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It is the smallest gestures which change the world, so they say, which is what the council of Bilbao wants to demonstrate with its latest green initiative ''Hogares Verdes'' (Green households).

2.86 tonnes of CO2 per person each year are emited in the city, a figure which the council wants to prove is reducible just by changing household consumer habits.

According to Environment Councillor for Bilbao, Julia Madrazo, by far the biggest culprit of household waste is "transport but also individual consumer habits, such as with soap products and bleach".

Twenty-three families are already taking part in a course on Sustainable Homes organised by Bilbao Council''s Office for Climate Change, otherwise known as BIO. The homes of those 23 families now form part of a pilot programme to raise awareness about sustainability.

"At BIO we know that raising awareness and sensitizing people about climate change is the first step in being able to fight it," says Madrazo.

Speaking with Bilbao newspaper Deia, the adviser behind the programme, María Melo, explained that there is room for another 17 familes to take part in the initiative: "We want to give clues and ideas to those who come (to the course) about how to incorporate sustainable habits into their homes". It is hoped that from now until December, when the BIO course finishes, the number of ''Green Households'' in Bilbao will have risen to 40, which together "will help sew the seed for a more sustainable city".