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16-YEAR-OLD Nathan Sutcliffe from Dolgellau has been selected by the Welsh Assembly to be a Climate Champion..
Here is his blog on the work he has been doing in the area to raise awareness this month:

Hi Everyone,
It’s been a busy month since my last blog. I have attended events and teamed up with a local driving instructor to try and give people tips on how to reduce their carbon footprint.

Some of you might have noticed me on the weather forecast recently, trying to gain a little publicity for a tree planting day arranged by the Woodland Trust. The location of the event was Coed Ysgubor Wen, a piece of new woodland near Tywyn.

Everything was scheduled to go ahead on Saturday 20 March, however some bad weather managed to deter some of the would-be planters. Those that turned up didn’t allow the rain to dampen their spirits, and we managed to plant a few hundred trees within the space of a few hours. Not bad, don’t you think?

In addition to this, I teamed up with my local driving school, Derek’s Driving Tuition, to encourage drivers to be greener when they do have to drive. Sometimes it’s not always possible to walk or take public transport, especially in remote areas of Wales. So when you do have to drive there are some simple things you can do to reduce the amount of fuel you use and the carbon emissions your car emits. A few tips include:
Lower your speed, at 70mph you could be using up to 9% more fuel than at 60mph and up to 15% more fuel than at 50mph

When an engine is idling it’s wasting fuel so if you’re likely to be at a standstill for more than three minutes, switch off your engine.

During my year as a Climate Change Champion I am aiming to help plant 100,000 trees, to help the Welsh Assembly Government towards its goal of creating a new national forest. I have always had an interest in trees and I’m using this as a focus for my work as a Champion.

And finally, after much delay and running about, my project is about to fly into full swing.

On Thursday 6 May, I launched my project at Ysgol Gynradd Dolgellau, where we have surveyed an area that will hold approximately 1000 trees. The headmaster, Mr Williams agreed to let us start planting and so I was joined by lots of enthusiastic pupils and teachers from the school to help contribute to my goal. I think we planted over 1,000 – and we will continue to plant more throughout the year. So, for anyone in Dolgellau wanting to get involved, keep an eye out for any tree planting dates announced in the next few weeks!

My top tip: Driving smarter will stop you wasting fuel and reduce your carbon footprint.