A - Z Help

A

Architecture

Energy loss from our homes causes roughly 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions. Two thirds of British homes are poorly insulated, and homeowners are paying the price. Improving the insulation of older houses is essential to meet our energy reduction targets. We can now build energy efficient houses and use recycled materials in the process: https://www.architecture.com/knowledge-and-resources/knowledge-landing-page/design-essentials-for-an-energy-efficient-building Low carbon trust:  https://lowcarbon.co.uk/home promotes the construction of buildings with minimal energy use. Forward Studio: https://www.forwardstudio.uk/ specialises in low carbon architecture.

Aviation

Currently research is underway to design aircraft which use hydrogen or battery power to fly. According to Rolls Royce https://www.rolls-royce.com/innovation/accel.aspx practical electric planes are about to take off. Hydrogen fuelled planes have already flown: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210401-the-worlds-first-commercial-hydrogen-plane Hydrogen produced from water using electricity from renewable sources is a zero carbon energy dense fuel. It will be decades before fossil fuelled flying could be replaced by zero carbon hydrogen. https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/stories/hydrogen-aviation-understanding-challenges-to-widespread-adoption.html

B

Bee friendly flowers

An invasive bee parasite is at large (Nosema bombi). It is killing our bumble bees which are key pollinators in early spring. Please plant flowers like Sainfoin in you flower bee friendly flower beds and flower strips. These flowers have nectar rich in caffeine which helps bees to fight off this nasty parasite.

Have a look at Naturescape (N) or for Sainfoin seeds try: https://www.cotswoldseeds.com/species/55/sainfoin 

Beetles

Beetles are essential in our gardens – they eat many garden pests and help to keep their numbers down. https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/five-habitats-to-make-for-beetles/

Bed Linen

If you fancy a natural alternative to cotton try: https://ecowarriorprincess.net/2017/11/9-eco-friendly-ethical-bed-sheets-bedding-brands/

Bokashi Composting

This is a great way to compost all of your food waste in an odourless manner: https://www.the-compost-gardener.com/bokashi-composting.html Bugs matter There is an app that you can download to help survey the UK’s insects: https://www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved/surveys/bugs-matter/

Building materials

Traditional materials like brick, concrete and glass do little to keep our homes warm. There are many alternative products available, both natural and manufactured: https://elemental.green/  Revive produces recycled plastic products: https://www.recycledplasticbuildingmaterials.co.uk/ and BuildGreen NH details many recycled and sustainable building products: https://buildgreennh.com/recycled-building-materials/

C 

 Cop26

This year the UK is due to host the 26th UN Climate Change  Conference of the Parties. It is to be held at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51372486 ; https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/cop26

Compost

Peat is a popular choice for gardeners. We have to stop using it for two reasons:

Peatlands store twice as much carbon as all the forests in the world. (Florins Renne Wilson, University College, Dublin)

Peatlands are havens for pollinators.

Peat free alternatives: New horizon peat free compost https://www.gardenhealth.com/our-brands/new-horizon Wickes Peat Free compost  https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Peat-Free-Multi-Purpose-Compost—50L/p/236296

Seaweed: http://www.carryoncomposting.com/441149743

Make your own compost:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt6mIoKK6wE

Worm supplies for composting can be obtained from: Anna de l’Vega at the Urban worm: https://theurbanworm.co.uk/

Conservation

Conservation is vital because we cannot solve climate change without conserving our peatlands and our forests. Furthermore, causing the extinction of animals and plant species upsets the balance of nature. For example, flowering plants are pollinated by insects. Without insects how can we have fruit and vegetables that depend on them?

Conservation international: https://www.conservation.org/ emphasises the importance of nature to humanity. Carbon trust: https://www.carbontrust.com/ is a company promoting the reduction carbon emissions in organisations.

D

Doors

Both door and window frames are available made from up to 100% recycled plastic. Try Sustainable Plastics: https://www.sustainable-plastics.co.uk/doors/

Domestic storage battery

Wind and solar energy is intermittent and one way to get around this is to use a storage battery in the home. Ideally homes would have solar panels along with a storage battery. A smart app can be used to compare energy production and storage levels against consumption. In that way, high power items are used at a high charging phase or when the battery has a high level of charge. Trials of this have been conducted by Centrica: https://www.centrica.com/innovation/cornwall-local-energy-market

E 

Electric vehicles

In 2030 new petrol and diesel cars and vans will no longer be sold. Some new hybrid vehicles will remain on sale. It is planned to spend £1.3bn on additional charging points. Some electric vehicles like Tesla https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/ have the performance and range comparable to or exceeding the highest spec petrol cars in production. Increasingly hybrid car models have improved electric ranges along with a conventional petrol engine. Something like the Toyota Yaris Hybrid: https://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/yaris/yaris-hybrid-design-retail-offer , (which is not a plug-in) or the Volkswagon 1d3: https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/electric-and-hybrid/electric-cars/id3.html and the Renault Zoe: https://www.renault.co.uk/electric-vehicles/zoe.html are more sedate and affordable. The Green car guide: https://www.greencarguide.co.uk/ gives lots of information on hybrid and electric cars.

Commonly stated pros and cons of Zero Emission Vehicles

Pros

Zero carbon travel when charged with green electricity. No exhaust fumes when driving. Quieter traffic noise. No worries during petrol shortages. Low maintenance costs. Zero road tax (for vehicles below £40,000 list price)

Cons

Range Anxiety – Worries about reaching next charging point on a long journey. Reduced range in cold weather. Not ‘green’ when charged by ‘non-green’ electricity. Quietness endangers pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders

Additional pros and cons

Pros

Reduced travel costs. London congestion zone free to green cars. Reduced taxation. Reduced cost for company car drivers. New models use recycled materials in construction. Batteries can be recycled as well as some car parts. Potentially less demand on drilling (oil field exploration/no fracking). Average quoted number of drive cycles on the battery equates to 100,000 miles

Cons

Particle pollutants from tyres and brake dust just like petrol and diesel cars. The carbon footprint to build is greater than for a fossil fuelled car. Higher list price than a fossil fuelled equivalent. Lack of charging points. No industry standard charging sockets. To meet demand the national grid will require a massive upgrade in charging capacity by 2030. The disposal costs and end of life carbon footprint. Security of charge points and charge point access for homes without a drive. Lengthy charging times from 13A sockets (2 miles range per hour).

Energy companies

Green Energy suppliers include Bulb and Octopus Energy https://www.t3.com/features/best-green-energy-supplier Some energy suppliers offer very cheap car charging at night.

Extinction Rebellion

This is an international activist group that uses civil disobedience to pressure governments to take action on climate change and diversity loss https://extinctionrebellion.uk/

F

Food

Fruit and vegetables Here in the UK a wide range of fruit and vegetables are being grown. Thanet Earth https://thanetearth.com/ is a leading large scale producer. You can support our growers, by using locally produced food when in season.

Farm shops near you: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=farm+shops+near+you&atb=v148-1&ia=web     http://www.farmshop.uk.com/

Vegetable boxes near you: https://foodboxfinder.co.uk/ During the ‘Hungry gap’, January – May, vegetable boxes may include imported produce. To avoid this try: https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/hungry-gap-seasonal-british-produce/

Fish: there are 150 species of fish in UK waters and we eat around five of them. It is much better for our fishermen to eat sustainable UK fish rather than imported tuna or farmed prawns. Good fish to try include: brill, cuttlefish, Dover sole, lemon sole and turbot.

Farmers: Farmers Weekly made a map to help match up farm shops with customers. Farmers, if you are not on the map yet and you’d like to be, send your shop details, name, address (including postcode) and website to alison.konieczny@proagrica.com or send us a message on Facebook or Twitter.

G

Gardening

Green Choices: https://www.greenchoices.org/ has a detailed section on gardening hints and tips.

Peat: from 2024 peat based compost will no longer be on sale to the public. In the UK peatlands store three times as much carbon as our forests. In the UK only 13% of our peatlands remain undrained or undamaged. Currently the UK is using hundreds of thousands of tonnes of peat commercially every year. For peat alternatives see Compost (C) above.

Weed killer: you can buy organic weed killer like EcoSmart Organic Weed and Grass Killer (available from Amazon UK) or make your own weed killer (5 litres white vinegar, 1 tbl spoon washing up liquid, 1 cup of Epsom salt or use ordinary salt; see https://thekitchengarten.com/diy-weed-killer/ Be sparing using ordinary salt – it can stop anything growing!

 Insecticides: please see I

Slugs:your best bet to control slugs and snails is to make your garden hedgehog friendly (see H). Otherwise, there is Nemaslug: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114281993772?epid=22031187789&hash=item1a9bbcd62c:g:PCsAAOSwhbZeQ9iaor you can use ferric chloride pellets.

H

Hedgehogs

If you are lucky enough to have hedgehogs around please cherish them. Never use metaldehyde slug pellets. Hedgehogs eat slugs and if the slugs are poisoned with metaldehyde – bad news. For hedgehog info try the British Hedgehog Preservation Society; https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk and Hedgehog Street: https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/ .

Holidays in the UK

If we can do this (https://www.centerparcs.co.uk/discover-center-parcs/holiday-locations/woburn-forest.html) and this ( https://www.netmums.com/local/l/calypso-cove-water-park maybe we need: ‘www.Warmsunny holidays in the UK.com‘ – for undercover, year round fun!   

If you want the wow factor, some of the best in the UK are below:

Leisurely Indoors: the thermal pools in Bath: https://www.thermaebathspa.com/ , Jacobite Steam train, Fort William: https://westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/steam-train-trip , the Eden Project in Cornwall: https://www.edenproject.com/

Leisurely Outdoors: Warwick Castle: https://www.warwick-castle.com/, Cardigan Bay boat trip: https://www.baytoremember.co.uk/ , Highland Games (many were cancelled this year), Chelsea Flower Show: https://www.rhs.org.uk/shows-events/rhs-chelsea-flower-show

Adrenaline fun: inland surfing in Wales: https://www.adventureparcsnowdonia.com/surf-snowdonia/ , Zip line, Penrhyn Slate Quarry, Bethesda: https://www.zipworld.co.uk/adventure/velocity , Hang Gliding: http://www.southdownshanggliding.co.uk/

Holidays abroad

By train: you can reach the Mediterranean and much of Europe on Eurostar: https://www.eurostar.com/uk-en Eurostar/TGV France, with services extending to Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. 

London to Niece 9 hrs as opposed to 8 hrs when flying (based on scheduled times). London to Barcelona by train 10 hrs (https://www.raileurope.com/en-gb/destinations/london-barcelona-train) as opposed to 6 hours when flying (based on scheduled times).

By boat: want to travel further? Try Responsible Travel: https://www.responsibletravel.com/holidays/low-carbon 

By electric car: Norway and The Netherlands have more charging points than most countries. Either use a hybrid vehicle or make sure you check up on charging point locations when planning your trip. https://www.boundless.co.uk/be-inspired/driving/electric-vehicle-road-trips