News

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On Thursday 28th May, ncrt were delighted to take part in the First Sustainable Living Festival organised by CueEast. We had a very busy time meeting many of the hundreds of people who every day come to use the Forum's facilities. We had energy monitors on display and were happy to let people know how they can help all households cut their carbon emissions. ncrt will soon be making an announcement about their availablity to the citizens of Norwich.

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And what a day it was! We were delighted with all of the support that we received at The Forum as well as those that turned up for Earth Hour during the evening. We were fortunate to have Elizabeth, mother of Andy Ridley the founder of Earth Hour, join us. Elizabeth kindly drew the winner for our competition run with the Eastern Daily Press.

We hope to build more on the link with Earth Hour in the coming year.

What a Day Saturday 28th March will be!

Norwich will be buzzing on Saturday 28th March when the Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust (ncrt) will be busy promoting its second Plastic Bag Free Day to shoppers! Later in the evening between 8.30 and 9.30 we are also encouraging everyone to switch off their lights and join in with Earth Hour. This global activity is in its fourth year and support just keeps growing!

Brenda Arthur, Chair of ncrt, said ‘We need to keep reminding people to take shopping bags out with them when they go. There are now so many different designs for people to choose from that you can get one that fits in your pocket – perfect for men – ones you reuse from supermarkets or a range of cotton or jute ones in all different sizes. So no excuses, let’s all do our bit – it takes 500 years for every plastic carrier bag to break down in landfill and they endanger wildlife in the seas and on land – so please think – take a bag with you when you go out!’

Ncrt will have a stall in The Forum and hope that people will come and see us. Let us know what you are doing for Earth Hour at www.ncrt.org.uk

Ncrt are delighted to have had this message of support from Andy Ridley, Founder and Executive Director of Earth Hour:

"Any organisation whose mission is to cut carbon emissions is playing a vital role in the future of this planet. The world is on the cusp of a carbon revolution and organisations such as the Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust are going to become increasingly important as change progresses. I feel proud to say there are organisations in my home town who are taking charge of this action."

Congratulations to Peter Windmill and Holly James our winners! Watch out for their posters on the bus!

 

PRESS RELEASE - DESIGN A POSTER PROMOTING PUBLIC TRANSPORT

It’s competition time!

Rachael Trezise, Development Officer with Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust says: “We hope that one of your New Year Resolutions is to use the car less and public transport more and reduce your carbon emissions so Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust have teamed up with First Eastern Counties Buses; National Express and the Eastern Daily Press to encourage people to do just that! We would like you to design a poster promoting public transport. This needs to be A4 portrait with a margin of about 2.5 cms or an inch at the top or bottom. Names and contact numbers on the back of the poster please. The poster can feature both buses and trains and there will be two winners!”

Brenda Arthur Chair of NCRT says “A winning poster will be featured in the vast majority of the 100 buses in Norwich run by First Eastern Counties Buses who are also offering a one month network travel pass with a value of £83 and a First ‘Goody Bag’. There will also be a separate prize from National Express of a First Class Family Day Out Ticket from Norwich to Liverpool Street to be used before the end of August 2009 and worth over £300. So we hope people of all ages will take the chance to promote lowering carbon emissions by using public transport.”

The Eastern Daily Press have kindly agreed to host a trip round their print works for the lucky winners so they can see the EDP coming off the press!

The closing date for entries to be received is Saturday 14th February – Love Your Planet by reducing carbon emissions on St Valentine’s Day – and should be sent to: Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust c/o Tara Greaves, Eastern Daily Press, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE. Winners will be notified by Monday 23 February 2009. Please note all entries may be featured in any promotional material issued by Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust; First Eastern Counties Buses; The Eastern Daily Press and National Express.

If you wish for any further information please contact Rachael Trezise on 07531 887465 or rachaeltrezise@rtnorwich.demon.co.uk or look at our website www.ncrt.org.uk

EXCLUSIVE CITY CAR CLUB OFFER TO ALL VISITORS TO THE NCRT WEBSITE

www.ncrt.org.uk

Join for only £25 (normally £75)

register before the end of the year and you will receive £25 free driving credits

Just quote Promo Code: NCR300

Contact www.citycarclub.co.uk or call 0845 330 1234

Norwich has one of the fastest growing car clubs in the country as motorists try to cut their C02 emissions as well as their household bills.

Join the club, save thousands of pounds a year on insurance, petrol, garage repair bills, road tax, car loans and the biggest cost of all - depreciation. The AA estimates a typical car costs £4,400 per annum to own. Compare this to a member that uses our cars for 2 short trips per week would pay around £1,000 per annum, therefore you can save well over £3,000 over a year.

Members rent the cars by the hour for less than £5, with 50 miles free petrol every day.

We know from research that an average car owner drives 13,438 km / year, emitting 2.246 tonnes of carbon dioxide, after joining a car club reducing car mileage by 50% and using a newer car, more efficient car, this figure would be reduced to 0.87 tonnes of Carbon dioxide per year. Our members increase other transport modes by 42% after joining us, such as public transport, cycling and walking

We want to cut down car purchase and car use. Independent research by the Environmental Change Institute shows that on joining a car club like City Car Club 63% of members either sell their existing car or defer purchasing a new one.

Each one of our Car Club Car replaces 20 privately owned cars off the road & saves the equivalent in carbon of 10 transatlantic flights a year (source: Carplus & TfL 2007). That means 14 tonnes of avoided CO2 a year for each car.

This year our members will save 8,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions!

City Car Club, which offers a more environmentally friendly alternative to owning a car in Norwich, has seen an unprecedented 151% increase in members in 2008 alone.

Bookings can be made directly from the cars at a moment’s notice, on the internet at www.citycarclub.co.uk or over the telephone on 0845 330 1234.

  Christmas Wrapping!

Try and think re-cycling when buying wrappings for those festive gifts!

Metallic wrapping papers can't be recycled but have you thought of using a traditional plain brown paper, brightening it up with ribbon (which can be re-used) and perhaps a tag made from old Christmas cards? Children can draw pictures on the paper or inexpensive card cut outs can be made or bought.

A rather different idea is to use fabrics to wrap gifts - clearly easier with some gifts than others and, whilst it may not be advisable with a new bicycle, books, cds and lots of other gifts can easily be wrapped with pieces of material.

You can be creative with what material you use. Why not use a cloth napkin or teatowel - adding to the gift - knotted or tied with ribbon or rafia around the gift. You could also buy or use leftover remnants of cloth. Check out those re-cycling charity shops for material and help someone else at the same time.

The Japanese have used this method for many years it is called Furoshiki and is regarded as an art form. Check it out!

Get your present noticed, have fun and give to the environment too!

John Lewis and their green bubbles!

The Norwich branch of John Lewis have a very active environmental group who are constantly evaluating how they might improve their carbon footprint. One of the most recent innovations is to use a green bubble wrap in the store. Not only green in colour - in line with their branding - it is also biodegradable in six months. The bubble wrap also has the advantage of being cheaper than their original supply. It is hoped that all branches of John Lewis will soon be using this product. If you would like to know more about the product please email us for details of the supplier. We shall let you know of other iniatives from John Lewis Norwich over the next few months.

What a result!

Our second competition of the last few months for people to win energy monitors has now closed. The Citizen competition, held with Norwich City Council, attracted over 100 entries from Norwich householders hoping to win an energy monitor and the following were successful: Debbie Bridges;

Mr Cooper; Colin Crouch; Mr. Davies; Paul Dugdale. We look forward to hearing from some of them about their experiences with the monitors.

The monitors, also available from shops such as John Lewis or search online, monitor how much carbon is being emitted as well as the cost of electricity per hour. Also providing temperature and humidity information they help you to identify where the energy is being used in your home. The aim is, of course, to cut emissions and costs. Why not share the cost of the monitor (around £35) with friends? Once you’ve established where your ‘hotspots’ are you can pass it on!

Can we help?

Norwich Carbon Reduction Trust are currently talking to the National Federation of Small Businesses to see if we can draw on our pool of environmental champions to give advice on how to cut carbon emissions and fuel bills. If this is an area in which you would like advice or have expertise please get in touch.

Got a Date?

Don’t forget too our calendar – if you are putting on a relevant event then please let us have details and we will add it to our site.

Contact

Richard Wilson

Development Officer

Tel.01603 212312