Ushering in the new (and blocking out draughts)

10/01/10 or 01/10/10 for our North American friends: an auspicious day for a first slightly belated 2010 10:10 post.

One reason why I’ve been a bit quiet is that over the Christmas break I was enjoying spending some time away from a computer screen getting on and doing things. Like repainting our hallway with half a tub of paint recovered from the street a few months ago and waiting to be put to good use (very satisfying). And in keeping with this year’s low carbon fun-for-free ethos spending plenty of time outside, despite the snow and ice (cycling to work has I confess fared less well over the last few days…).

One highlight was a Boxing Day trip to the Shepherd’s Hill allotments in Haringey with one lucky allotment holder (these days you can’t even put your name on the waiting list). (The picture below, Allotments uploaded by satguru on flickr was taken there at this time of year two years ago).

Shepherd's Hill allotments

I really enjoyed tramping about admiring the plots and all the hard work that goes into them, even at this time of year. My host was also full of good ideas for getting some gardening going in our block of flats and made it sound all very straightforward. And indeed, inspired by this I have achieved my first small 10:10 triumph: a pledge from the freeholder of our flats to reissue keys to all the residents so that everyone can access communal garden. It’s a small step, but a crucial one!

Meanwhile we’ve also being trying to figure out how to keep out the draughts in the sub-zero temperatures. Our flat is pretty well insulated all things considered but the front door is a disaster: ill-fitting, with a letter box that didn’t shut properly, letting in all the cold air during the day. I’ve fitted brushes to the back of the door and rolled up an old blanket to make a draught excluder and fitted a curtain over the window and letter box, but I’m not convinced any of these make a massive difference.

One thing that has come through our letter box recently is our energy bills. Pleasingly, for the last quarter our gas consumption is only half what our supplier predicted, suggesting that our new boiler is really delivery efficiencies. We’ve also managed to reduce our electricity consumption by 15% on the same quarter last year (the first quarter for which we have any comparative figures), testament to the effect of finally replacing all our light bulbs with energy efficient ones and probably also the acquisition of a smart meter this time last year (although it’s been sitting in the drawer ever since the batteries ran out and it failed to respond to the rechargeables with which I replaced them, irritatingly. Time for another go maybe).

Looking for better solutions for blocking the draughts I picked up this book in the library.

Author Nick White explains that, according to the Energy Saving Trust, as much as 20% of all heat loss in a typical home is through ventilation and draughts (p.68). I didn’t expect there to be much in the book that we hadn’t already thought of if not actually already done but in fact there’s loads, including some very simple reminders. For example, we replaced our boiler recently and most of our radiators, but we haven’t put reflective foil behind them. And one easy way to improve our front door would be to add a ‘threshold excluder‘. Not complicated really.

The best thing about this book however is the tables in the appendices which compare the financial and environmental returns on different actions thereby putting an end to all arguments about the relative merits of double-glazing v. cavity wall insulation with some hard facts.

None of this is much help however for one relative who knows what he wants to do to improve the energy efficiency of his Victorian terrace home, but doesn’t know how to find a consultant or a contractor to do some fairly specialist work. Eiffelover and I have promised to do some research and if we find out anything useful I’ll post it here.

For us however this new year has been about more than just securing our literal thresholds. On another one of sunny winter walks Eiffelover and I made a decision to cross one of life’s bigger thresholds and take our relationship to a new level. Having a shared vision for our future – for living together in a way that enables us both to bring out the best in each other and to make a positive impact on the world around us – is an important factor in encouraging us to make this decision and I for one hope that getting hitched (ahem – said it now!) will give us the confidence to go out and take on new challenges and to find ways to make a difference, rather than turning in on ourselves, as is so often the case. But it might mean that there’s rather more on this blog about the highs and lows of sustainable wedding planning than I would originally have envisaged.

Progress so far: a few small steps and, despite all the disappointments of the end of 2009 and Copenhagen, huge hope. Bring in the new!