Sustainable Girton News

January 6 is Twelfth Night, the festival of the Epiphany (except in the Orthodox Church, when January 6 is Christmas Day). Traditionally, it is the day when Christmas decorations are taken down, and the house can seem a bit empty. This year Sustainable Girton is organising a final Christmas treat, on Saturday 14 January at the Glebe School. Among the attractions there will be:

• A competition for all children: bring a Christmas decoration which you made from recycled materials (things which have already been used for something else: of course there may be paint, tinsel and so on which can be new).
• The Girton Electric Float, with a Green Father Christmas to receive any unwanted Christmas presents or items replaced by Christmas presents. These will be donated to appropriate charities. Father Christmas will judge the competition at the end of the event.
• The National Trust's "Black Gold Project" shredder, to turn your Christmas Tree into a bagful of compostable shreddings for a donation of just £1. Shredded material will also be available to anyone who brings a bag, also for a £1 donation. All money collected will go to the School for the purchase of equipment for extra-curricular activities.
• Girton's "Master Composters" with a display about composting, tips on making your own compost, and give-aways to get you started.

The event will run from 11am to 2.30pm, and the winner of the competition will be announced in February's Girton Parish News

We already have as much material as we can cope with in February, but if you would like to arrange a visit in March or April please contact either Don (562232) or John (276757).

Girton's Master Composters are arranging a Seed Swap event on Saturday, 11 March at 3pm in the Cotton Hall. For an entry fee of just 50p you can browse the range of seeds used in Girton and exchange your surplus seeds for others. Be encouraged to grow something different this year! There will also be experts on hand to give advice on growing the seeds you receive. Please bring any seeds you have saved from own your garden or allotment, and remember to label the packets!

The seed swap is organised in conjunction with the Girton Garden Society and Girton Allotments Society.

For further details contact John on 276757.

The next shredding date will be some time in April, and details will be given next month. If you would like to arrange a visit to have your garden waste shredded, please contact either Don (562232) or John (276757).

During Compost Awareness Week organisations the length and breadth of the country (and indeed in other countries) that are involved in some way with compost or composting make an extra special effort to raise awareness about composting and the benefits it can have on the environment and in the garden.

This year´s Compost Awareness Week will focus on highlighting to the general public some of the people and places that act as examples of composting excellence. Throughout the week these "Compost Flagships" will be opening their doors and welcoming visitors, offering them the chance to see composting in action, hopefully dispelling any myths, and showing just how wonderful composting can be both for the environment and for the garden.

At the beginning of 2006 the committee of the Girton Allotment Society agreed with the Sustainable Girton Project to set up a composting facility on the allotments site. Sustainable Girton's Master Composters gathered a dozen pallets which were treated against rotting, and these formed the basic structure of three composting bays.

Following work on the allotment trees and hedges, and a visit from the National Trust's Black Gold Project, we started with a large pile of wood chippings. To these has been added green waste from Peter Graves Florist, and one bay is already nearly full. It will take some time to rot down, but in due course we plan to offer to allotment holders a supply of well-balanced compost.

The management of the composting bays has been entrusted by the Allotment Society's committee to the Master Composters, and material should not be added by anyone else. We shall advise the committee when compost is available. The Master Composters will also be happy to give advice to anyone having problems with waste from their own allotments.

On 13 May, as part of Compost Awareness Week organised by Garden Organic (formerly HDRA), the Allotment Society's committee has agreed to allow visitors to view the new facility. The event will run from 2pm to 5pm, and Master Composters will be in attendance to guide visitors and answer questions. Matt Vernon from the National Trust's Black Gold shredding project will also be in attendance as will members of Garden Organic, with literature and advice.

Visitors will also be able to see other examples of the ways in which allotment holders deal with their waste, from the very good to the very bad. What they all have in common is the fact that you simply cannot help making compost if you try!

The Sustainable Girton Master Composters are: Douglas de Lacey, Don Henderson and John Ranken. They can be reached by e-mailing compost [at] sustainable-girton.org.uk or by phone on 276757.

Shredding enables you to convert garden waste such as hard shrub and tree prunings, brambles etc into material ideal for layering into a compost heap as an alternative to a garden fire or disposal in your green wheelie bin. Branches up to about 1 inch in diameter can be shredded and larger ones if they are split to a maximum of 1 inch. We will bring the machine to your garden and we will be happy for you to assist where practicable.

The shredder scheme runs through to Autumn and anyone resident in Girton can arrange for a visit by phoning Don on 562232 or John on 276757. The next shredding day is May 27.

The scheme is run on a voluntary basis, free of charge to residents, and to cover the running costs of fuel, oil and maintenance work we are relying on donations from those who use the scheme or who wish to support the promotion of home composting as an alternative to landfill and garden fires.

The Operators
Girton Community Shredder

Saturday 13 May was a cloudy day threatening a storm, but a steady stream of visitors nevertheless visited the Girton Allotments as part of Compost Awareness Week. As a "flagship site" of composting in Cambridgeshire, we proudly flew a flag made by local schoolchildren to advertise the benefits of composting.

With the help of Garden Organic (formerly HDRA) and the National Trust a display was set up to explain the ins and outs of composting, and visitors were able to see the new composting facility recently set up on the Allotment site. They could poke into the two-month-old bay where hedge trimmings and tree loppings, combined with waste from Graves the florist, are already rotting down into good compost; while next to it a second bay has just begun its work. They also visited some of the wide array of other processes employed by allotment holders to turn their waste into compost. The visitors took away with them a number of mementos -- not filched from allotments but donated by Garden Organic -- and also a bag of compost donated by Donarbon. However, this was something of a challenge to our many visitors who arrived by bike, and there were several bags to spare, gratefully snapped up by our own allotment holders.

The day was a success despite the weather, and we hope everyone involved will be encouraged to turn more of their waste into a valuable garden product. The Master Composters, trained by Garden Organic, are always happy to advise. The Sustainable Girton Master Composters are: Douglas de Lacey, Don Henderson and John Ranken. They can be reached by e-mailing compost [at] sustainable-girton.org.uk or by phone on 276757.

Shredding enables you to convert garden waste such as hard shrub and tree prunings, brambles etc into material ideal composting. We will bring the machine to your garden and we will be happy for you to assist where practicable.

The shredder scheme runs through to Autumn and anyone resident in Girton can arrange for a visit by phoning Don on 562232 or John on 276757.

The scheme is run on a voluntary basis, free of charge to residents, and to cover the running costs of fuel, oil and maintenance work we are relying on donations from those who use the scheme or who wish to support the promotion of home composting as an alternative to landfill and garden fires.

The Operators, Girton Community Shredder

It can hardly have escaped your attention over the past few weeks that parts of the country are suffering from a water shortage. Here in Cambridgeshire we've not yet had any restrictions imposed, but that's no reason to be complacent. Cambridge Water reports that its borehole levels are currently very low, if not yet critical. With dry weather and a rising population, our region's water supply will be coming under increasing pressure over the coming years.

Purifying rain water to make it safe for drinking consumes energy, and treating the waste water that we send back via the drains and sewers before it can be released consumes yet more.

We also need to share the available rain water with our environment. Take too much, and rivers and fen land will dry up, resulting in the loss of habitats for much of our native wildlife.

While the water companies could do much more to fix the leaks in their pipes - and we hope you'll encourage them to do so - there are many things that we can all do ourselves to help.

• Go easy in the garden. Most plants, if given the chance, will send their roots down deep enough to find what water there is, so save your water for those that really need it. Use a watering can rather than a hose, and give them a good soak once a week rather than a little every day. Water in the evening so it has a chance to soak in overnight.
• Use a water butt. These are inexpensive, easy to fit to a drainpipe, and come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit all spaces. You can get them from most garden centres, or on special offer from the county council by phoning 0845 130 60 90. The water can be used in the garden or for other jobs such as washing your car or bicycle. Of course, not washing your car at all saves even more water, so only do things like this when necessary!
• Be conscious of how much water you're using around the home. Don't leave taps running, do fix leaks and drips, and fit a water saving device to your toilet cistern to cut down how much you flush away. These are available from Cambridge Water (http://www.cambridge-water.co.uk/ 01223 70 60 50) free of charge, or there is a more sophisticated device available from Interflush (http://www.interflush.co.uk/ 0845 045 0276) that lets you vary the flush to whatever is required.
• Re-use grey water. Grey water is water you've already used once, for washing up or in the bath for example, but it can be used again in much the same way as you would use water from a water butt.
• Wash efficiently. Modern washing machines and dishwashers can use less water than some people would use doing the same job by hand in the sink, but make sure you always have a full load before using them; and if replacing a machine that has reached the end of its life, look for water and energy efficient models as they can vary a lot. Take short showers rather than baths, or share the bath water.

These are just a few ideas for saving water, and saving yourself money in the process, but it is far from exhaustive. If you want more advice or information, you can visit our website at http://www.sustainable-girton.org.uk or contact Cambridge Water on 01223 70 60 50.

On 17 May the Glebe School Garden Club had a visit from Douglas de Lacey, one of Girton's Master Composters. Douglas brought a number of things with him, including a bag of material dug from his own compost heap, a number of strips of newspaper, a sieve and a packet of seeds. He first explained to the children how most organic material will quickly rot down to produce good compost, and the children looked at the make-up of his compost under a magnifying-glass. Douglas then showed the children how to make a seed-pot out of a strip of newspaper by wrapping it round your fingers and tucking the base in firmly. They sieved some of the compost, filled their pots and planted a sunflower seed to take home with them.

The Club, which is supported by Sustainable Girton, has gone from strength to strength, and the children have already been able to enjoy some of the produce they are growing. Oakington Garden Centre donated a water butt to the club which was much appreciated during the hot dry days of early June. Thanks to the Centre for the gift. And thanks to the children for a huge "thank you" card which they made for Douglas.

On 15 June the children from Reception and Years 1 and 2 at the Glebe School paid a visit to the Allotments. As well as learning about the nature of the Allotments scheme (Allotments are one of the very few amenities which the Parish Council is obliged by law to provide) and seeing some allotment holders at work, they saw the large compost bays which the Master Composters have been running since March, the first of which is already well rotted. They were able to trace the history of green waste from freshly-pulled weeds through the stages of rotting-down to the fine tilth of a mature compost heap, ready to repeat the cycle of food growth.

We are impressed at the effect of these encounters. We are told that as a result one boy has insisted that his family take on an allotment, and other children are learning how to compost and grow crops for themselves. The school is planning to buy a special composter. And Douglas learned not to take too much for granted: having explained that for the best compost you need to mix green and brown waste, he asked for an example of something green. "Sir, please sir!" offered an excited child, "wine bottles!"

June saw the fifth anniversary of the Cambrigdeshire Master Composters Programme. Birthday celebrations were held in Girton College, which is quite appropriate since the programme has trained no fewer than five Girtonians. Three of these were instrumental in the establishment of Sustainable Girton, and run the Village shredder. And a sixth is shortly to attend a training course.

Mark Shelton, County Council Waste Policy Manager, and Dr Margi Lennartsson from HDRA/Garden Organic explained how the Programme had developed by a happy coincidence: just as the Council was searching for a partner to help in waste management, HDRA was beginning to look for openings for composting training, and so the Cambrigdeshire Master Composters Programme was born. Five years later there are over 200 Composters on the books, most of them taking active part in a wide range of activities to promote composting as an alternative to putting green waste into landfill.

Birthday parties mean birthday cakes, and ours was in the shape of a big compost container; chocolate made a suitably dark material both for the bin and for the rich loam inside.

There was also a lot of fun, as well as a more serious side as we talked about future opportunities and pooled our ideas including a proposed national conference for Master Composters. Recently Master Composters have run Compost Awareness Week, with a compost give-away at Girton Allotments, and parts of Cambridge's Sustainable City events. If you want any advice or help with any area of your own composting we would be pleased to assist: if we don't know the answers there are all the resources of HDRA for us to draw on.

The Master composters movement is a good example of where something initially seen as a problem is turned into an opportunity. Sustainable Girton hopes we can provide many others, from the burnt-out lightbulb which allows you to switch to low-energy bulbs, to rising costs of power which may encourage you to move to solar energy.

Shredding enables you to convert garden waste such as hard shrub and tree prunings, brambles etc into material ideal composting. Now most birds have finished nesting is a good time to tackle your hedges, especially if they are invading footpaths or other public space. We will bring the machine to your garden and we will be happy for you to assist where practicable.

The shredder scheme runs through to Autumn and anyone resident in Girton can arrange for a visit by phoning Don on 562232 or John on 276757. This month's date is 19 August.

The scheme is run on a voluntary basis, free of charge to residents, and to cover the running costs of fuel, oil and maintenance work we are relying on donations from those who use the scheme or who wish to support the promotion of home composting as an alternative to landfill and garden fires.

The Sustainable Girton Shredder will be in action again on September 16th. If you would like to arrange a visit to shred your excess garden waste please contact either Don (562232) or John (276757).

The Energy Saving Trust is a non-profit organisation run by the government to promote energy saving measures, provide advice and help on how you can do this, and grants to make it cheaper for everyone. This includes the Anglia Advice Centre, based in Peterborough, who can:

• Help make your home more energy efficient including grants for insulation and other energy saving measures.
• Help you select the best renewable energy system for your home.
• Identify accredited renewable energy and insulation installers.
• Provide information on grants for all of these.
• Give advice on how to travel in a way that will reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The Trust has a 5-step system for households wanting to improve their energy efficiency through methods such as solar heating panels, photovoltaic (PV) solar electricity, ground source heat pumps and small scale wind energy:

1. Contact EST (see below) for information on available grants and advice.
2. Check to ensure that full conservation measures are already in place; eg cavity wall & loft insulation, low energy light bulbs etc. There is little point in introducing new energy generation systems if savings are not first being made through conservation.
3. Check the property for suitability and whether planning permission is needed. Outside conservation areas this should not be a problem for solar systems.
4. Contact Installers. EST can recommend suitable ones.
5. Check availability and apply for Government grants, with EST help.

The Energy Saving Trust also has a detailed Home Energy check-up questionnaire. This enables them to assess where your energy leaks are. Typical savings of 20% on energy bills can be made by following subsequent EST advice.

EST don't just advise homeowners either - if you're renting, or running a business, they'll be able to help you there too.

For more information contact Energy Saving Trust Advice Centre Anglia (http://www.est.org.uk/anglia - tel. 0800 512012)

Shredding enables you to convert garden waste such as hard shrub and tree prunings, brambles &c into material ideal for layering into a compost heap as an alternative to a garden fire or disposal in your green wheelie bin. We will bring the machine to your garden and we will be happy for you to assist where practicable. In October we shall be joining forces with the National Trust's Black Gold project, and their shredder can cope with tree trunks up to 6ins (150mm) in diameter. So now is the time to get those big pruning jobs done!

Please note that you undertake to compost the results if we shred them: we can give advice on how to do this. We shall also advise you on how to stack the prunings to enable us to cope with them. To arrange for a visit phone Don on 562232 or John on 276757. The next shredding day is Wednesday, October 18.

The scheme is run on a voluntary basis, free of charge, but to cover the running costs we ask for a donation.

The Operators
Girton Community Shredder

Girton's Master Composters put on a small display at the Allotments Open Day on 10 September, a perfect day for being in the open air. Visitors could see how the communal compost heap which we started in February is now nearly ready to be sifted and put back into the soil, and compare it with the second heap which was only filled two days earlier. We also marked allotments where green manure is being grown, ready to be dug in early next year to enrich the soil; and we offered green manure seed (mustard) to those who want to grow their own. It is an excellent way of keeping weeds down and helping the soil, and if you are quick a late sowing can be made on any patch of ground you hope to cultivate next year. We even have some seed left over!

You can contact the Master Composters by emailing compost [at] sustainable-girton.org.uk, or phoning John on 276757.

Wednesday November 22nd, 8--10pm, in the Pavilion. All welcome!

A great deal has happened over the last two years since a small group of energy enthusiasts first met to discuss issues of long-term sustainability for Girton.

• An electric truck has been renovated and used for collection of unwanted tools and Christmas presents for reuse
• A feasibility study for wind generation of electricity for the Village has been commissioned, as a basis for future plans
• A "carbon footprinting" exercise has been carried out, and the information shared has led to a number of householders adopting energy-saving measures including their own domestic generation of power
• There is regular community shredding and composting in the Village
• New initiatives have started with the Glebe School and the Allotments Society

Also, though not our responsibility, the last two years have seen an increasing concern nationally about the problems of sustainability, and the need to find ways to mitigate climate change. Internationally Al Gore has made a film on The Inconvenient Truth of global warming. So we feel the time has come to review what has been achieved so far in Girton, and look to the future. There are many opportunities for new initiatives in e.g. domestic energy projects, regular collections of batteries and mobile phones, and in working with other groups in the village.

So on 22 November we plan an open meeting in the Pavilion on Girton Recreation Ground. There will be short reports on our activities over the last two years, but the main purpose is to allow an open discussion to help us set priorities and plans for the future. We very much want to know what you think, and what you want for Girton's sustainable future. Please bring your ideas with you.

We hope to see you in the Pavilion at 8pm on 22 November.

Leaving electrical appliances in "standby mode", rather than turning them off at the wall, has long been cited as waste of electricity. Statistics about how many power stations we could decommission if we all turned off our TVs are often in the press, but usually with little substance to back these claims up. Sustainable Girton have been measuring some typical household appliances to see how much they really use in standby, how much you could save if you turned them all off, and how this relates to other energy saving measures.

We measured a number of appliances that are commonly left on or in standby. While your particular model of TV might use more or less than these, our results should give you a rough idea of how much power is involved, and should you want to measure your own devices we'd be happy to help.

This comes to a total of 83 Watts in standby which if left running all year amounts to a cost of about £75. This is not an insignificant sum by any means, and so it is clearly financially beneficial to turn things off.

Environmentally speaking, the generation of this electricity will result in the production of over 300 kg of CO₂ each year. To give you an idea of what this means, it is roughly equivalent to the pollution produced by driving 870 miles in a typical car (i.e. just over two miles per day), or about 10% of the pollution from the average person's annual electricity and gas use.

There are clearly bigger ways to make a difference to the amount of energy you use -- avoiding one short car journey per day for example -- but cutting out the wasted energy of appliances on standby is an easy change to make. It really surprised us how much some appliances use, and how much this adds up to when left on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

If you would like to measure your own appliances, then please get in touch and we'd be happy to help.

The regular shredding scheme will now take a break until the Spring, but if you do have a pile of hedge clippings, tree prunings or other woody waste do contact us to see if we can fit in a visit. Call Don on 562232 or John on 276757.