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Our award winning Eco Vehicles Top Trumps pack is almost sold out. We have put the last few packs on ebay - get them here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170577738221 

Our Eco Vehicles Top Trumps pack gives an overview of the many options available in the field of low carbon transport. It is useful as a game and stimulant for primary and secondary school children. It is also useful for Fleet Managers and travel advisors as a way of getting hold of key statistics such as CO2 emissions and fuel cost per kilometre. All alternatives are covered in the pack; biofuels, hybrids, hydrogen, LPG, electric, motorbikes, vans, buses, lorries and cars and also bicycles.

Visitors:                                                                    120 (approx)
Bulbs distributed:                                                  168
PowerDown Units distributed:                          205
Sava Flush distributed:                                         100
Shower Timers distributed:                                109
Self Audits:                                                               107
Shower Savers distributed:                                63
 
CO2 saved (lifetime):                                             141,206kg
Retained economic benefit (lifetime):             £99,667
Water saved (lifetime):                                        6,375,525 litres
 
This was a busy event right from the word go and at several points in the day we had a queue circling round the room. Aside from handing out the free energy and water saving items we were also able to field a number of enquiries and engage people in conversations about insulation. There appeared to be a high existing level of insulation in the town. We were also able to recommend water meters for a large numbers of houses under low occupancy who could definitely be looking at saving up to £150 per year each.
 
The free items certainly attracted people into the room and this help to refer people to the other services on offer. The day was so busy that we had to eat into the stock set aside for the next day!

Fri, 19 November 2010

More than 70 local people gathered at a conference in Mansfield last weekend to share ideas and experience of how communities can tackle climate change. Living for Tomorrow was a free event organised by Marches Energy Agency on behalf of the Nottinghamshire Climate Change Partnership. It allowed community group members from across the city and county to share ideas and meet with organisations which can support them.

 

 

 

Workshops covered a range of topics from how to set up a community-owned renewable or a community-run allotment to how to help your town go plastic bag free or organise local produce markets. Many of the workshops were provided by community group members themselves.

 

 

 

Inspirational keynote speakers came from community groups further afield and included Mike Kinghan, a member of Whittington and Fisherwick Environmental Group, which has helped 15 people to install solar thermal panels on their homes. Helena Cooke and Nick Green of Incredible Edible Todmorden talked about their group’s efforts to create community vegetable patched in locations as diverse as public parks and supermarket car parks!

 

Kaye Brennan of Netherfield Eco Action Team said:

 

‘It’s wonderful to be recognised and invited to share our experience with others at this level. We hope we have inspired others to try the same.’

 

Hugh Mclintock of the Nottingham-based cycling group Pedals described the day as: ‘a very successful and enjoyable event.’

 

Rob Crowder of Rural Community Action Network Nottinghamshire chaired the event and felt that ‘People went away inspired.’

 

Caroline Harmon of Marches Energy Agency said:

 

‘We’re really pleased that so many people were able to attend and to go away feeling empowered to keep acting to tackle climate change. So many groups in the area are taking initiative at community level, it’s great to be able to bring them all together to share their experiences.’

 

For some delegates the day began with a guided cycle ride from Mansifeld Town train station courtesy of members of Pedals, the Nottingham-based cycle group.

 

 

Thu, 25 November 2010

The turning on of the West Bridgford Christmas lights got a boost from some local children who used good old-fashioned leg power to light up some low energy lightbulbs attached to an Energy Bike.

 

The bike was at the event with the Fantastic Home exhibition trailer which gave away advice on energy efficiency and free devices to almost 300 people.

 

Kris McGowan of Marches Energy Agency said:

 

‘The children got very excited with the challenge of lighting nine low energy bulbs on the energy bike, which as the day drew on and lighting faded, had an even bigger drawing effect.’

 

The Christmas lights were turned on at 5pm, but the trailer was one of a number of stalls which were present for the whole day.

 

It was also used to promote a local renewable scheme which helps people get quotes for solar panels for their homes. A number of visitors to the exhibition had questions about solid wall insulation and how to make older properties more energy efficient.

 

Free devices given away included powerdowns which turn TVs and computers off standby and showersaves which also save water. People who took the freebies will make collective savings of more than £60,000 over the lifetime’s use of the products. They will prevent more than 100,000 tonnes of harmful CO2 gases from being emitted into the atmosphere

We're going indoors again on the 25th!

We thought you might like to hear about the “Fantastic Home” display that is being exhibited at the Castle Hall in Bridgnorth on Thursday 25 November between 10am and 2pm.
 
Fantastic Home is a creation of the Marches Energy Agency. It is a mobile exhibition that showcases energy efficient technology and techniques, behavioural changes, and renewable technology for use in the home. It signposts visitors to local information and grants, as well as providing generic information on all aspects of energy saving and the generation of renewable energy.
 
It is designed to take information and advice out to the community rather than relying on people seeking this out themselves.
 
The Fantastic Home project was part supported by the Southern Shropshire Partnership with funding from Shropshire Council.
 
The display is part of a wider event taking place on the 25th that is promoted by the Energy Saving Trust and will see a host of agencies providing energy saving and efficiency advice. There will also be money and benefits advice and guidance on renewable energy. Refreshments and free energy saving goodies will be available for visitors.
 
If you would like any further information about this event or about the MEA’s Fantastic Home display please contact Kris McGowan by email at Kris@mea.org.ukor by telephone on 01743 277112.
 

More than 75 people will gather this weekend to share ideas and experience of communities tackling climate change.
 
Marches Energy Agency is assisting the Nottinghamshire Climate Change Partnership to organise the Living For Tomorrow conference, a free event which will see climate change community group members from the city and county come together with organisations who can support them.
 
Workshop will cover a range of topics from how to set up a community-owned renewable or a community run allotment to how to help your town or village go plastic bag free. Many of the workshops will be provided by community group members themselves.
 
Keynote Speakers will come from community groups further afield. Mike Kinghan is a part of Whittington and Fisherwick Environmental Group which has helped 15 people to install solar thermal panels on their homes and 80 to install insulation. Helena Cooke and Nick Green of Incredible Edible Todmorden have helped created community vegetable patches and have even turned public flower beds into edible plant growing havens!
 
Caroline Harmon of Marches Energy Agency said:
 
‘We’re really excited to be able to help climate change community groups in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire to pool their skills and experiences. So many groups in the area are doing so much to tackle climate change – we’re expecting it to be a really inspiring day.’

MEA course picks up two awards
 
The Fit For the Future project which includes a tenant and staff engagement course developed and delivered by Marches Energy Agency in partnership with Accord Housing Group picked up two awards last month.
On Tuesday 19th October it won the prestigious Public Engagement & Communication Initiative Award at the Retrofit Awards in Birmingham. This was closely followed by the Community Involvement/Engagement Award at the UK-wide Sustainable Housing Awards 2010 on Friday 22nd.
Richard Hammerton, Accredited Training Project Manager said, “Fit For the Future is a very successful project and has raised climate and energy awareness for housing association residents across the West Midlands. I am delighted it has won these awards which are a fair reflection of what has been achieved so far ”.
The course has been running since February and has so far trained over 170 residents. Mike Poppett, tenant and course attendee said “I thoroughly enjoyed this training session and am now looking forward to stage two. Many thanks to Richard and Christina, both of you came across as knowledgeable and approachable trainers”

LAEP Communications Pick n Mix
Nottingham City Council
Fantastic Home, Speaker’s Corner, Nottingham
06/11/2010
 
Visitors:                                                                    540 (approx)
Bulbs distributed:                                                  270
PowerDown Units distributed:                          104
Sava Flush distributed:                                         110
Shower Timers distributed:                                90
Self Audits:                                                               60
Shower Savers distributed:                                23
Solar Referrals:                                                       1
 
CO2 saved (lifetime):                                             111,143kg
Retained economic benefit (lifetime):             £60,826
Water saved (lifetime):                                        3,227,850 litres
 
This was an exciting event to do as Kris had to kick things off with a 10 minute speech on energy saving and 20 minute Q+ A session. We were however inundated from the point of opening the trailer up, despite having two volunteers and three members of staff from Nottingham City Council on hand to assist. Representatives from Nottingham Warm Zone were also there offering insulation for £49.
 
After negotiating the initial flurry of interest, Kris was able to get going with the speech. He quickly skirted round climate change issues and went straight on to saving energy and saving money in the home. He called up a number of assistants to help with the presentation ,which started with Phil buying a low energy light bulb for £1 and ended with the cumulative savings paying for Richard to have a solar panel and an income of £35,319. This was after fitting 20 more low energy light bulbs, insulating walls and loft, and fitting a new boiler. Many passers by stopped to take this all in and Richard signed up straight away for a solar panel visit and quote.
 
All six of us then embarked on distributing the free energy saving items, answering questions about energy saving and referring people over for insulation audits via the warm zone stand. The council representatives also were able to conduct a questionnaire about people’s attitude to climate change which will help inform their production of a city wide climate change strategy.
 
Young and old tried out the carbon countdown game and the energy bike, with one young boy absolutely over the moon at his achievement. We also spoke to students from the university who were involved in designing an innovative energy monitoring and management system as part of their engineering degree.
 
Thank you to the organisers of Speaker’s Corner for making us so welcome and also to the Nottingham City Council representatives for their support and assistance on the day.