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 We are already living way beyond the limits of our planet. Humanity has moved from using about half the planet’s biocapacity in 1961 to over 1.25 times it in 2003. We are also facing the critical issue of climate change and, in the next few years, the beginning of a decline in the level of global oil supplies available for our use. It is therefore important for us to be aware of the amount of energy we consume, and take steps to reduce it. The links below provide information and guidance to help you understand and reduce your energy use.
- Guide to home energy appliance use - a simple, clear list of the amount of energy that different domestic appliances use. Use it to help you identify ways to save energy and money.
- What can I do? - a free Life² leaflet that shows some of the most important steps you can take to reduce your CO2 emissions, and the possible impact each could have on your emissions. So, if you only take a few steps you can be sure that they are the ones that will make a real difference.
- Global Action Plan - one of the leading organisations offering practical ways to save energy and help the environment. Join one of their Eco Teams to get practical advice and ideas on how to improve household efficiency, reduce environmental impact and save resources.
- Energy Saving Trust - a good source of information on how we consume energy and how we can save it.
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 We all face stress, upsets and difficult periods as we go through life. But we can improve our ability to deal with the ups and downs of our existence by developing a capacity we could call 'resilience'. Building our capacity for resilience doesn't mean that our problems will automatically disappear or that we'll ignore them, but it could enable us to handle future stress better, put things into perspective and help us enjoy life more. The links and resources below explore the idea of resilience in more detail and provide lots of practical ideas on how you can build it more into your life.
- Building resiliance - a guide from a mental health association in Australia, exploring the idea of reslience and giving some practical tips on how you can build your reslience, including good ideas like 'Do one thing now you've been putting off'.
- How to overcome fear and anxiety - a free podcast from the Mental Health Foundation showing how we can develop this important part of resilience in our lives.
- This paper explores how teachers and families can help younger people to develop the capacity for resilience.
- Sinking & swimming - understanding Britain's unmet needs - is a major report from the Young Foundation which aims to identify some of the important social and personal needs that are currently not being met in Britain. It suggests that the capacity for resilience is one of the things we should be promoting more in society and education.
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 In our busy and pressurised modern lives it is important to find time to relax and find some peace. The Mental Health Foundation have produced a series of free podcasts that can help you to de-stress, relax and even sleep better. The complete set can be found here, but below are links to those closely related to the idea of relaxation:
- Stress and the mind - a series of exercises which outline how to use positive emotions and imagery to ease pressure.
- Stress and relaxation - stress management techniques which can help relieve pressure from daily life.
- Well-being and sleep - a podcast to listen to in bed, which can help you relax and get ready to go to sleep.
- Well-being and relaxation - a short and easy form of meditation which can be effective in relaxing and reducing stress. |
 In addition to our library resource containing books, we offer a links library containing signnposting and links to websites that provide useful and well-presented information, or important guidance on a range of different themes. This document is an important part of Life² as it enables us to draw upon the best of the rich resources of the internet to help you live a better life. Click here to see the pdf containing our links library. |
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 As if you didn't know - it's time for the General Election. Here are some last-minute ideas and bits of advice if you're not sure on how to vote or who to vote for:
- About my vote - site run by the Electoral Commission that gives you basic information about how to vote.
- How should I vote? - a quick and simple tool for finding out where the parties stand in the UK elections. There are several tools like this around on the web - all of them quite basic, but they give you a starting point from which to check out the parties policies in more detail.
- A vote for democracy - there's a lot of talk about 'change', the need for a 'new politics' and people power in this election. But which parties are offering real reform? This site helps you to find out.
- Tactical voting - if you've heard about tactical voting but aren't sure what it means or how to use it, check out this site, which looks at some of the constituencies where tactical voting could be effective. It provides guidance as to how you could cast your vote tactically to get the outcome you want - whether this is to strengthen your preferred party's support nationally, to ensure your preferred local candidate win, or to keep someone you don't want to win from winning.
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