TILTON GREEN NEWS
Issue 4
May 2009
Introduction
Welcome to the fourth issue of TILTON GREEN
NEWS. In this edition we update you on progress
so far, give you a free cloth bag and offer more
opportunities to save energy and water, increase
recycling and reduce waste.
£1000s spent on energy saving
£2,260 has been spent by residents, businesses
and community buildings in Tilton as a result of 23
grants from ENABLE worth a total of £1,125. These
grants have subsidised a total of £1,240 of loft
insulation, £610 of low energy light bulbs, £360 of
cavity wall insulation and £50 of draught insulation
making buildings more energy efficient, lowering
fuel bills and reducing carbon emissions.
£3,000 Competition Update
More than 40 households have entered the
TILTON GREEN Electricity Reduction competition.
With prizes of £2,500 towards installing renewable
energy (part funded by GOEM) and £500 to be
spent on a holiday in Britain (no flights allowed). So
far two electricity meter readings have been taken
on (or around) 1st April and 1st May by a team of
volunteers. As the graph below shows there is a
wide range of average per person electricity use
with the lowest using 70 times less electricity than
the highest!
Average Daily Electricity Use Per Person
40
kWh
30
20
10
0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 37 39
Tilton competition participants
Summertime Energy Saving Tips
Line dry clothes – a HUGE cost saver!
Full freezers are the most efficient.
Regularly defrost and clean the cooling tubes
behind fridges and freezers and if you need a
replacement make sure it’s Energy Saving
Trust Recommended.
Open windows and shut curtains to keep cool.
When it cools down at night put on a jumper
rather than the heating.
Switch appliances off at the wall rather than
leaving them on standby.
Enjoy the sunshine and walk or cycle when
you can rather than drive.
Limited Edition TILTON GREEN bags!
We hope you like your FREE limited edition Tilton
Green cloth bag (funded by ENABLE) which arrived
with this edition of TILTON GREEN NEWS. Please
take it shopping with you instead of accumulating
yet another plastic bag! If you need another
reusable bag you can receive one free bag per
household from Leicestershire County Council by
calling: 3050001 and choosing either a jute, cotton
or pocket clip bags in a range of different colours. If
you already have lots of cloth bags or do not want
your bag, please drop it off at Tilton Village Shop
so that it can be passed on to someone else to use.
Horrific Plastic Bag Facts!
The average British adult uses 350 plastic
bags a year.
On average a plastic bag is only used for 12
minutes before being thrown away.
Plastic bags contaminate soil, waterways and
oceans choking and entangling sea birds and
mammals.
.
New Plug-in Monitor for loan
TILTON GREEN has purchased a plug-in energy
monitor that is simpler to use that the OWL Energy
Monitor and will let you know how much energy
each of the appliances in your home uses. If you
would like to borrow the plug-in energy monitor or
the OWL please call Julian Bird: 2597500.
Prize Draw winner
CONGRATULATIONS to Mrs Helen Farnsworth
who wins £100 towards energy efficiency
measures. 20 entrants completed Home Energy
Checks forms and received personalised energy
saving advice from the Energy Saving Trust.
Car Simulator at Tilton Village Fete
NEW Recycling opportunities
Fancy reducing how much you spend on fuel at the
pump? If so, have a FREE go on the car simulator
at Tilton Village Fete on 7th June (2-4.30pm) and it
will let you know how to drive more efficiently. An
Energy Saving Trust transport advisor will also be
on hand to offer tips to help you save on fuel when
you’re driving.
Tilton Village Shop and Tilton Village Hall both
have large green cardboard containers for you to
drop off used inkjet and toner cartridges and mobile
phones for recycling, but please no chargers, home
phones or batteries.
FREE Business Support
ENABLE along with Business Link, Envirowise and
utility companies are offering to support Tilton and
Halstead businesses to identify areas such as;
energy, raw material and recycling, waste
management and manufacturing process; where
they can save money and help the environment. To
register your interest please contact Hetal Patel, on
0116 3057068 or hapatel@leics.gov.uk.
Do you want a free Savaflush?
Savaflush bags can very easily be installed in your
toilet cistern in seconds to save a litre of water
every time the loo is flushed AND save you money
if you’re on a water meter! They have already been
installed in the Village Hall, Halstead Methodist
Church, The Rose & Crown and Tugby Primary
School. If you want one or more savaflush bags call
Margaret Henderson on 2597206 or pick one up at
Tilton Village Fete on 7th June (2-4.30pm). Other
water saving tips and devices will also be on
display at the Fete and Kathy Bird will be offering
advice on composting.
Shining a Light
Over £600 of energy efficient light bulbs have been
purchased by Tilton residents from ECO-St as a
result of their portable energy efficient light bulb
library. Yet more have been purchased from
supermarkets. The Village Hall and Halstead
Methodist Church have also installed energy
efficient light bulbs and bulbs are on order for St
Peters Parish Church. 10% of the households in
the parish have borrowed the ECO-St library, which
has been passed on to Sustainable Billesdon.
ECO-St are going to use our publicity and sign-up
forms as examples of best practice! You can still
order ECO-St low energy bulbs by visiting:
www.eco-st.co.uk/low-energy-bulbs.aspx
and
entering promotion code ‘October’ to get a 10%
discount.
Film Showing: The Age of the Stupid
This film is set in the future and looks back at
‘archive’ footage from 2007 asking “why didn’t we
stop climate change when we had the chance?”
Showing at Vale of Catmose College, Oakham, on
Thursday 4th June at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5.
More recycling drop-offs
STOP PRESS: ALL plastics (except cling film)
are back in demand for recycling, so please
start saving them again to bring to the Village
Hall foyer on the second Saturday of each
month. Please separate as plastic bags,
tapes and discs, yoghurt pots and
margarine tubs, and all other solid plastics
(food trays etc). Plastic bottles go in the
Rose & Crown recycling bank. Also bring
household batteries, aluminium foil,
tetrapak
cartons
and
fairly
small
metal/electrical/IT appliances. The next
collection is on Saturday 9th May (10 am–12
noon). At the recycling drop off on Saturday
13th June (10am-12 noon) composting
advice will also be available. For more
information please call David Duckett 2597231
Food Waste Digesters Workshop
Leicestershire Waste Partnership is running a Food
Waste Digesters Workshop at The Coplow Centre,
Billesdon on 12th May 7-9pm. Call 3057288 to
book your place. Different units will be on display
and on offer at hugely discounted prices, including
Green Cones, Green Johannas and Wormeries,
and Bokashi Bins. Experts will give advice about
each unit and recommend which one would suit
you best.
Garden Sharing
Three kind Tilton garden owners are allowing six
keen gardeners to use part of their garden to grow
their own fruit and vegetables. Maybe your garden
is too big for you or maybe you’d like more space
for growing; if so please call Sandra Leeson
2597629.
Tilton Green Fingers
The next get-together is on 26th May at 7.30pm in
the Rose and Crown. The session will focus on
sharing gardening tips including composting. To
find out more contact Kathy Letts: 2597632.