Coventry City Council staff are now using EcoTeams materials for a staff EcoTeam meeting at lunchtimes and sharing ideas for both home and work.

Volunteers from Greenfields Community Housing are also looking at how EcoTeams can be rolled out within existing community groups and networks.  

We have also heard of another team set up in the Reigate area, based on success with the teams in Redhill and Merstham.

Well done to all who are involved in taking these teams forward.

Members of the Asian Blind Association with their United Nations Environment Programme certificate for their EcoTeam

The group had great fun doing their EcoTeam as part of their regular meetings and were also very interested in the Tap into Savings home visits. Other groups in Coventry to have undertaken EcoTeams as part of Tap into Savings include:

• Canley Mums and Tots
• Canley over 50s
• Tile Hill Neighbourhood Watch
• Coventry Soroptimists
• staff from Coventry City Council

Although most of the EcoTeams are now finished in Coventry it’s not to late to find out more about EcoTeams – full information about how to set up and run an EcoTeam is available from the EcoTeams website.

Today Climate Squad launched their Greenprint to 2020, which showed young people’s vision for a sustainable Britain in 2020. Over 1,400 young people took part to create a forward thinking vision of an achievable low carbon world, around the topics of Home and Life, Learning and Work, Power, Food and Travel. 

Greenprint to 2020 launched by Trewin Restorick, CEO of Global Action Plan

Global Action Plan’s CEO Trewin Restorick reflected on the launch of ‘Greenprint to 2020′ in the Guardian.  Here are a few figures from the report: 

• 81% of young people want to see the majority of homes producing their own energy
• 75% say they would like to see people spending more time volunteering
• 80% would like to see science and engineering subjects at school becoming more popular
• Supermarkets and brands might be interested to note that 72% were keen that only products that meet high environmental standards should be stocked

Isabel Bottoms, a Climate Squad volunteer said, 

“I really like this project idea simply because it is our future, and we have everything to fight for. I feel strongly that we need to have a vision to aspire too, and get as many people on board with a positive vision to move forward rather than a depressing one that does not inspire change. Simply put, we need to set the agenda! I look forward to creating it with you.” 

What’s been really encouraging is the feedback we received about our installers – people have found them to be friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. Here are just a few of the comments we’ve received:

“How polite they were as well, you know they took their time to explain to you what he was doing.”

“Well the bloke who came to me he couldn’t have been more helpful.”

“He was marvellous the one that came to me. He was really very, very helpful.”

There has also been some feedback on the water saving products, with the dual flush converter (which gives a standard handle-flush toilet the option of two flush volumes – full flush and half flush) being particularly popular, probably because it’s something that you can almost fit and forget.

“The dual flush – I like that. Saves lots of water.”

People who have tried out the Standby Saver plug have also reported that it’s useful, to help them switch several things off at the same time, rather than leaving them on standby.

We have completed over 550 home visits now and are now able to offer home visits to residents in Earlsdon and Eastern Green. We will be booking visits for a limited period – all requests for a home visit should be made by 18 March. Please contact us to find out more.

EcoTeams in Braintree (‘Keen Team’), Monday mornings
Venue: Eaton’s Cafe, 15 George Yard Shopping Centre, Braintree CM7 1RB

• Monday 21st Feb (10:30 to 12) Water-saving tips
• Monday 14th Mar (10:30 to 12) Rubbish + celebration

EcoTeams in Braintree (‘Eco Titans’), Monday mornings
Venue: OurSpace room, Greenfields House, Charter Way, Braintree CM77 8FG

• Monday 7th Feb (10:30 to 12) Water-saving
• Monday 7th Mar (10:30 to 12) Rubbish + celebration

Halstead Tuesday Evening EcoTeam
Venue: The Mill House (Halstead Town Council), The Causeway, Halstead, CO9 1ET

• Tuesday 15 Feb (7 – 8:30pm) Energy
• Tuesday 8 Mar (7 – 8:30pm) Water (no extra meetings)

Halstead Wednesday daytime EcoTeam meeting
Venue: The Mill House (Halstead Town Council), The Causeway, Halstead, CO9 1ET

• Wednesday 16 Feb (2 – 3:30pm) Energy-saving
• Wednesday 9 Mar (2 – 3:30pm) Water-saving

Braintree Friday daytime EcoTeam
Venue: Braintree Community Centre, Victoria Street, Braintree, CM7 3HN

• Friday 25 Feb (11 – 12:30) Energy-saving
• Friday 18 March (11 – 12:30) Water-saving

The feedback from the first EcoTeams has been really positive, and the participants are seeing some savings in energy and water use. It’s been very encouraging to hear of all the energy and water saving actions that people are already taking and for EcoTeam members to share tips and local information with each other.

• recipe tips for using up leftovers or making the most of fruit picked during the year
• sharing seeds or cuttings from plants
• information about local shops where eco products can be bought
• swapping childrens DVDs to give children a new ‘library’ without needing to buy new items
• feedback about the use of infrared ovens and slow cookers for saving energy when cooking

One of the comments I hear a lot is that older people often have a lot to teach younger people about living with less because they have had good habits drummed into them from an early age. Oxfam has been tapping into that thought through its Green Granny series.

Of course, it’s not a one way street and older people often benefit a lot from working with children and young people, as residents from a housing association in London found out through involvement in a project with Global Action Plan.

Tap into Savings is running several more EcoTeams in Braintree and Coventry. Contact us to find out more.

Also in the news about climate change the Science Museum in London has opened its new ‘atmosphere’ gallery which covers the consensus and questions about climate science. In their own words,

“More than a hands-on gallery, atmosphere reveals some of the key instruments used by today’s scientists, reports on some of the latest climate news, and gives you the chance to dig deeper into the story of our changing climate.”

The gallery gives a feel for the current status of science in a way that people can interact with. Its target audience includes those who are not up to speed with the current scientific consensus on the climate, which probably includes most of us.

Finally on climate change, you can also read Global Action Plan’s CEO Trewin Restorick’s view of “Sustainable marmalade, Cancun and the jilted generation”.

The show home demostrates technology which is already available and will give Greenfields an opportunity to see how these technologies perform and which ones are best value for money.

The water-saving tap fittings are one of the pieces of equipment which are already available to all residents in Braintree District through the Tap into Savings home visits, available up to the end of March 2011.

NB – Raven Housing Trust (Tap into Savings’ partner in Surrey) also have an Eco Makeover project, testing out energy and water saving technology with a family in one of their houses.

Research by WWF and WorldWatch Institute suggests using natural based products. However, some argue that natural products do not clean as effectively as chemicals like bleach. So what is the answer?

Global Action Plan asked some EcoTeam members to try out green cleaning products around the home.

Tina used the traditional method of mixing bicarbonate of soda, white vinegar and lemon juice.  Overall Tina was impressed, “I don’t like the synthetic smells of many conventional cleaning products so I was very happy with these. I was quite surprised at how well baking soda and salt cleaned the oven! And with a small child in the house I feel happier knowing that if they do get hold of this it will be a lot less dangerous than some of the conventional cleaning products”. 

Cleaning with bicarbonate of soda and lemon

Joanne, tested all purpose liquid Orange Mate: “Upon opening the bottle, the smell hits you immediately.  It is sickly-sweet – not my favourite smell.  However, once used, the aroma disappears quite quickly” she says. “I was pleased at how a quick once-over even made the dull bathroom taps shine without having to polish them but was less impressed in the kitchen: it still cleaned perfectly, but I didn’t like having to go back over to rinse away the residue”. 

“Final test – my oven – this would tell me if Orange Mate was a serious cleaner! I knew it was good when one wipe removed the residue of the previous oven cleaner I hadn’t been able to get rid of.  I was very happy with the results.  As an added bonus, it is gentle on the skin – after 20 minutes of scrubbing the oven my skin felt really soft.”

Joanna tested Ecover Toilet cleaner. “On first usage I thought you didn’t get the same effect as bleach, but on further use I found it did a good job and cleaned effectively.” She concluded the two-week trial saying she would be swapping her old brand for Ecover instead.

Finally, Muriel tested Earth Friendly Furniture Polish thought, “the spray worked well, the smell was light and it was effective – it gave a good shine and cleared water marks as well. It was also very good value for money – I even polished our outside table!”

“On the whole our testers were positive about using green cleaning products” said Pam from Global Action Plan, who organised the project. “It shows that Green Cleaning doesn’t have to be a compromise. You can still clean your household effectively whilst making sure you don’t damage the environment.” 

Here are some ideas for making your own green cleaners:

• Descalers – Distilled white vinegar for limescale in kettle and toilet; lemon juice is a fragrant alternative for teapot stains.
• Disinfectant – Thyme oil has disinfectant properties, as does salt. The Green Home Handbook recommends a solution of 1 teaspoon borax in 1 pint hot of water (borax is a natural mineral product available from chemists).
• Oven cleaner – A paste of baking soda and water left on for five minutes and then washed off with a scouring cloth and hot water. Sprinkle salt on spills while still warm to ease their removal once oven is cool.
• Window cleaners – Use 2 tablespoons of distilled white vinegar and a few drops of liquid soap in a spray bottle. Some smearing may occur at first due to waxy build-up from previous cleaners. Remove this with slightly dampened newspaper and a dash of vinegar. Your windows will be smear free and shiny.
• Scourers – Bicarbonate of soda is a good scouring powder for sinks and baths, and polishing chrome. Salt is also abrasive but perhaps not quite as effective.
• Drain blockages – Dissolve a quarter of a cup of baking soda and 50ml of vinegar in boiling water.

See the Women’s Environmental Network for further ideas on natural household cleaners.