04/01/2006 - The Environment Agency is wishing everyone in the Midlands a very Happy New Year for 2006, and asking people to make it a happy new year for the environment too. We want people to have peace of mind, knowing that they live in a clean and safe environment, rich in wildlife and natural diversity - one they can enjoy to the full, but feel motivated to care for.

The "Happiness Manifesto", embraced by the town of Slough in the recent well-publicised BBC series "Making Slough Happy", is a great inspiration for new year’s resolutions, both for ourselves and the environment:

Choose physical activity that benefits you and the environment - make a compost heap for your biodegradable waste to reduce our dependence on landfill sites. Walk or cycle to work instead of using the car, reducing emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels.

Enjoy your partner’s company while you take a walk in the countryside along riverside footpaths that we have helped to create for you such as the Avon Valley Walks.

Plant a tree and watch it grow. Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing our future. Even the smallest plant helps to provide clean air for us to breathe and reduce our impact on global warming. Choose a native tree and you will reduce that impact even more.

Help reduce our energy demands on the planet by spending less time watching TV and get out in the fresh air instead. There’s plenty of outdoor recreational activities to enjoy, such as fishing.

Volunteer for a green project in your community and strangers will soon become friends, giving you plenty to smile about. Register a green project with Environment Agency Action Earth and get a £50 grant to get you started. Find out how you can improve your environment and enjoy

yourself while you’re doing it at www.environment-agency.gov.uk

Share car journeys with a friend. You can cultivate your friendship while reducing the world’s demand for fossil fuels and contributing to cleaner air for everyone.

Find a treat at your local farmers’ market. Local produce that has no unnecessary packaging is a treat for our environment too.

Outdoor activities such as cycling and canoeing are fun to do and you can share a laugh with your friends.

Build a new bird or bat box, use less water, recycle more, or replace a light bulb with an energy-saving one. Switch your electricity supply to a green tariff, saving the release of an average of 1,892kg of carbon dioxide a year per household – that has the same benefit to the environment as planting almost two trees a day. This planet is your home – be kind to it.

At the end of each day, look around you and reflect on what you have done, however small, to make your natural environment a great place to live in. Go to sleep knowing that, thanks to you, the environment is a better place than when you woke up this morning.

What we do today, our children will inherit tomorrow. Spread a little happiness across the Midlands in 2006 and beyond by creating a better place for future generations of people and wildlife.

A very happy new year to everyone.