Sustainable Girton News

We very much hope that everyone in Girton will have received their Sustainable Girton cotton bags by the time you read this article. Only half the bags arrived before the launch date and the remainder have been beset by numerous delays. We have just received them as I write, so if you still do not have your bag the fault is now probably ours: do let us know!

We have been delighted by the response of the Village to our campaign, and we have received many requests from elsewhere in Cambridgeshire (and outside!) by groups which would like to follow us. Meanwhile we are exploring the possibility of providing cornstarch bags for those products where a cotton bag may just not do. These can then be composted when you have finished with them. We would be very interested to know what you think our next step might be in avoiding unnecessary waste.

There have been a few small wrinkles we had not anticipated. Villagers putting out glass and metals in their green boxes not in plastic bags discovered that some of our refuse collectors had not been briefed: urgent talks are currently taking place but until those have ended we may need to ask people to bend their principles just a little; and we must apologise to anyone who has been inconvenienced. As to where you can get such bags, well I find that more than enough come through my letter-box each day wrapped round journals and magazines. And if absolutely necessary, the stores sell plastic rubbish bags which at least are not likely to end up blowing around the Recreation Ground -- or the Pacific Ocean.

Recap (Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) who supported our Girton bags have another great offer for us. You can buy a compost bin for only £7 including delivery; but this offer will close at the end of March. You can buy on-line at www.recyclenow.com/compost or by old-fashioned post from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). We have a number of leaflets with information and an order-form (though there is a £1 surcharge for orders by post). Please contact Douglas de Lacey (565219) for one.

Would you take thirty pounds out of your account from a cash machine, and then throw ten straight into the rubbish-bin? No? Would you buy half-a-dozen eggs and three apples from the local store, and then when you came home throw an apple and two eggs straight into the rubbish-bin? This, effectively, is what we do as a nation: about one-third of all the food bought is thrown away. And that is not peelings and skins, it is good, edible food. Not only is this wasteful, but the food which you put into your black bin goes into landfill and when rotting down produces methane, a greenhouse gas much worse than carbon dioxide. So here are some tips for cutting down on your food waste, making big savings for the climate and your pocket.

• Don't buy more than you need. Pre-packs of fruit and vegetables are generally no cheaper than loose produce and with loose you can buy just what you want, and pick out the best too. You'll also avoid the pre-pack plastic bag.
• Try growing your own. Home-grown food, even on a modest scale, is easy and always fresher than bought. Try lettuce in a tub if you have no garden space; and of course pots of herb on the windowsill.
• Store foods wisely. You may be aware that bananas produce chemicals which cause other fruit to ripen more quickly, so it's a good idea to store them separately. All fruit and vegetables keep better in a fridge: just take out what you need for the day ahead. If you freeze fresh vegetables, do so in small units so you can thaw just what you need.
• Re-use left-overs. In the "good old days" Sunday's joint became Monday's mince and Tuesday's soup; with a fridge you can keep bits until you have the ingredients for a really nourishing soup which can then go into the freezer until needed.
• Fill your freezer. Every time you open the freezer door you will lose all the cold air which filled the spaces. When you have put in all the food you have, if it's not full add empty sealed containers to trap that cold air.
• When you have done all you can -- try not to put food waste in the black bin, but into the green one for compost. In our household we have a container in the freezer for food waste. Once a fortnight this gets emptied into newspaper for the green bin. Result: no smells, no mess and no methane! (Yes, composting does produce carbon dioxide but that is not so bad, and it also provides a useful product.)

As I write this it is 80 degrees (Fahrenheit; 27 in Centigrade) in the shade, with no breath of wind. Keeping cool is quite a problem. I notice that many of my neighbours have their windows wide open, which may seem sensible but in fact is counter-productive. So this month, in the hope that the warm weather will return before the end of summer, here are some cool tips.

• Open windows when the outside temperature is lower than that indoors. This will be in the evenings and (if you can do so safely) overnight. Cool air will enter the house and the temperature of the building will drop.
• As soon as the outside temperature rises above that indoors, shut all windows. Do this before you go to work if you are out all day. Draw curtains on south-facing windows. This prevents hot air entering the house and warming it up. Similarly, closing doors between the north and south of your house will ensure that north-facing rooms will stay as cool as possible.
• The exception to this is a glass conservatory, which is designed to trap heat. Here if you cannot cover the windows you need to open as many as possible to let the hot air out. Fitting blinds is a good way of keeping a conservatory cool in summer.
• Open fridges and freezers as little as possible. A fridge keeps its inside cool by pumping heat into the surrounding air: the more it has to work, the hotter the room will get. If your freezer is not very full, fill it with empty boxes, which will keep the cold air inside from escaping into the room when you open the door.
• Check your central heating/hot water timings. Many people will have switched off the heating phase, but may still be running hot water heating for much of the day. As you are likely to use less hot water, so you need to heat it less. If your hot water tank is well lagged you may only need a brief boost to provide all the hot water you need.

Last month I suggested a simple Energy Challenge: get as many miles per gallon from your car as you can. Here is the next idea for optimising your fuel consumption.

To measure consumption all you need to do is to fill your tank, and take a record of the milometer reading. From then on, record the quantity of fuel you buy and the milometer reading: it doesn't matter if you don't fill the tank completely as over a fairly short period the error produced by not filling to the brim will become negligible. We would be delighted to learn what economies you have achieved, and if you send us the readings, and the car you are driving, we'll publish the high-scorers (taking into account the manufacturer's expected figures) -- anonymously if you wish.

Only one suggestion this month, because it may be a little more difficult to understand. When driving through a town, you can often find yourself involved in a lot of stop-start motoring because of traffic lights and other problems. This can also be true even on a motorway, where you can get waves of traffic which go quite fast till they meet stopped traffic, then everyone starts up again and moves quite fast till the next wave. The result is that everyone is involved in frequent braking and acceleration; that is, frequent wastage of fuel. It is possible to even out these waves, with no loss of time but great saving of fuel, by trying to drive at a constant, slower, speed. You will probably be worried, to begin with, by the huge gap which opens up between yourself and the car in front; and no doubt occasionally someone will try to overtake you to fill it; but with a little practice you will find that just as you approach the stopped traffic it has started to move again and you can carry on at your steady, economical, speed.

I hope you are already beginning to see some savings in your fuel bill if you are following the suggestions of the past two months. Maybe you are now achieving 30, 40, 45 mpg? Well, there is some time in most drivers' experience when they clock up a staggering 0mpg: when the engine is idling. So this month we shall look at that.

When are you most likely to have the engine idle? When you first start the car, when you are waiting for the kids, at traffic lights or jams, when you have just a little errand ...

In the Bad Old Days, it may have been necessary to let the car warm up before driving off. Not today. So make sure that everyone is in the car and comfortable, that your seat belt is on, that the mirrors are adjusted and all systems go, before you start the engine. If the weather is cold, letting the engine idle for a couple of minutes is not going to have a noticeable effect on the cabin heating system, but it will have an effect on your wallet. Start up -- and go.

When you are stopped in traffic, and it's clear you will be there for a little while, switch off. How long is "a little while"? Well, experiments suggest that restarting a modern engine uses about as much fuel as six seconds of idling. So a ten-second rule seems reasonable: if the lights are likely to be red for 10 seconds or more, switch off.

I recently got into conversation with a motorist who was emptying his plastics and tetrapaks into our collection bins on the Recreation Ground. Having expressed my pleasure at his attitude, I asked him gently what he thought of the fact that his engine was all the while needlessly wasting fuel. His shocked expression showed me that he had just never thought of it: the bad habit was instinctive -- but has now been stopped in his case. More silly still is to leave the engine on when popping into a shop for a paper: you are in danger of losing not just a few millilitres of fuel but, if the wrong person is nearby, the whole car.

Idling cars don't only waste money. Idling is most common in densely populated areas: city centres or at shops, where there is a higher-than-average number of pedestrians. They will appreciate the cleaner air which results from stopped engines.

Now here's a tip which will both increase your fuel efficiency (though it may not seem like it at first), and certainly save you money. Cut out short trips completely: cycle or walk instead. How does this improve your car's consumption? Well, a car is less efficient when the engine is cold and for the first mile or so you will be using perhaps twice as much fuel as your average. And your catalytic converter will not work when cold, so you will also be polluting the atmosphere far more through a number of short journeys than one long one. When you do decide to drive, plan the journey to minimise mileage, and try to combine several errands in a single trip.

Douglas de Lacey

In a slightly strange twist on 'The Generation Game' (i.e. without the conveyor belt, but with the odd assortment of unwanted items) members of Sustainable Girton came away from their foraging on the Rec at the start of July with the following treasures: a white plastic garden chair, a large metal tank, a length of down pipe, some lumps of concrete stuck to wire mesh, an aluminium scaffolding pole, a swivel chair, a tube for tree planting, part of a bay window frame in hardwood, other lengths of wood, a waste paper basket, a sign warning that the premises were patrolled, and half a dozen bags full of the sundry detritus of modern life; newspapers, plastic drinks bottles, cans, sweet wrappers and the like. Alas, no cuddly toy.

The items did at least have one more purpose, in providing a display at the entrance to the 'Show' last weekend, and it was interesting to share the views of those who stopped to chat. Most of us were of the opinion that it was bizarre that so much stuff finds its way into our hedgerows, ditches, and public areas. There seems little obvious justification for dumping material like this, or simply neglecting it, when the Milton Recycling Centre is so close. Many of the discarded items SG has recovered over the last two years have clearly been driven to their resting place, when a better alternative is on our doorstep.

Fortunately, all the scrap metal stored in my front garden from the collection has been taken away, and will make someone a little bit of money, the cans and bottles have been put where they can do some good (in the recycling bins in the car park), and the very obliging team at South Cambs Council have been only too willing to remove the rest.

So, one small part of our lovely village is a bit tidier, some small profit has come from the reuse and recycling of about half the rubbish recovered, and one person who went to the Rec that July day to enjoy the swings found themselves unexpectedly volunteering to help look after a place they value. If you would also like to take part in such ventures please look out for the notices in future editions of the Parish News. Indeed, my thanks go to the 30 people who signed the pledge to look after their bit of Girton in return for entry into the #Guess How Many Sweets in the Jar' competition, and my congratulations go to Heather whose guess was the closest. Just in case you were wondering the actual number was 67.

Keith Archer

It may not be the best title, but "Not In My Neighbourhood" is the Home Office's latest attempt at crime reduction: we don't want crime here. And 15--21 October has been designated Not In My Neighbourhood Week. Crime seems to thrive on squalor, and so part of South Cambridgeshire's contribution is to make litter-picking kits available to groups who wish to tidy up their neighbourhoods. Sustainable Girton has already undertaken some very successful litter-picks, but with equipment from SCDC (including forks, brooms, grabbers, gloves and hi-vis jackets) we hope to make a show and make a difference some time during this week. If there is an area you feel could do with a concerted litter-pick do let us know -- and do join us! Details will go up on the village notice-boards nearer the event.

Douglas de Lacey for Sustainable Girton

Two groups in neighbouring villages will be holding a series of meetings in the coming months to help people who are interested to reduce their environmental impact, and both have invited anyone from Girton with an interest to join them.

Dry Drayton Green Group are trying to give people the information they need to help them take action to save money and reduce carbon emissions, with all the following presentations being held in the Dry Drayton Village Hall at 7.30pm:

• 7th Oct: Energy Saving - Practical action for individuals and the community
• 4th Nov: Green Drayton - Taking the village plan forward
• 2nd Dec: Towards a carbon neutral home - Some local case studies

For more information on Dry Drayton Green Group please contact Sandra and Bill Martin: email sandrabill@leisureconsult.freeserve.co.uk or phone 782705.

Histon & Impington Climate Care Action (HICCA) are providing a course of five fortnightly sessions to discuss how to reduce your "carbon footprint". The course starts on 8th October and you can get full details from their website http://www.hicca.org.uk/carbonchallenge.html or by emailing info@hicca.org.uk or by phoning Siobhan Mellon on 503417.

Kieran Mansley

I wonder if you have an idea of the kind of person who writes articles about sustainability for Parish Magazines? Are they bearded and of a certain age? Are they unwashed, and do they hug trees? Are they dangerously subversive, or killjoys? Is "don't" one of their favourite words? Do they live in scruffy houses packed with junk? Do they want to turn us all into vegetarians?

The Oxford Thesaurus throws up some interesting associations of its own. Of the word "sustain", for example, it suggests: uphold, support, continue, prolong, reinforce, strengthen, buttress, endure, withstand, bear, carry, recognise, approve. And of its close relative "sustenance": nourishment, daily bread, livelihood, maintenance.

Of all these the words "prolong" and "maintenance" seem to be the least poetic, but they do share one fundamental similarity to rest, and that is they imply the giving of something. You cannot sustain, uphold, strengthen, nor even nourish, without giving something thats needed. So far from being a long list of "don'ts" it really is a long list of "dos".

This idea also points to the obvious fact that if you keep taking from something it will eventually disappear. However, the lesson from recent history in Britain is that this is not the case. If you run out of something, buy another. If it breaks, buy another. We are indeed fortunate to be able to consume so much, but for how much longer?

It will be interesting to see how our society develops over the next 50 years, although predicting the future is notoriously difficult. The certainties of yesterday are already looking ridiculous in the face of current world financial problems, but we should be certain of one thing - it will be different - and the degree to which our lifestyles will be affected must be related to the degree we nourish, strengthen, recognise, support, and even endure.

For the record I don't have a beard, and havent reached a certain age yet. I wash, though not as much as my wife, and I love trees. My house is scruffier than I wish it to be, but it takes a long time to build your own future. And in case you were wondering, my favourite word is "do".

Keith Archer