Welcome to this month’s newsletter and we hope you’re enjoying the sunshine!
The news letter is also available as a .pdf file to download
1. News and Events
Next ‘Grow your Own’ session: Monday July 6th
The Akashi Faiths Project
Fundraising – your bright ideas wanted!
2. Our Regular Writers
Politics and Campaigning: Kingsnorth
Ro’s Reflections: The psychology of climate change
Ask Andy: What’s the best kind of cavity wall insulation?
In the Garden: July, the time of plenty!
Home Energy Saving: On the back burner?
Recipe of the month
3. Other items
Film showing: the Age of Stupid
Useful websites
1. News and Events
Grow Your Own
Our next ‘Grow your Own’ session will be held on Monday July 6th, 7pm, Ross Street Community Centre
Learn how to best manage your summer vegetable crop and prepare for the autumn with master gardener Keith Jordan. The session will include a visit to a working allotment, weather permitting. Please email Karin (karin@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org) to book.
The Akashi Faiths Project
We are delighted that government body Faiths in Action have awarded us funding for an exciting new project bringing together individuals and groups from different religious backgrounds around the issue of climate change.
We are working with people from all the major faiths in Cambridge to organise workshops in the autumn exploring beliefs and climate change. Outcomes will be shared at two interfaith gatherings towards the end of the year, and then in March 2010 there will be a celebratory festival.
We need lots of people to take part! We are hoping to run workshops within the following faiths: Buddhists
Christians
Hindus
Jewish
Muslims
Sikhs
Finally, we are hoping to run a workshop for ‘unaffiliated’ people who do not belong to a particular religion, but who are interested in spiritual matters, and see climate change as indissolubly linked to spiritual values.
Please contact the project co-ordinator, Siobhan on 0789 6730 922 or Siobhan@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org as soon as possible if you would like to get involved.
Carbon down, but fundraising needs to go up!
Despite the high profile of climate change, funding sources for environmental causes are so limited that one recent independent
report described them as “woefully inadequate”. The report, published by New Philanthropy Capital, found that only 2 – 5 % of grant money and public donations is given for environmental causes. Raising enough money to fund our work is often quite a headache!
We urgently need to raise more money to adequately support our existing work and to scale up future activities. Our exciting plans include a
new home energy project and a major roll out of the popular Carbon Conversations. We are looking at how we can meet the funding challenge and welcome any ideas or help you can offer.
Please email your ideas and suggestions to Mark Ridsall Smith:<mark.rs@virgin.net> We’ll also be starting a regular fundraising feature in the newsletter so watch this space!
2. Our Regular Writers
Politics & Campaigning
The campaign for “No New Coal” is going well and has made the new Kingsnorth power station less likely to be built. Let’s keep up the pressure along with Oxfam, Christian Aid, People&Planet, Women’s Institute, WDM, NUS, Woodcraft Folk, RSPB and Greenpeace who will form a “Miliband”, encircling Kingsnorth, on Sat July 4th, showing Ed Miliband, the climate minister, the strength of opposition to a new generation of dirty coal power stations.
Follow the links to book at the bottom of: http://www.nonewcoal.org.uk/node/79
There’s a summer fete too. No police brutality expected!
Policing of demonstrations is under scrutiny, with the Independent Police Complaints Commission investigating over 200 allegations of brutality at the London G20 climate demo, where Peter Tomlinson died.: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/5651657/G20-police-under-trained-and-inexperienced-say-MPs.html
Hopefully their report will result in a major improvement of police training & their tactics at demonstrations and less harassment of monitoring groups like Fit Watch:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/jun/21/fit-watch-kingsnorth-arrests
Tom Bragg
Ro’s reflections – the psychology of climate change
Understanding the complexity of people’s reactions to climate change is central to our work at Cambridge Carbon Footprint. It runs through our approach to people in the community, informs our Carbon Conversations courses and influences every new project we take on. Understanding normal human resistance to bad news, how anxiety, grief, or despair can appear in disguised forms; understanding the relationship between identity and consumption and the nature of alienation have all shaped our approach. I will be speaking at a conference in London on September 19th called ‘Therapist to the Community in a time of Climate Change’ where I will be talking about the way we have used psychological approaches in our work at CCF, and at a conference in Cambridge on Debt and Indebtedness in November where I will be speaking on the Psychodynamics of Ecological Debt. More details on these later – but do put the dates in your diary if you would like to come. In the meantime, readers who are interested in the psychology of climate change may be interested in a recent report from WWF ‘Natural Change – psychology and sustainability’ that reports on an action-research project that used an eco-psychology approach to explore the complexity of how an individual’s behaviour can be influenced and changed in the direction of greater sustainability. http://www.naturalchange.org.uk/natural-change-report/
Ask Andy – What ‘s the best kind of cavity wall insulation?
There are three products to consider: blown mineral fibre, polystyrene beads and injected polyurethane foam. In terms of carbon saving, polyurethane foam is roughly 15% more efficient than polystyrene beads and polystyrene beads are roughly 6% more efficient then the mineral fibre. Polyurethane also has the advantage of:
sticking to the brickwork, which strengthens the walls and solves problems with old cavity ties
being closed cell and therefore airtight, reducing infiltration through the cavity.
Unfortunately, polyurethane is more expensive. Blown fibre is the cheapest. The savings will depend on the exact area of cavity to be filled and the efficiency of your heating system. You should save about 1 tonne CO2 on a 100 sq metres of wall (average 3-bed semi) and will make substantial savings on the heating cost (more then £250 a year) The blown fibre will probably cover its cost in a single heating season, while the beads will take about one and a half seasons and the polyurethane foam slightly longer.
The embodied carbon of both polystyrene beads and polyurethane is about 50% more than that of mineral fibre but in all three cases the actual amount of embodied carbon is small compared to the carbon savings made by having it installed. We haven’t seen consistent figures but carbon payback seems to be a matter of months.
All three products come with British Board of Agrement certificates, which is a quality mark similar to BSI for new building products. You should get a bonded installer’s guarantee for the work.
In the Garden: July, the time of plenty!
July is the ‘time of plenty’ in most gardens when all the hard work during the winter and spring comes to fruition – new potatoes, salad crops, carrots, brassicas, fresh herbs, soft fruits, the first courgettes are being harvested and most meals can feature several, if not all, home grown produce. Weeds, pests and diseases can also be a problem. Busy work/life schedules, holidays and illness mean our plots can get quickly overcome with weeds at this time of year. If you don’t have time for anything else, stop any weeds going to seed by snipping off the flower heads – the old saying ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ is so true! Dry weather in early June has meant slug and snail damage has been relatively small, but continue to remove any hiding and breeding places for the molluscs around your plot. The combination of Glastonbury and Wimbledon taking place in late June usually conspires to produce a deluge of rain, however watering new plants may be necessary in dry periods until they are established. Use your water efficiently by trying to get the water to the roots, rather than the surface where it will quickly evaporate. Sink plant pots or ‘sawn-off’ plastic bottles next to tomato, courgette and other larger plants and apply all the water here. It will encourage plants to root more deeply. Small frogs and toads can fall and get trapped in the sunken pots so always put a cover on them. On the subject of protecting animals in the garden, remove any loose netting protecting strawberry plants once they have fruited to reduce the opportunities for birds and hedgehogs to become trapped.
It’s time for putting in leek and purple/white-sprouting broccoli plants for cropping later in the winter and spring. Continue sowing salad crops like lettuce and rocket every few weeks in moist soil to maintain a succession of crops. However at this time of year these leafy crops benefit from some shade to stop them from bolting and ‘going to seed’ – grow in shady, moist locations or cover with some materials that cast light shade. A covering of fleece or old net curtain will also help maintain a moist atmosphere and deter aphids (greenfly). Ladybird larvae, that eat many aphids, were noticeable in late June. Soon after pupating, the adults will be emerging, doing their bit to naturally control these insect pests.
Keith Jordan
Home Energy Savings – On the Back Burner?
Summertime is when home heating and lighting costs fall and so thoughts of saving measures are often put to one side. But now is a good time to plan what you want to do next so that you are ready to get started in the autumn. Then you will be ready to take advantage of the great offers on insulation that will come along then and enjoy the full benefit for all the cold months.
So why not clear out the loft, getting rid of those things you don’t need and packing those that you cannot part with into a tighter space? This will make it easier and cheaper to add more insulation later.
Throw open those windows and see which are loose fitting and in need of some draft proofing or maybe think about the secondary glazing you wanted to install to keep your house snug last winter.
Now is also the time to take a look at your energy bill and make sure you are not paying too little or too much each month. The bill should be based on an actual reading, not an estimate by your energy supplier. If the latter then take a gas and electricity reading, inform them and ask for an up to date bill. With the lower energy use in summer months your aim should be to be in credit by the start of the autumn.
Also, with a clear idea of your actual energy usage you can compare costs with other suppliers to be sure you are getting the best deal.
A little planning now will mean you are ready to make savings when bills rise again and avoid any nasty shocks.
Martin
Recipe of the Month
As Summer gathers pace, the great British fruit season moves up a gear. Strawberries have been with us for a month already, and English cherries are making a welcome if all too brief appearance. Talking of which, keep your eyes on the press and online media for a slew of cherry recipes later this month – July 18th is National Cherry Day, a celebration of the English Cherry. Although often paler and lighter than the Spanish cherries (which clock around 850 miles from the tree to Cambridge market), a few days in a bowl will bring out their colour and sweetness beautifully.
Red and white currants, gooseberries and home grown rhubarb are all plentiful around now; I’m making jam with my rhubarb and will happily swap some for any excess stems if you have a glut. My recipe this month uses a kitchen window herb, locally grown strawberries and local apple juice. It sounds crazy but is one of those once-in-a-while taste sensations you just have to experience!
Basil Syrup with fresh Strawberries
Ingredients
200ml apple juice
20g sugar
20 basil leaves
Boil the apple juice with the sugar, stirring frequently until it thickens and forms a syrup. Leave to cool and then add the basil leaves, and liquidize or whizz with a hand blender. Serve drizzled over fresh strawberries with a good dollop of thick cream.
Jacky Sutton-Adam (www.wildfoodie.com wildfoodie@gmail.com )
3. Other Items
Film Showing: The Age of Stupid
Another chance to watch this powerful film if you haven’t seen it yet. Where and when? Cambridge Buddhist Centre, Friday 24th July 7;30 PM ALL WELCOME
More information at: www.cambridgebuddhistcentre.org and www.ageofstupid.net
Useful websites
And finally a couple of websites which may be of interest, gleaned from this month’s Ethical Consumer:
One Green Bottle is a company based in Hove which supplies Bishpenol-A-free stainless steel sports bottles. Bisphenol A is commonly found in plastic bottles and research suggests that it can ‘leach’ into liquids and cause health issues. A good range of bottles from £7.99. www.onegreenbottle.com
Ripe About Now is a new site telling you which UK fruit and vegetables are in season: www.ripeaboutnow.co.uk
