Welcome to the ACT newsletter for November, with lots of information about what we’ve been doing and what’s coming up. There is an update on the new ACT with Art group, news of Teignbridge District Council’s climate scorecard, ideas from ACT’s list of actions you can take to reduce your heating bills and carbon emissions, and more.
Featuring:
- Meeting the public in Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and Teignmouth
- Please tell us about events in your area
- ACT at Newton Abbot Fayre
- Energy For All
- ACT with Art
- Political neutrality
- Teignbridge scores well on climate action
- Lower your heating bills and carbon emissions
- Carbon Cutters newsletter
- Wildlife Wardens newsletter
Meeting the public in Teignmouth, Newton Abbot and Totnes
The ACT Carbon Cutters group decided to try out establishing a regular presence in Teignmouth with a couple of carbon reduction drop-in sessions at TAAG. The first, on Thursday October 12th, went well but was poorly attended so the second will happen on Saturday November 11th, in the expectation that footfall will be higher at the weekend. Our thanks to TAAG for making the space available.
In Newton Abbot, we have been offered a regular slot at the library. We will be there every Wednesday and Thursday from 12.00-14.00, from Wednesday November 1st. The aim is to chat about climate change and reducing carbon emissions to anyone coming into the library who has the time and inclination.
ACT will also have a stand at the Totnes Energy Wise event on November 11th. We attended last year and felt it was a good event to support.
People came to get advice about reducing energy consumption and costs, draught proofing, grants, retrofitting, trading locally generated renewable energy, and carbon footprint assessment. The event included stalls, workshops, speakers, videos, and a cafe.
Please tell us about events in your area
We want to take advantage of any opportunity to engage with the public so please let us know about events taking place in your parish or town where we could set up a stall. You can add an event to the events page if it relates to the climate and ecological emergency, or contact Pauline to let us know about events of a more general nature.
ACT at Newton Abbot Fayre
ACT took a stand at this event on the August Bank Holiday weekend in the hope of interacting with a wider audience than those who attend more environmentally focused events. It was a combined energy / carbon cutting and wildlife warden stand. Seven of us turned up to chat to the visitors and enjoyed talking them through the various models, games, exhibits and interactive “opinionameter” (a white board and pens!).
You can read more about it here and watch the video on our Facebook page to get a flavour of the ACT offering.
Energy For All
ACT has signed up to a campaign run by Fuel Poverty Action called Energy For All, which calls for every household to be given the essential energy they need to stay safe and well, for free. You can call on your MP to support the campaign or sign the 350.org petition as an individual.
ACT with Art
In our last newsletter we mentioned the plan to form a new group to help communicate the climate emergency in a different way. We had a good response to our call for expressions of interest and the group ACT with Art is now up and running.
Early indications from the various groups we have contacted across the district show a real appetite to move the idea forward. Our idea is to hold a creative arts festival next year, with small events happening in our towns and villages and a larger event taking place in Newton Abbot. Please contact Kate for further information.
Political neutrality
The ACT Carbon Cutters group had a discussion recently about ACT’s political orientation. ACT clearly wants the government, as well as local councils and individuals, to take action on the climate and ecological emergency, and some political parties are more in tune with that than others. So the question raised was why we shouldn’t ally with the parties that have relevant policies.
After wider discussion within ACT we decided on the following statement to make clear why ACT has always been politically neutral, and why it is important to remain so.
“The aim of ACT is to help people to take action to mitigate climate change and repair ecological damage by providing independent encouragement and support to local councils, community groups, businesses and individuals in Teignbridge.
In order to retain this independence, we are strictly neutral on party political matters so we can liaise and engage with council members regardless of which party they represent.
However, where there is clear evidence that government and/or local council policies conflict with our independent encouragement and support to keep Teignbridge on a path to no more than 1.5C of warming, we will highlight this in a non-party political way. We will only comment on the likely impact of the policies concerned, and suggest alternatives that would better achieve our stated mission.”
Teignbridge scores well on climate action
Teignbridge District Council has performed well in the first UK-wide Council Climate Action Scorecards produced by Climate Emergency UK. It scored 47% overall, placing it 6th among other district councils. Among neighbouring councils, only Exeter City Council is ahead of Teignbridge, with its score of 56% putting it in second place, behind top scorer Lancaster City Council (61%). Teignbridge is ahead of East Devon (42%), South Hams (37%) and Mid Devon (28%), while Torbay, a unitary authority, scored 22%. Read more here.
Lower your heating bills and carbon emissions
Here are a few ideas from ACT’s list of actions you can take to reduce your carbon emissions.
The higher the difference in temperature between inside and outside, the more energy you will need to heat your home. You can lose heat in winter from walls, roofs, floors, windows, doors and from unwanted ventilation. Some actions will cost you little or nothing, so consider doing those first.
- Try keeping yourself warm while reducing the background heating temperature, perhaps by turning your main thermostat down by 1°C. Warmer clothes, a hot water bottle or even a ‘safe’ electric blanket are good options. You can also investigate infra-red heating panels or even use small electric heaters for short periods when/where you need these.
- If possible, heat only the area you need and set the thermostat to the lowest temperature to remain comfortable.
- Use thermostatic radiator valves to control heating and make sure your main thermostat is in the right place and used appropriately.
- Put up thick curtains to retain heat and make sure they fit snugly into the reveal of the window and don’t overhang a radiator.
- Find out where you are losing most heat and tackle those areas first. You may need help with this from an independent source. It may be your walls, roof or floor that need additional insulation.
- Get advice on whole house retrofit, ideally from an independent trust mark assessor with appropriate qualifications (e.g. PAS 2035). This will cost more than an EPC but should give you effective advice on what to do and when in terms of your insulation and ventilation options.
- Contact Energy Saving Devon for households or Decarbonise Devon for organisations to get access to independent assessment or inform yourself through the Devon Retrofit Guide or the TECs Energy Assessment Pack.
Carbon Cutters newsletter
Read the latest newsletter to find out what Carbon Cutters have been doing. Here’s a flavour:
New Resources for Carbon Cutters
ACT Website Carbon Footprint Tracker Resources
Spread The Word
ACT Website
Carbon Cutting Training
Wildlife Wardens newsletter
The wardens are as busy as ever, as you can see from the last newsletter, which featured:
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