What is this toolkit?
An introduction from the Leeds Children’s Mayor and Leeds City Council executive members
Councillors from across Leeds came together in March 2019 to declare a climate emergency after listening to thousands of inspirational young people in our city and scientists around the world.
Since then Leeds City Council has been recognised for its action to respond to the climate emergency and we will continue to do more. As our youngest citizens will be the ones most affected by climate change, it is right that our children and young people should be able to shape Leeds’ response to the challenge of our time.
It can often be hard to know where to start to make a difference as individuals and within our local communities, particularly for children and young people. We know that having a better understanding of how to get involved with climate action and everyone having a role to play is one of the top wishes of children and young people in Leeds.
In 2020, we hosted an inspiring Leeds Youth Voice Summit on climate change which gave young people a platform to voice their concerns and share new ideas with Councillors and senior decision makers in Leeds for working together to deliver real change.
As a result, this Young Person’s toolkit was created with the input of more than 100 young people from across the city at that event. We’ve included their top ideas as well as some extra ways to make a difference. Whether it’s at home, at school, or in your community, there’s lots of helpful resources and guidance to get you started.
Every action counts.
Cllr Mohammed Rafique
Executive Member for Climate, Energy, Environment and Green Space
Cllr Fiona Venner
Executive Member for Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships
How this guidance was produced:
What can I do at home?
Plan meals ahead with your family
The average household in Leeds wastes 200kg of food every year. That’s the same weight as two and a half adults!
You can cut food waste and save carbon by planning meals ahead with your family. Have a go using a simple meal planning template.
Go meat-free once a week
Some foods are greener than others. Meat has a larger carbon footprint than other foods because of the extra land, water and energy it takes to feed and rear animals.
For example, eating one burger every week has the same amount of carbon as driving from Leeds to France! Here’s a great video explaining food’s impact on climate change.
You don’t have to cut meat out completely to make a difference. Start by swapping meat for other protein-rich foods once a week. This is a great challenge to do with your family. To get started, why not look at these tasty, easy, meat-free recipes for inspiration.
Reduce your energy usage
A quarter of the average household’s carbon footprint comes from the energy we use in our homes. By remembering to switch off appliances, using less hot water or switching to LED bulbs, you can make difference.
To monitor your energy use at home you might be able to use a smart meter. A smart meter tells you the amount of gas and electricity you’re using at home and how much money it’s costing. It’ll help you keep an eye on your usage and identify where you could save.
Ask your parents to contact their energy provider about getting one—they’re free! Find out more about smart meters.
Extra tips
WWF’s Carbon Footprint Calculator is a free online tool that calculates your carbon footprint. Fill out the survey as a household (with the help of adults!) to find out how many tonnes of carbon you emit.
Help local wildlife in Leeds by having a go at some gardening: whether it’s in your garden, or a balcony or windowsill. Even if you don’t have anywhere to grow plants at home, you can still help Leeds to grow more trees by collecting seeds for our woodland creation scheme!
What can I do at school?
Tackle single use plastic and recycle
Is your school recycling effectively? Ask your school to speak to the company that collects its waste and find out what other recycling they might be able to collect.
Why not ask your school to join the Plastic Free School initiative – a pupil-led, change-making programme.
If you want to learn about what happens to waste in Leeds, ask your school to arrange a fascinating and educational visit to the RERF.
Promote sustainable travel
Transport emissions make up a third of the UK’s carbon footprint and road transport is also the biggest source of outdoor air pollution in Leeds. Anything that encourages more people to travel sustainably can make a real difference.
Ask your school to help by taking part in one of the following initiatives:
School Streets restrict cars outside your school at the start and end of the school day and make it safer to bike, scoot or walk to school.
School travel ambassadors are pupils with a special responsibility to encourage others to keep safe and active on their journeys.
Bike, pedestrian or scooter training can be delivered in schools. Ask your teachers to contact the council’s Influencing Travel Behaviour team.
Organise a uniform swap shop
Every year, 4,000 tonnes of textiles and clothing ends up in Leeds’ black bins! By setting up a uniform exchange, schools can save perfectly good uniform from going to waste and help families save money.
Check if there is a school uniform re-use scheme in your area already using the Zero Waste Leeds School Uniform Exchange.
If there isn’t, Zero Waste Leeds has created a handy guide explaining how to set up a school uniform re-use scheme with the help of parents or teachers.
Extra tips
Start or join an eco-team. One of the best ways to start taking action at school is by forming or joining an eco-team. An eco-team has representatives from across the school who are passionate about tackling climate change and who can put some of these tips into action! If your school doesn’t already have one, ask your school to read how to set up an eco-team training.
Teach climate change. Ask your teachers if they would consider including climate change within your school’s curriculum. There are lots of ways that these important conversations can be included within your lessons beyond Science!
Here are some good resources to help teachers get started:Leeds DEC’s Climate Change Lessons
Serve planet-friendly school meals. What does your school dinner look like? Schools can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the food they serve by introducing low-carbon and meat-free options for school meals. Catering Leeds has created a new climate-friendly menu which is tasty and nutritious. Ask your school to consider updating its menu to make a difference!
Ask your school to follow the Climate Action Route Map. This is a free resource available to any Leeds school or educational setting. It will support your teachers to provide high quality climate education based on 10 steps of good practice and evidence of what works. Ask your teachers to check it out on the School Wellbeing website.
What can I do in my community?
Organise a community clean-up
Community litter picking events tackle plastic pollution, protect local wildlife and clean up local space for everyone in the community to enjoy. The council’s Clean Leeds team can provide equipment and help promote your event.
Get in touch by emailing cleanleeds@leeds.gov.uk.
Plan an event to celebrate Earth Day, Car Free Day or Clean Air Day
Organise a fun physical or virtual event to bring your local community together, raise awareness of environmental issues and promote action.
To promote Clean Air Day, have a look at these useful resources from Global Action Plan
There’s lots of ideas for events and activities on the Earth Day website
Encourage your friends and other pupils in your school to walk, scoot or cycle to school
For Car Free Day, your community could host a Play Street—a scheme which allows you to close a local street to cars so that your community can safely play out.
Raise awareness of recycling
Lots of people accidentally throw things away that could be recycled. By raising awareness of what can and can’t be recycled and where to recycle glass, textiles and electrical items in your community, you can help reduce carbon emissions and save unnecessary waste.
As well as making sure we recycle correctly, it’s also really important that we reuse and repair as much as possible to reduce the amount of rubbish going to waste in the first place.
For more tips, check out the Leeds By Example website’s ‘Stuff’ page.
Extra tips
Volunteer. Whether it’s doing conservation work or helping to run community events, there’s lots of ways you can volunteer and make a difference to the environment right here in Leeds. Find out what volunteering is available near you by checking Doing Good Leeds.
Youth groups. WWF’s youth groups programme provides resources and activities to help community led groups learn about sustainability in a practical way. If you’re a member of a youth or community group, sign up to the programme here.
How can I have a voice in Leeds?
There are lots of different ways that you can have your voice heard about climate change or any other issues that are important to you. Here are just some of the ways you can help influence local decisions.
Join the Leeds Youth Council Network (LYC)
The LYC is a network of 400+ members aged 10-18 years old. All of its members are passionate about making a difference and making Leeds a better place. If you live or study in Leeds, you can join the network for free. Membership allows you to participate in events, join the monthly LYC working group, and have your say on the issues which affect you.
Once you are a member you will receive a monthly email full of different opportunities for you to get involved such as; becoming a member of the UK youth parliament, joining in with local campaigns, sitting on judging panels and taking part in local and national surveys and focus groups including the annual Your Voice survey.
Write a letter to your local councillor or MP
Even though you can’t vote until you are 18, your local city councillors and Members of Parliament still represent you. If you are passionate about an issue and think they can help, send them a letter or an email or visit them at one of their local meetings.
Speak at a council meeting
If there’s an issue you’d like to speak about, you can raise a deputation to full council or your local community committee. This will give you the opportunity to voice your concerns directly to councillors. Section 10 of the Council Procedure Rules, linked below, sets out how it works.
You can also speak during the open forum at a Climate Emergency Advisory Committee meeting. Email climate.emergency@leeds.gov.uk to find out more.