Carbon Conversations Meeting 2 - Hunting Energy Use In The Home

Report on Carbon Conversations by Eleanor. 
On 27th May we looked at our carbon footprints and then at home energy. I'll try to explain without jargon while recognising that learning new 'carbon literacy' skills is useful.

Carbon Footprint:
Our carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of emissions in tonnes of C02 equivalent (called C02e for short) that we use to live our lives. The average personal footprint in the UK is twelve tonnes of C02e.

So ... where would you 'hunt for carbon' if you want to reduce your own footprint?
Our individual carbon footprints are made up of 5 main areas:

As a group everyone was well below the national average, but we are all still keen to do better. The next conversations will give us the tools to take practical steps to reduce our carbon footprints overall.

C02 in our homes
Just to get everyone thinking we started with an exercise to determine what home comforts mattered to the group. The conclusion we came to was that once we have basic shelter, it’s all personal. Everyone has different priorities and will approach this opportunity from a different perspective.

Turning to home energy, there are two routes to a low carbon home
1. Use less energy (gas and electricity)
2. Switch to an energy provider who puts renewable energy into the national grid.

The Low Carbon Home game was a bit of fun to see if we could reduce the carbon footprint of a family house by 6 tonnes over 6 years. Some actions are free and easy to do like monitoring energy use and turning down the thermostat. Others require some time and a small investment like changing the light bulbs and some like fitting double glazing or a new boiler require building work to be carried out.

Susan's Eco Retrofit

Award-winning sustainable architect and TTT stalwart Susan Venner has been underatking an eco-retrofit of her Balham house for some time and you can visit it as part of the SuperHome Spring Openings on 28th March.  There's plenty of and varied insulation including an exterior cork wall plus solar water heating and a wood-burning stove.  It should be fascinating to snoop around ... ahem, under Susan's watchful guidance of course!  The opening is from 11 till 3 with half hour tours limited to 8 people at a time on the hour and half hour.  Book via Sustainable Energy Academy where Susan's home is listed as Cornford Grove, Balham.  

Also don't forget the BATCA Open Forum tonight at St Augustine's Church in Broadwater Rd between 7.30 and 9.30 pm.  The subject is "Let's Make Tooting Better" 

Also there's the Islam and Permaculture course next Sat 27th and the next First Tuesday on April 6th to look forward to, where the theme will be Food.  See our Events page for full details