NEWS Shopper has launched a new competition for the area's councillors called How Green Is Your Council Leader?

Over the next few weeks we will be asking the council leaders from Dartford, Gravesham, Bromley, Bexley, Lewisham and Greenwich 10 very simple questions - giving them the chance to show off their green credentials.

The answers will be judged by News Shopper's Green Household Champion Elizabeth Greenwood, who has made many environmentally friendly changes to her Chislehurst bungalow including installing solar panels.

She will pick a winner at the end of the series and present the champion council leader with a special secret prize.

To kick off the series, here are the answers from the Mayor of Lewisham Sir Steve Bullock........

1. What do you do to help the environment?

I try to recycle as much as possible using either Lewisham’s green bins or collection points. I fly much less often now but when I do I make sure I pay a carbon offset.

2. In one sentence, how would you encourage residents to be green?

We need to make it easy for people by keeping recycling simple and offering help and advice. Our young people are very knowledgeable about the dangers of climate change so they make great advocates of going green.

3. How many cars do you own and what are they?

I own a 1967 Triumph Herald which only does around 100 miles a year. Everyday transport is a second-hand Ford Mondeo. My wife has an 18-year-old Ford Escort which is usually kept at our holiday caravan in Yorkshire.

4. How far do you have to travel to work?

Two miles on days when I’m at the town hall or nine when I go to meetings in central London.

News Shopper: An extinct north American passenger pigeon

5. How do you get to work?

I often don’t get away from the town hall until quite late so I usually drive, but when possible I like to walk. I take the train to central London.

6. How many miles a year do you drive?

Around 4,000

7. Do you own a bike?

I do but I greatly prefer walking as an alternative to cars, buses or trains.

8. What changes have you made to your house to save energy?

We started using low energy light bulbs back when they took ages to warm up, and we have fitted double glazing to some windows. We are also reviewing our heating and hot water systems to look for improvements.

9. If you could make one change to make the world a greener place, what would it be?

I would remove all subsidies for air travel and switch the money saved into bus and rail.

10. If you could bring back one extinct animal, what would it be and why?

The extinction of the North American Passenger Pigeon should act as a warning to us all. When European colonisation started these birds were numbered in billions yet by 1914 there was just one left, Martha. Perhaps if we brought it back it would remind us just how fragile the balance of life on earth can be.