Green Living Issue 5

greenliving Your lifestyle guide to all things eco...

Issue 5

magazine

Glorious Gardens

Growing tips from top gardening experts

Green Weddings

Use natural beauty to celebrate everlasting love

Passivhaus

A German eco-building revolution

Win!

Tickets to BBC Gardeners’ World Live

Feather Down Farm Days® www.featherdown.co.uk

The best-loved family holidays in the land are closer than you think At Feather Down Farms, families unplug themselves from the daily rush and reconnect with each other and the beautiful British countryside.

We’re all over the land, and with farms in Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, and the Malvern and Mendip Hills, your holiday is within two hours’ drive of home.

You’ll love staying with us. Last year over 90 percent of our guests told us that their holiday was ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’. Our farmers can’t wait to show you why.

Request our brochure at www.featherdown.co.uk

green living_welcome

greenliving

Group Editor: Holly Aurelius-Haddock holly@greenlivingmag.co.uk

Welcome...

Editor: Faye Allen faye@greenlivingmag.co.uk

What a wonderful time of year to write my first welcome for greenliving magazine!

Art Director: Jason Ewing Advertising: Clare Wicks clare@greenlivingmag.co.uk

Spring seems to come just in time to give everyone a well-deserved pick-meup, heralding the start of new life, hope and exciting change.

Contributors: Bill Gething, Rebecca Sullivan, Richard Spalding, Guy Watson. greenliving Magazine 151-153 Wick Road, Brislington, Bristol, BS4 4HH Tel: 01179 779188 Visit: www.greenlivingmagazine.co.uk Please send any comments or suggestions to the publisher at the above address.

For general enquiries: Peter Francomb Email: peter@greenlivingmag.co.uk © Copyright 2011 greenliving.

All rights reserved. Material may not be reproduced without permission of greenliving.

While we take care to ensure that reports, reviews and features are accurate, greenliving accepts no liability for reader dissatisfaction arising from the content of this publication. The opinions expressed or advice given are the views of the individual authors, and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of greenliving.

greenliving provides effective communication through design. We specialise in brochures, corporate identity, advertising, direct mail, marketing and design for print. We have a reputation for clear, creative solutions to communication problems for a number of corporate, sports, financial, charity and leisure industry clients.

We maintain the highest of standards, throughout each individual project and our client relationship.

We pride ourselves on delivering distinctive designs and ideas that will get you noticed.

Competition Terms & Conditions In addition to any specifically stated terms and conditions, the following applies to all competitions. All information forms part of the rules. All entrants are deemed to have accepted the rules and agree to be bound by them. The winner will be the first entry drawn at random from all the correct entries received by the closing date and will be notified by either post, email or telephone. The prizes are as stated; they are non-transferable and no cash alternative will be offered. All entrants must be at least 18 years old. Competitions are open to UK residents only.

One entry per person. Proof of postage is not proof of entry. greenliving accepts no responsibility for entries lost or damaged in the post. Entrants agree to take part in any publicity material relating to the competition. The name of the winner will be published in the next edition. The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Prizes do not include unspecified extras (such as travel). All prizes are subject to availability. Please state if you do not wish to receive any further correspondence from greenliving or competition organisers. You may be required to collect your prize.

April/May 2011

With this in mind, we’ve turned our attention to the country’s most famous couple of the moment; Will and Kate. Whether you’ve been caught up with wedding fever or remain firmly on the sidelines, it’s hard not to marvel at the prospect of everlasting love. Turn to page 26 to see how you can celebrate the true meaning of matrimony by getting back to basics with nature.

Enjoying the new beginnings of spring in the garden is also important for green-fingered enthusiasts. Which is precisely why we’ve been speaking with some of the industry’s top experts to help you on your way, including the man behind Jamie Oliver’s very own homegrown produce. Turn to page 10 to find out more.

Finally, if you’re looking to transform the most important four walls in your life, then flick to page 34 to find out more about the latest eco building trend to sweep the nation and to page 36 to hear from the architects that can help you get there.

Change starts with us.

Faye Allen faye@greenlivingmag.co.uk

greenliving_contents

greenliving

contents

Welcome to greenliving

you

your home

your planet

20

IT’S BETTER BY BIKE A stress-busting cycle route around North Bristol

10 GLORIOUS GARDENS Growing tips from top gardening experts

19 SOLAR SO GOOD In praise of the light fantastic

26

NICE DAY FOR A… GREEN WEDDING Use natural beauty to celebrate everlasting love

34 PASSIVHAUS A German eco-building revolution

49 MARKET (GARDEN) FORCES Richard Spalding explores the possibility of a new agri-culture

32

LADY IN GREEN The Bristol fashion designer making green the new black

39 GREEN GOODIES Planet friendly treats you shouldn’t be without

50 PLANET WORTH SAVING Inspiring photography from around the globe

We hope you enjoy this issue of greenliving.

We would love to know your thoughts so please get in touch. Email holly@greenlivingmag.co.uk or write to us at 151-153 Wick Road, Bristol BS4 4HH

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April/May 2011

Spring 2011 Meet the team With every issue we offer the latest eco news and advice from some of the sector’s most prominent figures:

RICHARD SPALDING

GUY WATSON

Richard Spalding teaches Human Geography and Environment Studies at UWE in Bristol. Whilst sitting as the Chair of South Gloucestershire Local Food and Drinks Partnership and Winterbourne Medieval Barn Trust, he also finds time to grow a few vegetables of his own too!

Having founded Riverford Organic, Guy Watson has always been fired by a passion for good food combined with traditional farming principles. Determined to loosen the supermarkets’ stranglehold on quality and supply, Guy Watson deals fairly with everybody, which remains an intrinsic value to the business’ operation.

BILL GETHING

THE SOIL ASSOCIATION

REBECCA SULLIVAN

Architect Bill Gething was a long-standing partner of Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios before setting up an independent consultancy in 2010.

He has contributed to the practice’s international reputation for sustainable design and is currently a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects’ Climate Change Board.

With their fingers firmly on the pulse, the UK’s leading organic organisation keeps us informed on the latest campaigns and community programmes promoting planet friendly food and farming methods.

Rebecca Sullivan has completed Environmental Leadership Studies at UC Berkeley California and a Masters in Rural Development, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change.

Her most recent project has seen her establish a women’s farming co-operative near Stroud.

April/May 2011

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greenliving_news

News Hens with herbs For a hen party with a difference, why not take a group of up to eight friends and learn to make your own face creams, cleansers and moisturisers along with massage and body oils at the Herbs for Healing gardens near Cirencester? www.herbsforhealing.net

Our reen hero!

This month we are showcasing Geri Allen as our new green hero! An advocate for choosing the greener way to live, Geri has managed to make and replace her existing bathroom curtains using material from her local charity shop and bamboo from the beach, all for £4.50!

If you have been getting crafty this spring then email faye@greenlivingmag.co.uk with a picture and if we publish your green handiwork, we will give you a year’s free subscription to the magazine!

Stay Warm ing ior Heat Inter

(Bilder: WZ1, WZ2, Flur 1, Flur 2)

Eco Warmth have the perfect answer to your low-energy heating requirements: infrared panels and foils to suit every heating need in your home or office. This system is ideal when linked up to PV panels so as to provide a sustainable answer to your heating needs.

Many different front finishes and colours are available too. www.ecowarmth-sw.com or call 08000273799.

Renewable Heat Incentive The long-awaited Renewable Heat Incentive announcement was delivered by the government last month and included some great financial incentives to people who are interested in generating their own renewable heat. The RHI will make payments to those who install renewable heat technologies that qualify for support, year on year, for a fixed period of time. Some of the financial announcements made included community solar schemes in the South West, such as the CREATE Centre in Bristol, which is to be paid 8.5p per kilowatt hour for clean, renewable heat generated. www.decc.gov.uk

any style of rior Heating is perfect for every home. The heat source blends in with panels (type d radiates cosy warmth. Whereas Ceiling Heating Cassettes are discreet, can be chosen as a design element.

their finishing ing units are made of 0.8 mm galvanized sheet metal and are given the powder coating line on6our premises.

rior Heating is available in a variety of sizes and specifications:

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Colour

Power [W]

Dimensions [cm]

Weight [kg]

04

Interior 510 or 630

white

510 630

100 x 60 x 3 120 x 70 x 3

10.5

white

12.5

April/May 2011

greenliving_news

BioConferencing comes to Folly Farm Sustainability is at the heart of everything they do at the Folly Farm Centre, who have been nominated for a Sustainability Award in the Bristol Tourism and Hospitality 2011 awards, and are now offering a range of BioConferencing services. Listen to inspiring sustainability speakers and learn from the people who can help you embed sustainability into your organisation. A BioConferencing service can simply be added on to your main conference, or your entire conference can be given a sustainability theme. This new service is ideal for organisations wishing to engage more with the issues and further improve their sustainability performance.

01275 331590 or email enquiries@follyfarm.org. www.follyfarm.org

Fun Activities for the Great Outdoors We couldn’t let this month go by without letting you know about this gem of a book! Recently launched, this fresh and playful book is brimming with colourful ideas, experiments, projects, recipes and games for children of all ages to have fun with over the Easter period. Kids in the Wild Garden is the ideal resource for children (and adults too) who want to learn more about their environment and wish to interact with nature. Learn how to build a bird box, grow your own tadpole tank, create a butterfly garden and make warm winter habitats for your favourite bugs!

THE WEEKEND DIARY Festival of Nature 18-19 June The Harbourside, Bristol The Festival of Nature allows you to find hundreds of innovative products and services to help you live a greener lifestyle. New for this year is the Sustainable Living zone where over 40 environmental businesses will be on hand with great ideas and inspiration. www.festivalofnature.org

Quest 7-10 July Newton Abbot Racecourse, Devon An inspiring festival of workshops, music and healing, Quest allows you to discover a new, sustainable way of living. Take part in ecstatic dance, chanting, drumming, tantra and much more. Feel free to go for the day or make a weekend out of it and camp on site. www.questuk.co.uk

Reader Offer: To receive a 40 per cent discount on your first order, then simply email jess@blackdogonline.com

Clothes with chemistry A new clothing brand, Wear Chemistry, has breathed a new lease of life into the eco-fashion industry. Wear Chemistry is clever, original and independent. It looks good, feels good and fits well. Most importantly, you can wear these stylish clothes with confidence as great design is mixed well with high quality, sustainable fabrics made from bamboo and organic cottons. www.wearchemistry.com

Grand Designs live 30 April – 8 May ExCel Centre, London Back for its seventh consecutive year, Grand Designs is a one stop shop for new innovations and free expert advice. With the widest range of high quality products and innovations, this show is the ultimate consumer home event for anyone looking to improve, redesign or build from scratch. www.granddesignslive.com

If you have any news or events that you would like to share with us here at greenliving then email info@greenlivingmag.co.uk April/May 2011

7

greenliving_bright stars

Linda Barker

Fresh from the Ideal Home Show, Linda Barker is the queen of home design and everyone’s favourite Yorkshire lass. This month, Linda reveals why the nation’s newest and hottest trend should be green…

Now is the perfect time of year to take inspiration from trade shows like The Ideal Home Show and Grand Designs Live. Every year there will be a varied selection of shows I go to in the UK and abroad. They’re great to see what is new in the design world and to feel inspired. Each country reflects the latest trends but I am glad to say that an eco trend has spread across every show, in every country. Thankfully, an increasing number of people have it on their agenda and people are trying to become more creative with eco design.

As a designer I am encouraging more people to be aware of what materials they are using and to think about the materials that they choose. I’m using a lot of salvaged materials like timber taken from old schools for example and slate, which has been recycled from old snooker tables. Salvage companies offer an excellent source of materials for interior design these days too.

For me, I think the recycling route is really strong and salvage is a brilliant look at the moment. I think it looks unique and impressionable and I favour it over a factory finish any day of the week. People won’t find it on the high street and that’s part of the appeal. It’s just a question of how you work with it. I don’t think you should compromise at all between eco and design. There are a lot of people out there working with strong credentials and forward-thinking ideas, you can use them by just picking up a good magazine!

I think of my design as contemporary country-classic.

I enjoy the industrial look with a soft, comforting factor.

I am influenced a lot by natural materials such as stone and wood and traditional materials and techniques such as gilding which is a very old craft. Everything’s got an eclectic signature to it.

The building itself triggers the interior design.

To understand what you’re working with, put together some mood boards. I collate images and colours together and then build up an image of new paints and wallpapers that I think would work in the back of my mind. It’s a tangible, changeable thing and leaves the doors open to get creative whilst giving a good base.

I’ve been working on an eco garden for Gardeners World. It’s about finding old timbers and recycling old planters. People are becoming more aware of the materials that they use in the garden as people realise its potential to be another room in the house.

Renovating a home the green way can seem a bit daunting at first but just think about the big spaces first.

Use a good, non-toxic paint for the walls and sustainably sourced flooring, for example. Next, try and give your existing things a new lease of life or try charity shops and trade schemes. If you’re buying new then check the credentials of a new furniture maker and make sure that everything you bring into your home is healthy.

Catch Linda on ITV’s 60 Minute Makeover, weekdays 2pm-3pm or visit www.reallylindabarker.co.uk

April/May 2011

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G s u o i r o l G greenliving_glorious gardens

To kick-start our gardening feature this spring, Peter Wrapson, organic gardener to Jamie Oliver, shares his top tips on getting you started in the garden…

I started gardening because I moved into a house with an overgrown vegetable patch and no television. I wasn’t entirely clueless, having been press-ganged into service at a tender age in my parents’ garden, though my interest in those days was purely money-driven (they hid small change in the soil when I wasn’t looking; I dug like mad, marvelling at the financial incompetence of the previous occupants).

It seems hackneyed to extol the benefits of growing your own food. You all know them and you probably avoid Kenyan mange tout or Peruvian asparagus anyway. I do it because I get to eat like a king more often than not and I love being able to feed a dozen friends at the drop of a hat. And, as someone with more than a passing interest in the natural world, it’s fascinating just to watch things grow.

If you’ve never grown stuff before, here’s the thing: with some care, it really isn’t that hard. You only have to look at the forgotten potatoes sprouting in the bottom of your fridge or at the buddleia bushes growing out of the brickwork of railway cuttings to see that plants want to grow.

Not everyone has an allotment or even a garden but that doesn’t matter – you can be immensely proud of a single herb plant on a windowsill. And if space is really limited, I’d say grow herbs: they transform meals

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and they’re expensive to buy fresh. I would start from seed with soft herbs (coriander, parsley, basil, dill etc.) and buy plants from a nursery for the slower-growing perennials like thyme and rosemary. Chives, parsley and mint tolerate some shade. Potted supermarket herbs are seldom tough enough for life outdoors, though they’ll last longer if you pot them up and keep them on said windowsill.

Another good option is salad plants. They’re fast growing, compact enough for life in pots and troughs and, once again, costly to buy.

Sowing small amounts regularly keeps you supplied throughout summer and autumn.

I favour loose-leaved types of lettuce where leaves can be taken as and when needed.

Of the many other crops suited to this cut-and-come-again treatment I would not be without either rocket or spicy oriental mustard leaves (especially ‘Red Frills’).

Beetroot, spinach, chard and even kale are all good eating at baby leaf stage.

When space is less of an issue it just boils down to personal taste. I view tomatoes and garlic as essential but I don’t care much for radishes, despite being easy to grow.

Onions I largely ignore since they’re cheap.

Shallots on the other hand aren’t. Unusual things such as orange beetroot and purple carrots I find enticing simply because shops don’t sell them and they look pleasingly odd on the plate. Experimentation is part of the fun so enjoy what is out there.

With the soil warming up nicely and the days still lengthening it’s an optimistic time of year. Even so, the gardening window is brief for some crops, so if you’re harbouring good intentions it’s time to make a start.

April/May 2011

s n e d r a G

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Forest Garden Centre New for 2011 is the ‘Bamburgh Planter Table’, a high-level planter suitable for herbs, vegetables or flowers. £99.99. And the ‘Cascade Planter’, £99.99, which offers an attractive tired option for the patio, decking or window area. Each product ensures wider solutions for those with limited space and also those who have trouble bending down. ‘Caledonian Raised Beds’, £89.99, are perfect for growing delicious produce or bedding plants for any garden area. Available in a range of sizes. www.forestgarden.co.uk Tel: 0844 248 9801

UK Juicers Enjoy fresh homegrown Produce all year round with a sprouter from UK Juicers.

Grow baby salads, microgreens, bean sprouts, baby herbs and more all in the comfort of your own home. Young seedlings are at the peak of their nutritional value and bursting with flavour ready at your fingertips. Sprouted beans and seeds are

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packed with proteins, minerals, vitamins and enzymes. Perfect for succulent young pea shoots and healthy sunflower greens.

You don’t have to worry about watering as the mist generator gently waters plantlets in automated cycles. Make delicious salads, stir fries and more with the

freshest possible ingredients. Grow your crop of mini-veg from seed to plate in less than a week, just add water and seeds, then set it and forget it! ww.ukjuicers.com 01904 757070

April/May 2011

greenliving_glorious gardens

Park Garden Centre Veg Table

from £99.99

Now you can grow your vegetables the easy way, with Veg-Table. The raised bed with treated timber provides the ideal base for your vegetable garden and no digging is required! It helps keep slugs at bay and can be used anywhere in the garden.

Designed to allow easy wheelchair access.

Westland West Plus Multipurpose Compost £5.99 each or two for £10 West+ is ideal for use all around the garden. Its high-performance, lightweight formula delivers unrivalled results in plant, health, flower development and root density. West+ compost guarantees stronger, healthier plants and helps reduce the impact on the environment.

West+ Multi-Purpose Compost is a sustainable, high-performance peat replacement that delivers exceptional growing results.

Joseph Bentley Hand Tools £5.99 each or two for £10.00 Stainless steel, solid oak crafted hand tools.

The Joseph Bentley range of traditional garden tools is inspired by the look, feel and quality of the tools first offered by Bentley’s over 100 years ago. These beautiful hand tools are available on offer throughout April at the three Stores.

All products are available from the stores in Cheddar, Almondsbury and Lechlade.

For more details please visit www.parkgardencentres.co.uk

April/May 2011

Bamboo Round Fruit Cage

£19.99

The Haxnicks Natural Bamboo Round Fruit Cage with the included strong 15mm polyethylene mesh, does an amazing job at keeping the birds and animals away from your fruit. The cage is held together using flexible, longlasting joints and secured to the ground with the eight supplied galvanised steel pegs.

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greenliving_glorious gardens

COMPETITION

Suttons Seeds There’s nothing like growing your own vegetables - as well as the satisfaction it gives, you have the peace of mind that with Suttons Seeds they’re maximum quality, nutrient-packed, and chemicalfree at a fraction of the cost of the supermarket. Their carefully selected range of vegetable seeds will provide a bounty of tasty fresh produce all the year round.

To enter, simply email info@ greenlivingmag.co.uk stating your name, address, phone number and where you got your copy of the magazine from. Good luck!

www.northernpolytunnels.co.uk

Suttons are giving one lucky greenliving reader the chance to win your own range of Suttons Organic Seeds worth £10.74 each.

Enjoy growing your own basil, cucumber, cos lettuce, onions, carrot and peppers.

NEW Range

Available

Covering the needs of the grower with an extensive product range Northern Polytunnel features: • New High Sided Design • 32mm structural steel framework • Sliding doors as standard • Aluminium or Tanalised timber options • Heavy duty Brackets on all of our range • Hot dipped galvanised ground tubes

Raised Beds

Fruit Cages

Cloches

Request our brochure, or call today

Telephone 01282 873120

...Plus a product range with many sizes of Polytunnels, Cloches, Fruit Cages, Raised Beds and more...

Northern

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See our full range at www.northernpolytunnels.co.uk

Sterilite The Organic Polythene Choice Robinson Polytunnels manufacture and supply polytunnels, fruit cages and accessories to hobby growers throughout the UK. “SteriLite” polythene from Robinson Polytunnels has been developed to block UV light which stops aphids from colonising. Botrytis and mildew are very short-lived fungal diseases and also need UV light to keep renewing themselves. Take the UV away and they struggle to survive. This also helps improve storage life as there are fewer viable spores on the crop. This is known as photological control and virtually eliminates any requirement for pesticides so SteriLite is ideal for organic growers.

Pasture Barn East, Pasture Lane, Barrowford, Nelson BB9 6QX T: 01282 501252 www.robinsonpolytunnels.co.uk

greenliving_glorious gardens

Diarmuid Gavin’s Top Five The nation’s favourite Irish gardener, Diarmuid Gavin, gives his top five eco gardening tips to get your garden the greenest in the street this spring...

Gardening goes in cycles - sometimes people get obsessed with the new and shiny, the latest gadget or trends in the market, but when there is economic turbulence or unrest, people tend to look at the past for influence.

So the British tradition of gardening is something that is really being appreciated now.

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Organic gardening – ‘growing your own’ At this time of economic and environmental crisis, people are starting to realise once more what their country heritage is, what skills their country has and had or pioneered in the past and led the world in. So people are now more than ever looking to grow fruit, vegetables and lots of colour in terms of herbaceous planting.

2

Making your own compost – ‘using your own’ People need to realise that so much of the stuff you throw out, that goes to landfill sites to produce methane gas, would actually be incredibly useful in your own back garden in your compost heap.

3

Save Water Our reservoirs, through summer and winter are running out because of things like burst pipes and droughts. We could soon be paying

as much for water as we pay for diesel so we need to start saving any water, even catching the water that is running off your roof and garden sheds. Use water butts for example, and attach them to down pipes.

4

Attract Wildlife Naturalistic water features attract wildlife and are perfect for encouraging children at home to learn about nature and the environment. A pond is always a good addition to a garden - and not hugely expensive. A pond can be achieved by getting very cheap liner, strong polythene over a bed of sand in a dug out hole.

Very easy.

5

Recycling I love recycling. I love looking for choice pieces - and it’s brilliant as you will never know what you’ll get when you turn up. Environmentally, it couldn’t be better either because you are giving something a new lease of life. We found these dated iron columns in a scrap yard and now we are using them for a new wrap round balcony. They were made over 100 years ago in Bristol and now they have found a new home with us.

greenliving_competition

WIN a pair of tickets to

BBC Gardeners’ World Live!

Taking place at the NEC in Birmingham from 15-19 June, BBC Gardeners’ World Live is a fantastic day out for any keen gardener! The show will be playing host to leading garden experts including Monty Don, the returning presenter of Gardeners’ World, and the nation’s favourite gardener, Alan Titchmarsh.

This year, BBC Gardener’s World is offering five lucky greenliving readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to the show which also includes entry to the BBC Good Food Show!

To win, simply email info@greenlivingmag. co.uk stating your name, address, phone number and where you got your copy of the magazine from. Good luck! www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com

Some of the show’s most popular features will be back again this year, including the Gardeners’ World Magazine Theatre, Floristry Masterclasses, Ask the Experts Stage and the Countryfile Magazine Stage.

There will also be an appearance from top wildlife filmmaker Simon King.

With over 25 show gardens, more than 100 nurseries and top experts, keen gardeners will find inspiration in abundance. The show is a shopper’s paradise; head to the RHS Floral Marquee for award-winning nurseries and rare collections of plants or stroll down Plant Avenue. Visit the Shopping Lanes, packed with all the latest gardening gadgets, gifts and local crafts from top manufacturers and artisans. Drop into the Grow Your Own Garden in the heart of the show gardens for top tips and advice on growing your own fruit, vegetables and herbs successfully this summer.

Terms and conditions All tickets are general admission excluding Saturday 18 June 2011. Tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. Ticket terms and conditions apply. Tickets will be mailed out directly to the competition holder by BBC Haymarket Exhibitions. It is the responsibility of the competition holder to forward tickets to the winners. Competition holder to confirm receipt of tickets and subsequent delivery to winners to BBC Haymarket Exhibitions.

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April/May 2011

greenliving_CJ birdfood

The birds and the bees...

An important message lies behind what appears to be such an innocent euphemism.

Sadly, today its connotations are almost unrecognisable when bee numbers are less than thriving…

It is not only Britain’s domesticated and wild honey bee populations which have reached an all-time low, but thanks to intensive farming methods, similar effects are being felt with Britain’s 254 species of native non-honey making bees. This is why CJ Wildlife, the pioneers behind the red mason cacoon, have developed a new home for a dying species which will cause a fruitful difference.

Red mason bees or osmia rufa, should be positively encouraged for many reasons.

They are safe with children and pets and are hugely beneficial to gardens and crops as they are excellent pollinators of fruit trees, raspberries, strawberries and vegetables and are fond of a wide range of flowers and tree blossom.

CJ Birdfood’s trials with red mason bees in cherry and apple orchards have shown superb results. The quality of the fruit is greatly enhanced and you need relatively few red mason bees to achieve these results, compared to other bees. Now, for the first time and exclusively from CJ

Make your garden insect friendly this spring…..

Wildlife, you can buy your own red mason bee cocoons.

When the bees emerge and start nesting, you will be helping to boost the local population of these super pollinators, which in turn will help your garden to flourish.

It is recommended that you provide your new red mason bees with an artificial nest, the bee cocoons will be delivered in a release chamber which you place inside the bee nest (by removing some tubes to make space) and then uncover the hole in the cap ready for when they emerge.

You can order your red mason bee cocoons, a specialist artificial nest and a selection of our carefully selected wildlife friendly plants using the coupon attached.

If you would like to be added to CJ’s mailing list to be kept informed about their bee project, or to register your interest in purchasing bees in spring 2012, please email bees@ birdfood.co.uk or visit www. birdfood.co.uk/redmasonbee

To order any of the items shown, please complete and return the form below. Photocopies and handwritten orders accepted, please ensure all orders are clearly marked with “Green Living – C1956”

Item no.

Description

92040

Red Mason Bee Nest

Quantity Price £9.99

95361

Knapweed

£2.99

95534

Ragged Robin

£2.99

95362

Persian Coneflower

£3.49

95651

Fireglow

£2.25

95611

Chimney Bellflower

£2.99

95613

White Coneflower

£1.99

Standard Postage & Packaging £2.50

Total

£2.50

Standard P&P free on orders over £50

FREE Order Total £

Call freephone 0800 731 2820 quoting C1956 at the start of your call or visit www.birdfood.co.uk/greenliving Or complete & send with payment to: CJ WildBird Foods Ltd, The Rea, Upton Magna, Shrewsbury SY4 4UR Title: _____ Initial: _____Surname: _____________________________ Address: __________________________________________________ __________________________Postcode:________________________ Tel:______________________________________(used for queries only) I enclose a cheque made payable to CJ WildBird Foods Ltd. Alternatively, complete your card details below: Card no: Start date

/

Security code:

Expiry date:

/

Maestro issue no.:

(Last 3 numbers on signature script or for Amex, 4 numbers on the front of card)

Signature/date: Terms & conditions CJ WildBird Foods Ltd. Registered in England No. 2101581. All items subject to availability. If you order you will be added to our mailing list to receive future catalogues from CJ WildBird Foods Ltd. Your privacy is respected and your details will not be shared or sold to any other companies. Please notify us in writing at sales@birdfood.co.uk if you wish to be removed from our mailing list. Cards are charged at time of despatch.

April/May 2011

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green living coupon Spring 2011 outlines.indd 1

4/19/2011 12:44:33 PM

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Use code: PVSAVE1 to register your trial membership.

Complimentary Remote Display Unit with each system (worth £400).

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greenliving_ethical solar

Solar so ood!

Seeing solar panels make their growing presence on our rooftops is an inspiring and thought-provoking sight.

Sitting proudly, one can be safe in the knowledge that these panels are working hard to produce free energy and will do so for over 40 years. There is, however, a lot more to them than simply making electricity. There is an opportunity to change the world.

With care, solar panels can pay back the carbon used in their creation and installation in under a year. They passively create energy, require little maintenance, and don’t make noise. Their presence on rooftops all around our cities helps remind us how we can be active participants in bettering the planet.

Solar panels are also perfect for community energy projects that create social cohesion, and they offer brilliant opportunities to provide free energy for those living in social housing or facing fuel poverty. Generating electricity locally also eliminates the giant losses of our current system that moves power wastefully around the country.

The solar panel industry has the chance to show how businesses can be run sustainably and responsibly. It can exemplify how private industry

can positively impact communities, improve livelihoods and preserve the environment.

It is of course, easy for the industry to do the wrong thing so remember to ask where your solar panels come from and the story behind them. With a new and growing industry, there is a real opportunity to create demand for responsible products and practices which match the sustainable themes the industry offers. The industry, and those who support it, has the chance now to ensure the solar panel business is as brilliant and inspiring as the prospect of the energy it sells.

Why Ethical Solar?

Ethical Solar believe in the importance of running a responsible and sustainable business. The company’s two directors (a former airline pilot and director for the BBC Natural History Unit) saw this opportunity to do great things and believe that everybody can do the same. They install panels that have the lowest embedded carbon, ensuring that panel manufacturers look after their workers, and offer recycled solar panels that use the waste of the industry to make great new panels.

They are also providing employment opportunities to the long-term unemployed, run their vehicles on waste vegetable oil and do their utmost to provide the best service, value and advice to those they work with.

They love to talk solar, if you want to know more, please get in touch!

We are sure you will be inspired. www.ethicalsolar.org 0117 314 9040

April/May 2011

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greenliving_better by bike

It’s better by bike..

If you’re using your bicycle to get about, you’ll want to get from A to B on the nicest route possible.

Never mind riding in traffic and getting stuck in traffic jams, pleasant, quiet roads and traffic-free paths make for a much better journey! With that in mind, we’ve been out exploring with the Better By Bike team, taking in some new routes that link up four of the region’s shopping centres, not to mention a few other attractions en route...

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We start at the back of Cabot Circus, Bristol city centre’s new monument to retail therapy, and cross over Bond Street to find the Frome Greenway. This leafy route extends all the way to Snuff Mills and Oldbury Court in east Bristol but we’re only going as far as junction 3 on the M32. We ride through the newly designed Champion Square and River Street, crossing on a wide, cycle-friendly pelican onto Wellington Road and then into a lovely green park running alongside the River Frome.

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We roll gently out of Bristol for half a mile and we can hear the dull roar of traffic on the M32 a stone’s throw away to the left. As we approach the M32 underpass at junction 3 we start heading north to join up with Concorde Way, one of the city’s newest cycle routes. The graffiti murals around this roundabout are works of art, some even giving Banksy a run for his money! We go straight across the roundabout using the underpasses and turn right into Baptist Mills where some local signage takes us to Mina Road and into St Werburghs. After a short section on the road we arrive at one of Bristol’s city farms, this one is home to chickens, sheep and some mighty-looking Old Spot pigs.

To re-trace the route visit http://goo.gl/maps/Ra6d or take a look at the route on the best local cycling website around - www.betterbybike.info/free 20

April/May 2011

greenliving_better by bike

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From this point Concorde Way takes us all the way into South Gloucestershire as we follow the route of the train line to Filton Abbey Wood and on to Bristol Parkway. We travel along a new Cycling City path towards Muller Road, then cross near B&Q to take in a brand new pedestrian and cycle bridge into Lockleaze. We inevitably have to take in a hill at some point, and here it is - we join the road again here for a short uphill stint to Bonnington Walk. However, taken slowly and in an easy gear it’s not a problem.

Soon enough, we’re back on cycle paths as we head across Bishopston Rugby Club playing fields and to the back of the MoD site at Abbey Wood.

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At the fork in the path we can either head to the University of the West of England and Frenchay Hospital or downhill towards Abbey Retail Park. We choose the downhill option and freewheel past Filton Abbey Wood train station, about halfway through our journey.

Recently refurbished cycle paths and crossings in South Gloucestershire lead us towards Bristol Parkway station and we merge with lots of students on bikes as we pass Filton College in Stoke Gifford.

April/May 2011

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The traffic-free route comes temporarily to an end at Bristol Parkway as we head towards Bradley Stoke. We ride along the well signposted North Road, which again comes with huge bike prints on the road giving us the confidence that cars are expecting to see cyclists. It appears to work too as drivers seem courteous towards us, giving us plenty of space and driving slowly. The route is well-signposted and we barely need our guides to tell us which way to go.

Signs direct us downhill on Mead Road and we freewheel for ages.

We stop briefly to cross Winterbourne Road and then make our way through the warren of houses in Bradley Stoke towards the Willow Brook Centre. We’re riding on the road again but on these quiet residential streets, with the sun on our backs, we’re completely happy to be out of our cars, getting some exercise and having a good chat with our friends. Before we know it we’re directed onto another cycle path, heading towards Three Brooks Nature Reserve.

Temporarily refuelled we saddle up again and head north on the cycle path alongside Bradley Stoke Way, past the leisure centre and Willow Brook shopping centre, until we see signs directing us to Patchway and the A38. We’re now heading across the Northern fringe of Bristol towards Cribbs Causeway. Our cycle path turns into a quiet lane called The Common and brings us out onto the A38. To occasional cyclists, roads like the A38 can seem intimidating so there are now signs directing riders to an underpass near Patchway Community College.

Hempton Lane, on the west side of the A38, quickly leads to Aztec West, a handy short cut for commuters working in the area. We soon spot the sign that leads us from Park Avenue through the business park onto Waterside Drive and along a short path to Coniston Road. More Cycling City improvements here make it easier to cross roads and we’re now heading through more residential streets in Patchway – Bradley Road, Stroud Road, along some cycle paths around Gorse Covert Wood, across Coniston Road again and before we know it, we’re into Cribbs Causeway on Britannia Road. More cycle paths lead us onto Juniper Road and we soon see the familiar lollipops outside The Mall at Cribbs.

We securely lock up our bikes at the helpful bike stands outside The Mall and head inside for the biggest slice of cake imaginable!

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11759 RE Advertorial v2_Layout 1 11/04/2011 12:33 Page 1

What to look out for when CHOOSING YOUR E-BIKE We asked Jim, managing partner at REACTION ELECTRIC in Taunton, the South West’s largest stockist of electric bicycles, electric mopeds and electric motorcycles what to look for when choosing an e-bicycle …

1. Motors Some bikes have 200w motors, others 250w, this is the legal max.

(350w is the max for tricycles). Motors can be mounted in the front wheel or in the rear. Many consider the centre (crank drive) to be the best.

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3

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2. Batteries

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Lead acid batteries are heavy and are to be avoided. Some are nickel metal hybrids but most modern bikes are Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer - these are lighter and more powerful.

3. Gears While derailers have been the most popular in the UK many European bikes have hub gears - preferred as the workings are fully enclosed away from road dirt.

4. Frame style Bikes are now available in all frame styles: folding, gents, step through, hybrid/MTB and classic "Dutch style".

5. Brands From the wide range of brands available, those looking for quality often choose European manufacturers using Japanese motor and battery sets.

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6. Warranties and Service With quality brands two year warranties should be expected. Service will always come down to the experience and training of the retailer, an e-bike specialist is recommended.

We asked Jim from REACTION ELECTRIC for the lowdown on electric bikes ...

Why are electric bikes significant?

With increasing population density, road congestion and concern about harmful vehicle emissions e-bikes can really help. They offer highly efficient and flexible individual transport.

WIN this bike in our FREE PRIZE DRAW

Raise money for charity

Are they really good for the environment?

Yes, because for so many journeys they can be a practical alternative to car use, and the majority of car journeys are less than 5 miles which could easily be done by an e-bike.

E-cyclists can drop their second car, use the bike for shorter journeys and join a car club for when a car is needed and cut environmental impact as well as transport costs – it’s just logical.

Do the costs add up?

Yes, e-bikes can often be purchased under a Cycle To Work scheme which can make them up to 50% cheaper, ie costing £350-£500. Even without this an e-bike can be a really economical form of transport.

So whether used every day, just commuting on a dry day or for leisure weekend fun – an e-bike can make a lot of sense!

Reaction Electric – Taunton Tel. 01823 274444 www.reactionelectric.co.uk

A chance to experience and win the very latest TOP QUALITY HI-TECH ELECTRIC BIKE WORTH £1,699!

All supporting a great charity – Easy as 1, 2, 3 1. Test ride the NEW 2011 Raleigh Dover 3SP at our Taunton showroom 84 Priory Bridge Road, Taunton 2. You give us 2 words of reaction ‘FAST & FUN’ or ‘SMOOTH & SPEEDY’ – say what you feel 3. We give £2 to ‘Mercy Ships’ charity! Prize drawn on 4th June at the Royal Bath & West Show Mercy Ships – with the ‘Africa Mercy’ Hospital ship performing life changing operations – reg. charity no. 1053055 • www.mercyships.org.uk

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April/May 2011

greenliving_cycling

Our friends electric Electric bikes are a perfect solution for those looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle or even beat the rush hour queues into work. The folding electric bike from Kernowrat is a reliable, practical, fun and green mode of transport, which puts a smile on your face and takes the hard work out of cycling! Capable, compact and lightweight, these bikes are easy to store and to transport. All models are with a lithium ion battery and vee brakes at the front and rear as well as weather-proofed sealed electrics, an aluminum frame, steel suspension front forks and a 12-month warranty.

01841 533808 info@kernowrat.co.uk www.kernowrat.co.uk

Brush up...

The world’s first FSC certified bicycle product!

Green Oil UK, the world’s greenest bicycle maintenance company, now make a brush from FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council certified) wood. Designed to last years, it has a luxury handle for hard chain scrubbing, wheel cleaning and cog shining! Essential for every green cyclist.

From making bikes of superior performance to recycled bottles and reclaimed wood display racks, being green is central to all Green Oil UK do.

To learn more about Green Oil’s story then visit www.green-oil.net, call 020 8313 9074 or tweet twitter.com/GreenOil.

Fit for work!

Cycle to Work is a tax incentive aimed at encouraging employees to cycle to work, thereby reducing air pollution and improving their health.

The scheme allows employees to benefit from a longterm loan of bikes and commuting equipment such as lights, locks and panniers completely tax free. Employers benefit from fitter, more punctual, more wide-awake staff.

Employees benefit from better health and better bikes because their money goes further.

For more information visit www.cyclescheme.co.uk

Social networking The National Cycle Network recently reached the 13,000 mile mark and now extends to within one mile of 58 per cent of the British population. Bristol-based charity Sustrans is working to keep maintaining and expanding it so that whether it is the school run, commuting to work, a bit of fun or exploring the great outdoors, the Network has something for everyone. www.sustrans.org.uk

April/May 2011

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greenliving_riverford farm

Down on

Riverford Farm...

This issue: Cauliflower

A healthy, undamaged head of cauliflower is surprisingly hardy and will keep pretty well in the fridge for a fortnight. On a cool vegetable rack it should still last a week. At Riverford, we usually leave a fair amount of leaf on to protect the white

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curd, and if the leaves are still healthy they can be very sweet and succulent to eat. Keep them and cook to serve with the cauliflower.

You can eat cauliflower raw, lightly steamed, stir-fried, roasted or boiled. The most important thing is not to overcook it, or you’ll end up with a school dinner smell and mushy veg. Break the head into even florets, then boil and steam until they still retain some bite. As well as the obvious cauliflower cheese (include the leaves and try adding mustard to the sauce), use it to replace broccoli in a soup with stilton. For something completely different, try Jane Baxter from the Riverford Field Kitchen’s Spanish Crisp Cauliflower recipe; it always goes down a storm.

Guy Watson Founder of Riverford Organic

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T “

he much-maligned cauliflower needs a makeover. Whether it’s the school dinner associations or its unwavering presence on supermarket shelves, most people give this traditional brassica a hard time. In its defence, cauliflower is a really useful standby in what farmers call the ‘hungry gap’ of April and May, when very few homegrown crops are ready for harvesting.

This year’s cauli, along with other greens, came late as a result of the long, harsh winter, but its appearance is very welcome to help keep some balance amongst all those roots.

April/May 2011

greenliving_riverford farm

By Jane Baxter, Riverford Field Kitchen.

Taken from the Riverford Farm Cook Book

Recipe Spanish Crisp Cauliflower

e k lin nal .u onseasos at .co Go ore cipe ford M re er riv w. w w

Serves 4 as a starter or side dish

Ingredients

Method

½ cauliflower, broken into small florets

Cook the cauliflower florets in boiling salted water for a few minutes, until just tender. Drain the cauliflower well and, while it is still hot, put in a bowl with the flour, paprika and some salt and pepper. Mix it all together until the cauliflower is coated with flour.

2 tbsp gram flour 1 tsp paprika Sunflower oil for deep-frying 1 tsp good quality red wine vinegar 1 tbsp capers, soaked in cold water for 20 mins, then squeezed dry and chopped 1 tbsp chopped parsley Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the sunflower oil to 190°C in a deep-fat fryer or a deep, heavy-based saucepan. Fry the cauliflower florets in batches until crisp and golden, then remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Sprinkle with the vinegar, chopped capers and parsley and serve.

Special

FREE vegbox* offer

Offer!

for greenliving readers! *Place a regular order and the third box we deliver is free.

Applies to new customers placing a regular order. The free box will be the same value as the cheapest previous box. Quote GLM11

April/May 2011

Riverford Organic Vegetable Limited Wash Barn Buckfastleigh Devon TQ11 OJU Local Call: 0845 600 2311

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Nice day for a

Green We Our guide to using natural beauty to celebrate everlasting love...

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PIC: CORNISH TIPI WEDDINGS (GREEN PHOTOGRAPHIC)

reating the wedding of your dreams is an exciting process and allows your personality and interests as a couple to shine through. With a wealth of resources dedicated to the big day, it’s easy to feel bombarded by ideas and subsequently, lose the personality and originality of a celebration that can quickly become a day of excess. In reality, staying focused, keeping things simple and personal means that you can plan your day with minimal impact on both your pocket and the environment.

ask your neighbours for their garden foliage to decorate the church with then top it up with a few choice blooms and romantic lighting.

Contrary to popular belief, going green doesn’t always cost more. By avoiding the all-the-frills wedding choices, you are instantly reducing the excess and the cost of the day. Simple, costeffective options such as having the ceremony and reception in one location means that you don’t have to double up on floral displays and find money for transport. It also makes the day more relaxed and cuts the ‘wedding miles’.

Without even knowing it, some decisions can turn out to be the most Find a dress from Oxfam Bridal (branches ethical simply because you decided to nationwide) where bridal shops and keep things personal. For example, designers send their end of line dresses. ask your grandmother for your “something borrowed” or create “something new” from the old by melting down two family rings to make your wedding bands. Don’t forget to call on the skills of friends and family and you will find people are more than happy to donate their services or For more of a natural choice on your wedding charge a small fee for the day, the UK-based flower specialist, Wiggly sake of being involved. Get Wigglers, will create a beautiful array of British the girls round for an evening flowers, giving a special touch to your big day. of invitation making with a bottle of wine. You could even The dedicated and creative team believes that there is no need to colour co-ordinate every flower but rather to celebrate and enjoy the natural beauty that each flower possesses.

The team will put together a bouquet as if it has just been gathered from the garden fresh that morning. The hand-tied selections are wrapped in hessian and vintage lace.

Choose local or organic food and wine and remember Fairtrade gold if you are buying new rings. Avoid printing out reams of paper for maps and directions for your invitations and make a website with all the information your guests need. Our top tip is to visit the Wedding Notebook website which provides an online thinking tool to enable you to explore your wedding ideas and to plan your perfect day. Try it out on www.weddingnotebook.co.uk However you decide to make a difference, a greener wedding day is the perfect start to a happy and healthy life together.

Wiggly Wigglers

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Decorate your tables, your church or your marquee or simply order the cut flower boxes and use the petals for the cake or to pop a bloom in your hair. www.wigglywigglers.co.uk 01981 500391

April/May 2011

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Wedding

April/May 2011

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greenliving_eco weddings

Folly Farm The perfect setting for your wedding day, Folly Farm is an eco-centre situated in the heart of a 250-acre farm and nature reserve. Folly Farm understand that you have a unique vision for your wedding day, and that is why you decide how much or how little you would like for them to arrange – you can even hire the whole centre and do it all yourself.

Their wedding ceremony license enables you to say ‘I do’ amongst the splendour of attractive stone buildings and natural woodland. Photographers love the scenic beauty of Folly Farm, and you can be sure of an outstanding background to the pictures of your wedding day with charming and beautiful farm buildings which have been restored to accentuate their historic features, and with unrivalled views over Chew Valley Lake.

Friends and family can feel at home within the 20 bedrooms that can accommodate up to 45 people, not forgetting the additional camping allowed onsite.

You can celebrate with a clean conscience as profits from the farm are fed back into the land to support the crucial ecological and conservation work of Avon Wildlife Trust. What’s more, there are loads of ecofriendly features here including biomass central heating, willow bed waste water treatment and solar hot water.

The Folly Farm Centre Stowey, Pensford, Bristol, BS39 4DW 01275 331590 www.follyfarm.org

A wedding at Cornish Tipis is a unique, personal and memorable experience. The people behind this thoughtful company believe first and foremost about getting back to basics, about celebrating what a wedding and a marriage actually mean and most of all, tailoring the day around you and your partner to suit your needs and wants.

Cornish Tipi sees this as somewhat of a revolution. No more should the day be about the parents or Great Aunt Martha’s dislike of fancy food or the possibility of upsetting the vicar. Thankfully, Cornish Tipi Weddings make it their personal mission to change this and now its personal.

Weddings are more and more a reflection of the happy couple themselves – they’re romantic, they’re green, they’re fun.

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Cornish Tipi Weddings captures the essence of eco-chic – riding the crest of this new wave of green romantics with its very 21st-century blend of sustainability, fun and glamour. They’ll arrange the wedding of your dreams for 20 people to 220 people, with a matchless backdrop of woodland and sky, shimmering lake water and magical Cornish earth. They will help you with every step from the dress of your dreams made from recycled or vintage clothing, to your artisan jewellery, seasonal food to a horse-drawn carriage, in fact, Cornish Tipis can help you with every supplier that you need to be checked off the list. They can provide tipis large or small, yurts, marquees or even geodesic domes. To see this glorious place for yourself and be

a part of their inspiring ethics then make a visit for a no-obligations look around.

Cornish Tipi Weddings Tregeare, Pendoggett, St Kew, Cornwall PL30 3LW. 01208 880781 www.cornishtipiholidays.co.uk

April/May 2011

PIC: GREEN PHOTOGRAPHIC

Cornish Tipi Weddings

greenliving_eco weddings

The Borrowers Brides-to-be are being offered a unique way of saving money without scrimping on style as a new website, theborrowers.co.uk, offers plenty of options to fulfil your “something borrowed” need. With the average cost of a UK wedding now an estimated £21,000, a cut down on costs is definitely desired. The Borrowers is offering the chance for brides and grooms to lend out and borrow wedding essentials, from top hats to marquees and even wedding dresses.

Founder Lynn Bunniss launched the website in the wake of the recession in a bid to save money, cut waste and address a throwaway culture. She said: “Couples can save a fortune by borrowing rather than buying new. Too often with

weddings, items are bought and used once before being either stored or worse, sent to landfill. Hundreds of thousands of items from vases, candleholders and bridesmaid dresses are sitting in storage when they could be rented or lent to others.”

Lynn added: “Getting married is one of the most important days in your life but there’s no reason why it should break the bank. You could borrow almost everything you need to host a wedding – from a field to house the marquee, to the crockery and decorations.”

The company’s ethos is about encouraging people to take a more sustainable, environmentally-friendly approach, to allow people to save money and to help them use their property responsibly to earn an extra income and have a truly remarkable day.

The Borrowers www.theborrowers.co.uk

Tribes Travel All your hard work and efficient planning has been enjoyed on the happiest day of your life. Now it is time to relax and enjoy your time as a newly-wed couple on your well deserved honeymoon.

If you fancy something unique, exotic and a touch luxurious for your honeymoon whilst revelling in the feel-good factor of knowing that your honeymoon is helping to benefit other people, the wildlife and the environment, then you should consider Tribes Travel, the award-winning sustainable tour operator.

Tribes works with you and advises you every step of the way so that you get the honeymoon you’re dreaming of. Tribes plans holidays in Africa (safaris and beach), South America (Galapagos cruises,

April/May 2011

tours of Peru and Ecuador, jungle trips, beach and wildlife trips in Brazil), India and Nepal (wildlife, culture, beach, hiking, retreats), plus Jordan and Morocco for culture and adventure.

Talk to the friendly, well-travelled consultants about what you want and they’ll work out an itinerary especially for you. If it’s right, perfect. If it’s not, they will tweak it until it is, or you can decide it’s not for you, there’s no obligation. Tribes also offer a honeymoon gift voucher service.

Tribes Travel www.tribes.co.uk info@tribes.co.uk 01728 685971

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REBECCA SULLIVAN Rebecca Sullivan has completed Environment Leadership Studies at UC Berkeley California and a Masters in Rural Development, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change. Her most recent project has seen her establish a women’s farming co-operative near Stroud.

This month Rebecca Sullivan discovers more about a fashion label whose clothes empower all those who make, wear and sell them…

r o s u o i c s n o c n o i h s Fa

conscious fash The word on the street is that green is the new black in the fashion world.

As a plethora of eco-labels pop up in our shopping baskets daily, is there room for another ethical fashion brand?

Well the likes of Sarah Jessica Parker and the United Nations certainly think Beulah is a dress to buy and a model to follow, so look out ladies, its not just the high street that’s in for a make-over.

The fashion industry contributes a massive £21bn to the UK’s economy and as more and more consumers make conscientious choices with their wallets, the green fashion industry stands to contribute a lot, not just financially, but also to both environmental and social issues.

Beulah’s dresses speak for themselves, feminine, elegant, powerful and timeless.

I dare any woman to not feel empowered when wearing one of these luxury dresses. Made from the finest premium silks and cottons, sourced by the equally beautiful, creative directors and old childhood friends, Natasha Rufus Isaacs and Lavinia Brennan.

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Spring 2011

greenliving_conscious fashion

The aim was to provide these girls “ with the skills and tools they needed to become financially independent ” Freedom Network (DFN), show that in India there are approximately 3 million prostitutes, of which 1.2 million are children.

One report says that 200 girls and women enter prostitution each day, 80 per cent of them against their will and 35 per cent are under the age of 18.

shion?

But for the women they help, the women who can’t speak for themselves, the dresses are an even more powerful tool. With a heart to help women who had been caught up in the sex trade, Natasha and Lavinia spent two months in the southern slums of Delhi, Lado Sarai, working with an aftercare home called “Atulya”, meaning “woman without price; immeasurable; unique”.

They helped look after girls who had come out of the sex trade, or who were living locally in absolute poverty, by spending afternoons with them in a local production unit. The aim was to provide these girls with a place of safe refuge and to give them the skills and tools they needed to become financially independent. These skills would also allow for the girls to provide for their families and give hope to future generations.

The sex trade in India is big business and preys on poor young women and girls.

Official figures, according to the Dalit

April/May 2011

Through experiencing first hand the harrowing effects of human trafficking and the devastation it had brought upon the lives of so many women and children, Natasha and Lavinia were motivated to take action with the aim of making a difference to the lives of these victims. So, Beulah London was born.

Equal to Beulah London’s charitable heart is its desire to produce exceptional quality garments, without compromise. The brand stands for meaningful fashion, bridging the gap between high-end fashion and style, and ethical sourcing of products.

Beulah London, which has just been nominated by the United Nations for a Business Leaders’ Award, has unveiled its first collection – Amazing Grace – for spring/ summer 2011. The collection, which features a butterfly print throughout, symbolic in the transformation these women go through from cocoon to butterfly, is made up of beautiful silk cocktail dresses and gowns.

These pieces have already had a fabulous reception from style icons such as Sarah Jessica Parker and with every purchase a canvas bag is given, which has been stitched by the female survivors of sex trafficking who are supported by the Beulah charity project.

So if green is the new black, then I suggest snapping up one of Beulah’s little green numbers and enjoy a touch of femininity as well as the knowledge you will be helping to empower a woman on the other side of the world who wouldn’t have the opportunity to wear it herself if it weren’t for brands like Beulah.

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greenliving_charlie boots

n e e r G n i y d a L Following the opening of her brand new eco-boutique, we catch up with Bristol-based clothes designer Charlie Boots who gives a whole new meaning to glad rags...

From a young age, my parents drilled into me the importance of recycling and not wasting anything. It’s a big part of me and my business. I did fashion at uni and for my written projects, I always looked into the ethics behind the fashion industry. I didn’t realise quite how bad it was. There is still a lot of child labour being exploited as well as thousands of deaths relating to the use of non-organic cotton. I wanted to be in a career that was creative and enjoyable but also feel like I was making a difference.

Eco conscious fashion has really taken off in the last four years.

There are a lot of designers out there doing some great stuff. I wanted to be a part of the movement of bringing eco fashion into the mainstream, offering clothes that people want to wear because they are designed well.

Stores trading on fad fashion still have a bigger share of the market. I would like to see ethical fashion growing and I

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think it will do. The new ‘fad’ now it seems is for people to make their own things and recycling and revamping garments they already own. This movement will hopefully just get bigger with a growth of more design-led pieces. The most important thing is that the designs are interesting and cutting edge and are marketed well.

Marketing as a whole is where ethical fashions dips out compared to mainstream.

It seems we are on the cusp of a change so ethical fashion can compete with more confidence against the mainstream.

I have just opened 204 on Gloucester Road. It’s a gallery space where I will be working with other artists and designers who are eco conscious and who are driving the movement forward, which I am really excited about.

I source vintage fabrics from the 1930s and 40s as well as a lot of organic, recycled and Fairtrade fabrics. I really like Bishopston Trading where the material has come from processing plants and is heading for landfill.

Reclaimed fabrics which were initially intended for a different purpose also end

April/May 2011

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up in my hands, like fabric from damaged rolls etc. I am constantly looking around for reclaimed material!

My clothes are quite tailored and have a couture finish. I use binding too which is quite unusual these days because it’s a much more expensive and labour intensive way of finishing things but it does mean they last longer. Some of the pieces have got a semiformal look about them.

Others are quite casual. A lot of them are reversible too which means garments have got more than one use.

In five years time I would like a bigger team to be honest! Juggling everything myself has been a lot to take on. I also want to be focusing on wholesale and to have my label in other people’s shops.

People in Bristol are starting to hear about my work, it’s just about spreading the word now.

Charlie Boots at 204 Gloucester Road is open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5.30pm.

0845 2725 219 www.charlieboots.com

April/May 2011

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greenliving_bill gething

Passiv attack With over 20,000 buildings realised to date, this issue Bill Gething extols the virtues of the fastest growing energy performance standard in the world...

The combination of increasing energy prices, growing concerns over the security of future fuel sources and government policies designed to contribute to reductions of global greenhouse gas emissions has driven a huge push to radically improve the energy performance and carbon emissions of our new buildings. Regulations are becoming increasingly stringent, and are being updated every three years in a series of steps towards the Holy Grail that all new buildings will be “Zero Carbon” in an extremely short timeframe (2016 for homes, 2019 for all others) – although quite what “Zero Carbon” will mean is still a matter of debate.

The UK’s decision to set building standards in terms of CO2 emissions rather than simple energy efficiency adds a layer of complexity to the design process. CO2 emissions have to be calculated, taking into account the carbon intensity of the fuel used: for example, electricity emits about 2.5 times as much CO2 as natural gas to produce the same amount of heat whereas biomass (wood etc.) is assumed to be almost carbon neutral (as burning it just puts back the CO2 it absorbed from the atmosphere when it grew – plus a bit for processing, transport etc.). So two buildings might emit the same amount of CO2 but one might be super energy efficient, keeping its occupants comfortable using just a small amount of a conventional fossil fuel, whereas the other might have rather mediocre energy performance but lots of low carbon technologies bolted onto it to provide all the energy it needs – eco-bling with questionable life expectancy. On top of this, all too often, new technologies and products have not delivered the performance claimed for them and sloppy or over-complicated construction or design can further erode the anticipated energy and carbon reductions in practice.

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As an antidote to this increasing complexity, the Passivhaus standard is emerging as a relatively straightforward, robust, proven and cost-effective method of delivering low energy buildings that do what they say on the tin. The standard, which applies to all building types, not just houses (the German word “haus” covers all building types), has been championed in the UK particularly by AECB, the Sustainable Building Association, through their CarbonLite programme and was developed at the Passivhaus Institute in Darmstadt in Germany. The aim of the founder of the Institute, Wolfgang Feist, was to produce comfortable buildings that used about one tenth of the energy used by a conventional building at the time – a step change rather than trying to improve performance a step at a time. The first group of houses was completed in 1990 and since then the standard has developed based on extensive research and monitoring of actual performance of completed buildings.

The principle is very simple: to design and construct buildings (albeit with meticulous attention to detail) that lose so little heat that they can be heated (or cooled) just using the air they need for ventilation; they need no conventional heating system as such. By investing in the building fabric itself rather than add on technologies, once built, the building will go on performing well for its entire life.

In more specific terms, a Passivhaus building should be able to be maintained at 20ºC and should: • Use less than 15 kWh/sq metre per year of energy for heating and cooling (as compared with about 170 kWh/sq metre/year for a typical UK 1950s semidetached house or 200-550 kWh/sq metre/year for a typical office building depending on whether it is air

conditioned or not) or a maximum heating and cooling load of 10 W/ sq m/ year • Use less than 120 kWh/sq m of primary energy per year in total including all electrical appliances etc.

• Be very well sealed (so that it does not lose heat through uncontrolled draughts) with an air change rate of no more than 0.6 air changes per hour (about 12 per cent of the maximum rate required by UK Building Regulations and less than 5 per cent of the leakage from an average home).

There is a range of ways of achieving the standard but, typically, a building in the UK will have: • Super-insulated walls, floor and roof (say 450 mm of mineral fibre or equivalent in the walls for example) • Very high performance windows (typically triple-glazed with insulated frames) • A whole house ventilation system with very efficient heat recovery to provide a constant supply of fresh air to maintain

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greenliving_bill gething

The first group of houses “ was completed in 1990 and the

standard has developed based on monitoring of actual performance of completed buildings.

”

excellent air quality but to harvest the heat from the outgoing air and use it to heat the incoming air.

It will also be: • Very carefully designed and constructed to minimise air leaks thoughout the building fabric and any “thermal bridges” (where the insulation is broken by bits of structure etc.).

The predicted performance of the building is estimated using a detailed spreadsheet, the Passivhaus Planning Package (PHPP), developed by the Institute and regularly updated to reflect measured performance of real buildings to check that it meets the standard. This is a bit daunting to the uninitiated but, once mastered, designers appreciate the ability to check their designs, even at sketch stage, so that they can tune building shape and orientation, insulation levels, the area of the windows and the direction they face right from the start. The tool uses regional weather information so that a house in Scotland will be

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different from one in the South West and also checks for overheating in summer – an increasingly important aspect of the design of highly insulated buildings In order to make sure that performance in practice measures up to the predictions, products certified to the Passivhaus standard must be used in the construction. Inevitably, most of the products are continental at present but a growing number of UK manufacturers are starting to obtain certification to meet the increasing demand for Passivhaus buildings here.

Almost inevitably, as more Passivhauses are built in the UK, the name is starting to assume brand status and the term is sometimes bandied around in connection with buildings that are not genuinely Passivhaus certified.

Beware of pale imitations!

Source: EST CE309 Source: ECON19

BILL GETHING Architect Bill Gething was a long-standing partner of Feiden Clegg Bradley Studios before setting up an independent consultancy in 2009. He has contributed to the practice’s international reputation for sustainable design and is currently a member of the Royal Institute of British Architect’s Climate Change board.

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greenliving_passivhaus

Haus benefit With the country concerned about reaching its Zero Carbon goals, we speak to bere:architects, a company at the forefront of bringing Passivhaus into the mainstream and putting the UK’s targets within arm’s reach… bere:architects was founded by Justin Bere in 1994 and from the beginning, the practice has advocated the principles of sustainable development, and applies strict ecological, environmental and sociological criteria to the projects that they undertake.

Their work encompasses the public and private sectors, including historic monuments, public amenities, transport buildings, private homes as well as larger social housing developments.

They strive to ensure that their urban and rural development projects meet present-day needs, without compromising their potential to meet the needs of future generations.

The practice aims to create a bridge between the past and the future, bringing together the historic and the contemporary as far as possible. They bring a craftsman-like approach to all aspects of the building process and their respect for traditional techniques does not hinder them from using modern materials and techniques where their use is sustainable. They take advantage of indigenous materials, techniques, traditions and industries when they can be sourced locally without compromising cost, environmental concerns or the appearance of the finished product.

Energy preservation is a key element of sustainable living. It is one of the central principles in bere:architects’ choice of

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materials and design aesthetics: they combine ecological effectiveness with pleasing forms. All their buildings, both domestic and public, are intended to be exemplars in energy efficiency and to set precedents in sustainable and affordable design. bere:architects are at the forefront of the development of the Passivhaus movement in the UK. Now, as one of the UK’s foremost Passivhaus practitioners and winner of numerous design awards, bere:architects has not only completed the prototype Passivhaus low cost social housing in Wales, but London’s first certified

Passivhaus in Camden. The team is also working on other domestic and non-domestic new builds and retrofit Passivhaus projects.

Passivhaus demands a particular approach to design and construction, and demands rigorous on-site testing during the building process. To enable bere:architects to deliver quality-assured low carbon buildings, they have developed in-house skills in building physics and use the latest Passivhaus software. bere:architects acknowledge the value of history and location while expressing

April/May 2011

greenliving_passivhaus

the beauty inherent in a modern ecological approach. They take a practical, honest and frank approach, as well as being reliable and conducting themselves with integrity. Their comprehensive knowledge of costs and processes also allows them to guarantee the tightest budget controls throughout a project’s development.

What’s a Passivhaus?

Passivhaus is a German approach, defined by the Passivhaus Institute, which demands a high level of insulation and a draught-free construction. It also requires a flow of fresh air and an efficient heat recovery ventilation system. This uses very little energy and saves a lot of energy that would otherwise go to waste.

Time and finances are set aside to encourage staff to train as European Certified Passivhaus Planners and become experts in thermal modelling packages. Such investment has paid off with motivated staff sharing the same environmental concerns, clients delighted with the look and performance of their buildings, and an increased practice workload and improved business performance. bere:architects continue to drive the movement of Passivhaus forward through innovative design and education. The goal to be Zero Carbon Britain by 2050 may seem ambitious, but practices such as bere:architects make the green goals seem significantly more tangible. bere:architects 73 Poets Road, London N5 2SH 020 7359 4503 www.bere.co.uk

Case Study Designed by bere:architects, The Larch House, Ebbw Vale is the UK’s first certified Passivhaus, social housing prototype.

The three-bedroomed house has been built 1,000ft above sea level in an exposed and misty hilltop location in Ebbw Vale, Wales. In spite of this, most energy needs are met by heat from the sun, occupants and appliances. Indeed the Larch House generates as much energy from the sun in the summer months, from solar thermal and photovoltaic panels (with an estimated feed-in tariff of over £1,300 a year) and glazing, as it uses for the whole year, making it Zero Carbon by UK definition.

This house shows how we can live comfortably with minimal impact on the natural world.

April/May 2011

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greenliving_passivhaus

Green Building Store

Green Building Store is at the forefront of introducing Passivhaus products and design into the UK. It offers a comprehensive range of specialist Passivhaus products (including windows & doors, airtightness products and MVHR systems) backed up by technical support and information, including: training, design guidance and FREE web resources.

01484 461705 info@greenbuildingstore.co.uk www.greenbuildingstore.co.uk

GreenSteps From an urban refurbishment to the most rural of new builds, a key element of Passivhaus construction is selection of the right windows.

The GreenSteps Passivhaus window uses a combination of an advanced engineered timber window profile made from FSC Certified timber with an insulated external aluminium cladding system and ultra-high performance triple glazed units. The warm and natural internal timber finish is factory stained or painted and the durable external aluminium comes in a wide range of finishes. Four sealing gaskets ensure that performance is high enough to withstand even the harshest environment. The GreenSteps Passivhaus certified range consists of windows, entrance doors, balcony doors, French doors and sliding patio door systems.

For larger glazing areas, the GreenSteps curtain walling system can be used, enabling very high performance and extremely flexible design.

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Contact GreenSteps now to make your Passivhaus dreams a reality. support@greensteps.co.uk 01621 740591

April/May 2011

greenliving_green goodies

Green oodies this month’s must do, buy & see

Kernowrat

The perfect preserver

Kernowrat are the UK distributor for Separett Waterless Toilets offering effective solutions ranging from emergency, camping and self-build toilets, to the stylish Villa, which with impressive attention to detail, wouldn’t feel out of place in your bathroom at home.

As the European distributor, Kernowrat offer the Nature’s Head, a compact, simple and effective Dry Compost Toilet ideal for use in boats and motorhomes.

The Excalibur Food Dryer from UK Juicers is an excellent tool for preserving the nutrition and flavours of your favourite foods. Dry your own gourmet vegetable chips, tomatoes, herbs, fruits, snacks and more. Everything you preserve will make a handy addition for delicious soups, casseroles, stews and not forgetting lunchboxes for children and adults too!

T: 01904 757070 W: www.ukjuicers.com

W: www.kernowrat.co.uk T: 07870 356124

Wild f ire

Whatever the weather washing! greenliving reader offer!

Performance and good looks meet in the G3 Rocket, the next generation of outdoor wood cooking stove. Highly efficient and clean burning, this fabulous stove combines the convenience of a conventional camping stove with the magic of an open fire. The unique two-pot converter is a must-have addon! £74.95 + P&P. greenliving readers can claim a 10 per cent discount when they quote the coupon code GREENLIVING at checkout.

We have found the perfect answer to the eternal problem of drying laundry in British weather, even during summer! The Rotaire Dryline is perfect for your rotary line; keeping clothes dry and the birds away. It also prevents UV damage and above all, saves money on energy. It folds down with the airer for storage.

W: www.rotaire.com T: 01684 575156

T: 0117 230 2346 W: www.wildstoves.co.uk/ wood-cooking-stoves

April/May 2011

Spring 2011

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P a b m a b a h C oc greenliving_cochabamba

The Cochabamba Project Ltd. (IPS) provides UK investors with a unique opportunity to invest in a pioneering community-based forestry and agriculture initiative.

The project is a true partnership between investors who provide the capital and almost 1,000 Bolivian smallholders and their families who provide their land and labour, with timber revenues being shared equally.

Interest is payable on shares at up to 7.5 per cent per annum and we estimate that the project will result in the tripling of income for the smallholders involved, whilst making a real contribution to tackling climate change and loss of biodiversity.

A MUTUAL SOCIETY: FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY...

The Cochabamba Project was established in the UK in March 2009 as an Industrial Provident Society. This means that it is a co-operative so each member has an equal vote and can influence the running of the Society. Unlike almost all forestry investment schemes, the Cochabamba Project offers a true partnership with local communities. Timber revenues are shared equally between the smallholders, who provide the land and labour, and the Society which provides the necessary capital (over £1.3 million to date).

Of equal importance for the smallholders, it is also enabling them to manage their farmland more sustainably and thereby increase their overall incomes. … AND THE ENVIRONMENT The project is reforesting an area of Bolivia that has been subject to deforestation through unsustainable farming practices. It is also one of only a few forestry projects in the world to have gained accreditation as a “Clean

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Development mechanism” by the UNFCCC, the highest possible recognition of its contribution to combating climate change. Furthermore, the project uses local species and its high standards of biodiversity and community involvement have also now been recognised under the Plan Vivo accreditation scheme.

A FAIR FINANCIAL RETURN The directors have declared an interest rate for 2010 of 7.5 per cent, which will be accrued and paid when shares are withdrawn. It is hoped that this rate can be maintained in the future but we cannot provide any guarantee. Shares cannot be transferred to other investors and can only be redeemed to the society for no more than their original value.

A TRULY ETHICAL INVESTMENT The Cochabamba Project is a pioneering mutual society investing in communitybased forestry. The minimum investment is £1,000 (which can be paid in regular instalments if necessary) and the maximum by law is £20,000.

With a mid-range investment of £10,000 you could: • Earn up to 7.5 per cent annual interest from year one • Help to maintain almost 4,000 native hardwood trees in the Bolivian Amazon • Generate approximately 1,000 tonnes of carbon over the next 21 years • Triple the income of a Bolivian family

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Project

greenliving_cochabamba

Unlike almost all forestry investment schemes, the Cochabamba Project offers a true partnership with local communities

Above all this is an opportunity to invest in a project that is pioneering a new form of sustainable forestry — one that not only delivers major environmental benefits, but which also shares the profits with local farmers who are provided with a sustainable economic alternative to environmentally-damaging agricultural practices.

AN INVESTMENT THAT YOU CAN TOUCH This investment is largely unaffected by the gyrations of the stockmarket.

Returns are mainly derived from the

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physical growth in the underlying asset — trees. As the trees grow, so does their value. This is a very ‘real’ investment in both people and planet that goes way beyond abstract numbers.

You can view the plantations on Google Earth or on Cochabamba’s DVD which is available on request. If you buy sufficient additional carbon credits from them to cover your trip, you can even visit the project in Bolivia to see what your money is enabling!

Getting your money back This is a long-term investment and you should be prepared to invest for at least five years, with withdrawals being subject to a 180-day notice period.

The next step To apply, download the prospectus and application at www.cochabamba.coop.

Alternatively you can call on 0800 018 0881 to be sent information in the post or to discuss the Society.

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Wood fuel heating made easy Award-winning biomass boilers from ETA Heiztechnik makes efficient wood fuel heating the easiest way to save money and CO2 for your family. There has never been a better time to switch away from oil or LPG. ■ ■

■

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Fully automated wood pellet boilers Self lighting and self cleaning with no user maintenance required Electronically managed log boilers for rural properties and farms Lower your fuel bills and your carbon footprint and get the Renewable Heat Incentive

0845 12 66 555 www.fairenergy.org.uk Call Fair Energy CIC to see how easy it is to make the switch to renewable energy with wood fuel and solar heating and PV solar electricity

simple solutions for greener heating suppliers of MCS accredited wood burning boilers

✓ Offer the complete range of wood log boilers ✓ Two complete ranges Angus Super and Angus Orligno ✓ Output range 18kW, 25kW, 40kW, 60kW, 80kW ✓ Products fully MCS certified ✓ Grants available under Renewable Heat Incentive ✓ 92% Heat Efficiency ✓ Significantly reduce heating costs ✓ Incorporate into existing heating system

www.ecoangus.co.uk 01934 862642

greenliving_biomass

s m h t y h r o i B “Biomass” is on the tip of everyone’s tongue from the green building sector so this month we get some common questions answered with the Greenshop, a group of companies serving the green building products’ sector, who demonstrate how biomass can sometimes provide an alternative heating solution...

What is biomass?

Biomass, a biological material derived from living, or recently living organisms, is a renewablefuel that is already widely available throughout the UK. Correctly managed, biomass can represent a sustainable, carbon neutral option for heating our homes, when compared with fossil fuels.

What’s the problem with traditional heating fuels?

In December 2010, the global atmospheric CO2 concentration reached 389 parts per million, up from the long-term pre-industrial level of around 270 parts per million.

Without concerted international effort to curb emissions, atmospheric levels will rise incrementally year on year.

The combustion of fossil fuels is the major cause of CO2 emission increases globally. Of the 532 million tonnes of CO2 emitted in the UK, 27.3% originated from the domestic sector itself. All heating fuels have a carbon footprint, usually expressed as kilogrammes of CO2 per unit (kWh) of useful heat. This is because fuels used for space and water heating, including electricity are derived directly or indirectly from fossil fuels that contain molecules of carbon, which on combustion are released in gaseous form as CO2.

So why biomass is different…

Both fossil fuels (oil, coal and gas) and biomass are carbon based and derived from biological processes. However, fossil fuels are different in that they were formed and buried (fossilized)

April/May 2011

over many millions of years, and are non-renewable - at least in timescales meaningful to humankind. As fossil fuels were formed, large quantities of CO2 were sequestered (buried) underground. The combustion of fossil fuels releases that carbon back into the atmosphere. With biomass, the timescales for carbon sequestration are much shorter (no fossilization required) and therefore renewable. Although CO2 is released at the point of combustion, an equivalent amount is sequestered from the atmosphere (through photosynthesis) with new growth. Regrowth may be incidental or planned; the latter forming part of a sustainable wood fuel strategy. If the quantities are in balance, biomass fuels can be said to be “carbon neutral”. There will always be a small carbon footprint associated with wood fuels, a result of energy used during extraction, processing and transportation, but for each unit of useful energy (heat) derived, this is far less significant than for fossil fuels.

What can biomass be used for?

Biomass heating equipment is available for a range of uses and scales, including room heaters (wood or pellet stoves) and boilers for space and water heating. Good quality biomass boilers can match the utility and function of oil and gas equivalents available on the market. Biomass appliance can also be integrated with other renewable energy technologies, such as solar water heating.

Who is the principle market?

The principle markets for biomass heating

are those households off the mains gas grid.

This is mainly because the economics in this context compare more favorably than for those connected to mains gas. Properties off the mains gas grid are also more likely to be located in rural locations and may be less compromised in terms of space for storing wood fuels. To give you an idea of fuel storage requirements: to match the energy from 1 m3 of heating oil will require approximately 3 m3 of wood pellets or 6 m3 of logs.

How can the Renewable Heat Incentive help?

The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) is a new policy designed to reward producers of “heat” using renewable sources of energy, such as biomass. Under the scheme a household will receive payment for every unit (kWh) of heat produced. The proposed RHI rates for solid biomass (logs, pellets, chips) for households is yet to be announced. It is assumed that the incentive will considerably improve the economics of renewable “heat” technologies and stimulate rapid growth in the sector. The RHI is planned to go “live” in October 2012.

How can I find out more?

For more information about biomass: http:// www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk For more information about the Renewable Heat Incentive: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/ content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_ mix/renewable/policy/incentive/incentive.aspx Visit online at www.greenshopgroup.co.uk

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greenliving_hetreed ross architects/fair energy

Hetreed Ross Architects The principles of Passivhaus design are few, and simple, the secret is all in the detail.

Although it is easier to achieve passive standard in a new build, comprehensive refurbishment of an older property is a great opportunity to achieve similar standards.

Hetreed Ross Architects, does this in three ways: Firstly by using high insulation specifications, typically twice the current UK building regulations, with windows triple glazed to below 0.8 U-value.

Secondly, using heat gains, mainly from the sun but also

from cooking, water heating and exercise etc. This requires effective passive solar design and thermal mass for winter gains and summer shade, and heat reclaim ventilation when windows are closed.

of life and a more sustainable world.

01225 851860 www.hetreedross.com

Lastly, Hetreed Ross Architects employ quality construction to stop draughts. Many UK houses leak 10 to 20 air changes hourly: a Passivhaus leaks no more than 0.6 per hour. This level of air-tightness with a heat reclaim vent system means you will have good air quality all winter.

Hetreed Ross Architects are an environmentally conscious practice, offering design solutions for a better quality

Fair Energy Fair Energy specialises in full service design and installation of wood fuel and solar heating systems for businesses, homes and communities. This year, a homeowner got in touch with complaints that they were spending too much on their existing heating system and wanted to know what Fair Energy could offer instead…

CASE STUDY Fair Energy calculated that the existing heating system was fired by a 150,000 BTU oil boiler, costing the end user £2,500 per annum to run. Fair Energy installed three technologies for the heating, hot water and electricity systems to beat this quote.

For the central heating, Fair energy installed an ETA SH 30 KW, together with a 1650 litre Buffer Tank, meaning that the system runs with 94% more efficiency.

The boiler is run by wood taken from the

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consumer’s own woodland and the RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive) coming into place Summer 2011, is offering a valuabe payback tariff to the consumer for doing so.

For the potable hot water system, Fair Energy installed a solar thermal system which provides free hot water. The thermal panels are powered by the sun’s energy and converted into enough heat to provide hot water for the whole household.

For the house’s electricity, Fair Energy installed a solar PV panel system in the back garden. The PV panels capture the sun’s energy and through an inverter, will provide enough power for the household and still be able to sell back to the National Grid.

For a no obligation quote to see what Fair Energy could do for you, call 0845 1266555 or email info@fairenergy.org.uk. www.fairenergy.org.uk

April/Spring 2011

1 World Solar is one of the most experienced and reliable renewable energy companies in the south west. Run by a small but highly skilled team we offer a service which is tailored to suit each individual project.

We provide a no hassle, efficient and honest approach to our customers renewable energy requirements.

1 World Solar The South West

1 World Solar offers a comprehensive peace of mind guarantee to cover your PV system: - 3 year installation guarantee - 5 year manufacturers guarantee on inverters and modules - 25 year performance guarantee

Solar Experts Installers of PV, solar thermal, heat pumps and woodburning stoves.

t: 0117 9411663

www.1worldsolar.co.uk

info@1worldsolar.co.uk

greenliving_ecovision

Save up to 50% on your annual electricity bill and save the planet at the same time

How does cutting your annual electricity bill by up to 50 per cent sound? Does it sound even better when you know that it won’t cost you a penny to do so? And you can help reduce your CO2 emissions at the same time by using a fully renewable energy source. It all sounds a little too good to be true, but it isn’t!

Following the introduction of the government-backed feed in tariff, Ecovision Energy has been able to offer qualifying householders free supply and installation of solar pv panels (electricity generating systems).

Once installed, the free solar electricity that your panels generate during the day is fed directly into your home.

That means you reduce the amount of electricity that you need to purchase from your current supplier.

There’s no installation fees or payments for the solar panel pv systems, which save you up to £15,000 on the cost of equipment purchase and installation.

Depending on the location of your home and the way in which you use electrical appliances, free solar electricity could reduce your annual electricity bill by up to 50 per cent. And with the average annual electricity bill at around £540 per year, free solar electricity means that you could be saving up to £270 per year, every year, whilst helping to reduce global CO2 produced by traditional fossil fuel electricity generators.

There are no installation fees or payments for the solar panel pv systems, which save you up to £15,000 on the cost of equipment purchase and installation. Ecovision Energy will even maintain the system free of charge for 25 years. What’s the catch?

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Well there isn’t one. Any of the solar generated electricity that is produced over the amount you use is exported back into the grid. Ecovision Energy makes its return on investment from the government feed in tariff and not from you.

If you are interested in finding out whether you can get a free Ecovision Energy solar panel system installed at your house please visit www.ecovisionenergy.com or alternatively, you can call Ecovision Energy on 08450 038001.

April/May 2011

greenliving_mas eu architects

Green house MAS EU architects are at the forefront of ecological and stylish design. They strive to make your home comfortable, sustainable and beautiful, changing your lifestyle and your way of thinking. This month, architect Nigel Humphrey shows us that going green is more of an achievable target than first imagined…

Danny Carnegie, the founder of UK Aware, commented recently that he started the show because he wanted to know how to adopt a sustainable lifestyle but couldn’t find out how to do it.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy produced a list in 2004 to show what a sustainable lifestyle might look like. Some of the things seem easier to do than others and some might well improve your quality of life.

What this list doesn’t do however is comment on how much energy you need to save or what the impact of each of these things will be. Nor at present is there legislation saying

Our first passion is houses and our work ranges from small extensions to small housing developments.

They’re all designed and built to a high sustainability standard at very competitive prices. that you have to do any of this, so it’s up to you how much or how little you choose to do.

Sustainability isn’t about wearing a hair shirt, it’s about being comfortable using less energy, and whether you believe in man-made climate change or not, it still makes sense.

cent reduction. We agree the 60 per cent saving is quite achievable. You don’t have to be perfect in every area, but the 90 per cent savings gets much more difficult. At best only a third of the savings can come from your home. Two thirds would have to come from other areas of your life.

The government’s target is a 60 per cent reduction by 2050 on the CO2 emissions as they were in 2000 which was 11.2 tonnes per person. This means we need to get this down to approximately 4.5 tonnes per person. However, if this were shared out between every person throughout the world, we would be looking at a reduction of 1.5 tonnes per person, a 90 per

At MAS we use computer tools to calculate the impacts and potential savings of all of the measures listed and more. We can analyse the thermal performance of your home or buildings and we can also look at your carbon footprint.

April/May 2011

If you ask us what would be achieved by insulating your house, installing a wood

fired range cooker, going vegetarian, getting your food delivered or working from home, we can tell you and what’s more, we can work out what is the most cost-effective solution for you.

Our first passion is houses and our work ranges from small extensions to small housing developments. They’re all designed and built to a high sustainability standard at very competitive prices.

Our first passion is houses and our first priority is you. We want to introduce people to a much more green lifestyle and reach our targets with a better, safer lifestyle. www.mas.eu.com 01373 300403

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Bioheat The biomass heating company Along with our sister company TwinheatUK we supply and install advanced biomass heating systems, from design to commissioning.

Future-proof With the surge in the uptake of biomass, the future supply and cost of wood fuel is less certain, which is why we chose Twinheat.

Twinheat biomass boilers can switch between fuels such as woodchip, shavings, wood pellets, and agricultural crops, all at the touch of a button. They can even burn logs and other solid biomass, making the Twinheat one of the most versatile biomass boilers on the market.

Join the solar revolution There has never been a better time to install solar panels on your Home, Farm or Business...

Get paid to generate your own electricity Reduce your electricity bills Reduce your carbon footprint You get a 8–14% inflation linked return on your investment, and that’s guaranteed Tax Free for 25 years Get paid for everything you generate (even if you use it all yourself ). It works best on a south facing roof, but can work even if you face east or west

A 4 kW Example: 31 m of south facing, unshaded, 2

roof space in Bristol would allow you an 18 panel, 4 kW system; this could generate about 3700 units per year and would earn about £1650 a year. Giving you a 12% return on you investment and saving 1.9 Tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Value The Twinheat range of biomass boilers are well proven and competitively priced with thousands of successful installations throughout Europe and the UK. Don’t take our word for it - see us at this year’s Bath and West Show.

About Ethical Solar We are an experienced, enthusiastic and caring team that will guide you through the whole process We install and supply high quality, performance tested solar PV systems that are the most sustainable, low-carbon installations available Fully warranted with insurance backed guarantee for 10 years Part of being Ethical involves delivering great value. It doesn't have to cost more to do the right thing We love to talk about solar energy, give us a call to see how it could work for you Visit

01963 32604

. www.biomassheating.co.uk

www.ethicalsolar.org 0117 314 9040

or call

Solarsense The South West’s leading solar installer since 1994 Installers of solar thermal and PV systems.  Sell surplus power at premium rates with the Clean Energy Cashback Scheme: - Up to 41.3p per kilowatt hour sold back to the grid.

- Expect a return on installation 'investment' cost of 8-12%.  Solarsense have installed over 4,000 domestic and commercial solar systems throughout the South West. Projects include the Clifton Lido, Redland Park United Reformed Church and the newly activated 200kW PV array at Glastonbury Festival's Worthy Farm, the largest private roof system in the UK.

www.solarsense-uk.com

01275 461 800

info@solarsense-uk.com

I scraped the leaves away to discover that the rhubarb crowns had survived the cold to begin their journey into the light and unknowingly towards our kitchen. I was on my way to join the first work party organised by Sims Hill Shared Harvest, a new community supported agriculture project close to the M32 motorway on the north Bristol fringe. This was an emotional moment for me as I walked down the icy track which still forms the access point to and across the finger of largely derelict market garden land which once helped

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n e d r a G Market forces New agri-culture springs to life by the motorway. feed the city. I had been envisioning such a moment for years now in my quest to try and support a revitalisation which might see our cities beginning to think about feeding themselves once again.

Plans are afoot here to develop a vegetable growing initiative to regenerate some of the high quality agricultural land which has tumbled down to rough grazing uses.

Such initiatives are to be welcomed as Bristol begins to wrestle with its future

ongoing scholarship to an audience which contained several members of market gardening families who used to produce vegetables from this fertile strip. They provided me with yet more information to keep me going for another year.

However, I was stopped in my tracks by one gentleman who suggested that I was wearing a pair of rose tinted spectacles through which to view what he saw as the impossibility of fighting the economic logic of the currently dominant global

It seems that a number of community groups “ interested in getting involved in food-related

activities are taking the opportunity to negotiate leases of land from the local authority

foodscapes. It seems that a number of community groups interested in getting involved in food-related activities are taking the opportunity to negotiate leases of land from the local authority. There is clearly an upsurge of interest from a younger generation of people wanting to re-engage with food growing in this part of the city and their projects are beginning to shape up.

Last week (just a couple of miles away at Frenchay Chapel) I gave an illustrated lecture on “Market gardens on the north Bristol-presents, pasts and futures” to the Frenchay Tuckett Society. I reported on my

April/May 2011

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food system which has rendered this land derelict. “Rhubarb” he said in defending his bottom line accountant’s position on my lack of economic understanding.

I agreed with him in part, but only in part.

I countered his assertions by suggesting that what I was doing here was to think beyond current obsessions with global food provisioning to consider what a relocalised foodscape for the 21st century might look like and what part a fertile land resource on our doorsteps might play in it.

He was unmoved. I went home chastened, yet still deeply involved with ideas for

creating new agri-cultural landscapes in our own places. My own sense of the part good, well-managed soil plays in all of this was summed up beautifully by Thomas C. Chamberlin who suggested that: “when our soils are gone, we too, must go unless we find some way to feed on raw rock.”

In the meantime, I will be suggesting that we commission a piece of vegetable art to sit on the plinth overlooking the M32 into Bristol. One only has to sit at its base for a few minutes to see the global food harvest in motion as food lorry after food lorry moves in and out of the city. Perhaps a giant rhubarb stick proclaiming the beginnings of a re-emergence of Bristol’s food culture would be really appropriate as a symbol of our re-connection between city and countryside at a time of profound concerns over local and global food security.

RICHARD SPALDING Richard Spalding teaches Human Geography and Environmental Studies at UWE in Bristol.

Whilst sitting as the Chair of South Gloucestershire Local Food and Drinks Partnership and Winternourne Medieval Barn Trust, he also finds time to grow a few vegetables of his own too!

greenliving_a planet worth saving

“Taken from our room in Hotel Los Jazmines after a thunderstorm storm passed over. Viñales is said to be Fidel Castro’s favorite place in Cuba, the area once covered by limestone (“karst”) has eroded away, leaving mountains with steep sides and rounded, jungle like tops. The mountains are called mogotes, which means “haystacks”. The red, iron rich farmland and unique microclimate produce the best cigars in the world.”

Viñales Valley Pinar Del Rio, Cuba

Picture taken by James Hall, Bristol

A planet worth saving...

greenliving_a planet worth saving

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