HAVING received the January issue of Essex County Council s Essex Matters in the morning s post, I thumbed through it over my breakfast. An article caught my interest on pages six and seven entitled A Greener Us which suggested that readers compare the

HAVING received the January issue of Essex County Council's Essex Matters in the morning's post, I thumbed through it over my breakfast.

An article caught my interest on pages six and seven entitled "A Greener Us" which suggested that readers compare their individual household carbon emissions against the national average.

This article contained a table of national carbon emissions, which supposedly lists the costs per day of seven household activities and extends these costs to a yearly cost.

Well, if it's annual savings they're looking for, I can make some instant ones.

Of these seven household activities, four daily costs are extended to a yearly cost with a 10 fold error. I quote:

Shower: 2p per day x 365 days is £73 per year, which should be £7.30 p.a.

Cup of tea: 1p per day x 365 days is £36-50 per year, which should of course be £3.65 p.a.

Watching TV: 4p per day x 365 days is £146 per year, which should of course be £14.60 p.a.

Lighting: 3p per day x 365 days is £109-50 per year, which should of course be £10.95 p.a.

So the national total quoted of £640-46 should in fact be £311.96.

Now how's that for a reduction of more than 50 per cent!!

I find it amazing that a table like this can be distributed across the whole of Essex without someone checking the arithmetic, although it does mean that most

Essex households should be well below this "national target"!

Steve Biddlecombe

Bigods Lane

Great Dunmow