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The following projects are helping to reduce the direct environmental impact associated with the day-to-day running of the council:
The EU Environmental Stewardship Project
The EU-funded Environmental Stewardship project has been running since April 2003. The project aims to implement measurable environmental improvements within Medway Council and its partners by:
- using energy and water more efficiently;
- reducing the amount of waste going to landfill;
- making more informed purchasing decisions;
- reducing car mileage.
As part of the first phase of the project, several case study documents were published and disseminated across Europe:
To access these case studies, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have it on your computer, please use our advice page.
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The Local Authority Carbon Management (LACM) Programme
It is now widely accepted that man-made emissions of greenhouse gases, produced when fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) are burned to make energy, are causing disruption to the global climate. This, combined with the escalating cost of fossil fuel-derived energy, is encouraging organisations to look closely at how they use energy. The national Carbon Trust (www.carbontrust.co.uk) was set up in recognition of this, to provide guidance and assistance to enable businesses, local authorities and other organisations to increase levels of energy efficiency and to use new technologies, such as solar panels and wind turbines.
Medway Council was one of 26 local authorities selected to take part in the third phase of the Carbon Trust’s Local Authority Carbon Management (LACM) programme, which aims to provide a comprehensive process for measuring and managing the emissions of greenhouse gases produced by local authority activity.
For the Carbon Trust, the main aim of the programme is the reduction of those emissions that are under the direct control of the council. For Medway Council, this has included considering emissions from council buildings (corporate buildings, schools, leisure centres and council housing), travel and highways (staff and member commuting, staff business travel, street lighting, the Medway Tunnel) and corporate waste.
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Good Environmental Management in Medway Schools (GEMMS)
The GEMMS initiative was set up to raise awareness of the environmental impact associated with running school buildings and the practical and behavioural measures that can be put in place to make improvements.
GEMMS is part of the council's broader effort to make the running of its buildings more sustainable, recognising that schools make up a large part of the council’s building stock.
GEMMS was launched at a seminar for school caretakers and site managers in 2005. A second event was held for head-teachers and governors in February 2006.
Attendance at GEMMS events has led a number of schools to sign up to the international Eco-Schools programme, which helps schools to cut their costs, while educating the pupils about energy efficiency and other aspects of sustainability.
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