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3rd BIGGAR BROWNIES RECYCLING AND WASTE WATCH

For two weeks this year Brownies from the 3rd Biggar pack were asked to keep a record of how much waste was binned and how much was collected for recycling. One week was a waste watch and one week was a recycling watch. Although not all girls managed

to complete the challenge, the results make interesting reading. Waste categories were glass,

plastic, metal, paper and organic. Overall, the girls recycled around one third more glass than they binned; just less plastic than they binned; almost twice as much metal as they binned; almost three times as much paper than they binned and about the same organic

waste was recycled as was binned. This waste and recycling watch formed part of the Brownies' Environment Badge, which they successfully completed in the summer term of 2007. 3rd Biggar Brownies also won first prize in the Biggar Gala Day Under 15 Walking Pageant fancy dress competition with their entry as "Eco Warriors".

Michael McConkey

Live in a modern house in the centre of Biggar. Changed almost all our light bulbs to low energy. Only two are still filament lamps, one where I need a dimmable lamp and a rarely used outside light that I've never taken the cover off. Replaced our antiquated fridge with a low energy rated model. Recently had thermostatic radiator valves fitted. Have changed over to Ecover washing up liquid and cleaning products and was delighted to find that Whitmuir Organic Farm Shop in Lamancha will refill some Ecover products, including the washing up liquid, so I get to re-use the container. Use tumble drier balls which I bought in Cairn Foods. I did some trials and they really do seem to reduce the drying time a little, and towels in particular are much softer after tumbling with the balls in place. Plans for the near future include fitting foil reflectors behind radiators, increasing the loft insulation, and getting some sort of composter set up in the garden.

Emma Stewart & Steve Blow 

Steve and I bought our house in Knocklea in May 2006. Since that time we have established a wildlife garden that contains a pond, hedges, a wildflower meadow, nectar-rich plants, overwintering homes for insects, bird boxes and a log pile. As we are keen to produce our own food we built a raised bed and a greenhouse and now produce a range of fruit and vegetables including raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrents, courgettes, onions, salad, broccoli and runner beans. We have 2 apple trees that look like they will be laden with apples this Autumn. Steve built our greenhouse from timber harvested from the Falls of Clyde Nature Reserve at Lanark where he is Reserve Manager. Rather than having it chemically treated we have painted it with environmentally friendly timber stain which is made from natural oils. He added guttering which feeds a water butt and we have 2 compost bins. Inside the house we are redecorating gradually, we are using natural paints and our kitchen is made from real Oak that is certified as coming from a sustainably-managed forest under FSC system. We have reduced the water we use to flush the toilet by putting some stones in the cystern and we make sure the thermostat is turned down as low as we can bear on the heating. One of the first things we did was get our cavity walls insulated and we got a small grant to help with this but it's not too expensive anyway. Most of our lightbulbs are low-energy and we made sure we had enough loft insulation before we laid the floor up there. We have put reflective panels behind the radiators to reflect heat into the rooms and all our radiators have thermostatic valves. This year we sold one car as we can manage with just the one and we do mix our travel to work with the car and the bus. Later on this year we will be changing electricity supplier to a renewable one.

Janet Moxley

"We moved into a Victorian House about 4 years ago, and in the process of renovating it have tried to make it as energy efficient as possible. The house is quite well designed in that it has 6 foot thick stone walls and large south facing windows which make it quite good from a passive solar point of view (it catches the sun and retains the heat, while staying cool inside in summer), but didn't have any modern energy saving features. We insulated the loft, which was subsidised by Scottish Gas before we moved our supply to the RSPB Energy scheme www.rspbenergy.co.uk with Scottish and Southern Energy which gives 100% renewable electricity. We have removed an old, inefficient and probably dangerous gas fire, opened up an old range alcove and installed a woodburning stove. As light bulbs have needed replacing we have installed low energy bulbs in most cases. These have often been "freebies" e.g from the Energy Saving Trust and Scottish Power (before we switched suppler!). We are hoping to install solar water heating panels and double glazing (although having working shutters helps keep the heat in on winter evenings), and are fighting to get changes to the planning guidelines to allow the former.

We are lucky to have a fairly large garden which is great for drying washing out side in the summer, saving energy by not using the tumble drier, and we have installed 2 compost bins and are going to get a third from the wasteawarescotland subsidised scheme (www.wastewarescotland.org.uk). We also manage to grow some of our own vegetables. Otherwise we generally shop locally either at the Co-op and other local shops or an organic box scheme (www.damhead.co.uk)."

Dee Graham

Living 2 and a half miles form Biggar, in the little village of Skirling, I have always driven my 2 boys to Biggar to school and for any other reason I have needed to be anywhere in the area. Nearly 8 weeks ago we did a SORN declaration for our 2nd car (old Post Bus Landrover!) and I now cycle with my 7 and 5 year old boys to and from school. On the days when they seem particularly tired we get the local bus (as we are not in the school zone for Biggar so we have to find our own way in). As a result I have become much fitter and have lost weight, as I run home instead of getting the bus (so tight, I won’t get more than one return all day!) or bike between times. I also now bike or run to Broughton. I knew we could do it, but I had worried about my son’s hospital appointments. To my delight, I have mastered a lift in with my husband on the way to work, and am walking distance from the Biggar bus in Edinburgh…yippee!! Although, I look ahead at winter and dark days with some trepidation………

There is a great wee book to help with cutting down on the small things in your homes like cooking power and harmful cleaning products. It’s called ‘Thrifty Ways for Modern Days’ edited by Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert.com)

Biggar High School

Click here to read the report from Richard Crosby

Biggar Primary School

Click here to read the report from the P7 Eco Reps, on what the school intends to do to reduce its Carbon Footprint. Why not consider following the children's example and do the same things at home?

Crown Hotel Proprietors: Gary & Lorraine Watkins

Good news today, Belhaven are looking at solar panels for the pub and helping out with other things as well. I will keep you informed. Our area manager came up with an idea, get eveyone just to drink draught ales/beer, it always comes delivered in a recylced container (keg) so no waste!!

I also arranged a meeting with Envirowise last week and have had a consultation about what else I can do to reduce waste etc.

 This week I have spoken with a company in regards to water butts etc for my project of watering the plants and general outside washing and asked if they would maybe do any discounts for the residents of Carbon Neutral Biggar. I am awaiting a reply back.

We have now also added to our list this week, that all our beef comes from one farm outside Carnwath (one beast a week!! cuts out all the middlemen and straight to our butcher) and Clyde valley grown strawberries, tomatoes, lettuces, and herbs. This goes along with approx 90% of our suppliers being Scottish, 75% with 30 miles or even on our doorstep. Wine, dairy, ice cream, tea/coffee, veg, paper products and more scottish ales/beers on tap just to name just a few. All our cooking oil is recycled along with its containers. Glass, cans, plastic, cardboard is recycled. I am even in the process of adding water saving devices into our toilets (ie filled plastic bottles, as per the Envirowise man). So we are trying to do our best but a long way to go yet. Still if we can do it, means other people have no excuse.

The Envirowise man had also heard of a football club that was trying to do its part in regards to being Carbon Neutral. It asked all its suppliers/players/supporters to do one extra thing in their own household and then tell the club about it and they could then offset it against the clubs footprint.

Anna Campbell & the Biggar Brownies:

After the Brownies completed their Global Footprints (before Easter - and on display at the Eco Forum) they decided to make an effort to walk to school more and turn off the tap whilst brushing their teeth - most were already recycling what materials they could (paper, glass, cans and clothes). This week (tomorrow) we're going to make diaries for the girls to complete for a week - they'll record what they've done to try to use less water and energy at home (this is part of the "Environment" badge that they are working on - Linda's group are also working on this badge).

Simon Pilpel:

We have about 70% of our light bulbs switched to low energy. We don't leave electical appliances on stand by. I have had an home energy audit undertaken by the Energy Savings Trust and will be increasing our loft insulation. We have all started using our bikes for short journey's around town.

Mike Chad

I just had the annual maintenance done on my combi boiler. The engineer advised fitting a "digistat system", which gives finer control, and improves efficiency. It is apparently required, anyway, under current building regulations. He directed me to the Worcester Bosch website, and said I can fit it myself. We'll see!

The Riley family

We changed our car from one with a 2ltr petrol engine with emissions of 220g/km to a 1.5 ltr diesel engine with emissions of 117g/km, almost halving our emissions. Virtually all our light bulbs are low energy and we try to make sure nothing is left on standby. We stopped flying two years ago and now holiday in the UK. This year we have started to grow our own vegetables for the first time in about 20 years, to reduce the carbon associated with transporting the food we eat.We try and walk or cycle to the shops whenever possible

and take our own reusable bags instead of taking fresh carrier bags from the shops every time.

Gil Dunn

Having read the book 'Tescopology' we are trying, where possible to reduce food miles by avoiding large supermarkets, shopping locally, buying local produce and growing our own. We have a big rabbit problem, so have erected a polytunnel to protect our home-grown veg. We now keep chickens and ducks for total self-sufficiency in eggs. A touch of the good life!!!

Tina Mashford 03.05.07

The campaign has motivated me to turn the washing machine down from 40 degrees to 30 degrees, at approx 2 washes a day, 7 days a week I am hoping it cuts down energy use. The temp of the dishwasher has also been turned down accordingly. We have a large old fashioned pully which is in constant use for drying the washing and last summer put a clothes line in the garden, this has greatly reduced our use of the tumble dryer. Alistair has now adopted a policy that as each light bulb ends of life we replace it with an energy efficient bulb. The house has been fitted with blinds on nearly all of the 30 or so windows, in order to try and keep some of the heat in the house during the winter months, replacing all the windows with double or triple glazing is not a realistic option for us at the present time. We are all encouraged to walk or cycle where ever possible back and forth to & from activities/shopping in the village.