IDEAS FOR COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECTS Reduce Your Group’s Ecological Footprint Taking ‘in-house action’ to save energy, reduce waste, etc, is an easy way to start – it can also save you money and help you to lead by example! Here’s where you can find more information and ideas: ‹ General info on green lifestyles: www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk – look in the A-Z under S for ‘Sustainable Development in the Home’ (paper copies of ‘Sustainable Home’ available at all main Council buildings) ‹ ‘Go Zero’ in Chew Magna, Somerset is a community project that raises awareness of the impacts of everyday actions and provides suggestions for change: www.gozero.org.uk ‹ If your group’s premises are being constructed or renovated, there is guidance to help you at www.hie.co.uk/sustainable-building.html (Hard copies available from Anne Murray at Highland & Islands Enterprise at anne.murray1@hient.co.uk) Raise Awareness in your local community Use your influence to persuade others in the community to their bit If your group has regular meetings, why not choose a green theme for some of these? You could distribute some leaflets, run a tasting session of local or Fairtrade food, or hold a demonstration of ecological cleaning products You may wish to tie in to national/international celebrations such as World Environment Day (5 June), Fairtrade Fortnight (end February) and Earth Day (spring) You could even set up a buying co-operative to give people better and cheaper access to green products GreenCity Wholefoods in Dennistoun is a wholesaler of over 4000 ethical goods – www.greencity.co.uk For more information on co-operative enterprises, visit www.cooperatives-uk.coop and http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/10/ethicalfood-foodanddrink Further information on environmental issues and ideas for greener lifestyles can be found on the Council’s ‘Sustainable Development In The Home’ webpage (see above) Action for Sustainable Living (www.afsl.org.uk) helps individuals and groups to make simple lifestyle changes and is another good source of information While it is currently only active in certain parts of the UK, their website is a useful source of information on a variety of issues from clothing to ethical finance Become a Carbon-Neutral Community Carbon footprinting is an important part of ecological footprinting Carbon footprinting means investigating how much energy and fuel your community uses, e.g through transport and household electricity Having this information will help you to plan activity to reduce your community’s carbon emissions ‹ The Energy Saving Trust’s Community Action for Energy (CAfE) programme can help community-based energy work Membership is free and gives free access to various services including support, training, resources and help with funding Members are also eligible for £200 funding to visit other UK projects and for free bespoke training, free places on Scottish training courses and travel bursaries CAfE’s website has wealth of useful information, including a database of funding sources and successful case studies Visit www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/cafe/welcome or call 08701 261 444 ‹ Scottish Education and Action for Development (SEAD)’s Switch On To Climate Change supports communitybased action on climate change Resources include ‘Rising to the Climate Challenge’, a 16-page booklet downloadable from www.sead.org.uk which cuts through the fog of confusion on climate change Paper copies are available from office – send an SAE and small donation to cover postage, to Karen Grant (Director), Scottish Education and Action for Development (SEAD), 20 Graham Street, Edinburgh, EH6 5QR 0131 555 5550 ‹ Baldernock’s ‘Cut The Carbon’ group aims to create one of Scotland’s first ‘carbon neutral’ communities; they are currently undertaking a carbon audit and producing an action plan to set out how they will improve their energy and fuel use Visit their website at http://baldernock.netfirms.com/cut-the-carbon/ctc-index.html Preparing for the impact of climate change is important too BTCV’s Carbon Army takes daily action by planting trees, managing water courses to reduce flood risks and creating habitats for endangered native species Find out how you can play your part by visiting this site: http://www2.btcv.org.uk/display/carbonarmy For more climate change information and links: www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk – look in the A-Z under C for ‘Climate Change’ Support the Going Plastic Bag Free Campaign East Dunbartonshire’s Going Plastic Bag Free campaign was launched in Kirkintilloch in September 2009 You could help to spread the word within Kirkintilloch or even to bring the campaign to other parts of East Dunbartonshire To find out more, please visit www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk and look in the A-Z under S for ‘Sustainable Development: Going Plastic Bag Free’, or contact the Council’s Sustainable Development Officer on 0141 578 8655 Develop Your Own Waste Prevention Project or Campaign Waste prevention projects and campaigns are desperately needed at the local level, and community groups have an important role to play in educating and supporting people ‹ Background information on waste is available on various East Dunbartonshire Council webpages – look at www.eastdunbarton.gov.uk on the A-Z under W for waste and R for recycling ‹ A Waste Prevention Guide was launched by SEPA in March 2007 for local communities: www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/nws/prevention/wpguide/Waste_PreventionGuide.pdf ‹ Friends of the Earth’s CREW (Communities Reducing Excess Waste) runs free workshops for community groups (including community councils, churches, rotary clubs and parent & toddler groups) on household waste reduction become local waste prevention champions Contact Ros on 0131 243 2700 or visit www.foe scotland.org.uk/crew or www.reducewaste.org.uk ‹ You will find ideas and case studies for community waste projects on The Community Recycling Network Scotland website: www.crns.org.uk – look under ‘Our Members’ Work with Local Businesses The big supermarkets are all now publicly committed to improving their environmental performance The East Dunbartonshire Fairtrade Group have already worked with them to expand their range of ethical goods; you could build on this by helping them with other green initiatives such as plastic bag reduction and better stocking of local produce and other ‘green’ goods One way of rewarding businesses making ethical decisions is to ‘carrotmob’ or ‘joycot’ – the opposite of boycotting! For more information, see www.carrotmob.org Set up a Skill Share Scheme Skill sharing is where people put their skills (from sewing and dog-walking to gardening and DIY), to better use, allowing communities to help each other and to earn time credits This values people and improves access to services, which can be especially beneficial for those most in need in our communities Skill sharing is a great way of strengthening community spirit! Even if projects don’t have a green theme, they will still help the environment by supporting smallscale, local consumerism ‹ Timebanks and LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems) are two ways of sharing skills; the main difference is that LETS use no broker and give all time equal value See www.timebanks.co.uk and www.letslinkuk.net ‹ Join Freeconomy, an online community where skills, tools, land and various other resources are shared – www.justfortheloveofit.org Start a Social Enterprise Social enterprises are businesses which trade to achieve social aims – they are run by, and for the benefit of, the local community The social economy sector is growing movement covering a huge variety of projects, each helping communities to put people rather than profit at the heart of their activities ‹ The ‘local food’ agenda presents some interesting opportunities for social enterprises To find out more, visit www.soilassociation.org/localfood - this site includes a ‘Cultivating Co-operatives’ toolkit to help local food enterprises to develop You can also find out more about city/community farms at www.farmgarden.org.uk/scotland ‹ East Dunbartonshire Social Economy Network (EDSEN) provides support for local enterprises: www.edsen.info ‹ UnLtd is a charity which supports social entrepreneurs – visit their site at www.unltd.org.uk They also run UnLtdWorld (www.unltdworld.com) - the site, similar to Facebook, puts new entrepreneurs in touch with those a couple of years ahead and creates ‘neighbourhoods’ of entrepreneurs with shared interests Other Ideas There is a wealth of inspiring community projects across the country, ranging from small-scale activities to self-sustaining organisations providing paid employment These can be found in the following places: ‹ Community Webnet: www.communitywebnet.org.uk ‹ Sustainable Development Commission Scotland: www.sd-commission.org.uk/scotland.php – look under Resources: Best Practice in Scotland