Alton Climate Action Network
By Helen Ross
I woke up on a sunny morning in August on Arran. Charged my electric bike through the solar charged house battery and cycled to the Eco Savvy Zero Waste Café at Kildonan. Flying down the steep hill with the wind in my hair and the sun in the sky, what a great way to live.
The soup of the day was homemade Broccoli and Ginger accompanied by bread from the Bakehouse. This was followed by a delicious piece of home baked manor house cake with coffee. All for a suggested donation of £3.50! I didn’t need any of the dried pulses, rice and flour today so just put in a bit extra for a piece of parsley and a few leaves of Kale donated to the Zero Waste Café by a local home grower. It was great to have a chat with the others present and with Sheridan and Biff who run the café with support from volunteers.
After a lovely lunch, I cycled off on the electric bike back up the hill with ease. The electric takes the hard work out of the hills, but we still get fresh air and exercise because we still have to pedal. It’s just easier on the knees!
My next stop was to the Eco Savvy community shop at Whiting Bay. I was filling a gap in the volunteer rota today – working from 1.30 to 4.30. This involved getting a briefing from the morning volunteer. She had been very busy, but all had gone well. Being a shop volunteer is a great way to meet people and recycle donated pre-loved items. We also sell Eco products that enable people to try household and personal products with less plastic and chemicals. They are tested by shop volunteers to make sure that we sell things that really work.
The customers today included locals, people with holiday homes and people from other parts of Scotland, England and other countries. The furthest during my session was a man from Washington state in America, who thought we had a great shop and purchased some material for a quilting project.
A few years ago, Eco Savvy had to subsidise the shop financially as well as through volunteers, because the constraints imposed as a result of the covid epidemic meant that costs exceeded running costs. However, with the good management of the shop manager, the great work of the shop volunteers and the support of the Board of Trustees – also volunteers, the money raised now covers the shop’s management and running costs. This includes things like insurance, rent and energy. When there is a little over, Eco Savvy projects can also benefit.
After closing the shop for the day, I cycled home for dinner. However, the day was not over. My next task was as a Trustee, to drive to Brodick to negotiate a contract for our bike maintenance workshop space with a community organisation representative. Like many people on Arran, the representative is a man with many talents. His current visible role is as a caretaker and cleaner, but his background is in finance and is a community trustee with a long history with the Arran community. After negotiating the gist of a contract, I stopped off at the shop for the week’s shopping, made my way home and fell asleep.
Costs and benefits
Miles cycled by E bike: 8 (13 Km) – Approximate emissions: = 65g (compared with a small van = 936g)
Miles driven: 8.3 x 2 = 16.6 km 13.36 x 2 = 26.72km Approximate emissions: by E car = 1336g (compared with a small van = 1923.84g)
See calculations: – Source: https://www.green-speedy.com/post/carbon-emission-calculator
Well-being benefits: – happier, exercise, fresh air, good food. Feeling that I had done something for the community at the shop.
£ – Donation for Zero waste lunch £5
Eco Savvy is a great organisation: –
- I am very grateful to Eco Savvy for lending me an e bike a few years ago to try out. I was so impressed that I bought my own and haven’t looked back.
- Eco Savvy provided information and practical knowledge about solar panels and house batteries through energy events. This enabled us to find accredited installers and financial assistance from the Scottish and UK Government loan schemes.
- Now that we have solar panels and a house battery, I can charge the e bike using the power of the sun!
This has taken years of our own money, focused work, helpful friends and negotiation with installers and financial supporters to achieve, but it is definitely worth it. It will save money going forward and will mean that we use less energy from the National grid and reduce our carbon emissions as a result. Having the e bike means that I can get around the island cheaply and easily and get fresh air and exercise in the process.
Useful sources of information from the internet:
Source: https://www.green-speedy.com/post/carbon-emission-calculator
https://my2050.energysecurity.gov.uk