here in the UK.

People increasingly recognise that we need to change our patterns of consumption and our lifestyles. But do they need to change for the worse, or could they change for the better?

• Would our lives be better if our homes were well insulated, if our energy bills were lower, if we spent less time in traffic jams, and if we ate less processed food?
  
• Would our choices be made easier if we knew companies had ensured their products had the lowest possible environmental impact?
  
• Or if those that didn’t do so were subject to strict legislation and penalties?
  
• Would those terrifying headlines seem less daunting if you knew you were playing your part and that someone was making sure that our governments and companies were playing theirs?
  

The basic idea behind the One Planet campaign is that to move the UK from living a three planet to a one planet lifestyle we all need to make changes in our lives. We also need to send clear messages to government and business that we will only vote for and buy from those that also commit to meaningful change.

Some of these changes will be easy, some will not. Some require just waking up in the morning and deciding to do it, others will involve adding your voice to tens of thousands of others to demand a better quality of life.

Over the next few years WWF’s One Planet campaign will be working alongside you to change some of the main areas of our lives that contribute to climate change, species extinction and habitat destruction. Join us on the journey towards One Planet Living.

For more information on your ecofootprint please visit the following websites,
UBC Eco-survey or WWF Footprint Calculator or Be Green Now.