You can download this newsletter in a pdf version here.
I. Cambridge Carbon Footprint News and Upcoming Events
Ed Miliband is a carbon conversations fan!
- Manchester Report
- Carbon Conversations Courses starting soon
- CCF is moving!
- Fundraising News
- Intern opportunity
- Volunteers needed in September
- Mark your calendars: Grow Your Own session, communication workshop and more
II. Local News & Events
- The work that reconnects
- Zero Carbon Caravan
III. Politics and Campaigning: Miliband’s Low Carbon Transition Plan and more by Tom Bragg
IV. Ro’s Reflections Manchester and Beyond by Ro Randall
V. Ask Andy: Can I buy renewable energy? by Andy Brown
VI. August Gardening Guidance by Keith Jordan
VII. Martin’s Memo (DIY tips): Home Energy Improvements – Why Wait? by Martin Roach
VIII. Jacky’s recipe: Cherry Plum Upside-down cake Jacky Sutton-Adam
I. CCF NEWS & EVENTS
Manchester Report
Cambridge Carbon Footprint was one of 20 ideas (internationally!) selected to be presented as climate change solutions for the Manchester Report. Director Rosemary Randall was invited to the Manchester International Festival to present CCF’s work. Read more about it in ‘Ro’s reflections’ below, and visit the report in the Guardian (14/7/09) for Ian Katz’ article and Ro’s presentation video.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/13/manchester-report-climate-change
Now you can see what all the talk is about by joining one of our upcoming courses! (see below)
**********************
Carbon Conversations Courses Starting Soon!
Sign up for our inspiring, practical 6-session courses on low-carbon living. Over 300 people in Cambridge have already taken part.
Course members each receive a 128-page course handbook and can borrow books and equipment. At the end of the course members can join our ongoing network of social, practical and support meetings. There is a one-off cost of £15 to cover the cost of materials.
For more information, visit http://cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/action/carbon-conversations/. Phone or email Karin (karin@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org) to enrol.
In Cambridge:
· Group A: Wed fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beginning 16 Sept, Highsett area
· Group B: Mon fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beginning 21 Sept, Parkside Comm. College
· Group C: Tues fortnightly, 7:30-9:30pm beginning 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 beginning 1st Oct, Castle Street
· Buddhist: Mon 14 Sept, 12 Oct, 9 Nov, 14 Dec, 11 Jan, 7:30-9:30pm, Auckland Rd.
**********************
CCF is moving!
After 3 happy years at CAR on Gwydir Street, it is time to move on. The Cambridge Carbon Footprint office will be moving some time in the next two months, hopefully just around the corner to CityLife on Newmarket Road. The wonderful folks at CAR are expanding their core business and are in need of the space. We are expanding too, and are looking forward to having some more room. We are very grateful to everyone at CAR for their support and tolerance of Cambridge Carbon Footprint over the past few years. We will keep you posted with our new address and phone number as soon as we are settled.
**********************
New projects, new funding
We’ve some exciting new projects in the pipeline that need more funding. These include the national roll out of our popular Carbon Conversation groups, a series of Eco-Renovation lectures in Cambridge, an expansion of our Home Energy Service, and the professional reproduction of the Carbon Conversation games.
If you’d like to learn more about how you or your company can support these or our other projects, please contact Mark Ridsdill Smith mark.rs@virgin.net or Tom Bragg tombragg@ntlworld.com. We’d also love to hear from you if you have experience of fundraising, marketing or PR and would be happy to help out.
Donations, however small, always make a big difference to us. As a small charity with over 100 volunteers every pound goes a long way. If you’d like to support our work, you can give tax effectively (the taxman gives us an extra 28 pence for every £1) by using the ‘Donate Now’ button in the righthand side bar of our website
***********************
Cambridge Carbon Footprint seeks Volunteer Intern / Administrator:
Can you work with us in the CCF office, 2 days a week for (say) 3-6 months?
Communicating with volunteers & enquirers by email, letter & phone
- Helping arrange meetings & events… etc.
- Are you organized & a good communicator, preferably with a degree or relevant experience?
We offer
- Work in a vibrant, friendly environmental charity – good for your CV
- Lunch allowance and reasonable travel expenses
- Relevant training and mentoring
For more details, see: http://cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/action/intern-opportunity/
Applications due August 17th.
************************
Volunteers Needed in September
Wish you could spread the word about the benefits of a lower carbon footprint? You can! Come help footprint visitors to the Cambridge Carbon Footprint stall and play with the new carbon abacus at the following events:
- Saturday, 5 September 11-4pm Cambridge Women’s Resource Centre
- Saturday, 6 September 4-6pm Emmanuel Church at Cherry Hinton Rd URC
- Saturday, 19 September, 10-5pm, Cherry Hinton Festival
- Thurs, 8 October 1-4pm Gardening Skills Swap, East Barnwell Comm. Centre
Training can be provided for new volunteers. Email Karin at Karin@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org to see how you can help.
************************
Mark your calendars! Check out these upcoming events…
There are lots of activities and workshops in September, so we want to give you a heads-up so you can make the space in your diary! Email karin@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org to sign up.
- Grow Your Own Session: Monday 14 Sept, 7:30pm
Ross Street Community Centre
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 are welcome!
- New Members’ Meeting: Tuesday 22 Sept, 7:30pm
Become a part of Cambridge Carbon Footprint! Have you wanted to get more involved with CCF, but don’t know how? Come to this New Members’ Meeting to learn about the many ways to participate and/or volunteer. Location TBD – please phone or email us for details.
- Travel-themed Seasonal Meal: Sunday 27th Sept, 6:30pm
Sturton Street
Are you off to enjoy a low-carbon holiday this month? Why not share your holiday memories over a delicious array of local, seasonal dishes? This seasons’ social meal will include shared tips on how to manoeuvre in the world of low-carbon travel. Bring a seasonal dish to share, and if you can, a photo or story about your own experience of alternative travel.
- Audiences, messages and messengers: Tuesday 29th Sept, 7:30pm
Tibbetts Room, St. Luke’s Church Centre, Victoria Road
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.
II. LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS
The Work that Reconnects – 1 day workshop
Saturday 12 September, 10.30-5.30, at the Cambridge Buddhist Centre
During this one-day workshop we will introduce some experiential exercises (from Joanna Macy’s work) which will gently take us through the process of reconnecting to awareness and uneasiness about the state of the natural world and our relationship with it. Some of it is likely to be a little challenging, much of it will be playful and fun; but our aim is that by the end of the day you will be feeling warmer and stronger – more connected to the natural world, and to your inner resources.
The day will be led by Anna McIvor, Bev Sedley, and Yogaratna. You can book through the Cambridge Buddhist Centre website (www.cambridgebuddhistcentre.com) – £20/£15 concessions (all proceeds go to the CBC). Please bring vegetarian packed lunch, and (if possible) some beautiful object. Contact Yogaratna for more details: dh.yogaratna@googlemail.com
Zero Carbon Caravan
The Zero Carbon Caravan is travelling (without fossil fuels!) from Wales to Copenhagen to deliver a message of action on climate change to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (7-18 December). They will be travelling through Cambridge on 10 September and will have the following speakers for the event: Tony Juniper will speak about the Green New Deal, Steph Whitfield of the RSPB will speak about wind farms, and CCF’s own Ro Randall will speak on the psychology of climate change. You may also wish to join them cycling from Bedford on the 9th or for a larger/shorter part of their journey. Visit them online at http://zerocarboncaravan.net/wordpress or contact Chris Keene for more details: 01603 614535 chris.keene@zerocarboncaravan.net.
III. POLITICS & CAMPAIGNING: Miliband’s Low Carbon Transition Plan and more by Tom Bragg
Ed Miliband’s new Low Carbon Transition Plan is real progress: for the first time it has departmental “Carbon Budgets” to help drive down UK emissions 34% by 2020.
It has “green mortgage” loans to householders for energy-efficiency & renewables, and improved feed-in tariffs for electricity you sell to the grid.
www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/publications
But it’s receiving a mixed response because:
- it’s still not ambitious enough: the Government’s Committee on Climate Change recommended a 42% cut (assuming a “global deal” in Copenhagen)
- aviation isn’t included, as though another Heathrow runway can fit with this plan!
- there’s a get-out option, using global offsets
http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/09/jul/coalition-welcome-miliband-renewable-announcement
Gordon Brown’s call for rich nations to pay $100 billion/yr to fund low-carbon economies in the developing world should be an important contribution to the Copenhagen negotiations.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLQ73306620090626
Meanwhile Britain’s only wind-turbine blade factory, Vestas, faces closure, just when we need it. Please support the Save Vestas campaign: http://savevestas.wordpress.com/
IV. RO’S REFLECTIONS: Manchester and beyond
On July 4th I went to the Manchester International Festival to present our ‘Carbon Conversations’ model. We were selected as one of 20 potential climate change solutions to make up the Manchester Report, organised by the Guardian newspaper. Wonderful to have been chosen from an extremely competitive long-list but discouraging to find ourselves the only community project represented and the only project offering a psychological perspective. The event was dominated by technology – much of it speculative – with policy proposals running a poor second and community/personal action almost off the horizon. Carbon Conversations was well received however, with Ian Katz, referring to it in the Guardian report as “One of the most quietly inspiring presentations…” We have been inundated with enquiries since.
Our emphasis on understanding psychological reactions to climate change and on providing support and space for people to work through ways of changing their carbon-dependent lives, is reinforced by the recent publication of Tom Crompton and Tim Kasser’s short book ‘Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity.’ (downloadable at http://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/meeting_environmental_challenges___the_role_of_human_identity.pdf).
Following on from WWF’s ‘Weathercocks and Signposts’ report last year, they develop the challenge to marketing based campaigns, arguing instead for values-based initiatives that appeal to intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivations and take account of psychological responses to threat. Essential reading for anyone interested in the psychological dynamics of climate change. Essential reading also for anyone campaigning or involved in community action.
V. ASK ANDY: Renewable Electricity by Andy Brown
Can I buy renewable electricity?
About 5% of the electricity in the UK is generated from renewable sources, mostly wind, hydro and biogas from landfill. Generators sell this to electricity supply companies, who sell power to you and me. Each supply company has to publish the sources and CO2 content of their purchases, and this can be found on their websites. It is a complex market and every green offering is different:
Good Energy only buy from renewable sources.
Ecotricity, generate some of their own renewables (they own the turbine at Swaffham) but also buy a lot of dirty electricity. Some of their income is used to invest in new projects.
Green energy buy a lot of renewables and also a lot of electricity from natural gas, but no nuclear
All energy supply companies are obliged to provide a percentage of their electricity from renewable sources. Many of them have invented tariffs that package this separately. The rest of their customers are not told that their electricity is dirtier than normal. Some also make donations to charity.
British gas have a 100% carbon free tariff, even though their electricity is no cleaner than the average. They actually offset the CO2, in the same way as we are told we can offset our flying.
Natural gas is a fossil fuel so can not be carbon free. However, the British Gas tariff will offset the CO2 component for you, as will Ebico, who are charity who also work on reducing fuel poverty.
I will post a few more details and some links on the website: http://cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/about/energy-in-the-home/tariffs
VI. AUGUST IN THE GARDEN: Time for Garden Visits and Gaining Inspiration – Keith Jordan
There are plenty of jobs to do this month – harvesting, watering new plants (if necessary!), clearing up ground for new crops, sowing fast-growing salad crops, hoeing, weeding and adding to compost heaps, etc. It’s also a great time for visiting other gardens, locally and nationally, if you are on holiday, to gain inspiration! Many of the following excellent gardens were created from bare, soil-less hillsides or arable fields. Hard work and the addition of copious amounts of organic matter (compost, manure, seaweed, whatever is locally available in bulk!) were the key factors in developing these gardens.
Garden Organic Ryton, near Coventry – inspiring organic garden www.gardenorganic.org.uk/gardens/ryton.php
West Dean – includes restored walled kitchen garden overlooking South Downs www.westdean.org.uk
The Centre for Alternative Technology – garden created on the site of disused slate quarry near Machynlleth, in Mid Wales. www.cat.org.uk
Kellie Castle – organic walled garden near the Fife coast www.nts.org.uk/Property/38/
Inverewe Garden – 50-acre oasis of exotic plants on a craggy hillside overlooking Loch Ewe by the west Scottish coastline, enriched by seaweed! www.nts.org.uk/Property/36/
The Findhorn Community – gardens & community first developed in 1962 in adverse conditions on sand dunes in northeast Scotland. www.ecovillagefindhorn.com
In the Cambridge area:- Wimpole Hall - restored 2-acre Walled Garden with reintroduced original fruit trees. ‘Tomato Festival’ Sat.15 and Sun. 16 Aug. 10.30am-5pm – chance to taste many of 50 varieties of tomato grown. ‘Kitchen Garden Day’ on Sat. 22 Aug. – looking behind the scenes in the Walled Garden, incl. Apple Store and Mushroom House. www.nationaltrust.org.uk & www.wimpole.org/
Audley End Organic Kitchen Garden, Saffron Walden - thriving organic walled garden run by Garden Organic (HDRA) growing fruit and vegetables in late Victorian style. www.english-heritage.org.uk
National Garden Scheme – many gardens open within walking or cycling distance around Cambridgeshire, www.ngs.org.uk (includes many others around the UK)
In Norfolk: Felbrigg Hall, near Cromer – decorative & productive walled kitchen garden with luxuriant vegetables. Walls clothed with many varieties of apples, pears, cherries, peaches, apricots and figs. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-felbrigghallgardenandpark
East Ruston Old Vicarage – a wonderful garden paradise I have only just discovered – a mile from the coast. www.e-ruston-oldvicaragegardens.co.uk/index.php
VII. MARTIN’S MEMO: Home Energy Improvements – Why Wait? by Martin Roach
The Government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan published this month provides a route map for how the UK will meet the cut in emissions, set out in the Budget, of 34% on 1990 levels by 2020. While the report has been generally well received, it confirms that there will be no major nationwide grant system to help householders reduce their energy consumption. Subsidies will continue on loft insulation and filling cavity walls, and for vulnerable low income households, but for the more substantial improvements that are required we must look elsewhere for funding.
The average household energy bill, now £1,300 per year, has risen by 125% over the past 5 years with just a 10% recent fall back. The long term trend will, for many reasons, be well above inflation – likely doubling in 5-10 years. But the good news is that savings from home insulation and behavioural change can more than off set the investment required. In fact they give a far better return than can be achieved in a savings account, as this range of examples show:
The first figure is the typical cost with professional installation. The second figure is the annual return on investment.
Low Energy Light Bulbs: £125 / 90%
Filling Floor Gaps: £50 / 25%
Lagging Hot Water Pipes: £100 / 12%
Thermostatic Radiator Valves: £30 (each) / 27%
New Gas Boiler: £3,000 / 12%
Modern Heating Controls: £300 / 60%
(Data adapted from Energy Savings Trust)
That is why the Government is proposing, instead of grants, the launch of Green Mortgages, taken out for up to 25 years to make insulation and other improvements in a home with the interest and repayment charges being paid as part of the household energy bill and funded by the savings in energy costs.
This raises the question that if home energy improvements already provide such an attractive return, as the figures above show, then why should we wait? It’s better than money in the bank.
VIII. THIS MONTH’S RECIPE: Cherry Plum Upside-down Cake by Jacky Sutton-Adam
The August landscape can look a little tired and unexciting, as leaves lose their exuberant colour of the last month or two and plant energies shift into fruit and berry production mode. The first blackberries are now ripening – prized among foragers for their perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, and cherry plums – Prunus cerasifera – can be found along hedgerows, wood margins and even over the garden fence! These lovely yellow to deep red fruits, midway between a cherry and a plum in size, can have an incredibly long fruiting period – up to the end of September in some years. This year looks like being a shorter and and earlier season, as the fruits are ripening now and have more sweetness than in recent years.
Cherry Plum Upside-down Cake
50g butter
200g light muscovado sugar
350g cherry plums, stones removed
2 star anise
200g plain flour
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
200ml buttermilk ( or use ordinary milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice added)
2 medium eggs
80ml vegetable oil
Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas 6
Put the plums in a pan with the star anise and stew over gentle heat until soft. Melt the butter over a medium heat, stir in half the sugar and cook for about 5 mins. Remove from the heat and add the stewed plums. Pour the plum mix into a 24cm round tin. Mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Whisk the remaining sugar with the buttermilk, eggs and oil. Add the flour mix and mix well. Pour over the plums and smooth the surface. Bake for 30 mins or until the cake springs back when pressed in the centre. Cool then invert on to a serving plate. Serve warm with custard or cream.
