Harpenden in firing line over pollution

HARPENDEN is among the top three offenders in the country when it comes to polluting the environment.

Carbon emissions per household by postcode were calculated through looking at figures on energy use, travel and general consumption including food. The average British household produces about 28 tonnes of carbon each year.

People in wealthy areas fly more often, take foreign holidays in more distant locations, drive 4x4s, live in bigger houses that cost more to heat and light and eat food that has been flown in from exotic locations.

The most polluting area in Britain is around Rickmansworth, also in Hertfordshire, which produced more than 36 tons of carbon emissions per household per year on average, followed closely by Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire with one ton less.

Other affluent, high-polluting areas include Woldingham, Surrey, and Shiplake, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxon - also in the heart of the commuter belt.

In contrast the most "green" areas of Britain are built-up inner-city neighbourhoods or places where people cannot afford to consume so much, take fewer holidays and use public transport.

In Stockton-on-Tees, near Middlesbrough, the average household produces only 14 tons while parts of St Pancras, in London, and areas of Birmingham and Portsmouth also emit less than half the national average.

The Stockholm Environment Institute, a global think tank, joined Experian, an information services company, to assess the average carbon footprint of each household.

Surveys by the Office for National Statistics on the kinds of foods and holidays people buy in different areas showed how much carbon people produce through what they consume.

Utility companies provided information on energy use and further government figures showed how much people travel.