1. Transport

Modern lifestyles have given rise to a huge increase in demand for travel, whether it is to work, to visit relatives or to take holidays. In the 19th century, few people traveled much beyond their own village or market town. While modern methods of transport have transformed our horizons, they nearly al come with a high CO2 price. Transport accounts for 25 per cent of CO2 emissions in the UK, and this figure is steadily rising.

However, by reducing car use, cycling and walking, we can cut our transport emissions significantly. The really radical step you could take would be to look for a job closer to home. Every day, millions of people commute to jobs in places from which others have made their way in the opposite direction to do the same jobs. Would it not make more sense if we worked in our own communities, instead of wasting our lives commuting?

2. Energy

The energy we use for heating and lighting our homes and offices is a major source of CO2 emissions, with coal, gas and oil power stations emitting 56 million tonnes of the greenhouse gas every year. While renewable energy sources such as domestic wind turbines, solar panels and micro-hydro schemes have a role to play in tackling climate change, it is important to realise that energy efficiency can be seven times more cost effective.

For example, the fashion for instaling halogen down-lighters in our homes has led to a catastrophic increase in the energy used for lighting. Thus it makes sense to first identify how to cut the amount of energy you are wastefuly consuming and then if you have the capital and suitable property, to invest in renewable to deal with your remaining energy requirements.

3. Water

Climatologists predict that climate chaos could bring extremely heavy bouts of rain, with longer periods of drought. Southern England is now experiencing one such drought and the upheaval is causing havoc for the privatised water companies, with drought orders and hosepipe bans in force.

The companies are easy targets, with their inheritance of leaking Victorian pipework built under roads unable to protect piping from the huge growth in traffic, and needing profits to justify borrowing to invest in leakage prevention. However, our homes waste 100 per cent of the rainwater that falls on our roofs and 100 per cent of the "grey water" produced by baths, showers and washing machines. Cutting water waste would reduce the need for expensive investment in new capacity by the water companies, which drives up our water bils.

The current system, where rainwater is pumped away from our roofs, and fresh water is extracted from rivers and aquifers, chemically cleaned and pumped through kilometres of what will always be leaking pipes, only to be flushed down our loose, is insane. It not only wastes water, but creates as much CO2 as is produced by four power stations.

By using and re-using your rainwater and grey water, you can start the move to a saner water system - and even cut your water bills if your home is metered.

4.Waste

UK homes produced 27 million tonnes of domestic waste in 2005. It is predicted to rise another 11 per cent by 2011. Britain's recycling rates have finally started to rise in response to public and EU pressure but landfill sites, where the bulk of our waste has up to now been dumped, are rapidly filing up.

Instead of developing a decent waste-reduction strategy, the Government has opted for a quick fix, by increasing the number of incinerators by more than 1,000 per cent. This will increase CO2 emissions and toxic waste. The imperative for us as individuals is to dramatically reduce our production of rubbish.

5.Work

In recent years, many of us have learnt how to become more environmentaly responsible at home. Milions of people now recycle their domestic rubbish, 75 per cent of us buy some sort of organic produce and tens of thousands have instaled water butts during the current drought. However, these practices are often not taken into the workplace, despite the fact that offices normaly consume far more resources, energy and water than most homes. It is now crucial that people take environmental action at their places of work, having found the confidence to take action at home.

6. Pollution

One of the gifts of the Industrial Revolution was the extraordinary surge of knowledge in chemistry. Advances in medical pharmacology transformed the lives of millions of people, but the release of a vast array of artificial chemicals into the atmosphere has led to the polution of even the deepest oceans, threatening the world's fundamental chemistry. Pesticides, according to the World Health Organisation, poison more than 3 milion people worldwide every year and the number of chemicals in the home, whose combinations have never been tested, is now startling. Using natural products cuts the number of unnecessary chemicals we and the workers producing them are exposed to, and reduces the levels of poisons escaping into the environment.

7. Food

Sustainable Energy Action estimates that up to 30 per cent of the country's CO2 emissions are attributable to food. The planting, harvesting, processing, transport and packaging al consume vast quantities of energy. As our food markets have globalised, the distance traveled by the average family meal now regularly exceeds 10,000 miles, where formerly it would have been less than 10, when most of the world's population lived on subsistence farms. The variety sown of particular crops such as rice has plummeted as supermarkets only buy the most economic varieties, endangering the genetic security of our major food crops.

The fewer varieties of a particular crop there are, the more exposed it is to being wiped out by disease. The introduction of GM crops by the US has further increased the dangers facing food production, with multiple pesticide immunity already emerging in Canada. You can help markets move towards healthy food production by buying low-packaged, local, organic foods.

Getting started

Measuring your eco-footprint: Take note of your meter readings One of the most important aids to keep you motivated is to measure your current performance and then set yourself targets. As the week's programme sets out the actions you can take from tomorrow for seven days, the first thing you need to do tomorrow morning (Tuesday) is to fill in the form below. By filling your car with fuel tomorrow and then again at the exact same time next week, you will be able to calculate your energy CO2 emissions for the week and also measure other ecoimpacts such as waste production and water consumption.

Keep the form and make a note in your diary for the same date next year and you will have a measure of your first year's eco-footprint, if you add the CO2 emissions from any flights you take during the year.