Are you fed up with hearing about how global corporations and others are ruining the environment for us and our children? Now is your chance - as a resident of York - to do something about it.

PlanetYork is a ground-breaking new energy efficiency campaign that will help preserve our environment for future generations.

York can show the world that when a city works together, it can make a difference.

What is PlanetYork?

PlanetYork, the first project of its kind, is a year-long energy efficiency campaign unique to the City of York. It offers each of us, as residents and businesses of York, the opportunity to make a real impact upon our local environment - and to set the standard for the rest of the UK and beyond.

The project will be run in partnership by the Energy Saving Trust, the City of York Council, the York Evening Press and local partners. The driving force behind the campaign is to highlight the need for us all to change our behaviour, stop wasting energy and so reduce the impact of climate change.

Why are we doing this?

Climate change is already affecting the way we live and we need to do our best to stop things getting worse.

In York and the surrounding area we have suffered extreme storms and floods.

We can expect to see more extreme weather - hitting us much more often - unless we begin to change our attitudes to energy use at home, at work and on the roads.

For the North of England, climate change means winters with more frequent and increasingly severe floods and more gale-force winds, and summers with more droughts - but not necessarily more sunshine.

The problem with climate change is that its impacts are unpredictable. We know the weather will get worse - but we can't predict which years will have the freak weather events.

What exactly is climate change?

Climate change is caused by the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The main greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide. These greenhouse gases prevent the reflected heat of the sun's rays escaping back into space, trapping it like the glass in a greenhouse.

This is what is called the greenhouse effect, and it is the chief cause of global warming.

The main reason that climate change is happening faster and faster is that since the Second World War we have used much more energy to run our modern lives. When power stations burn fossil fuel to provide us with power, they pump out dangerous greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

So, our behaviour towards our environment and the way in which we use energy needs to change, and we, the people of York, now have the chance to start this process - and prove to the world what can be achieved.

In the UK, one quarter of all carbon dioxide - the most important climate change gas - comes from the electricity, coal, oil and gas we use to run our homes. And most of that energy is wasted: our walls, our roofs, our lights, our boilers and our kitchen and laundry appliances are all letting us down.

Some £6.5 billion worth of energy is wasted annually in the UK and tonnes of carbon dioxide are needlessly pumped into the atmosphere as a result.

We can keep our modern comforts - if only we stop wasting energy. This waste is polluting the environment and slowly destroying it for our children and our children's children.

By tackling transport emissions and cutting energy wastage in local households and businesses, we can all start to challenge climate change. We owe that to future generations.

What does PlanetYork mean to me?

PlanetYork will see a series of actions aimed at raising awareness of the importance of energy efficiency and helping people to make the simple changes in their homes guaranteed to save money, energy and the environment.

Events will range from the fun to the educational and we hope that they will touch every sector of the local population.

To make this project a success we really need your help.

Never before has a community worked together for a full twelve months in the name of energy efficiency and everyone - young and old - can make their actions count.

Is there anything else I can do?

York also has an Energy Efficiency Advice Centre that can help you identify the energy wasters in your home and workplace. You can get free, impartial advice on all aspects of energy efficiency.

Householders and business - we need your support.

Do you want to see what needs doing in your home or workplace?

York's advice centre can help.

Are you willing to let your home be an example for others? Let the advisers know.

They're there to help you on Freephone 0800 512 012.