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Going greener in Dulwich? You are not alone!

We've been asking local people what they are doing to live greener lives - here are some of the things that they told us:

Alice switched to cycling instead of driving or using buses… John double-insulated the front door and insulated walls… Clare set up composting scheme at school with primary-age children; she tried to use the car less; and she resurrected her compost heap in the back garden and started composting organic matter…Juliet dug up the front garden for vegetables and when it came to getting a new car bought a Toyota Prius rather than a BMW …Chris made a point of switching off lights and used more public transport ….David insulated his roof space with mineral wool and insulation board; he also upgraded a local charity's boiler to an energy efficient one; and draught-proofed his front door… Christine took the train to Prague rather than flying (and it was great!)… Jo swapped her Land Rover for a Toyota Prius and drove less; she fitted CFLs throughout the house; installed loft & cavity wall insulation; and joined an energy efficiency action company…Paul's second car was stolen but he didn't replace it; he joined Freecycle and got rid of an unwanted bicycle that way; he drove four people to holiday destination rather than flying, and stopped buying fruit and veg from half-way around the world… Nick set up a compost bin; drove his small diesel car more gently, thus saving fuel, money and CO2…Bill changed his central heater boiler; ran the car less and used public transport more; planted a roadside verge, and discussed Dulwich traffic plans and network of cycle routes with the Dulwich Society traffic sub-committee…Niki started a vegetable garden; bought a technically 'green' car and paid only £35 road fund tax; she used public transport more and the car less; and walked to the shops… Bruno's family reached their target to cut 25% from their home's carbon footprint (measuring helped awareness and led to initiatives that delivered the target).

And there were plenty of others, who’s names we don’t have, who…became more aware of efficient appliances…recycled paper, cardboard & glass… replaced ordinary light bulbs with energy-efficient ones. …this list goes on!

So take heart! You may not be able to do everything, but everyone in Dulwich who does something to live more sustainably helps make a difference.

Send us an email - and tell us what you're doing too!

Giving local people a chance to meet up and swap all manner of household items, our area's first 'Give and Take' day was held the East Dulwich Community Centre on Darrell Road on Jan 24th.
It was a well attended event and not only were people happy to pick up some free items, they were equally pleased at the chance to clear out unwanted things whilst seeing them go to good homes.
So a winner all round!
For those who like statistics, the results of the event were:
198 instances of donating (approx)
Reuse to community 1124.75 (of this 25-50kg passed on to charity shops and 41kg by CRISP)
Electrical recycling – 19kg
Card recycling – 2kg (estimated)

More Give and Take days will be held - we'll give advance notice on this site and through our newsletter (so sign up if you haven't already).

Our place in the world....

From our homes in Dulwich and neighbouring areas it feels as if the problems
of global warming are a long way off. We notice the milder winters, put up with some spells of more extreme weather– hotter summers, more intense rain, occasional flash floods – and grumble about hosepipe bans. But compared with the impact in other parts of the world, it’s all very mild – so far.

It’s easy to forget that Dulwich is on a planet whose ice caps are melting. Beyond our lively, leafy, beautiful little corner of London the world is undergoing dramatic changes. In historical terms these changes are happening very quickly, the outcome is uncertain, and looking into the future (rising sea levels, heatwaves, increasing competition for limited natural resources) we may have more cause
to worry. The more we do to plan ahead, and to reduce our impact on the environment, the better.

Why are we reminding you about this when surely you’ve already heard about it?

Because your choices and actions matter. They will make a difference.

As you may be aware, Dulwich Going Greener is a registered local charity, set up
to encourage everyone in Dulwich to make more energy-efficient lifestyle choices. If you are interested (and we hope that you are), there are two things we’d like to encourage you to do:

Firstly, keep taking global warming seriously – keep your eyes and ears open, listen to the news, talk to your friends about it, don’t get bored and tell yourself that it will go away.

Secondly, start making a few positive changes to reduce your energy waste. Make changes that you can keep going with, which will become part of your everyday routine. Turn off unnecessary appliances; stop using throw-away carrier bags; walk or cycle sometimes instead of driving; don’t fill up the kettle when you make just one cup of tea (tip: to filter out the ‘chalky’ bits at the bottom, use a tea strainer or buy a kettle fur collector!).

Make the change - cut out plastic bags with our local Dulwich shops!
Want to do something quick and easy to reduce waste? Switch to our reusable shopping bags. Not only environmentally friendly, but stylish too.
These are now on sale in many Dulwich shops (see the list below).
Each bag costs £2, is strong and well made, and can be used many times.
Every time you use a throw-away plastic bag you are making a small but real contribution to both global warming and land-fill. Add up the bags that we use every year as a nation and you have a totally uneccessary pollution problem!
Visit these shops and become part of the solution instead...
LOCAL SHOPS SUPPORTING OUR RE-USABLE BAG CAMPAIGN
The Art Stationers   Dulwich Village
Bartleys Flowers   Dulwich Village www.bartleysflowers.com
Dulwich Books Park hall      dulwichbooks@yahoo.co.uk
Mad Cow   Park Hall info@madcowdesign.com
Roullier-White Lordship Lane mrswhite@roullierwhite.com.
Mrs Robinson Lordship lane
Pretty Traditional North Cross Road
LATEST NEWS...Now at SMBS Foods, 75 Lordship Lane