2021 is going to be crunch-time in the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Members of the Transition Town Lewes steering group reveal their New Year’s resolutions to help cut the carbon.

Ann Link: I am looking to get a heat pump and improve the performance of a couple of our older windows, starting with the biggest. I’m also looking to eat less meat. Where we do eat it, we aim to make it all local and often game – that might be controversial.

Julia Waterlow: I’ve already done it but I think a really good resolution is to move money away from fossil fuel and environmentally-damaging investments.  It is slowly happening but people don’t realise the power this has. Change your bank account to Triodos, move your savings to ethical funds or invest locally. Also, switch to a green energy supplier: it would be revolutionary if everyone made the change. And if you’ve already done it, encourage your family and friends. The best of all resolutions I am going to try to stick to is not to buy new stuff unless I really need it. Saves you money, saves the planet grief.

Jon Gunson: I can’t really have a resolution to fly less since the last time I flew was when they gave us barley sugars to suck. So my resolutions are: fewer screens, more books, less imported food, more Harvey’s beer.

Arnold Simanowitz: I am hoping to install solar heating and/ or a heat pump.

Susan Murray: In our household, we’ve hopefully already tackled the ‘low-hanging fruit’ around energy supply, money etc. Therefore, my main carbon-cutting resolution is to buy less in 2021. As a corollary I would say that we shop local where possible and thus I would like to encourage more people to use Lewes Pounds.

Juliet Oxborrow: Buy local produce wherever possible. As well as cutting down food miles, our local food growers and producers need all the support they can get right now. I’ve spent lockdown repairing clothes and don’t intend to buy anything new unless it comes from a sustainable local business. And keep campaigning to get our government to adopt a truly comprehensive and thought-through zero-emissions strategy such as the CEE Bill, which gets its second reading in Parliament in March.

Sue Fleming: I will continue to grow, shop, and eat locally and seasonally. I don’t need extra ‘stuff’ – it’s more about clearing out and repurposing what I don’t need. I’ve realised we can save on heating by doing what people who have lived in this old house for centuries have done – simply wear extra layers when it’s cold: good wool, thick tights, a sheepskin or quilted waistcoat (cut down charity shop coat!). Outdoor jobs – splitting logs, spreading manure – all help in keeping fit and warm, and staying close to Nature helps to stave off emotional turmoil.

Kirsten Firth: Well, lockdown means you can’t travel, or go shopping, or do anything frivolous! So as I’ll be at home a lot over the next few months, I’m going to upskill with a pattern-cutting course, and also follow some of the fantastic range of YouTube tutorials on constructing pocket welts, necklines and seam techniques. I will come out of this with some properly fitted clothes, handmade but beautifully finished (maybe even some Bonfire costume pieces) – plus a much-reduced stash of fabrics under the stairs.

Dirk Campbell: I am going to shop local where possible, avoid travel (even when we’re allowed to!), get an air-source heat pump installed, change to Triodos Bank, and keep plugging away with political and public pressure. Things are surely changing in the political and public mood but we need to keep up the momentum. No meat but I don’t eat it anyway!

What are your carbon-cutting resolutions for 2021? Let us know in the comments below.