 Anne Milton has backed the ‘Close the Door’ campaign, which aims to reduce the amount of energy that retailers and restaurants use by asking them to close their door. Many shops in Guildford are wasting energy by keeping their doors open at all times.
Anne has written to a number of retailers in Guildford about this issue, and has tabled a written question to the Department of for Business, Innovation and Skills asking: “What is he doing to encourage retailers to reduce their carbon emissions, and what representations has he received about the ‘close the door’ campaign and will he make a statement.”
Anne Milton, Guildford’s MP said: “This is a fantastic idea to make a real difference to excess energy consumption, whilst also having an impact on climate change. It is terrible to walk down a high street and see shops with their doors open, particularly during this freezing weather, with warm air and energy pouring out. Well done to the women whose idea this was. It just goes to show that everyone can make a difference. I am certainly going to do all I can as a constituency MP to encourage all of the shops in my patch to close their doors.”
She added: “Not all local shop managers have discretion on whether the doors area open or not, and not all local shops have doors that are capable of opening and shutting as each customer comes through. Some shops have already shut their doors and I am writing to the head offices of a number of the retailers in Guildford to raise this issue with them. I have also written to Guildford Borough Council to see if there is any pressure they can bring. Times are tough for shops, but acting responsibly is what people want to see. If anyone wants to let me know of shops that keep their doors open do drop me an email.”
Jeannie Dawkins, Director of ‘Close the Door’ campaign, said: "The Close the door campaign is delighted that Anne Milton is lending her support. Keeping a shop door open and heating or cooling the street wastes a vast amount of energy and adds to the price of goods. Closing shop doors while heating or airconditioning is being used is a no-brainer. No one would dream of heating their home while leaving the doors open but we use shops that do exactly this. Customers can greatly help stop stores squandering energy in this way by politely registering a complaint with the store manager, supporting the rapidly increasing number of shops with a responsible door policy instead and finding out more from www.closethedoor.org.uk"
1st February 2010 Tags: Climate change |
