Cambridge Carbon Footprint

I. Cambridge Carbon Footprint News and Upcoming Events

The Big Move

Like Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has signed up to the 10:10 Challenge
Low-carbon organisations
New Carbon Conversations groups
Check out 10:10
Carbon Conversations Facilitator training
Grow Your Own: Autumn Review
New Members’ Meeting
Audiences, messages and messengers
Mark your calendars:
Econrenovation, Curious Climate, Social Dreaming, DIY workshops and more.

II. Local News & Events

On the Way to Copenhagen
Gardening Skills Swap
Green Buildings in Norfolk
The Work that Reconnects
Zero Carbon Caravan

III. Ro’s Reflections: Latest Psychology Research by Ro Randall

V. Ask Andy: Low Energy Light bulbs by Andy Brown

VI. September in the Garden by Keith Jordan

VII. Martin’s Memo (DIY tips): Smart Metering by Martin Roach

VII The Latest Videos on ECOTUBE

I. CCF NEWS & EVENTS

The Big Move

We have moved! By the time you read this we will be in our new office. Our address is Cambridge Carbon Footprint, CityLife Enterprise Centre, 182-190 Newmarket Rd, Cambridge, CB5 8HE. Phone us on 01223 971353.

Low-carbon organisations

CCF is part of an exciting new project providing practical support to workplaces and other organisations, such as churches, charities and community groups that want to reduce their carbon footprints.

Working with SmartLife and Cambridge Architectural Research we will be developing a new interactive website and programme of events, seminars and support for the Cambridge Climate Change Charter. Practical support will be provided on the issues most relevant to the organisations who sign up.

Energy in buildings, auditing and monitoring, fleet transport and engaging employees are just a few of the topics on our list, but we expect this to change and develop as more organisations get involved.

Might your workplace be interested? Would your organisation like to know more? We’re hoping to use our newsletter list as one way of making contact with interested organisations in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire.

If you’d like your workplace or organisation to be involved, please put us in touch with the right person. Email Amy at amy.tillson@carltd.com for more information or phone her on 01223 460475.

New Carbon Conversations Groups

Tackling our personal carbon emissions is central to creating a low-carbon future. It isn’t easy however. It can be emotionally difficult to face the changes, practically difficult to put them in place, or you may just not be sure what to do. Our Carbon Conversations groups have been recognised nationally as one of the most promising climate change solutions, providing the support, information and creative space for people to really engage with change.

Enrol today and see for yourself! You’ll receive a copy of our 128 page member’s handbook, be able to borrow books and meters and find help and support in making your own journey. Cost is £15 for the course. To enrol, please email info@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or phone the office, 07837 183271

In Cambridge:

Group A: Wed fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beg. 16 Sept, Highsett area
Group B: Mon fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beg. 21 Sept, Parkside Community College
Group C: Tues fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beg. 29 Sept, Newnham area

Other areas:

Milton: Tues fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beginning 22 September
Histon: Tues fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beginning 6 October

Within a faith perspective:

Christian: Thurs fortnightly, 7:00-9:00pm beg. 1^st Oct, Castle Street
Buddhist: Mon 14 Sept, 12 Oct, 9 Nov, 14 Dec, 11 Jan, 7:30-9:30pm, Auckland Rd.

Check out 10:10

www.1010uk.org, is the latest campaign from the Age of Stupid people, aimed at achieving a 10% cut in UK emissions in 2010. Cambridge Carbon Footprint is a signatory. Individuals, organisations and businesses can all sign up. So join the likes of climate change expert Lord Stern, Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox, chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Delia Smith, screenwriter Richard Curtis, designers Nicole Farhi and Vivienne Westwood, TV presenter Kevin McCloud and actors including Pete Postlethwaite and Colin Firth. Come to a Carbon Conversations group and find out how to make your 10% cut and then more!

CCF events

Our full calendar will be up on the website shortly. To book for any event, please email Karin@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or phone the office on 07837 183277

Sat 12th September, 9.30 – 1pm, Ross St, Community Centre

Carbon Conversations Facilitator training

If you’ve completed a Carbon Conversations group and would like to become a facilitator, there are still places on this training session. Please email or phone the office to book.

Mon 14th September, 7:30-9:30pm

Grow Your Own: Autumn Review

A chance to meet fellow gardeners, share your gardening successes and failures, and pick up some seasonal tips and inspiration with local expert Keith Jordan. All levels of gardening experience are welcome. Special to this session: we’ll look back over the last season — how was it for you and your garden? We’ll also plan for next season.

Venue: Ross St Community Centre

Cost: Please make a contribution to cover room hire

Tue 22nd September, 7.30-9pm

New Members’ Meeting

Want to get active in creating a low-carbon future? Meet us and find out more about the host of carbon-lowering projects you can be involved with. All are welcome!

Venue: Cambridge Carbon Footprint office, CityLife Centre, 182-190 Newmarket Rd, CB5 8HE. Please use the rear entrance on Harvest Way.

Tue 29th September,7:30-9:30pm

Audiences, messages and messengers

The first in our new Communicating Climate Change Series – with Rosemary Randall, CCF’s director.

Understanding your audience, choosing the right messenger and making your message relevant are key to engaging people creatively in work on climate change. We’ll look at what works and what doesn’t and practise ways of approaching diverse audiences.

Venue: Tibbetts Room, St. Luke’s Church Centre, Victoria Road

Cost: Free to CCF Volunteers, £5, to members of other charities/voluntary groups, £10 to others.

Monday 5th October, 7:30-9:30pm

Eco renovation: getting started – with Tim Acheson, Andy Brown & Swati Ogale

If you own your own home and want to embark on some eco-renovations, then this is the workshop for you. Our experts will introduce you to the principles and planning behind successful projects, explain what may be appropriate for different types of house and guide you through the systems, materials and technologies that are available. If participants wish, this can become an ongoing workshop, guiding and supporting people through the tricky choices and decisions that may need to be made and pointing them in the right directions for professional help.

Tim Acheson runs Green Hat Construction, Andy Brown is a building services engineer and specialist in energy efficiency, Swati Ogale is an architect and director of Ecoways Consulting Ltd.

Venue: Tibbetts Room, St. Luke’s Church Centre, Victoria Road

Cost: please make a contribution to cover room costs.

Tue 13^th October 7:30-9:30pm

‘Curious Climate’: communication workshop with Stephen Peake

A workshop to help you feel confident in talking about climate change. We’ll explore creatively what the science tells us, what it does not and how to get your point across. Stephen Peake is a climate scientist, senior lecturer at the Open University, Fellow of Judge Business School and author (with Joe Smith) of Climate Change: From Science to Sustainability Oxford Univ. Press

Cost: Free to CCF Volunteers, £5, to members of other charities/voluntary groups, £10 to others.

Venue: Tibbetts Room, St. Luke’s Church Centre, Victoria Road

Tue 20th October 7:30-9:30pm

When people share their sleeping dreams, the images resonate and spark, tapping into areas of the collective unconscious connected with deep social concerns. What can our dreams tell us about climate change and the way to face it? Share your dreams in this experiential workshop led by Dan Jones. Dan is a group analyst and member of Cambridge Groupwork.

Tibbetts Room, St. Luke’s Church Centre, Victoria Road

Cost: Please make a contribution to room costs

Mon 26^th October 7:30-9pm

DIY! A Practical Workshop on home energy improvements

Interested in enhancing your home’s energy efficiency, but wishing someone would show you how? This workshop will guide you through the process of making your home snug and carbon-friendly for the winter. You will have the opportunity to see successful projects as Martin Roach instructs you on the practicalities of pipe-lagging, draught-stripping, lightbulbs, etc. in an actual home. Martin is the head of CCF’s DIY service and an enthusiastic handyman who likes to find cost-efficient ways of reducing energy bills in the home (that do not upset the rest of his family)

Venue: 253 Hills Road, Cambridge

II. Local News & Events

Thursday Sept 10^th, 7.30

‘On the way to Copenhagen’,

A meeting to welcome the Zero Carbon Caravan who are cycling to Copenhagen for the climate treaty negotiations, holding awareness raising meetings on the way. Speakers: Zero-Carbon Caravan, Tony Juniper (Green Party, Ro Randall, (Cambridge Carbon Footprint).

Organised by Transition Cambridge.

Friends Meeting House

Thursday 8th October 2009, 1 – 4pm ,

Gardening Skills Swap and Produce Display,

A chance for novice and experienced gardeners to meet each other and swap skills. Bring along and display your crops if you have some, come and find inspiration if you don’t. Packets of seeds and sundries for all participants and some prizes for the best entries!

East Barnwell Community Centre, Newmarket Road

Open to all – No admission charge

Thursday 10th September – Sunday 13th September

Green Buildings in Norfolk – OPEN DAYS 2009

CPRE Norfolk’s popular Green Buildings Open Days will once again be taking place in September. Guided tours at eco-homes, earth buildings and low carbon developments in Norfolk have once again been arranged by CPRE Norfolk as part of the nationwide Heritage Open Days scheme. Tours will take place at 12 energy-efficient properties between Thursday 10th September and Sunday 13th September.

From barns to water mills; cottages to smallholdings; studios to sheds – each of the 12 buildings has something remarkable to offer. Many harness the energy of the wind, sun, river and rain. Some are hand-made – built from straw, cob or rammed earth. Some have roofs of sedum, wildflowers and grasses. Many use sheep’s wool, recycled newspaper or other recycled or reclaimed materials. Another is banked by the local hillside into which it is built. Whatever one’s interest, the Green Buildings Open Days event offers inspiration for everyone, with tours led personally by the homeowners, builders or architects.

The tours are free and open to all but will require booking. Bookings are being taken by the Energy Saving Trust and by telephone only on 01376 531547. Lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

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III. RO’S REFLECTIONS:

August saw publication of a major report from the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/releases/climate-change.pdf) detailing the contribution psychology might make to work on climate change, from understanding public responses to dealing with the trauma of climate disasters. It’s a comprehensive document, indicative of an increasing awareness that psychological approaches have much to offer. Most of the research it draws on comes from cognitive and social psychology, approaches that have driven the social marketing emphasis that currently dominates advice on engagement.

The strategy I have tried to promote in our work in CCF is to draw on this body of work but to add to it the knowledge that comes from psychotherapy and from community work. From psychotherapy we gain insights about people’s emotional complexity that go beyond cognitive appraisals of attitude and behaviour, and suggest ways of helping us deal with despair and grief, manage threats to identity and status, and overcome resistance to change. From community work we gain insights about the need to work with the grain of diverse communities, to empower and give voice to differing needs and desires, and to be humble in our assumptions.

Do take a look at the APA report – it’s an excellent summary of work in its field and I’d love to know what others think about it.

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IV. ASK ANDY: Low Energy Light Bulbs by Andy Brown

Now they have stopped manufacturing incandescent light bulbs, my friends are complaining about “low energy light bulbs” again. What can I say?

There are a few technical points to remember:

“Low energy light bulbs” (Compact fluorescent Lamps, CFL) are not ‘dim’ unless you get lamps without enough watts. Many manufacturers suggest that a 20W CFL will replace a 100W incandescent GLS bulb. Actually, it may not be enough, so use more lights or get bigger bulbs!
Older CFLs take a little time to warm up. Newer ones, from better manufactures (Megaman, Prolight, Phillips and others) are much better now.
It is true that the older lamps used to flicker. Most now have electronic controllers that eliminate this.
They only contain minute amounts of mercury, but this is not a problem, contrary to what some say. The mercury in the bulb is less than the mercury in the coal burned to generate the electricity for an incandescent bulb over its life. Return your old CFL’s to the shop where you get the replacement, and they will dispose of it safely.
You can get bulbs that work with dimmers.

But you might also ask why they are so upset about the demise of hugely inefficient and wasteful technology. Unfortunately, many people have grown to like the way they have arranged the lighting in their home. Acknowledge that there may be some disappointment and reluctance to change things, but encourage them to think creatively about their lighting.

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V. SEPTEMBER IN THE GARDEN:
Look after your compost heap - by Keith Jordan

Following on from the August newsletter when I mentioned the range of excellent verdant gardens created around the country that have been enriched with an abundance of organic matter, this month it’s time to mention the importance of the compost heap (or heaps) in every garden. The compost is not just good for adding nutrients to the soil but for ‘opening up’ those that tend to compact in wet periods or produce hard lumps in droughts. Compost also helps soil retain moisture to sustain crops through periods of drought.

The excess moisture we had in July and early August has meant that plant growth has been incredible and compost heaps are probably more than full now! Composting is a natural biological process that we try to keep at optimal levels as much as possible. It involves some trial and error but the key to a good ‘heap’ is using a variety of materials, like a Christmas pudding, but not the same consistency! Too wet and it will become stagnant and anaerobic and too dry and decomposition will slow down and stop. People add a variety of compost activators to speed up the decomposition, from special activators, comfrey leaves, liquid manure, poultry manure pellets or ammonia-rich substances like urine!

In hot weather even a plastic dalek-type heap can sometimes dry out inside so I sometimes have to water the material. Ant nests are a sign if dryness, but lots of small worms are good. I add everything from weeds, dead stems of crops, grass and soft hedge/tree clippings, straw, leaves, paper and cardboard, tissues and even materials such as rhubarb leaves and orange peel that some people avoid – it all seems to break down if nothing dominates. Best to avoid any diseased materials like blight and onion white rot and roots of perennial weeds. Slow decomposition can come from lack of aeration or an imbalance in the type of materials added – just mix with other materials – or may just be due to low temperatures. When the material looks ready it’s best to take the whole heap apart – just put back any uncomposted material for a second fermentation!

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VI. MARTIN’S MEMO: Get Smart - by Martin Roach

You may have heard of Government plans that every home will be installed with a ‘Smart meter’ over the next few years to enable householders and energy providers track and better manage our home energy use.

Current versions (like the one available for loan to the CCF Carbon Challenge Groups) consist of a sensor to clip around the incoming cable near your electricity meter and a display screen which can be sited wherever convenient in your home to show your current total electricity usage. You can therefore see the impact of electrical items being switched on or off and your accumulated usage compared with previous time periods.

The data can also be stored on a chip for up loading to a computer to display your long-term usage graphically. Future versions will allow this data to be sent wirelessly to your energy provider so they do not need to visit to read your meter. That means no more estimates and more accurate energy bills.

To see what this innovation will mean for the homeowner, I signed up for a long term trial with Green Energy Options (GEO – a new company based in nearby Hardwick). The meter is now installed along with a colourful dashboard display and I plan to report back on progress in future articles.

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