March 2010 Newsletter

Welcome to our March newsletter, with the latest events and information from Cambridge Carbon Footprint.

This month:

Cambridge Carbon Footprint events coming up:

Communication Workshop: The Psychology of Climate Change

Thursday 11th March 2010, 7.30pm – 9.30pm
Venue: St Luke’s Centre, Victoria Road   CB4 3ED

The importance of psychology in developing programmes of action on climate change is increasingly on the agenda. Ro Randall, CCF’s founder and director is recognised nationally both for her writings and lectures on the psychology of climate change, and for the practical applications she has developed from this. In this seminar she will present a  snapshot of  both the  theories and some of their practical applications.

Suggested contribution towards cost: £2-£3
Email sally@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org or phone 01223 971353

Many Voices, One World Festival

Sunday 21st March, 2pm-6pm
Venue: Hills Rd 6th Form College, Hills Road, Cb2 8PE.

An afternoon celebrating the work of Cambridge’s diverse faiths and cultures on climate change, social justice and carbon reduction. Inspiring speakers, films and workshops on the ‘home and away’ connections. Traditional dance, choirs, storytelling, food. Practical displays, games, competitions and activities on how to make real carbon reductions. Organised by our Akashi Project. All welcome.

CCF AGM – All Welcome

Monday 29th March, 7.30pm – 9.30pm
Venue: Octagon Room, Wesley Methodist Church, Christ’s Pieces,CB1 1LG.

Your opportunity to hear from our trustees and tell us what CCF should be doing in the year ahead.

Wild Food Walk at Coe Fen with Jacky Sutton-Adam

Saturday 17th April
A guided forage walk to discover some of the many edible wild food plants that can easily be found and used to supplement regular foods. Jacky almost guarantees we’ll find at least 10 plants worth eating and those that want to try using them can come with a basket, a pair of gardening gloves and a small knife to forage. To book, send an email with your name and a contact telephone number to sally.davis@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org. Maximum 12.
Price: Suggested donation £1-3

Wild Food Lunch

Saturday 8th May 2010 11am-2pm
A chance to get your hands on some wild food recipes and your teeth into a tasty wild food lunch! We’ll take some freshly foraged wild food plants and turn them into delicious lunchtime dishes to share together. Price: £10 per person to cover costs. Places strictly limited to 8, booking essential by email to Jacky at wildfoodie@gmail.com.

All events free unless otherwise stated. Donations welcome towards costs.
Booking advisable, but not essential – call 01223 971353 or email sally@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org.

CCF Opportunities

Could you help on a CCF stall at a public event?

As you know, Cambridge Carbon Footprint is all about helping people lead  lower carbon lives, and one of the most interesting ways we have of  reaching out to a wider audience is through our stands at public  events. In past years, we have been able to engage with hundreds of new people at events in and around Cambridge. If you would like to be part
of our 2010 team representing CCF at events, then please come along to  the CCF office (directions here) on Mon Mar 8th, 7.15 for 7.30pm. We expect the meeting to end at 9 pm.

We will be

• briefing you on good techniques for communicating warmly and effectively
• demonstrating activities we have used before, eg the carbon calculator, the abacus pledge
• organising co-ordinators and volunteers for events coming up, including the Many Voices One World Festival on Sun Mar 21st, Strawberry Fair on Jun 5th, Arbury Carnival, Jun 12th, the Biodiversity Fair on Jun 13th.

Please let Siobhan know if you intend to come. If you can’t make this meeting but would like to be part of the CCF public events team then please also let me know.

Can you help at the Many Voices One World Festival on the 21st March?

This festival organised by Cambridge Carbon Footprint is taking place on the 21st March. We will have stalls on the four different carbon footprint areas – travel, home, food, and stuff. We are looking for volunteers to man the stalls for a few hours on the day. If you can help, please contact Siobhan (siobhan@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org)

Have your house surveyed with Climate Friendly Homes

Remember the cold snap?  Did your home get chilly? and how much will your heating bill be?  All this could be a thing of the past when you get some help from the Climate Friendly Homes project.

A volunteer surveyor will contact you to arrange a time to do a survey, which involves completing a form, and lending you an electricity monitor.  Your information will then be passed to a CCF energy expert who will compile a detailed report with recommendations for energy saving measures.

About a month later,  there’s a follow-up visit for the surveyor to discuss the report with you and take back the monitor.  It’s also possible to arrange for a session with a thermal imaging camera to take some pictures of your home to detect draughts and places where heat is escaping.

We are offering this service in exchange for a donation to Cambridge Carbon Footprint.

There’s more information on the website .

Please note that at present, we are only able to offer the service to homes within Cambridge. To register, please contact info@cambridgecarbonfootprint with Climate Friendly Homes in the subject line, and giving your name, address with postcode, and phone number.

Show off your eco-renovation during Cambridge Environment Festival

Cambridge Carbon Footprint is planning an Open House event during the Cambridge Environment Festival on June 20th and is looking for inspiring green buildings which demonstrate a range of eco-renovation techniques.  The event will be a chance for Cambridge residents to see first-hand what technologies are available to anyone considering an eco-renovation project for their home. Would you be willing to open your house 11am-3pm and provide brief tours to visitors? If you might be willing to take part, please contact Sally Davis (sally.davis@cambridgecarbonfootprint.org) with a short description of your house, the eco-renovation work done on it and what visitors will be able to see.  We will then get in touch with you to discuss details of what would be involved in taking part.

Ro’s reflections: Scepticism – what can I say?

A recent Ipsos-Mori poll suggests that public conviction about the reality of climate change has declined. The proportion of people who think that climate change is definitely a reality has fallen from 44% to 31% according to the survey. How can we best talk to people who are doubtful?

Facts don’t cut much ice, at least at first. Such people are likely to have some ‘facts’ of their own. They may tell you:

• it’s not absolutely certain;
• the temperature hasn’t risen in the last 10 years;
• scientists disagree with each other;
• scientists can’t be trusted;
• it’s a long way off, so nothing to worry about now;
• it won’t affect us in the UK;
• it’s a conspiracy to raise taxes;

The most useful tactic I have found is to get into conversation rather than an argument. Don’t expect a great outcome, but hope to walk away feeling amicable and having found out more about people who are sceptical.

First – listen – find out where people get their information from, find out what they are feeling about the issue. Saying: “It sounds like you’ve thought a lot about this,” asking “Who do you trust to tell the truth on this?”, may help the other person see you as interested in them, rather than an enemy who has to be defeated.

Speak from the heart. Explain why you feel as you do, what convinced you personally, why you care. Tell stories rather than offer facts.

Try to identify the emotion the other person is feeling. People often seem to feel very angry about climate change, suspect that they are being conned. They may be feeling powerless or disregarded and you may be able to bring this into the conversation.

Look for some common ground: for example that you both distrust politicians,  but distrust different ones; that you both care about your children’s future but take different paths towards securing it; that you both find life tough.

Ask if there are any other reasons that might persuade them to use less energy – for example, saving money, other aspects of environmental destruction, anxiety about energy security – and show interest in the answer.

Finally, agree calmly to disagree and move on…

Politics and Campaigning – Ask the Climate Question from Tom Bragg

Cambridge looks wide open in the local and national elections, probably coming on May 6^{t h}.  David Howarth our Lib/Dem MP, who won Cambridge from Labour in 2005, is standing down. He did sterling work helping the Climate Act through committee.  Now all the main parties are fielding new candidates here. Tony Juniper, the well-known Green party candidate, aims to dramatically improve on their 3% vote here in 2005, which would change the landscape.

Ask the climate question of the candidates & canvassers, who will be competing for your vote.  Let’s keep the world’s biggest problem in this political debate, alongside our local concerns. Many questions could combine these, for example:

• “How will you improve the reduced & unreliable bus services to the villages?”
• “What will you do to enable improved local home insulation and efficiency?”
• “How are you personally being brave to help counter climate change?”

What’s your climate-related question?

Ask Andy – How do I insulate a roof?

How do I insulate a flat roof? Can I add insulation below the ceiling or below the roof felt?

Most flat roofs consist of layers of roofing felt, glued together with hot tar, on top of boarding, supported on roof joists. There is usually some insulation between the joists, above the ceiling. Condensation on the bottom of the felt is a problem, because it can rot the boarding.

You have three options.

• ‘Dry line’ below the ceiling

The easiest option would be to screw insulation backed plasterboard (eg Kingspan) to the ceiling. You have to move the light fittings, and seal the joints between the boards to limit the water vapour that will get into the roof space and cause condensation. You ceiling will be 100mm lower.

• Add insulation to the roof space.

It is possible to take down the ceiling and put atleast 150mm of rock wool between the joists, before reconstructing the ceiling with a well sealed vapour barrier and plaster board. Not nice if there is old insulation there already! Make sure there is enough ventilation above the insulation

• A ‘warm roof’.

The best solution is to put rigid insulation on the top of the roof, with a polythene drainage sheet and something to hold it all down. You can put paving slabs on spacers that hold them apart and off the drainage layer, (or you can but them up close and leave it to get a bit damp underneath,) or you can use a layer of stones or coarse gravel.

The felt is harder to repair if it is covered in insulation, so if the felt is already a bit old, it would be good to replace it first.

Insulating over the roof keeps the felt at an even temperature, specially in the summer, when the felt can get very hot, soft and crack. In the winter there is less risk of condensation below.

You can then add a turf or sedum finish, (sedums are more drought resistant.) This involves covering the roof with root proofed felt and you may need an engineer to confirm that the structure is strong enough.

More advice is in the Best Practice Guides available from the EST, CE184 Practical
refurbishment of solid-walled houses, and CE189 refurbishing dwellings, A summary of best practice, which you can download.

Gardening in March – Go with the weather, not what the book says by Keith Jordan

Keeping a garden/allotment diary has many uses – remembering when you sowed, planted or harvested crops and what lessons were gained from successes and failures.  In addition, looking back over records from the last 20-30 years, or even less, reminds you how every year is so different as regards the weather (as distinct from climate) in our part of the world.  After a cold start to 2010 and significant rain at the end of February the soil is going to take time to dry out and warm up enough to sow most seeds outdoors.  Even if the seed packets or books say sow in February or early March (e.g. parsnips), go by the actual conditions and (don’t panic!) delay until things improve.  Seeds or seedlings can die if they get too cold and wet.  If your soil remains too sticky to walk on or cultivate, most hardy crops (except root crops mainly) can be sown in pots or trays of compost outside and planted out in a few weeks time when the soil gets into a better condition.    Covering part of your plot with impervious materials can stop the soil getting any wetter and stickier.  Uncover when the sun finally comes out!
Onion ‘sets’ (specially prepared baby onions for planting), shallot and garlic bulbs can be planted as soon as soil conditions improve.  Still time to buy and ‘chit’ seed potatoes.  Mid-March is about the right time to plant the First Early varieties, unless the weather says wait!  Read more about growing potatoes at allotment.org.uk or on the BBC Gardening website.

Seasonal Recipe – The first English salad of the year by Jacky Sutton-Adam

Mid March last year saw the first of the baby salad leaf packs at the organic vegetable stall in Cambridge Market. I’m hoping at the time of writing, (mid January) that the season for baby salad leaves will start the same time this year! These organic leaves are so much tastier than the gas flushed supermarket packs and last a good while longer as well.

I’ve been waiting 5 months at least for this: a dish of locally grown organic salad leaves which I will savour with nothing more than a good slice of well buttered rye bread. If there’s a patch of chickweed and a few new dandelion leaves showing  somewhere in the garden, those will go in as well.  For added texture, and to complement the soft and tender leaves of spinach, rocket and oak leaf lettuce, I’ll toast some sunflower and pumpkin seeds, throw them into the bowl and dress everything with a simple walnut oil and lemon juice dressing and a few shavings of Wensleydale cheese. I can hardly wait!

The first English salad of the year (recipe based on an entry from Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries)

Ingredients
1 pack of baby salad leaves from your local farmer’s market or veg box scheme
50g Wensleydale cheese
1 dessertspoon each of sunflower and pumpkin seeds
2 dessert spoons walnut oil
A squeeze of lemon juice

Instructions
Drizzle the walnut oil and lemon juice over the bowl of washed salad leaves and toss gently with your hands to avoid bruising the leaves. In a dry pan over a medium heat, toast the seeds in separate batches until they start to pop and turn golden brown. Keep the pan moving to avoid scorching the seeds. When toasted, scatter them over the leaves and using a kitchen knife, shave the Wensleydale over the leaves and seeds. Serve with good bread (I’ve been eating the Colombier rye and linseed loaf available from the Earth’s Crust bread stall at Cambridge Market, and very good it is too. Earth’s Crust are there every day including Sundays.)

Could you be a community recycling champion?

The community recycling champion scheme encourages local people to help others to recycle more and send less waste to landfill, potentially saving money.

You don’t need any particular experience or specialist knowledge to become a champion: if you believe that recycling is important and are friendly, approachable and willing to convey your enthusiasm about helping the environment to others, get in touch.

The scheme is particularly keen to recruit people who live in flats or shared accommodation, where residents may not find it as easy to find out about the services available to them.  If you are interested in becoming a community recycling champion, or would like more information about the scheme, please email Mark Buckton or telephone 01223 457673.

Training will be provided to give you the knowledge and understanding you need – the next training for recycling champions is on Tuesday 9 March.

Visit the City Council website for more information.