San Lawrenz well on its way to becoming an eco-village

More than a fourth of households in San Lawrenz have been given a 140 euro subsidy by their council as an incentive towards the installation of a solar water heater.

Mayor Noel Formosa said that this was the second eco-project which had been undertaken by his council and the aim was to come up with an ecological initiative each year.

Besides assisting people to adopt an eco-friendly mentality, the council was also assisting its residents financially with the capital required and they would be making further financial gains through the measures adopted.

He said that last year, the council gave each household an energy saving bulb and this year, residents were invited to apply to install solar water heaters. All the related paper work, including the applications for a government subsidy, was done by the council which also gave each applicant a 140 euro grant as an incentive.

Mr Formosa said that 65 households took up the invitation and the council calculated that about 165 out of the 200 households in the locality now had a solar water heater.

This project was costing the council some10,000 euros not including office work. But Mr Formosa said the council considered this as an investment.

To promote its eco consciousness, it is also putting up a welcome sign before the entrance to the village saying San Lawrenz the village that thinks and acts ecologically welcomes you!

The sign says that the locality reduced its CO2 emissions by 5,059 kilogrammes last year and by 134,904 kilogrammes this year.