June 2008 Archives

The Low Carbon Communities Network are presenting at a conference in London this week. I'm really excited because Yoosk, the interactive interview magazine have allowed to use their site to ask questions about peak oil and climate change. We're putting together a great panel of experts to answer youur questions - including me!
So go on, ask me a question...

I was going to call this week's post a tour of the Transition Home but I decided to stick with low carbon. Believe me, walk into the home of anyone involved in a Transition project and you'll notice just the same actions being taken to reduce energy consumption.
Let's remember that low carbon / transition living is not about being told to give things up, it's about choosing to live differently.
Briefly my home has:
Thick lined curtains at all the windows, foil panels behind radiators to reflect heat back into the room, energy saving light bulbs in all light fittings, an extra thick jacket on the hot water cylinder, tightly controlled timers on the central heating (which we hardly use because we have a woodburner), cavity wall and loft insulation in excess of recommended minimums. I could go on, but to be honest your best source of information here in Cheshire is Energy Projects Plus who gave my family excellent advice when we wanted to improve the efficiency of our home.
Recently I attended a training day at their office in Winsford. Together with representatives from Tattenhall and Blacon I learnt how to use a thermal imaging camera which helps residents see where there may be potential heat loss in a building and build up a picture of the thermal efficiency of a home. EPPLUS hire the camera to community groups at low cost (from £10.00 a week) and give advice on how it should be used. This resource is available to any community group in Cheshire and I'm pretty sure that members of Transition Chester will be interested in borrowing it as well as low carbon groups such as Bollington and Tattenhall who have already put their names down to borrow it.
EPPLUS are also organising the first Renewable Energy Exhibition to be held in Cheshire (at the Crewe Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University) on 5th July 2008. Anyone interested in wind turbines, biomass, heat pumps, solar power etc will be able to come along and get free advice from installers and renewable energy specialists. It should be well worth a visit. Michael Flood who works at EPPLUS in Winsford told me:
"Anyone can come along between 10am and 4pm. We're delighted to be holding this event, it's the first of its kind in Cheshire and will really help bring the community and renewables installers closer together".

Conserving energy is easy, but it takes time to work out where savings might be made. Renewable energy can be very cost effective if chosen wisely and believe me it is possible to reduce your energy consumption and live comfortably if you take appropriate advice. I recently visited Church Stretton in Shropshire where residents can visit their local library and take part in carbon footprinting classes which are followed up by energy advice and in Totnes residents are encouraged to fit solar thermal panels as a part of a community challenge.
Residents in Ashton Hayes were encouraged to save money by reducing energy and Barry Cooney, the much missed landlord at the Golden Lion would cheerfully tell of saving over £200 a month on his fuel bills by taking simple energy saving measures. Think of saving carbon instead of money and it's easy to see how we can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and live comfortable lives. If you do save money as result invest the savings in renewable - but make sure you take advice from EPPLUS before parting with your hard earned cash!
If you want advice give EPPLUS a call on 0800 512012

Over the next few weeks I want look at ways we can live differently, and make positive choices towards a low carbon lifestyle. Wherever you live in Cheshire there is bound to be a community project near you that can give advice, but here are a few things you can do as an individual. This week:
Food Shopping
I'm a working Mum and sometimes a late night trip to the supermarket is the only way to keep food on the table, mostly I prefer to make shopping a part of my routine. It might take a bit longer to wander up and down the high street, but it's far preferable to wheeling a shopping trolley round the air conditioned aisles of the supermarket, buying pre packaged food from goodness knows where.
Today I went to Frodsham, my local market town. First stop the Cheese Shop run by Gordon Meek. I tasted several different cheeses before settling on a couple of tasty goats cheeses, Cornish Yarg (a favourite of mine) and a block of Plain Old Cheddar (yes, it really is called that)! No fancy plastic packaging destined straight for the bin here, just a piece of greaseproof paper and a sticky label with the price on. Then on to Hales for fruit and veg popped into paper bags (which will go on the compost heap) and finally the butchers for a locally reared chicken and some home produced sausages (of course the carcass will be used to make stock for homemade soup before being composted)!
On Saturdays my daughter has a dance class in Hoole, so I combine the trip with a visit to the fantastic fishmongers there. Hoole is full of small independent retailers - there's usually queue at the butchers on a Saturday morning -surely an indication of the quality and high regard local people have for the produce.
I don't think this way of shopping costs me more than a trip to the supermarket, by combining car trips I reduce the number of miles I drive and I am able to take advantage of buying fresh food in season. No need to buy shrink wrapped green beans flown in from abroad, I can buy Cheshire asparagus or spinach from Staffordshire. My family eat well because I choose to buy fresh produce in season to supplement what we grow ourselves. The supermarkets might be about to entice the carbon savvy shopper over the threshold with new carbon footprint labels, but take it from me - a trip to your local high street - or farmers market can provide you with produce that has travelled less miles, has less packaging, probably a lower carbon footprint - and more of your money is likely to stay in the local economy.
If you are addicted to the convenience of the supermarket, take things slowly, try going to the local greengrocers instead of buying all your food at the supermarket, or take the family to a Farmers Market this weekend.
As the price of oil continues to rise the price of our food will inevitably go up too, the further the food has to travel, the longer it spends in storage the higher the carbon footprint becomes and the more expensive food will be. Buying fresh local produce will become a sensible choice, but one that will only be available if we support our local retailers. So, go make friends with your local butcher, baker, greengrocer or village store and make low carbon living a part of your weekly routine.

In a village which has cut it's carbon emissions by an average of 20% over the last 12 months you would hope the village shop would be valued as a community resource. Shopping locally can be a great way to save petrol and support the local economy.
Here in Ashton Hayes, we face changes in the way our village shop is run, the Post Mistress is "unable to operate both the Post Office and the shop" on her own * and has offered to work with the Parish Council to establish a community shop. A meeting has been organised and the whole village has been invited to listen to what's planned and to find out how we can all be involved.
Of course, we all like the idea of a village shop, but what is really needed right now is practical action. A commitment from residents that they will use the shop for more than just newspapers and cigarettes. For people like me who don't always have access to a car, the local shop is an essential service, over the past few months I've bought the usual - bread, milk, veg, eggs - and emergency items like icing sugar for my daughter's birthday cake. There has also been the odd mad dash just before closing on a Friday night when friends drop by and one of us cycles (or if it's me walks) down to the shop for a bottle of wine. Not to mention the regular Sunday morning trip for newspapers and bacon.
Of course, this kind of shopping can't sustain a business unless enough people use the shop on a regular basis. If the shop were to close then the only option would be to jump in the car and drive to Kelsall - only a couple of miles - but just a bit too far to walk when you run out of milk and the children are waiting for breakfast.
That's why I'm hoping the Ashton Hayes Going Carbon Neutral Project (a sub group of the Parish Council) will put all it's energies into the future survival of our local shop. Here is a great opportunity to showcase local producers of meat and cheese, to stock fruit from nearby orchards, sell local honey and apple juice while also providing the community with the everyday essentials we need on a regular basis.
We've recently been gathering data for the Parish Plan, which asked householders what kinds of services they want in Ashton Hayes, an ideal starting point for consultation and proof, if it were needed that a local shop is an essential service.
I only live 5 minutes from the shop, but no trip is ever that quick, I chat to my neighbours, admire colourful front gardens, pat dogs, smile at people looking out of their living room windows. It might sound idyllic, but think how isolating it could be if all that interaction was lost to be replaced by a 5 mile drive to the supermarket...not to mention the increase in the villages carbon emissions ...

(*Letter from the Parish Council delivered to local households)