Things are heating up now and the Eco-Team recently met to agree the Action Plan as we work towards the Eco-Centres Award. The great thing about the award is that it does not expect you to be ‘Eco-Perfect’ from day one. We are all on a journey and so is our centre. Our actions are focussed on our three topic areas, and below is just a taster of what we will be doing under each heading;
Energy
- Set up clear instructions for the heating system for all volunteers and users (this one will be really important as it is a significant cost; more to follow another day!).
- Have a solar survey conducted.
- Provide energy saving guidance to all volunteers and users.
Waste
- Get internal bins and finalise location and signage (there will be a big push to recycle where as much as possible).
- Develop a waste policy.
- Ensure printers are set to double sided printing and encourage printing ‘2 pages on one’ where possible.
Health Living
- Offer a range of healthy food and drink options.
- Provide drinking water throughout the day (with re-usable beakers).
- Promote physical activities for all visitors.
We are now just weeks away from the opening weekend (5th/6th April) and with the handover of the centre to our community imminent, next month we will be developing our ‘Eco-Code’. This should be a written statement that summarises your centre’s commitment to environmental issues. I will be in touch about this again next month, but in the meantime do drop me a note with any thoughts or ideas.
Neil Clark
Eco-Team Lead (and looking forward to spring!)
