Greener Eynsford Blog
Green news and views relevant to our community
How Green are You?
12th January 2021
by Kaz Langridge
Have you ever wondered what steps you can take to reduce your carbon footprint on the planet and help with the climate crisis? There is a useful app called Giki Zero which helps with this https://zero.giki.earth/about.
Giki Zero provides you with ideas on how you can take realistic steps to reduce your carbon footprint and it helps to track what you have done and are planning to do. It's good fun and designed for all ages.
How to do your green Christmas shopping this year
10th December 2020
by Anne Marie Fereday
Everyone knows that it can be tricky to choose what to buy friends and family for Christmas. For some, it can seem even more difficult to shop sustainably. And it will have to be done mostly online this year. But there are a wealth of sites, mostly small independent businesses, to answer almost all your gifting needs this year. Of course, there are many considerations when it comes to choosing gifts: from how the product is made, avoiding sweatshops and the use of materials that harm the environment, to how long your gift will last and what to do with the packaging. Let's take a look at the typical Christmas shopping list and see what is available...
Kids - children's toys can be an eco-nightmare, often plastic and with little indication of the supply chain. But there are alternatives, for instance here is an organic babies rattle (1) from Arket, (http://Arket.com ) a store perhaps familiar to those who know Bluewater. Their site also has a very good range of clothes for adults and children, often using recycled fibres, eg these boys swim shorts (2), as well as homewares and accessories.
Homewares - Arket (Arket.com) have also produced some useful household items that would make good presents, for instance, a recycled polyester laptop case for £25. Or If you prefer locally-produced crafts, how about these hand-made wooden bowls (3) from madeinotford.org. Usually, these are selling at the Saint Bart's Christmas fair in Otford but they are now available online.
Fashion and clothing - there are a number of ethical fashion sites who put sustainability at the top of their agenda eg howies.co.uk, Ninetypercent.com etc. But it's worth noting that also some of the high street's more established outlets are now getting in on the act, particularly with recycled fibres eg H&M, whose Conscious ranges (4) are a favourite of mine (see www2.hm.com). It is also worth mentioning vintage clothing, another growing trend in fashion. Bluewater retailers Urban Outfitters have a long-standing range of repurposed clothing called Urban Renewal, which can also be found online, www.urbanoutfitters.com.
Food and drink - local producers sell on madeinotford.org, including delights such as brandy truffles and Christmas puds (5). Our nearest refill shop, Eco Pantry (theecopantry.co.uk) at Seal Chart Farm, enable you to fill up on a wide range of foods and of course, there is a butcher/grocer there too. Or try Stanhill Fram (stanhillfarm.co.uk) just outside Swanley, from whom (during the current restrictions) you can collect pre-ordered food and drink. Otherwise, you may have heard of Planet Organic, who have recently merged with cosmetics brand As Nature Intended, and do a range of fresh groceries. They even sell takeaway meals! https://www.planetorganic.com/
Gardening - organicgardening.com offer a range of gifts including this illuminated bug viewer (6) as well as a range of seeds, plants, tools etc. They also sell experiences such as a vineyard tour and tasting with unlimited tea for two, for £45.
Stocking fillers - for Dad, why not this white stuff (https://www.whitestuff.com/) eco leather wallet? (7) PHB (phbethicalbeauty.co.uk) do a range of cosmetics, some in recycled plastic tubes, pointing out that their production is less carbon-intensive than glass, which needs to be produced at very high temperatures! And how about this gadget (8) which will fix a broken zip and maybe save another garment from the landfill? That's a bright idea from H&M (zlideon zip tab, www2.hm.com). If you want jewellery, check out the range of recycled silver and gold on wearth.com (9). Iansnow.com specialise in items made in India, which are fairly traded but also make use of recycled items such as silk saris. Auraque (https://www.auraque.com/ ) sell hats, gloves and scarves knitted from banana fibre (10)! Knowtheorigin.com sell gift sets and a wide range of good that are sustainably produced, often by independent businesses and with ethical standards (such as plastic-free) in mind.
Cosmetics and personal care - among the best environmental innovations recently has been the idea of refilling. This is to cut down on packaging, particularly plastic. BeautyKitchen.co.uk (11) offer a service whereby customers can send back the metal containers of shower gel etc and order new ones online. Our own St Martin's church is also offering a recycling service for those who save their plastic pumps etc, the items are sent to Terracycle, with payments made to charity.
Decorations - Peace With The Wild (peacewiththewild.co.uk ) have Christmas crackers that contain plastic free gifts, and eco-fashion retailers Thought (https://www.wearethought.com) have a blog which tells you how to make your own Christmas wreath and print your own wrapping paper (12)!
Choosing appropriate gifts versus waste is perhaps the most important consideration to remember when looking for Christmas gifts. Some might say that the ultimate green gift might be one that it's the about giving more than just stuff, instead some experience that could be enjoyed. Or why not simply give someone you love a bunch of flowers? Arenaflowers.com who were recently voted the UK's most ethical florist, will also a plant tree for each bouquet ordered. As do browser Ecosia.org, so if you're going to surf for any of these gifts, maybe start by downloading their app?
Happy (green shopping) Christmas!
tsAre Cars Electric?
1st December 2020
ARE CARS ELECTRIC?
by Chris Lewington
If you drive a car, you are no doubt well aware of the recent government announcement to end the sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030. So what will that actually mean for a village like ours? In ten years time will we all be whizzing around in super silent, tree hugging, electro gliding machines? Will a trip down to Rafferty's or Norman's run the gauntlet of trying not to trip over a multitude of electric cables strung across the pavement to charge cars? Will charging your lovely new motor be as simple as plugging in the kettle for a cup of tea? The future is undoubtedly green but a lot of the choices around cars, charging and infrastructure pose some tricky questions.
Firstly, as all you petrol heads who've read this far without flinching at the mention of the words electric and car in the same sentence will know, it's only "new" cars that will stop being petrol. The average age of a car on the road is around 7- 8 years old. That means a lot of us will still be driving around sitting on top of a fuel tank rather than an outsize battery come 2030. Purchase of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) can set you back something in the region of an extra £10k on a new and even £7-8 k on a 2-3 year old second-hand model compared to a petrol vehicle. So the economy of buying electric needs to be thought through carefully. And that's before we even start to talk about "Range anxiety", the fear that holds many of us back from dipping our toes in the electric waters.
hen you're on that family camping holiday trip down to Cornwall at some point you will pull into a petrol station to fill up the tank. If there's no queue, it's all done nozzle to tank and swipe the plastic in a matter of minutes. So what happens when your electric car nears the bottom of that overnight charge that was going to take you all the way to Lands End? A half-hour stop at a Rapid Charging point at the service station while you grab a coffee and bun will add 80 - 90 miles. According to Zap-Map, which provides a guide to the UK's charging infrastructure, there are currently around 4,800 locations providing 7,500 individual chargers. Soon charging points will outnumber petrol stations across the country!
However not all charging points are the same and this brings us back to Eynsford. Rapid Charge 50Kw points use DC current and are mostly found along major route roads and not all BEV's are adapted to use them. Fast charging points 7kW will take around eight hours to fully replenish an electric car's batteries from zero charge. The majority of public charging stations offer this rate. So most charging of your electric car will be done at home with a charging box installed to fully charge the car overnight. Great if you've got a garage or drive. As we well know, a cursory glance down the high street says otherwise. So if we are all to be driving shiny new electric cars off the garage forecourt come 2030, where are the people with only on-street parking going to charge them?
Kent County Council has been promoting a scheme to help fund charging points but these must be 2m away from the highway so wouldn't be of use for many residents. Possible areas that could be good for charging points are outside the Parish office car park, the village car park, station car park and eventually the new village hall car park. Should we be totally concentrating on charging points for residents' vehicles or should the mix also include rapid charging points for those passing through on longer journeys? What comes first, the installation of lots of charging points or a sizeable growth in the uptake of electric cars? Every parking space that is converted to an electric car charging station is one less place to park.
The government has laid down the gauntlet. The car industry is turning its focus on electric car production. So installing charging points in the village is something that is going to happen. Where, for who, and who's paying is the debate that has hardly started yet. Here in Eynsford and for the whole of the U.K.
Useful links:
https://pod-point.com/guides/driver/how-long-to-charge-an-electric-car
https://www.nextgreencar.com/electric-cars/
https://www.kent.gov.uk/roads-and-travel/travelling-around-kent/electric-vehicles
Photo by Marc Heckner on Unsplash
