Residents should set green targets like the National Trust
Householders should follow the example of the National Trust and set themselves green targets.
That’s the advice of Midlands green energy expert Ron Fox, who said: “I am very impressed that in this time of lockdown this charity, with its many volunteers, are taking action over the crisis facing our environment with both small and large projects.”
In their latest summer magazine Over to You, the Director General of the Trust, Hilary McGrady said they had given themselves three main goals for the next ten years.
Firstly, they wanted to be a carbon net zero organisation by 2030 by reducing their overall energy use and generating more renewable energy. Hilary said they had recently completed their largest solar panel installation at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire which is now saving 152 tons of carbon every year. On a smaller scale replacing the lighting in the house with LED bulbs had cut energy use by 30 per cent.
Secondly, they are aiming to set up 20 new green corridors to establish nature-rich landscapes accessible to people and wildlife from urban areas. They want to inspire more people to access and protect them. One of the rangers, Kait Jones and her team have been going on to the moors every week to plant tiny sphagnum moss plugs which bind the bogs and capture the carbon so keeping it underground. Over the last 20 years there are now 13 million tonnes of carbon captured in the Peak District bogs – equivalent to a year’s worth of emissions from a city like Sheffield.
Thirdly, they want to plant 20 million more trees. Already, thanks to a legacy the woodland at their Slindon Estate in the South Downs, which became fragmented when it was harvested for wood during the First and Second World Wars, is being re-established. Now volunteers have already planted 13,000 trees and have been able to restore an area of woodland the size of 100 football pitches.
For householders Ron suggests everyone sets themselves two environmental goals, one small and one larger, to help cut their carbon footprint.
The first one is to follow the example of the National Trust and ensure this year that all the lights in your home are LED ones. They are up to 80 per cent more efficient than traditional lighting and 95 per cent of the energy in LEDS is converted into light and only 5 per cent is wasted as heat compared to fluorescent lights which convert 95 per cent of energy to heat and only 5 per cent into light. Less energy used reduces the demand from power plants and so decreases greenhouse gas emissions.
Secondly, ensure your home is properly insulated both externally and internally with cavity wall insulation and spray foam in the attic.
“This move will ensure a warmer and more comfortable home, reduce your heating bills and cuts your carbon footprint by reducing the amount of CO2 released from your property,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science and Innovation Park.
For more advice contact Ron on 01782 756995 or go to www.noreus.co.uk
