Our December 2013 newsletter is available here. Catch up with all the news and events!

1. Green Drinks – come and have a natter each month!
2. Community Design Process for Tavistock Development Area and Community Follow Up
3. Energy and Food Group Meeting: Thurs 26th April – 19:30. Come and join us!
4. Community Garden Area in Tavistock … and Gardening with Arsenic!
5. Hearts and Minds – Reminder
6. Introduction to Permaculture!
7. Garden Share Scheme and first garden offered for use!
8. Stone Walling Day
9. Portas Bid
10. Car Club for Tavistock
11. Equipment Loan Scheme – let’s get one off the ground!!
12. EDF Energy’s Green Fund
13. From The Friends of the Walled Gardens at Maristow
14. Transition Plymouth Events at 171 Armada Way
15. A Volunteering Opportunity
16. Bits and Bobs
17. Forthcoming Dates
18. And Finally.

1. Green Drinks – come and have a natter each month!
May Green Drinks – come and join our Green Drinks on Tuesday 8th May (19:30 till 21:30) at the Market Inn, corner of Whitchurch Road and Pixon Lane in Tavistock.

2. Community Design Process for Tavistock Development Area and Community Follow Up
The Community Design Workshop process for the Callington Road and Plymouth Road developments continued through March.

A group of interested citizens met at an open meeting on Saturday 24th March at Whitchurch village hall. The aim is to support the design process and keep a watchful eye on how the design principles hold up! At the same time we feel it’s important to document the factors we consider should be taken into account and maintain an open dialogue with West Devon Borough Council. Jeremy Davies is trying to encourage this process.

On March 29th West Devon Borough Council and LDA Design held a further Design Workshop: ‘Designing the Tavistock Development – STAGE TWO’. Again well attended there was much discussion about the design work so far from LDA Design. There was a view that we have an opportunity in Tavistock to put in place an exemplary development fit for the 21st Century – a unique neighbourhood complementing the rest of the town – of which the residents and the rest of the town can be proud. This chance shouldn’t be missed.

It was agreed at the workshop that the most practical way forward would be to establish a Design Review Panel to support the process from this time forward, through the design, development and post development phases. West Devon Borough Council is now considering this proposal. A summary of the workshop is being prepared by WDBC and should be available soon.

In the meantime Jeremy has kicked off a discussion document for anyone who is interested in making any constructive comments or additions.

Jeremy: “The Government Inspector’s reservations concerning the plans for Tavistock were clear, and the Council is considering how adjustments to the housing plans may be made. The Highways Dept of DCC is determined to pursue the reinstatement of the rail link to Bere Alston, but it still may not happen. There is opportunity for influencing the plans and we must grasp this positively.

“The Council is trying to encourage community involvement through LDA Design. Responding to their presentations and suggestions though, is possible via an alternative forum. WDBC have said they will be happy to receive feed-back and ideas directly via such a route, as well as through LDA’s interpretations. This is such an attempt.

“The document is available to download at http://www.transitiontavistock.org.uk/p/tavistock-and-developments.html. This is a first stab, with priorities/thoughts/suggestions. Any further advance will depend upon response to the idea. Reaction invited.”
Jeremy

Contacts:
The Strategic Planning Team, WDBC (strategicplanning@westdevon.gov.uk)
Tel: 01822 813563.
Jeremy Davies (Jeremy.davies@talktalk.net)

3. Energy and Food Group Meeting: Thurs 26th April – 19:30. Come and join us!
Our next meeting will be hosted by Jackie and Kevin Eadie on 26th April at 19:30 (12 Glanville Road). All welcome! Following on from our last meeting we’ll be discussing in more detail our ideas for setting up a Community Energy Network across the area and what we could achieve with an Energy Shop in the centre of Tavistock.

If you can’t make it but would like to get in touch, contact Kate Royston  (01822-835819) or Mike Dennis.

4. Community Garden Area in Tavistock … and Gardening with Arsenic!
A group interested in setting up a Community Garden somewhere in Tavistock met up on Weds 11th April to get some wheels in motion. If you’d like to get involved please let us know.

There are also many of us who have to deal with gardening with high levels of arsenic contamination. We’d like to encourage more discussion around this and share ideas and options about how to deal with it. What do you do? Are raised beds the only answer? And what about your orchard’s fruit crop? What’s the level of take up in the fruit? Does it reduce significantly over time? We’d like to investigate the feasibility of a long term research project enabling us to understand the varying levels of arsenic take up in different fruit and vegetable crops, options for remediation and subsequent impact on produce. If you have any views, ideas, experience or even suggestions for funding such a project please let us know.

Contact Kate Royston or Rebecca Harris or email transitiontavistock@gmail.com.

5. Hearts and Minds – Reminder
When the Transition Movement was started they proposed a sub group entitled Heart and Soul. The idea was to identify what motivates people to change and to explore ways that we can help others to take change on board and develop changes in behaviour to prepare for a new society which is resilient and just.

Al Head is keen to open up an opportunity for Tavistock residents to develop something similar under the heading of Inner Transition or Hearts and Minds (you have the opportunity to influence the choice of name). The group may explore the emotional side of transition, consider what do we need to do to prepare ourselves emotionally for the new society that is coming, and that we are hoping to help create? How are old patterns of feeling and thinking stopping us from thinking positively about change? How do we help those around us to embrace new ways of thinking, rather than clinging to the past ways of seeing the world?

If we can engage with those in the community who may think that transition is all about large scale projects or are frightened to face the new world ahead and provide them with positive insights into what individuals can do to change from within, then this may help form a more secure foundation for them to step out into what will be our shared tomorrow.

The first meeting of the group will be Wednesday 25th April at 7.30pm at Mike Dennis’ at XX Milton Crescent, Tavistock.

If you are interested and cannot get to the first meeting, please let Al or Mike know and they can feed back to you on the outcomes and future dates.

6. Introduction to Permaculture!
A reminder about Rebecca Harris’ offering an ‘Introduction to Permaculture’ course on 13th & 14th October 2012, 9am to 5pm at 4 Canal Road, Tavistock.

Permaculture is a systems approach to sustainability. It is a holistic way of thinking, in which we can consciously create productive environments that work with nature rather than against it. We can design for abundance, and enjoy better, healthier, and happier lives, through making more sustainable choices. A flyer is attached.

The course will provide an introduction to the ethics and principles of permaculture in a practical and hands on way. It will show you how to apply Permaculture to your window-sill, garden, farm and personal life, through observation, design, and getting your permaculture thinking cap on.

   Costs:

£74 with membership to the Permaculture Association of Britain included.
£50 without membership to the Permaculture Association included.

Concessions available – please contact Rebecca.

   Booking:

Please send your name, e-mail address, phone number and home address, along with your payment, to: Rebecca Harris Introduction to Permaculture Course,XXXXX. Your place will be secured upon receipt of payment.

For more information, please e-mail Rebecca at thehouseofjam@gmail.com

7. Garden Share Scheme and first garden offered for use!

Kit Harbottle and Jackie Eadie are making good progress in getting the Garden Share scheme up and running again. Watch this space!

If you are interested in sharing your garden … or are looking for a space to garden please get in touch. Drop an email to transitiontavistock@gmail.com or call 01822-835819.
Further details will soon be available at www.transitiontavistock.org.uk.

Garden offered for garden share use. Available straight away: A 5m by 15m sheltered but sunny garden plot on the north side of Tavistock, near the Manor estate. Some fruit trees in place, and good soil. Fenced all round with lockable shed. Owner lives offsite and would like to find 1 person or a couple to use it (no children or pets). No mains water or rubbish disposal available, and about 50m from road. If you’re interested please contact as per above

8. Stone Walling Day

The Tamar Valley AONB held a ‘Stone Walling Day’ on Saturday Apr 14th as part of the Spring Trails Festival. It was a fabulous day and the weather was reasonably kind to us. Our mission for the day was to learn the crafts of stonewalling from a master craftsman – Mansel Grant – and practice by renovating one of the many old walls at Deer Park Farm, Luckett

We got to grips with footings, selecting the right sort of stone, batters and levels … and also got very muddy! At the end of the day not only had we renovated both sides of the wall but we did all feel confident enough to go home and repair or build our own!
Highly recommended … Kate

Mansel getting us going
After

9. Portas Bid

Tavistock’s bid to be a Portas Pilot was submitted on time and we’re all keeping our fingers crossed.

The submission was supported by a promotional video of Tavistock celebrating the virtues and highlighting the opportunities. This was put together by Tavistock College supported by Jay and Adam Fleet and the participants. It can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kNsJApM2QA
Transition Tavistock’s letter of support can be viewed at www.transitiontavistock.org.uk. We welcome any comments.
More information on the Portas bid process in general is available at http://www.maryportas.com/news/2012/02/04/bid-to-become-a-portas-pilot/.
We’ll continue to keep you informed of developments!

10. Car Club for Tavistock

• Ever thought of joining a car club?
• Do you own a car?
• Is it parked most of the time?
• Costing you more than you think?

Tavistock is ready to join the growing number of communities – from Devon to the Highlands of Scotland – that have realised the benefits of having a car club. A car when you need it. All tax, insurance, repairs etc paid. Pay only for the hours you use the car and mileage
So if you only need a car for a few journeys a week or occasional trips why not find out if joining a car club would be the answer for you.
To find out more – www.e-cocars.com
Co-ordinator Jeremy Farr 07753325014

11. Equipment Loan Scheme – let’s get one off the ground!!

We have had an offer of equipment that could be loaned by ‘Transitioners’ including a scaffolding tower, long ladder, trailer and use of an on-site log splitter. I’m sure there must be others who have under-utilised equipment that they might be prepared to loan, and conversely that they might like to borrow.

Jevan Berrange has suggested that we should get a scheme organised, making an inventory of people who have offers of equipment and/or skills etc. to offer. A suggestion is also to consider a ‘points based’ system whereby one accumulated points for loans or services provided and gave points for equipment or services used.

If you have an experience of such a scheme, would be interested in helping set it up, or have skills or equipment to share please let us know: transitiontavistock@gmail.com.

12. EDF Energy’s Green Fund

EDF Energy’s Green Fund is now open to applications from schools and other community based and educations organisations. The Green Fund is made up with a small premium that EDF Green Tariff customers pay, EDF match these contributions and use it to help support renewable energy projects across England, Scotland and Wales. The Fund offers grants of up to £30,000 to help cover the cost of renewable energy technology that can be used to produce green energy from the sun, wind, water, wood and other renewable sources.The next deadline for applications is the 31st August 2012.
http://www.edfenergy.com/products-services/for-your-home/our-services/green-energy-fund.shtml

13. From The Friends of the Walled Gardens at Maristow

Dear Potential Friend,

We’ve had masses of interest in the work going on in the Walled Gardens and lots of offers of help, so in order to co-ordinate the activities of volunteers and to support the work of the Walled Gardens at Maristow Community Interest Company, we’ve set up a Friends group which we really hope you’ll choose to join.

    Membership

• Annual Membership fees are £15 per individual,
• £30 per family and
• £50 for Corporate members.

The fees go towards covering the costs of insuring volunteers when they are working on-site, buying tools for the volunteers and also will go towards the costs of running events throughout the year that will be exclusive to the Friends. It’s really easy to join – just send an email to wgmfriends@gmail.com telling us that you’d like to join. You’ll get a reply from Jeremy Bunting, the Chair of the Friends with an invoice and you can either pay via PayPal or send him a cheque.

    Volunteer Days

We’re running volunteer days every 2nd and 4th Wednesday and Sunday of the month. If there is enough demand, we will increase the numbers of days accordingly.

    Plans

We’re all geared up ready for the big Spring planting…the Cold Frame is already full of seedlings, Thanks to grants from the Chestnut Fund and HogCo we have a few more tools and have purchased 80 apple rootstocks which we’ll be bud-grafting with the help of the gardening team at Cotehele House in the summer. We’ll run a Friends-only grafting workshop when the time comes, so you can learn how to make your very own apple tree!

We’re opening the gardens to raise money for St Lukes Hospice on the 22nd July, 12th August and 16th September which will be a wonderful way of being able to promote the gardens as well as raise money for a worthwhile local cause.

    Work in Progress

As some of you may already know, we have been doing some work with long-term unemployed young people and are now working with groups of offenders who are working with the Community Payback Team (It’s what many of you may know as ‘Community Service’). We’re having some really good results and it’s been amazing to see how many of the CP Team have really got stuck in here

Progress on the Horticultural Therapy project for injured Armed Services Personnel is slow but steady and we are working jointly with Pentillie Castle to make this happen.

I look forward to meeting you soon,

Jeremy Bunting

14. Transition Plymouth Events at 171 Armada Way

Plymouth Transition: plymouthtransition@nature-mail.com

Hi Everyone,

We’ve recently discovered that the lease on 171 Armada Way is going to run out on 24th June. Initial enquiries suggest that we may be able to continue here after this date provided the owners, to whom the lease reverts, are happy for us to stay. However, since this is by no means certain we’re working on the principal of “Use it or you’ll lose it”.

Attached you’ll find a list of varied events. Please have a look, and if there’s anything that attracts you do come along or ring for more information, otherwise let us know what you’d like to see here, or what you’d like to do here.

This shop is a good place to be, and, just to remind you, we’re open to the public on Saturdays from 12.00 to 4.00, and on Mondays from 10.30 to 2.30, so drop in for information, a chat and a drink, environmental and other leaflets, meeting with other interesting people, joining Transition Plymouth groups including Food, Education, Art and Transport, and Healthy Planet’s “Books for Free” scheme where you can take up to three books every time you come in. There’s also a children’s room, so don’t let having children with you put you off.

Pat Bushell for Transition Plymouth.

Events at 171 Armada Way.

 April 25th Wednesday evening,  6.30 opening for 7.00 start “Sustainable Housing”, a Transition Talk by Jeremy Guise, contact no. 07527 496036.
 April 26th Thursday evening, 6.30 opening for 7.00 start Transition Plymouth Education Group brings you: “Transition Discuss” A public discussion, meeting on the 4th Thursday of each month.
April’s title: “Petrol at £5 per litre? How will you cope with that?” Contact Clare on 01752 XXXXXX
 April 28th Saturday,  5.00 – 6.30 pm “Healthy Diet, Healthy Future – The many benefits of Veganism” A talk by Berty Justice. Entry by (free) tickets only. Contact Berty on XXXXXX for a ticket.
May 7th Monday, and on each first Monday of the month 7.00 pm opening for 7 30 start
“Movie Mondays” Films with an eco slant presented by Tim Francis
Contact Tim on XXXXXX
May 12th Saturday 10:30am – 4:30pm.
Seeds for Change, from Oxford, brings you: “Having Great Meetings and Making Good Decisions Together“, a workshop to improve working in groups.Pre-booking essential, and bring vegan lunch to share. Contact: Adriana 01752 XXXXXX

15. A Volunteering Opportunity …

Hello

We have recently appointed a new manager at our Tavistock shop as part of Refurnish Devon. He is very keen to recruit a couple of volunteers as general shop assistants – cleaning white goods (fridges etc), basic furniture repair and generally helping to make the shop look nice.

We have the position advertised on the do-it.org website but I was wondering if you could also advertise / promote the opportunity.

Yours Sincerely

Karen Price,
Volunteer Training & Support Manager, Refurnish, Units 4 & 5, Redlake Trading Estate, Ivybridge, Devon, PL21 0EZ
Tel (01752) 897311

16. Bits and Bobs
Book Tip: Rebecca Harris strongly recommends: Seaweed and Eat It: A family foraging and cooking adventure by Fiona Houston and Xa Milne
Foraging Tip: Wild Garlic Crisps
Take a wild garlic leaf, or preferably more. Brush with oil and cook in microwave for approx. 2 mins until crisp! Delicious!
Exeter Food Network
has just been launched to promote more local and sustainable food sourcing, If you’d like to join see: http://groups.google.com/group/exeter-food-network?hl=en
Cafe Scientifique There is a proposal to start a Cafe Scientifique in Tavistock – watch this space! In the meantime, Exeter Cafe Scientifique have a meeting at Exeter Phoenix on Monday 14th May at 8.30 pm when Professor Chris Rhodes will be speaking and leading a discussion on “What Happens When We Run Out Of Oil?”.

17. Forthcoming Dates

April 2012
Hearts & Minds Group Weds Apr 25th
Energy & Food Group Meeting Thur Apr 26th

May 2012
Green Drinks Tues May 8th
Deadline for items for May newsletter Sun May 13th

June 2012
Green Drinks Tues June 12th
Deadline for items for June newsletter Sun June 17th

July 2012
Green Drinks Tues July 10th

Deadline for items for July newsletter Sun July 15th
Smallholders Weekend, Cotehele Sat/Sun July 28/29th

18. And Finally…

From the Transition Culture website http://transitionculture.org/

Announcing the Festival of Transition

I am delighted to be able to announce the Festival of Transition, an initiative of New Economics Foundation, Transition Network, the Ramblers Association, Mission Models Money and UKYCC. The idea is that rather than flying to Rio, and putting nearly 4 tons of carbon dioxide into an atmosphere that really doesn’t need 4 tons of CO2 put into it, we stay at home, and do stuff that models the kind of world we want to see. It is a celebration of change, of practical responses, of community, and we hope that it will be a global event, not just in the UK. All kinds of great events are already being planned over the time of the Festival. The crowning glory will be the 24 Hours of Possibility, a real life experiment in living differently, in showing what’s possible, on the day the Earth Summit begins,. 20th June

The idea is simple. You imagine different ways in which a post-transition society might also be a better one, and then try them out as a real-life experiment during a 24 hour period starting at dawn on 20th June 2012. Activities could involve family, friends, work colleagues, fellow students, community groups or even people you’ve never met before. It could involve the whole town or it could be more personal. You can come to the website to explore a menu of suggested ideas and activities, or add your own.

Here’s some ideas to get you thinking:

● 24 hours of only eating local food 
● 24 hours of exchange without using money 
● 24 hours of dawn breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight feasts out on our street
 ● 24 hours of life lived outdoors
 ● 24 hours of dancing in the streets ● 24 hours of guerrilla food growing
 ● 24 hours of bringing disused premises back into use ● 24 hours of talking with strangers
 ● 24 hours of slow everything ● 24 hours of consensus decision making in my school
(or workplace) ● 24 hours of imagining a day in 2062 
● 24 hours of transforming a derelict site
 ● 24 hours of getting active ● 24 hours of not using a car
 ● 24 hours of inter- generational gatherings 
● 24 hours of swapping roles in my workplace
 ● 24 hours of activity in my local museum ● 24 hours of feasting and planning for the next generation
 ● 24 hours of getting the high street closed and having a carnival on the street 
● 24 hours of making things for other people
 ● 24 hours of working less and living more
 ● 24 hours of reading together ● 24 hours of new community celebrations and ceremonies
 ● 24 hours of creating a community garden ● 24 hours of installing solar panels 
● 24 hours of sharing your skills ● 24 hours of random acts of kindness and spontaneous beauty 
● 24 hours of dreaming a new world awake

So this is an invitation to start having a think about what you might like to do for it, having some conversations with the people around you, and seeing what ideas it stimulates. We think this could be a great celebration of what Transition does best, showing on the ground the kind of change that is possible when we gather together with our friends, neighbours and colleagues. It’s over to you…

STOP PRESS: This item just received:
VALUES IN TRANSITION 
A day to think about the values which underpin constructive social change

.Alastair McIntosh, Centre for Human Ecology, University of Strathclyde, 
Author of ‘Soil and Soul’, scholar and social activist, director of the GalGael Trust. 
Dave Bookless, member of Arocha UK, author of ‘Planetwise’ and moderator of the environmental issues network of Churches Together in Britain & Ireland. 
Ed Skidelsky, Dept of Philosophy, University of Exeter. 
Ed’s book ‘How Much Is Enough? Work, Money and the Good Life’ is coming out with Penguin next year

University of Exeter May 12th 2012

The Conference, which includes lunch and other refreshments, is free to members of Transition initiatives

To register contact Tim Gorringe at T.J.Gorringe@exeter.ac.uk
or at the Department of Theology, University of Exeter, Amory Building, Exeter, EX4 4RJ

1. Green Drinks – come and have a natter each month!
2. Community Design Process for Tavistock Development Area and Community Follow Up: March 24th (Open Meeting) and March 29th (WDBC Community Workshop
3. Energy Savers at Home event review and next steps
4. Energy and Food Group Meeting: Weds 28th March – 19:30. Come and join us!
5. Hearts and Mind
6. Introduction to Permaculture
7. Garden Share Scheme and first garden offered for use!
8. Help Wanted 5
9. Peace Day Pilgrim!
10. Earth Cafe Dates in Plymouth
11. A Request from a former Transition Tavistock member
12. Graft, Sow and Grow
13. Faster Broadband
14. Portas Bid
15. Greek Transition!
16. Why do things seem to come in threes?
17. Forthcoming Dates
18. And Finally…

1. Green Drinks – come and have a natter each month!
April Green Drinks – come and join our Green Drinks on Tuesday 10th April (19:30 till 21:30) at the Market Inn, corner of Whitchurch Road and Pixon Lane in Tavistock. March’s Green Drinks was very lively with seventeen of us catching up or getting to know each other!

2. Community Design Process for Tavistock Development Area and Community Follow Up: March 24th (Open Meeting) and March 29th (WDBC Community Workshop)
As reported in January, a Community Design Workshop was held in Tavistock on the 10th December. A summary of the workshop can be found at http://www.westdevon.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=18184&cat=3287. The workshop’s purpose was to enable members of the community to provide ideas for the design of the new development areas off Callington Road and Plymouth Road. Many of the attendees felt that we should get together and further discuss our thoughts and ideas. An option might be to clearly document the factors we consider should be taken into account. We would also like to support the design process and keep a watchful eye on how the design principles hold up!
To this effect an open meeting was held in Whitchurch Village Hall on Saturday 24th March – unfortunately we couldn’t get the newsletter out in time to tell you about this, but we will report on it next month. It turned out to be timely as West Devon Borough Council are inviting the community to join a workshop ‘Designing the Okehampton and Tavistock Developments – STAGE TWO’ on Thursday evening March 29th at Kilworthy Park, Tavistock (There is a similar event for the Okehampton developments on Tuesday March 27th). For more details contact strategicplanning@westdevon.gov.uk; The Strategic Planning Team, West Devon Borough Council, Kilworthy Park, Tavistock, PL19 0BZ. Tel: 01822 813563.

3. Energy Savers at Home event review and next steps
Our partnership with the Tamar Valley AONB launching ‘Energy Savers at Home’ has proved to be very successful. Our first 2 events (Feb 12th & Mar 10th) enabled us to work with 17 innovative householders willing to share their expertise and help us document the work they’ve done. We now have a valuable set of case studies we can build upon (more later). They also opened their homes to share what they’ve done, advise on lessons learnt and their future plans. We’ve also connected with local experts and service providers prepared to give their time to provide advice and share expertise. Importantly, its provided a chance for you to consider how energy conservation and generation measures might work in your own home.

There were over 70 visitors to the Tamar Valley Centre and to the Open Homes on Saturday March 10th. Once again the mini-bus tours proved to be popular and our thanks to the volunteer drivers from TASS who contributed their time in February and March.
Andy Metcalf (New Generation Energy) set the scene in the morning with a very informative presentation on key points to consider in reducing energy consumption and renewable energy generation.
The audience also enjoyed Ben Dancer’s straight forward overview of the key planning considerations for energy saving and renewable projects. Ben is a Senior Planning Officer at West Devon Borough Council. He emphasised the value of the interactive planning model on the planning portal (www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/house). Ben was kept very busy through the day discussing projects.
Visitors really appreciated the chance to spend time discussing their ideas with the exhibitors (listed below). We were very grateful for their time and look forward to working together in the future. Refreshments were available throughout the day and particular thanks to Ginsters, Tamar Valley Foods, local cake baking volunteers and Sam Bates for keeping them flowing!
The closing presentations from Stephen Frankel (Chairman – Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network) and Tim Selman (Tamar Valley AONB) were inspiring.
Stephen Frankel’s pragmatic approach is very engaging. He emphasised the added economic value that a local community energy network can bring. Tangible benefits to the community can include new jobs and skills development and importantly reduced energy costs. Why should the Big 6 energy companies gain from our energy spending when at least some of this could help fuel our local economy?
Tim Selman shared the work being developed by the AONB and others around Social Forestry. He explained that significant biodiversity loss was resulting from the lack of active management of non-commercial woodlands. These have the potential to revert to community management and support a number of social enterprises and community activities, delivering real community benefit. There will be more about this in future months.
Presentations are, or will soon be, available on www.transitiontavistock.org.uk.

Community Energy Network Development
There was much interest in establishing our own Community Energy Network and we look forward to moving this forward. We are also seeking to focus on better engagement with those in the community finding energy costs a struggle and providing support in energy reduction, exploring the local opportunities from the Green Deal and seeing if we can get one or two innovative renewable energy projects off the ground.
If you have any ideas or would like to be involved contact Kate Royston  or come along to our next Working Group meeting on the 28th March (see below).

Householders Case Studies
These will provide a valuable ongoing resource for others to learn by. Please feel free to download any of the case studies which are available at www.transitiontavistock.org.uk/energy savers at home. If you’d like to speak to the householders or see if you can arrange a visit, please get in touch with them. If you’d like to share your experiences in energy saving and/or generating please get in touch or download the Home Information Sheet, complete as much as possible and return to Kate Royston. We’ll write them up into a case study ready for sharing (we’ll make sure you’re happy with the details first).

Exhibitors and other supporting organisations
Our thanks to the organisations supporting Energy Savers at Home including:
o West Devon Borough Council Planning Team, Tavistock (www.planningportal.gov.uk/permission/house)
o New Generation Energy, Crelake Industrial Estate, Tavistock (www.newgenerationenergy.co.uk)
o Bellinus Renewable Energy, Broadwoodwidger (www.bellinus.co.uk)
o Celtic Solar, Launceston (www.celticsolar.co.uk)
o The Fell Partnership, Merrivale (www.thefellpartnership.co.uk)
o S.C. Cox Building Contractors and the Dartmoor Stove Company, Crelake Industrial Estate, Tavistock (www.sccox.co.uk)
o The Tamar Joinery Company, Bere Alston (www.tamarjoinerycompany.co.uk)
o Forest Fuels, Okehampton (www.forestfuels.co.uk)
o The Silvanus Trust (www.silvanus.org.uk)
o Pure vision LED lighting, Pannier Market, Tavistock (www.purevision.org.uk)
o Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network, Wadebridge (www.wren.uk.com)
o Ginsters, Callington (www.ginsters.co.uk)
o Tamar Valley Foods, Callington (www.tamarvalleyfoods.com)

We’ll keep www.transitiontavistock.org.uk updated as far as possible with contact details and useful links to other organisations and support. If you have any feedback concerning the programme, its outcomes, the material available on the website … and/or what you might like to see as next steps or future actions please get in touch.
Kate Royston, Transition Tavistock (07969 569444) or
Simon Bates, Cordiale Project Officer (07792 484049, sbates@tamarvalley.org.uk)

Last but not least, our heartfelt thanks to Ilaria Rilievo for all her hard work as a volunteer during her short visit from Italy.

4. Energy and Food Group Meeting: Weds 28th March – 19:30. Come and join us!
Our next meeting will be hosted by Beau & Liz Dobson on 28th March at 19:30 (Stourtown Farm, Sampford Spiney, PL20 6LD). All welcome! Our key focus will be on reviewing our ‘Energy Savers at Home’ programme and planning our next steps; and identifying the key Food related areas we’d like to progress in 2012. Garden Share is an important element (see below). If you can’t make it but would like to get in touch, contact Kate Royston  (01822-835819) or Mike Dennis on 01822-XXXXXX. We can also arrange lift share if you get in touch.

5. Hearts and Minds
When the Transition Movement was started they proposed a sub group entitled Heart and Soul. The idea was to identify what motivates people to change and to explore ways that we can help others to take change on board and develop changes in behaviour to prepare for a new society which is resilient and just.
Al Head is keen to open up an opportunity for Tavistock residents to develop something similar under the heading of Inner Transition or Hearts and Minds (you have the opportunity to influence the choice of name). The group may explore the emotional side of transition, consider what do we need to do to prepare ourselves emotionally for the new society that is coming, and that we are hoping to help create? How are old patterns of feeling and thinking stopping us from thinking positvely about change? How do we help those around us to embrace new ways of thinking, rather than clinging to the past ways of seeing the world?
If we can engage with those in the community who may think that transition is all about large scale projects or are frightened to face the new world ahead and provide them with positive insights into what individuals can do to change from within, then this may help form a more secure foundation for them to step out into what will be our shared tomorrow.
The first meeting of the group will be Wednesday 25th April at 7.30pm at Mike Dennis’ at XX Milton Crescent, Tavistock.
If you are interested and cannot get to the first meeting, please let Al or Mike know and they can feed back to you on the outcomes and future dates.

6. Introduction to Permaculture!
Rebecca Harris, a welcome newcomer to Tavistock and our Transition group, is offering an ‘Introduction to Permaculture’ course on 13th & 14th October 2012, 9am to 5pm at 4 Canal Road, Tavistock.
Permaculture is a systems approach to sustainability. It is a holistic way of thinking, in which we can consciously create productive environments that work with nature rather than against it. We can design for abundance, and enjoy better, healthier, and happier lives, through making more sustainable choices.
The course will provide an introduction to the ethics and principles of permaculture in a practical and hands on way. It will show you how to apply Permaculture to your window-sill, garden, farm and personal life, through observation, design, and getting your permaculture thinking cap on.
Costs:
£74 with membership to the Permaculture Association of Britain included.
£50 without membership to the Permaculture Association included.
Concessions available – please contact Rebecca.
Booking:
Please send your name, e-mail address, phone number and home address, along with your payment, to: Rebecca Harris Introduction to Permaculture Course, XXXXXX. Your place will be secured upon receipt of payment.
For more information, please e-mail Rebecca at thehouseofjam@gmail.com.

7. Garden Share Scheme and first garden offered for use!
We’re aware that there is a lot of demand locally to get the Garden Share scheme off the ground … particularly with spring quickly advancing. Garden Share brings together people who have too much garden and would like someone to come along and make productive use of the area … with those who would love to grow their own, but don’t have any garden. Kit Harbottle and Jackie Eadie have kindly agreed to help adminster the scheme and get it up and running.
Garden Sharers can decide whether they would prefer an informal relationship or something more formal.
If you are interested in sharing your garden … or are looking for a space to garden please get in touch. Drop an email to transitiontavistock@gmail.com or call 01822-835819.
Further details will soon be available at www.transitiontavistock.org.uk.

Garden offered for garden share use. Available straight away: A 5m by 15m sheltered but sunny garden plot on the north side of Tavistock, near the Manor estate. Some fruit trees in place, and good soil. Fenced all round with lockable shed. Owner lives offsite and would like to find 1 person or a couple to use it (no children or pets). No mains water or rubbish disposal available, and about 50m from road. If you’re interested please contact as per above.

8. Help Wanted
(a) Tavistock Methodist Church has a strip of land behind its hall which it would like to develop into a wild life garden. The site is mainly enclosed by old walls and is not easy to access so wildlife would be undisturbed. If anyone has any experience of setting up a project like this or can give us any advice, please contact Peter Mawer via the Church Office (01822 611049 between 10am and noon on weekdays) or email info@tmc.me.uk. We would be grateful for any help.
(b) Some of our members will be aware that the United Reformed Church in Russell Street where we have previously held events applied last year for planning permission to install photovoltaic panels on its roof. The reasons for refusal seem to have been related to the visual appearance within a conservation area and anticipated objections. The church wishes to show an example to the community and is proposing a revised scheme with fewer panels and at a lower level. However, they are keen to garner support in advance of the submission of their application and have requested that all who would wish to show their support would send an email indicating that support to Tony at XXXXX. We need major buildings and prominent social bodies in the community to be setting an example and I would urge you to take 2 minutes of your time to send an email to Tony  in the hope that the local council officials may be persuaded to support examples of renewable energy within the town.
Mike Dennis.

9. Peace Day Pilgrim
Dear All,
As the chair of TaVi Network I felt it was important to let you know about one of our own Community Champions who is doing a fantastic journey this summer…
Did you know that the 21 September each year is the INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE? Perhaps not. Did you also know that in 2007, the organisation that persuaded the UNITED NATIONS to adopt the resolution for this day, PEACE ONE DAY, travelled to Afghanistan? On their trip, they managed to persuade the Taleban and the Allied Forces to ceasefire for 24 hours and in that one day they orchestrated aid workers to vaccinate 1.5 MILLION CHILDREN against polio!!
In just one day!!
This year, Peace One Day are aiming to make the 21 September the GLOBAL TRUCE 2012 by recording the LARGEST EVER REDUCTION IN VIOLENCE the world has ever seen and gathering the largest number of people together in the name of peace. In order to raise awareness for this epic task, Maxim Laithwaite is WALKING 1200 MILES through the UK and Ireland. As the PEACE DAY PILGRIM, Maxim will be talking with as many people as possible to encourage them to mark Global Truce in whatever way they see fit. Inspired by SATISH KUMAR, Maxim will be walking the three months WITHOUT MONEY and RELYING ON THE KINDESS OF STRANGERS for everything from food to shelter. This means that the success of the journey relies on the SAME HUMAN SPIRIT that will make Global Truce 2012 work. It will also prove that we have what it takes to make these big changes, even if they are ONE STEP AT A TIME.
Maxim needs support for this amazing journey and there are many ways to get involved:

For more information from his website visit: http://www.peacedaypilgrim.com/
To follow on Facebook visit: http://www.facebook.com/peacedaypilgrim/
To follow on Twitter visit: http://www.twitter.com/peacedaypilgrim/
To DONATE to the cause to make the journey possible, click here and follow the PayPal link: http://www.peacedaypilgrim.com/p/donate.html
And of course don’t forget to sign up to Global Truce 2012 at:
http://peaceoneday.org/global-truce/

Thank you for your time and kind regards, Christopher Kirwin, Chair of TaVi Network

10. Earth Cafe Dates in Plymouth
The EARTH CAFE is a friendly space for environmental, animal and human rights networking, where relevant local groups can promote their activities. Food served from 7.30pm to 9.30pm. Bar open 7pm to 11pm. Guest Speakers, discussions and announcements from 9pm, approx. £1 on the door. Where possible ingredients will be fairtrade and organic. And of course all food is vegan 🙂
The next Earth Cafes are on the following Saturdays at the Fortescue Cellar Bar on Mutley Plain, Plymouth:
– *24 March*
– *21 April*
– *19 May*
– *16 June*
There will then be a break in July & August, and Earth Cafe will return in September.

11. A Request from a former Transition Tavistock member
I was a member of Transition Tavistock until my relocation to Wales last year. It is great to hear what is going on via the newsletters and please say hi to everyone from me. I am currently working on a project for a wind turbine with the Open University and hoping to start building one very soon. I would be grateful for any assistance any of the members could offer by completing my online survey. It is completely confidential and only be used by myself and my tutor to aid my design specification.
The link to the survey is: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/D3RM3QW
Many Thanks, Kenny Edwards

12. Graft, Sow and Grow
The Graft Sow and Grow weekend at Cotehele (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/cotehele) was a wonderful event, and I for one was thrilled to be able to take home an apple tree I’d grafted myself. I’m hoping it will be able to survive the Devon Consols soil!
There were many other things to do and see including a seed swap and some great guest speakers on ‘no-dig’ gardening, moon gardening, poultry keeping, bee keeping and Maristowe’s walled gardens. I thoroughly enjoyed Charles Dowding’s talk and am inspired to move forward with getting my first raised bed in this year!
Kate

13. Faster Broadband
CONNECTING DEVON & SOMERSET –
FASTER BROADBAND IS ON ITS WAY
Your chance to get better connected!

Devon and Somerset County Councils together with North Somerset, Plymouth, Torbay and Bath & North East Somerset are working to bring you faster broadband and are among the first authorities to secure money from government to do this. Faster broadband not only supports our businesses to be more competitive but also helps communities access services, information and learning opportunities more quickly and cheaply.

This is our one big opportunity to shape the future of our digital services, so it’s vital everyone gets involved to help get Devon and Dartmoor get better connected and up to speed. We need to show there is strong demand for faster broadband and show what current speeds and coverage we have in the area.

To do this you need to fill in a simple survey and say what your current speed is. This helps build a picture of where the worst areas are and what the demand is for better broadband. If you cannot complete the survey online then call the Survey Hotline on 0844 4636887 to register (charged at local rate – 5p/minute). The survey is live until at least August, but please do not delay!
Joanna Rumble, Communities Officer, Dartmoor National Park Authority.

14. Portas Bid
You may have heard that a local partnership is looking at entering the competition to be a Portas Pilot.
The competition has arisen following a piece of work undertaken by Mary Portas for the government on the future of the high street. The purpose of the Portas review was to identify what the government, local authorities, businesses and others can do together to promote the development of new models of prosperous and diverse high streets. The review contained a series of recommendations and can be found at http://www.maryportas.com/news/2012/02/04/bid-to-become-a-portas-pilot/.
Although the government has yet to formally respond it has identified the potential for piloting some of the ideas developed by Mary Portas and is inviting high streets to apply for funding to do this. Tavistock will only make a submission to the Department for Communities and Local Government if we believe it is credible. We are therefore also looking to see whether, whatever the outcome, we can use this process as a catalyst to improve partnership work in the management of Tavistock town centre. Tavistock Town Council, West Devon Borough Council, Tavistock Chamber of Commerce and the Tavistock BID (Business Improvement District) are working together, with support from other local groups and organisations including Transition Tavistock to identify how we can improve the management of Tavistock’s ‘High Street’ and what an application could look like.
The bid must be submitted by next Friday (30th March) and the outcome is expected during the second half of May. Competition is very fierce. It is understood that up to 500 towns may be competing for 12 pilot places! We’ll keep you informed of developments!

15. Greek Transition!
Thanks to Sue Hepworth for this!
As incomes fall and retail prices rise, Greeks have found an ingenious way to pay three times less than they usually would for potatoes.
The craze, which some are already starting to call the “Potato Revolution,” began in the northern town of Katerini two weeks ago. A group of local activists set up a website to allow people to order potatoes directly from local farmers, and then pick them up in a parking lot on the weekends. Their project was an instant hit. In the past two weeks, they’ve already sold 100 tons of potatoes, and inspired agricultural students in Thessaloniki to launch a similar program. Dozens more cities across Greece are planning to follow suit.
Since the farmers sell the potatoes for a higher price than they would be able to sell them to distributors – but for less than what supermarkets charge customers – both the farmers and their customers win.
Every little bit helps for crisis-hit Greeks. Austerity measures have led to pensions and salaries being repeatedly slashed, as well as to a steep rise in unemployment – one in five Greeks are now jobless. On top of this, the government has raised taxes in a bid to curb its debt.
To read more, go to:
http://observers.france24.com/content/20120307-potato-revolution-greeks-star
t-buying-potatoes-straight-farmers-supermarkets-produce-katerini-thessaloniki

16. Why do things seem to come in threes?
First there was a bit on the radio this morning that mentioned how pollution of beaches was getting less but that the number of balloons found washed ashore was on the increase and how they were killing marine life.
Second Kate sent me a link to a seminar in Bath about tethered wind turbines which I thought was a bad idea because some must be using helium to keep them airborne and helium is getting scarce.
Finally this article http://bit.ly/GIenj4 that links the two. Originally from the Guardian (http://bit.ly/FPxZBe) it does confirm the scarcity of this resource and the dual stupidity of using it to make your voice sound as stupid as you really are and the folly of letting it take balloons into the air as rubbish to kill wildlife. After all the balloon and the message it might carry is no longer of any use when it is out of sight. It annoyed me to have to pick the remains of one of these balloons out of a thorny hedge before curious livestock tried to eat it. It carried a label asking me to contact the charity it had been released by as part of a balloon race.
Please think next time you want to donate to a charity, celebrate a wedding or other event and please don’t use it to lift wind turbines into the ‘stratosphere’. Let’s be a bit more down to earth.
Adrian Hepworth.

17. Forthcoming Dates
March 2012
Energy & Food Group Meeting Weds Mar 28th

April 2012
Green Drinks Tues Apr 10th

May 2012
Green Drinks Tues May 8th

June 2012
Green Drinks Tues June 12th

July 2012
Green Drinks Tues July 10th
Smallholders Weekend, Cotehele Sat/Sun July 28/29th

18. And Finally…
If you go to the cinema at Tavistock Wharf in the near future and get there in time for the advertisements, look out for Recycle Devon’s “Don’t Let Devon Go To Waste” campaign – it’s a really fun advertisement with a strong message about food waste. Perhaps we should start a recipe section in this newsletter or on the website with the emphasis on using leftovers as well as all the tasty items we grow in our gardens and / or find for free. www.recycledevon.org

www.TransitionTavistock.org.uk
transitiontavistock@gmail.com
Tel: 01822-835819
c/o Tavistock Taskforce
Unit 2, Pixon Lane Trading Centre
Tavistock
Devon PL19 8DH

1. Green Drinks – come and have a natter each month!
2. Local food and efficient energy use
3. AGM
4. Energy Savers at Home – Open Homes events in Feb and March
5. Roots and Vines
6. The Green Deal is coming
8. Outspoken Radio!
9. ‘Which’ Energy Supplier?
10. DARE (Devon Association for Renewable Energy)
11. The ‘Green Thing’
12. Forthcoming Dates

1. Green Drinks – come and have a natter each month!
February Green Drinks – come and join our Valentine’s Day Green Drinks on Tuesday 14th February (19:30 till 21:30) at the Market Inn, corner of Whitchurch Road and Pixon Lane in Tavistock.

2. Local food and efficient energy use
On Thursday February 9th at the Parish Rooms in Tavistock we are holding an interesting evening of presentations and discussion addressing the importance of local food production and the links between food and efficient energy use.

Paul Sousek from Cottage Farm, Jacobstow was a finalist in the BBC Food and Farming Awards 2011 for Farmer of the Year and has recently appeared on BBC’s Countryfile. Paul will be sharing his family’s journey over the last few years in their development of Cottage Farm.

Paul Sousek & Adam Henson (BBC’s Countryfile)

Home at Cottage Farm

Cottage Farm (www.CottageFarmOrganics.co.uk) is a sustainable organic carbon neutral farm powered by renewable energy producing organic beef and lamb. London and local deliveries are by carbon neutral transport.

If you’re a local producer, smallholder or growing out of your own garden or allotment please come along and bring pictures, posters and/or examples of your produce! We’ll also be joined by Rosie and Paul from Wonnacott Farm and Laura and Jim from Tregillis Farm who’ll be sharing their experiences.

The door will be open from 19:00 for refreshments and a chance to chat and meet local producers.

The evening will also include TT’s AGM (see below). These formal proceedings are expected to be very short!

A flyer is attached and we look forward to seeing you. For more information see www.transitiontavistock.org.uk or contact Kate Royston (07969-569444; ) or Chris Simpson on 01822 XXXXXX.

3. AGM
A further reminder of the Transition Tavistock AGM: this will take place on Thursday 9th February 2012 at 7.30 pm at the Parish Rooms. Only paid-up members will be allowed to vote at the AGM – membership costs just £1 (although larger donations are of course welcome) and you can join on the evening. If anyone would like to stand for the committee please let our co-ordinator Chris Simpson know. We will be looking for at least two new committee members, and would be particularly glad to hear from anyone who has experience with websites and/ or social media.

AGENDA for the THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of
TRANSITION TAVISTOCK to be held at
7.00 pm on 9th February 2012 at Tavistock Parish Rooms

1. Apologies
2. Minutes of AGM of 11.2.11
3. Matters Arising
4. Annual Report
5. Accounts
6. Election of Committee Members
7. Any Other Business
8. Date of next AGM

4. Energy Savers at Home – Open Homes events in Feb and March
Thinking of reducing your bills by conserving energy or generating it from a renewable source?
As mentioned last month, Transition Tavistock & the Tamar Valley AONB are organising two days (Sun Feb 12th and Sat Mar 10th) when the public can visit homeowners to see what they have done, talk to an impartial owner about the costs and benefits, and consider how energy conservation and generation measures might work in their own homes.
Sunday February 12th will cover homes in Tavistock and its villages. The day will start at 10:00. An introduction to the homes available to visit will be held at New Generation Energy’s showroom at Crelake Industrial Estate in Tavistock for those who’d like to start with a general overview. A programme of available homes will also be available in advance by 4th Feb at www.transitiontavistock.org.uk to help with your planning. You can visit homes individually or join one of the tours we’ll be arranging (you may need to book a place). Some homes may be available through the day 10:00 until 16:00 to drop in and others may be limited to morning or afternoon.
New Generation Energy’s showroom will be open throughout the day for advice and to answer any technical questions you may have. We are also hoping to arrange to have refreshments available.

Saturday March 10th will be centred at the Tamar Valley Centre, Drakewalls, and at private homes throughout the valley. The day will begin at 10am with some short inspirational talks about how you can install energy conservation and renewable energy generation into your home. Advice from recommended local suppliers and installers will be available throughout, and the day will conclude with a talk about community renewables from somebody that has already done it – Stephen Frankel from Wadebridge Renewable Energy Network (http://www.wren.uk.com/)!

If you’d like to have a programme emailed to you, would like to sign up for one of the tours, or you’d like to open your home … please contact Kate  or Simon (sbates@tamarvalley.org.uk, 07792-484049).

Cordiale is a European project managed by the Tamar Valley AONB
(see http://www.tamarvalley.org.uk/projects/cordiale/)

5. Roots and Vines
A new shop specialising in locally sourced produce is opening in Tavistock on 1st February! It’s called ‘Roots and Vines’ and is situated at 12 West Street (the corner shop that used to be ‘Tilly Whims’). This is an exciting development that deserves our support. Find them at http://www.rootsandvines.co.uk/ and also on Facebook.

6. The Green Deal is coming …
The government are expected to launch the Green Deal in the Autumn of this year. A consultation process is currently ongoing to work out the scheme’s ‘finer details’.

Terena Plowright from The Greening Campaign (www.greening-campaign.co.uk) has this to say about the importance of the Green Deal:
The Green Deal could be one of the most influential policies to come from government in the past 30 years. It could change our economy, offering jobs to the building sector and energy efficiency innovators, reduced fuel bills to the general public and business, it could lift millions of people out of fuel poverty, it could dramatically reduce our CO2 output, and it could make our homes more comfortable reducing pressure on the National Health Service. Finally, it could also provide incentives for other measures around sustainable living and behaviour.

WHAT IS THE GREEN DEAL?
The Green Deal focuses on all the existing property that people live and work in across the UK. Our properties are amongst the worst in the western world at managing energy efficiently.

The Green Deal is designed to ‘put consumers back in control’, upgrade all property in the UK and reduce carbon emissions whilst creating a large new market to drive business and economic growth. Without costing the consumer a penny!

HOW DOES IT WORK?
People cannot act on energy reduction because they cannot afford the upfront costs – this scheme removes the obligation on the property owner to pay for the work upfront because the payments are made via the savings that take place.

Quick facts
o No upfront cost to the consumer
o Once the work is done your bills will reduce and the repayment is added to your electricity bill.
o The energy bills are guaranteed to reduce from the first year.
o There is no credit check.
o All work is warranted – both labour and product.
o A qualified assessor will tell you the best measures for your home to reduce your bills
o There is help in the form of an ECO (Energy Companies Obligation) to help those in hard to treat houses and those in fuel poverty.
o It is not a personal debt; it is tied to your building not you!
o It is for a maximum of 25 years

The Green Deal could provide a significant opportunity for community groups to come together, working with local assessors and providers. Transition Tavistock and others are looking into this. We’ll provide an update next month as well as explaining the Green Deal process.
If you’re interested in joining a Green Deal working group please get in touch  with Kate.

7. Community Design Workshop
The summary of the Community Design Workshop held in Tavistock on the 10th December is now available at http://www.westdevon.gov.uk/doc.asp?doc=18184&cat=3287 for anyone interested. The purpose of the workshop was to enable members of the community to provide ideas for the design of the new development areas off Callington Road and Plymouth Road.

The meeting was well attended and at the end there was a general feeling that as a community we should follow this up. Clearly documenting the factors we consider should be taken into account in the design of the developments may be a positive contribution together with supporting the process and keeping a watchful eye on how the design principles hold up!

An open meeting is being planned to discuss this, and will be announced shortly. If you would be interested in attending please let us know (transitiontavistock@googlemail.com, tel: 01822-835819) and we’ll make sure you receive the meeting details.

8. Outspoken Radio!
Hello, I’m Wendy Ball and I do an internet radio show on www.eatmusicradio.com. The show is called The Outspoken Show, and is broadcast live online every Friday evening from 5-6pm. There is also an archive of previous shows on the website. The aim of the show is to Inform and Inspire on local (and sometimes global) social and environmental issues. Most weeks, we have a guest to interview, and if anyone would like to be a guest and get their topic heard, please get in touch wennawoman@yahoo.co.uk

Many thanks,
Wendy

(The programme of Friday 13th January featured an item on the Plymouth Food Charter.)

9. ‘Which’ Energy Supplier?
We have often promoted Good Energy as the best supplier of sustainable electricity. Personally we wouldn’t consider the Big ‘6’ producers such as EDF (Electricite de France). EDF are a foreign company with nuclear power as part of their folio.

Now ‘Which’ in their ‘Which Energy Supplier in 2012’ report have just published their Best and Worst energy suppliers for 2012. Good Energy tops the list at No1 with Ecotricity at No3. Good news for sustainably sourced energy supplies.

http://www.which.co.uk/switch/energy-suppliers/best-and-worst-energy-suppliers

You’ll notice that EDF comes in at 13th only just beating Npower as the worst on test!

Adrian & Sue Hepworth

10. DARE (Devon Association for Renewable Energy)
Dear All,
The end of 2011 saw major changes for the technical services department of Energy Action Devon. As part of a major restructuring at EAD, the decision was made to close their Technical Services department altogether, making those employees redundant, including the original DARE staff. This team are determined to ensure the continued provision of independent technical energy services and consequently have resolved to resurrect DARE to continue providing the excellent service that we are so proud of. Many of you will be familiar with DARE which has been offering impartial and independent advice and assessment services for energy related projects for over a decade prior to the EAD merger.

We are very excited about the opportunities for DARE and our committed, experienced and professional staff team.

DARE provides free telephone and email advice on renewable energy. It also provides Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency scoping studies on a commercial basis for domestic, industrial, agricultural, public and community buildings.

Other larger scale assessment services are offered including community scale renewable energy projects.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you think we can be of any help.

Many Thanks
Kirsty Tooke
Development Manager
DARE 12 A/B The Square North Tawton EX20 2EP
Tel: 01837 89200
Email: kirsty@devondare.org

DARE will be exhibiting at the Energy Savers at Home event at the Tamar Valley Centre, Drakewalls on Sat. Mar 10th.

11. The ‘Green Thing’
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman that she should bring her own shopping bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.”

The cashier responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every shop and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the county of Yorkshire. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the post, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank water from a fountain or a tap when we were thirsty instead of demanding a plastic bottle flown in from another country. We accepted that a lot of food was seasonal and didn’t expect that to be bucked by flying it thousands of air miles around the world. We actually cooked food that didn’t come out of a packet, tin or plastic wrap and we could even wash our own vegetables and chop our own salad.
But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the tram or a bus, and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Thanks to Sarah Berry for this contribution!

12. Forthcoming Dates
February 2012
Local Food and Efficient Energy Use: Presentations & discussion
Including Transition Tavistock AGM. Thurs Feb 9th

Energy Savers at Home: Open House energy event
In Tavistock & Area Sun Feb 12th

Green Drinks Tues Feb 14th

March 2012
Energy Savers at Home: Open House energy event & exhibition
Tamar Valley & Tavistock Sat Mar 10th

Green Drinks Tues Mar 13th

www.TransitionTavistock.org.uk
transitiontavistock@googlemail.com
Tel: 01822-835819
c/o Tavistock Taskforce
Unit 2, Pixon Lane Trading Centre
Tavistock
Devon PL19 8DH