Global Warming - currently the biggest threat to our way of life. We've spent years ignoring it and only in recent years after the Polar Ice Caps beginning to melt, massive Tsunamis, droughts and the hottest summers on record ever, have changes started to take place.

But it's not enough. There is still a looming hole over the Antarctic, land fills are still fit to bursting and vehicles with excessive CO2 emissions are still on the roads. It seems that we are fighting a lost battle.

But we're not. Scientists have discovered that the ozone hole is beginning to heal itself, so we must be doing something right. All we need is people to listen. There are so many things that we can achieve at a local level that will - in theory - save the world.

A big problem at the moment is water conservation. There always seems to be hosepipe bans or news of empty reservoirs. How in Britain, where gallons of it falls constantly from the sky, can there be a water shortage? Why not make use of all this extra rain water and employ water collection receptacles where a hose pipe can be attached in local gardens and allotments? Then we solve the problem of hose pipe bans, water will flow freely in reservoirs and plants will be healthier than ever.

One of the biggest grumbles you will hear amongst local mothers is the amount of un-recyclable packaging on supermarket products. The council may not be able to recycle it, but they can make sure that less of it sneaks into homes. They could allocate more space for Allotments and hold bigger and more frequent Farm Markets. This will have so many positive effects besides less packaging: instead of big supermarket brands benefiting from our money, local farmers and businesses will, because the food is local we will cut down on air miles therefore less carbon emissions and because the food is fresh we will be healthier - no more added salt and sugar.

Carbon emissions, whether from planes or vehicles on the road, are the biggest cause of global warming and the hole in the ozone. Again this is one of those problems that can only be tackled at a local level. Maybe with congestion charging - controversial but will money matter when the world is about to end? Or one of the best and most peaceful ways to deal with it would be to extend tram lines. I have friends at college who have to travel for hours on a bus. Although they are public transport and we are encouraged to use them they still emit massive amounts of pollution, trams run on electricity and are cleaner and faster. Wouldn't it be nice to get into work on time and avoid the energy sapping traffic jams?

However, what we really need is more people buying recycled products. Even though we recycle very few of us actually buy anything that has been recycled - they cost about the same and are just as good but we think they're cheap or of a bad quality. It's this attitude that needs to be changed. The council can start poster and advertisement campaigns, hold awareness weeks, organise talks in local schools; once this attitude is overthrown we can do anything.