"I think it’s the best kept secret,” says Ann Link. “Just how much you can do. You can cut quite a lot off your carbon footprint quite easily.”

Ann, from Lewes, is one of the authors of The Three Tonne Club Handbook, the official textbook of The Three Tonne Club, which aims to help members slim down their carbon footprint from the UK average of about 13.4 tonnes a year to a “sylph-like” three tonnes.

It borrows the model of a slimming club, with the group meeting once a month and following the programme laid out in the handbook with carbon footprint “weigh-ins” at each meeting.

According to the Women’s Environmental Network (WEN), which publishes the handbook, we are all “climate poor”. That is, we are constantly told the horror stories about how difficult and complicated everything is, followed almost immediately by the Government telling us to turn things off and go without. As a result, we find ourselves in a cycle of negativity and loss, with a whole load of very worried people who don’t feel they can do anything to help.

The Three Tonne Club, like many similar projects, aims to empower people to make those changes through positive reinforcement of the benefits.

Ann says: “One of the main things for WEN is that it [the environment] is a serious, difficult issue and we need to make it accessible and fun, as much as we can, and not lecture people. You have to start where it is easy. We start by just talking to one other person about it.”

The programme begins with everyone in the club measuring their carbon footprint, using a system devised by carbonindependent.org. Participants see a breakdown of the causes of their greenhouse gas emissions, split into energy used in the home (national average: 2.9t), travelling overland (2t), flying (1.8t), food (2.2t), and what the handbook calls “tricky tonnage” (4.5t).

Tricky tonnage is defined as Government services, leisure activities, home improvements and clothing and footwear.

Interestingly, many of the carbon footprint tools yield broadly different results. Hove-based author Emily Dubberly found her footprint was 10.76 tonnes using the Carbon Independent system, but yielded a slender 4.32 tonnes when using carbonfootprint.com.

The authors of the Three Tonne Club Handbook spent many months finding a suitable measuring tool that would be accurate, easy to use and accessible.

Far from being an exercise in pointing the finger and creating guilt, Ann says footprinting is actually very helpful and quite settling, allowing you to see the exact breakdown of where your greenhouse gas emissions are coming from and so where any gains or excesses are.

“There was one lady who had put in solar panels but was stressing because she thought she drove too much,” says Ann. “By doing the footprinting she realised that overall she was fine, and she felt a lot better at the end of the process.”

Following the initial measurements, each monthly meeting looks at a different topic, such as home energy use or travel, and participants are given “easy green gains” – some ideas for simple ways to cut back on the emissions.

The advice given is nothing new (everything from putting a draught excluder on your letter box to installing a solar hot water system, driving less and buying local food), but the handbook gives a structure, a process and a support network.

It doesn’t demand everything happens at once. Ann says: “It’s a lifestyle change and you make it gradually – so it is bearable and you ensure you can adapt to it.”

So far there has been lots of talk but action is a little slow on the uptake. One meeting, set up by Going Green stalwart Anthea Ballam “went brilliantly, and several people there were real movers and shakers”, but unfortunately she has been unwell and unable to organise further meetings.

Anthea reels off a list of those in attendance at the first meeting and the names are all familiar. So is this club just attracting the same already enthusiastic people? Well, yes. But according to Ann, that’s OK.

“The thing is, it doesn’t have to be everyone,” she explains. “The people who do it now will be pioneers. It’s about getting people started. You find if you start with something small, people get drawn in and do more. It’s about finding ways in. If people see others doing it, they’ll want to get involved too – you have to find the tipping point.

“It’s one of the reasons all these community movements are so great. If you can get the people who are already interested to really get on board, then everyone else will follow.”

  • The Three Tonne Club Handbook is available from www.wen.org.uk, priced £3.50 including postage.

Carbon Footprints

Sarah Lewis - 30, journalist, Brighton & Hove border

Footprint: 6.01 tonnes

“It’s a lot lower than I expected and I’m surprised my car has less of an impact than my household gas use and food, but that’s probably because I use it so rarely. I haven’t been on a flight for ages, which has helped, but I shouldn’t be too smug – we’ve had the heating on so much this winter due to our huge, draughty windows.”

Matt Chittock - 31, journalist, Hove

Footprint: 11.6 tonnes

“I was really surprised to see my score was so high, although the results may have been skewed by not being able to enter my exact energy usage, since I didn’t have a recent gas bill to hand. I took two European flights in 2008 – this year I plan to use the Eurotunnel!”

Aimee Davies and Henry Milliner - 29 and 32, designer and sound recordist, Hove

Footprint: 16.21 tonnes each

“The car calculation didn’t take in to account it’s LPG, but that’s probably counteracted by our camper van, which is unleaded. The footprint includes Henry’s work, which is often overseas and most recently in the Canary Islands.”

Emily Dubberley - 34, author, Brunswick

Footprint: 10.76 tonnes

“I’d like to think I’m reasonably green – I recycle, I eat locally sourced food as much as possible, I am obsessive about turning lights off, I don’t drive and I avoid unnecessary travel. The biggest surprise is probably how much difference sharing a house makes – I’d never thought about the green implications of living with a partner rather than alone before.”