About The Allerton Environmental Group
Allerton Environmental Group aims to support the villages of Stone Allerton and Chapel Allerton in Somerset as a sustainable local community - raising awareness about environment issues and developments and taking forward projects which should lead to improvements in the villages’ environment. It was set up early in 2009.
Next Meeting
Allerton Environmential Group: Latest Meeting.
The group is currently working with five themes:
- Local Food
- Wildlife and the Countryside
- Transport
- Recycling
- Energy and Climate Change
These pages aim to provide information which may be of use to those who live in the Allerton villages and also include external links to other websites. News about future meetings and events are posted on the website and reports of meetings and updates on projects are also made available.
Meetings are held several times a year normally on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Discussion meetings provide a forum for issues of concern to the villages and enable specific projects to be set up. Some meetings with speakers are held. These provide wider information about particular topics and allow discussion of relevant issues. There are also occasional outings or visits.
Information is also made available through Allerton News.
The group will work in close collaboration with other local Eco groups – in particular the Wedmore Green Group whose website includes a great deal of information of interest to anyone living on the Isle of Wedmore.
FURTHER INFORMATION
Please contact any of the group’s officers for further information
Frances Good (Chair) 712606
Fiona Torrens-Spence(Secretary) 710188
allertonegroup@yahoo.co.uk
Events, Meetings & Discussion Blogs
AEG Blogs
Meetings Section
Allerton Environmential Group: Latest Meetings, archive of previous meeings, events and more.
Here you can see the history of this group, from its inception, to the present day. You are encouraged to become a follower of this group, or even setup your own blog!
Eco-Food Shopping
To explore the world of occasioning we enter a world of claim and counter-claim, fact and a great deal of fiction. Some arguments are laid out below as we try to minimise the ecological impact of our food consumption habits in the Allertons.
Food Miles
Food miles for determining environmental impact is increasingly questioned as misleading, and certainly difficult to calculate.
Two commonly used examples:
1) Major supermarkets may air-freight Fine Green Beans from farms in Kenya, which use manual labour. It is argued the ecological impact is considerably less than force-growing the same product in the UK or Europe during winter using heated poly-tunnels, nitrate fertilizers, and tractors.
2) Apples, grown mostly in the UK and France are available year round at all major supermarkets and local greengrocers. This is only possible because apples store very well for extended periods in cold storage. From April onwards it is also possible to Sea Freight Apples from overseas e.g. South Africa.
In an American study (Weber, C.L. and Matthews, H.S. (2007) quantifying the Global and Distributional Aspects of American Household Environmental Impact Ecological Economics, Journal of Environmental Science & Technology.), it was suggested that purchasing local products would not necessarily be the most environmentally sound choice in all cases. They suggested the changes in what we eat may have greater significance, as can issues of storage.
The study found that replacing red meat and dairy products once per week with chicken, fish or vegetables has the same effect as eating a locally sourced diet.
We can make easier choices to grow, or rear, as much of our own food as space and time may allow and buying locally produced food whenever possible, and buy it locally! There is no great saving ecologically or financially in buying locally produced cream, cheese or cider, from a supermarket in Highbridge, that gets there via Stafford and Chepstow. There are many genuine examples of food produced less than 10 miles from the Allertons, and available in the local supermarkets, that travel 300 miles+ by lorry in order to get there!
Reducing the impact of food shopping has as much to do with our choice of what we buy and when, as it does where we buy.
Local Food Shopping
- Farmers Markets at Axbridge and Cheddar
- Mobile Greengrocer
- Mobile Fish Monger
- Local Food retailers or farm shops from business directory.
- Freezing / pickling / preserving as much as possible
- Veg. Exchange scheme If you have spare, post it on the web-site.
- Ask your local supplier - where his produce is sourced and how far it travelled to reach the store.
Energy
Energy Saving – The Starting Point – Low Energy Light Bulbs
Low energy light bulbs are here to stay and switching is easy and relatively cheap.
- They do take a minute or so to reach full light output especially in cold rooms in the winter.
- If you have poor sight you may want to keep a traditional bulb in a critical light position, such as on stairs.
- Even if you switch to a low energy bulb of higher equivalent light output, it will still use far less energy than a traditional tungsten bulb.
- Start by changing just some bulbs and see how you get on.
Light Energy Saving Steps:
- If you have glass light fittings, clean them regularly, especially if you smoke in the house.
- Turn lights off when not required.
- Consider timed light switches in places where lights can be accidentally left on, such as cloakrooms or utility rooms; they can be set to turn off after 1 to 10 minutes or more.
- Consider proximity lights that only turn on when you walk into an area, especially outside or cloakrooms, etc.
- Outside security lights are often 500 watt floodlights. Make sure they turn off after the required period and make sure they are not triggered unnecessarily by animals or passing cars and people. Make sure they are positioned so as not to dazzle passing motorists.
- When you want low energy bulbs remember, they are now available in all shapes and sizes, including spotlights. Check out cheap deals at supermarkets and DIY stores, energy suppliers – may be offering free bulbs check on-line.
- Use solar lights outside if you want to light paths and drives, also consider a solar fountain for your pond.
REMEMBER - You may not like low energy bulbs but you cannot afford NOT to use them, even if you don’t want to save money. We can no longer use energy wastefully when it can be saved.
BE A RESPONSIBLE ENERGY USER.
Rating:
- Traditional Bulb Low Energy
- 100W 18W
- 75W 16W
- 60W 11W
- 40W 9W
- 35W 7W
Cavity Wall Insulation and Loft Insulation
Grants are available to cover cavity wall insulation and loft insulation available from utility suppliers or local authority. Private house owners can obtain grants to cover most of the cost requiring the householder to pay typically £199 for a typical 3-4 bedroom house. If you are 70 or over you may be eligible for a grant for the full cost.
Use this link to find out what grants are available for the area.
Useful Sites
A really useful and practical site to look at is that of the Energy Saving Trust. A non profit organisation which has practical information on reducing and improving your energy use around your home. It has a calculator which enables you to calculate your own carbon footprint and see what changes you can make to how you run your household in the following areas: insulation, lighting, travel, use of appliances, and heating. They also have information on renewable energy to use in the home and alternative fuels.
Another site which is very similar is that of the Carbon Trust. It also has a calculation system and both sites do describe how you can get energy grants to make your household reduce energy usage. They also provide helpful information and assessments for business too on how to reduce their carbon footprint.
Saving on the use of Heating Oil Many people who live in the Allertons using Heating Oil may be interested in the site Boiler Juice, which works on the basis that you can bulk buy with others in your postcode to reduce the cost of heating oil by through buying it together. There is space on the Allerton Villages website that we could use to promote this as an energy saving activity.
Another useful site is the DirectGov environment and greener living site.
Freecycle
Freecycling
A way of getting rid of items which other people may value.
The Freecycle Network™ is made up of almost 5000 groups with over 6 million members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns and thus keeping good stuff out of landfills.
Membership is free, and everything posted must be FREE, legal and appropriate for all ages.
The onus is on the recipient to collect.
Freecycle UK
This site is a useful resource allowing you to locate local groups and providing guidelines on posting offers and requests.
Freecycling Days
The Wedmore Green Group holds two Freecycling days a year which are like a car boot sale but with no money changing hands. All the Group asks is that anything of yours, not exchanged, is taken home with you.
Remember: Freecycling is not a way of dumping useless rubbish, which should go to a recycling centre or a skip.
The Wedmore Green Group also has a site on the Regional Freecycle Website, which is an online version of the Freecycle days and suitable for heavy or bulky items (e.g. a piano)
If there are no takers in the Wedmore area you can advertise items on the North Somerset site.
You can also request items (eg baby high chairs).
Details Of Proposed Power Line
Proposed new major power line
Latest Information:
HINKLEY POINT C CONNECTION PROJECT
CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT CORRIDOR 2 ROUTE: NO MOOR PYLONS
Anyone interested in learning more about the campaign can find out more here.
There is a possible route which crosses between Mark and Blackford and then crosses the A38 between Badgworth and Biddisham.
Below is a link to maps of the proposed routes, full details and reports and also details of the consultation meetings being held locally soon.
http://www.nationalgrid.com/uk/Electricity/MajorProjects/HinkleyConnection/RouteCorridorStudies/index.htm
The route corridor study report gives reason for the route choices.
Transport
Recycling
Recycling and Freecycling in the Allerton area
The Allerton Environmental Group is keen that we recycle as much as possible, based on the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra. This not only preserves scarce resources and reduces waste to landfill but also uses less energy than creating entirely from raw materials.
See the detailed Recyling Section and the Waste Collection Section in the Local Information Menu.
Public Transport in the Allertons
Motley Penguin Web Design