Archive for January 2008
What is innovation?
The Big Green Challenge aims to stimulate innovation in response to climate change, challenging people to work together to come up with new approaches that will lead to a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions in their communities. But what is innovation?
We want to encourage fresh thinking about the way we live our lives. An innovation might be a brand new idea, or it might involve combining existing ideas, technologies or approaches in a new way, or finding a way of making an existing solution more effective.
The best innovations might not be technical or scientific – they might, for example, involve reorganising processes or the way people interact, or combining a number of smaller tried-and-tested ideas into a new overall approach.
We see innovation as the successful exploitation of ideas – and those ideas don’t necessarily need to be new ones.
What interesting examples of innovation have you come across recently?
Ten facts about recycling
Putting out a recycling box or bag with the weekly rubbish collection has become second nature for many of us. If you know anyone who’s still throwing paper, plastic, cans or glass in with their rubbish, then see what they make of these facts about rubbish and recycling in the UK:
1. Each UK household produces more than a tonne of rubbish each year.
2. In less than 2 hours the UK produces enough waste to fill the Albert Hall.
3. Over the course of a year, the average dustbin contains enough unrealised energy to provide hot baths for 500 people.
4. Just one recycled aluminium can saves enough energy to run a television set for three hours.
5. Glass can be recycled again and again without losing its clarity or purity.
6. 13 billion plastic carrier bags are used in the UK each year.
7. On average, each person in the UK uses more than 200 kg of paper per year.
8. Recycling aluminium requires only 5% of the energy it takes to make new aluminium and produces only 5% of the CO2 emissions.
9. We use around 12.5 billion steel cans every year and nearly 10 billion of these still go to landfill.
10. If all the aluminium drinks cans sold in the UK were recycled, refuse collectors would have 14 million fewer full dustbins to empty each year.
You can find more facts like these on the Recycle Now website, which also has a handy tool to find out where you can recycle in your area.
Watch our London launch video
What better way to spend a few minutes on a Friday afternoon than watching some YouTube videos? We’ve just added the film of our London launch event.
The first part of the film (10 minutes) includes an introduction by Sarah Teather MP and a case study on Hyde Farm Community Action Network in Balham.
The second part of the film (7.5 minutes) covers the Q&A session with the audience.
Get inspired by BedZED
BedZED in Wallington, Surrey is the UK’s biggest carbon-neutral eco-community, producing at least as much energy from renewable sources as it consumes.
Completed in 2002, BedZED – the Beddington Zero Energy Development – was developed by the Peabody Trust in partnership with Bill Dunster Architects and the BioRegional Development Group. It includes 82 homes of various sizes, plus buildings for commercial use, an exhibition centre and a children’s nursery.
Buildings are fitted with low energy lighting and energy efficient appliances and there’s a strong emphasis on roof gardens, sunlight and solar energy, renewable materials, reduction of energy consumption and waste water recycling. BedZED also has a green transport plan which promotes walking, cycling and use of public transport.
Sustainable living is incorporated into every aspect of the BedZED community. If you’re looking for some inspiration for how your own community could get involved in the Big Green Challenge then take a look at this BioRegional article on how BedZED residents have taken a green approach to food, travel and waste.
The seven kinds of green consumer
Last week Defra published a new framework for pro-environmental behaviours, outlining its goals and approaches for encouraging people to behave in more environmentally-friendly ways. The report also divides the public into seven clusters, each sharing a set of attitudes and beliefs towards the environment:
Positive greens - 18% of the population
“I think we need to do some things differently to tackle climate change. I do what I can and I feel bad about the rest.”
Waste watchers - 12% of the population
“’Waste not, want not’ that’s important, you should live life thinking about what you’re doing and using.”
Concerned consumers - 14% of the population
“I think I do more than a lot of people. Still, going away is important, I’d find that hard to give up…well I wouldn’t, so carbon offsetting would make me feel better.”
Sideline supporters - 14% of the population
“I think climate change is a big problem for us. I suppose I don’t think much about how much water or electricity I use, and I forget to turn things off… I’d like to do a bit more.”
Cautious participants - 14% of the population
“I do a couple of things to help the environment. I’d really like to do more…well as long as I saw others were.”
Stalled starters - 10% of the population
“I don’t know much about climate change. I can’t afford a car so I use public transport…I’d like a car though.”
Honestly disengaged - 18% of the population
“Maybe there’ll be an environmental disaster, maybe not. Makes no difference to me, I’m just living my life the way I want to.”
The Big Green Challenge has been set up to encourage all kinds of people to move from thinking about climate change to finding new ways to take action as a community.
Do the segments strike a chord with you?
How do you define community?
The Big Green Challenge is about people working together to turn ideas into action within communities. But what do we mean by communities?
The place where you live is often the first thing that springs to mind when you hear the word ‘community’. Many people feel connected to their local community and this can apply on different scales. Smaller communities could be formed by a single street, an area of a town or a group of villages, and larger ones could cover a town, neighbouring towns or a city.
The local interpretation is just one of many kinds of community. Communities can be based around networks of friendship, culture, faith, ethnicity or political commitment. Work colleagues, hobbies or interests can also have communities built around them. Some of these communities might be connected to a local area, but they can extend across large areas too.
Lots of people are members of communities that are based online and these groupings might include people from all over the UK and from other countries too.
These are just some ideas about how communities can be defined - it’s up to each Big Green Challenge entrant to define their community and we expect to see lots of different interpretations. If you have any questions about the application criteria for the Big Green Challenge, then take a look at the rules and our FAQs.
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
Our recent survey found that the shower or bath is the top place for creative thinking! I think this shows that sometimes your best ideas happen when you’re not trying too hard to be creative and instead just let your mind drift and wander.
I find that getting out into the fresh air helps me to think about things from a different perspective and often come back from a walk in the park charged up with ideas and plans. Wherever it is that you do your best thinking, just make sure you’ve got a pen and paper handy so that your moment of genius doesn’t slip away!
The Big Green Challenge is about groups and communities taking action together, so once you’ve got an idea, share it with other members of your group. It’s often easier to build on an idea that’s already on the table than to think up something completely new. Take a look at these tips on how to get your community organised from our Green Angel Dick Stawbridge.
Where do you come up with your best ideas? Leave a comment to tell us what sparks your creativity.
Baywind Energy Co-operative
Baywind Energy Co-operative is a fantastic example of what a community can achieve when people pull together. In 1996, a community in Cumbria purchased two wind turbines on a development built by a Swedish company, giving local residents a stake in the production of renewable energy. When the developers decided to withdraw from the project, the community purchased the other three turbines on the site.
Baywind now owns and runs six turbines, which generate enough power to supply around 1,400 households in the nearby town of Ulverston. More than 1,300 people own shares in Baywind, with 40 per cent living in Cumbria or Lancaster. The success of Baywind has inspired the group to set up Energy4All, a social enterprise which helps people to set up similar projects across the UK.
NESTA’s Vicki Costello says: “Baywind provides a great example of what we hope to help finalists in the Big Green Challenge achieve. We’re looking for ideas which can be trialled in one area and then re-created elsewhere”.
Mike Swain, science editor at the Daily Mirror, visited the Baywind project as part of the newspaper’s coverage of the Big Green Challenge. Watch the video on their site
Dick Strawbridge
Tips on getting started
With applications now open, I wanted to share some pointers on how to get started and organise your community:
1. Recruit a core team – while it will help to work with a whole community, you are also going to need a few key people to drive the project forward and encourage others.
2. Elect a spokesperson – people are going want to know about what you are doing, so choose someone who is an able speaker and understands the project well. They should be able to inspire your community and engage with other people.
3. Identify skills – try and find people with the kind of skills you think you’ll need. In particular, take advantage of the wide range of skills people in your community will have to manage the project. From bookkeepers to electricians, all will have a role to play.
4. Identify like-minded people or not-for-profit organisations or others who may have a vested interest in your entry – from local voluntary groups to schools and community centres - tell them about your ideas and try to enlist their support. Remember, their help could make your project an ever bigger success.
5. Agree your ideas and what you want to say about them as a group – one person will need to complete the form on behalf of your group / organisation, but the Big Green Challenge is all about team effort and everyone should be involved in the process. Start filling in the form as soon as possible, don’t wait until the deadline on 29 February. Apply here now!
Good luck – I look forward to seeing your entries!
A mountain of unused ideas
Vicki’s post earlier today mentioned that 80 per cent of people think they’ve had an idea that would change people’s lives for the better, but few people take their idea any further - creating a ‘mountain of unused ideas’.
Our survey also showed that four fifths of those questioned believe that ordinary people can make a big difference to serious problems like climate change. Who knows what we could achieve if these untapped ideas were brought to the surface?
The factors that stop people from following through with their idea include lack of money, not having enough confidence, a fear of failure, or simply not knowing where to start. Have any of these been obstacles to making your ideas happen?
More than half of the people we surveyed said they’d be motivated to act on their ideas if financial backing or reward was available, while being able to change people’s lives and help the local community were seen as the most important end results of having good ideas. People at our regional events said that the Big Green Challenge prize fund was a great way to focus people’s attention.
Why not get together with your group, dig out your thinking caps, switch off any negative thoughts about your creativity and make an idea happen!
