Windfarm Debate Comes to Jedburgh

BBC Scotland's Riddoch's Questions is coming to Jedburgh on Tuesday (October 14) with a panel discussion on wind power, as part of the acclaimed Scotsman Debates series.
Speakers included Patrick Harvie MSP (Scottish Green Party), Duncan McLaren (Friends of the Earth), Dr Sian McGrath (Aqua Marine Energy), and Professor Jane Bower.
The event will be chaired by Lesley Riddoch, and a full report will appear in The Scotsman on Thursday 16th October.
The debate starts at 7pm in Jedburgh Town Hall. Tickets are available from the Scotsman: scotsmandebates@scotsman.com

Ecohouse

More than 80 householders, architects and builders from across the Borders gathered in the Heart of Hawick on Jun 25th to hear Sue Roaf give an inspiring talk on The Ecohouse. Dr Roaf is Professor of Architectural Engineering at Heriot Watt University, and a leading authority on green issues within the construction industry. She began with a warning that climate change and the oil crisis will only get far worse… and mercifully went on to describe what we can do about it. The ecohouse she designed herself takes advantage of massive materials, heavy insulation and the latest low-energy appliances to cut electricity bills to £5 a year. She acknowledged that experimental architecture could not solve the problems of Scotland's existing housing stock and that better insulation should be a high priority. The problem of buildings on flood plains in the Borders was also a hot topic, especially given Hawick's flooding misery in 2005. The talk was followed by lively discussion among the audience members, and it's hope this event will lead to others. The evening was organised by local artist Rob Hain, who contacted Sue Roaf after reading an article in the Scotland on Sunday. Anyone with an interest in ecohousing in the Borders (or the turbobothy below!) can contact Rob via his website: http://www.robhain.com/

Green Heart of Hawick

The first A Greener Hawick Day on 16-17 May put climate change and the energy crisis firmly on the local agenda, with a weekend of talks, workshops and discussions organised by the Greener Hawick group. The members first got together at a talk by climate change expert Dr Michael Shallis last year, and has grown rapidly since then. The town's new Heart of Hawick venue drew a good crowd, and several working groups have now been set up to look into issues including local food, renewables, green spaces and energy reduction. Kevin Ferguson from the organising team said he'd been pleasantly surprised at the strong interest, particularly in allotments and home improvements. The group are also hoping to work with the local building trade to raise awareness about what individuals can do to improve their homes' energy efficiency. Anyone interested in getting involved should contact the chair, Dr Michael Shallis, via ShallisMandR@aol.com.

Green Heart of Hawick

Friday 16^th May
Tower Mill Auditorium
6pm Film screening
Al Gore’s movie An Inconvenient Truth
(Tickets from box office £5/£4)

8.15 pm opening by John Lamont, MSP
The Challenge of the Time
A Talk by Dr Michael Shallis
Followed by a full discussion of all the issues in Tower Mill Auditorium

Saturday 17^th May
Second floor of Tower Mill
The exhibition opens at 10.0 am

Seminar room:
11am Grow local, buy local
A short talk by Sarah Eno, Chair of Borders Organic Gardeners

12 noon Energy in the Home: providing heat and keeping it in the home
A short talk by Sandy Black, SBC Energy Advisor

2pm Sustainable development
A short talk by Euan Robson, Chair Scottish Sustainable Energy Foundation

3pm Local economy, local currency
A short talk by Jonathan Dawson, sustainability educator at the Findhorn Foundation and President of the Global Ecovillage Network

All these talks will be followed by time for a full discussion.

4.30 Transition Towns and Hawick
A short talk by Michael Shallis and Jonathan Dawson, followed by our final discussion

In the DVD room:
10am, 12 noon, 2pm A Convenient Truth
How a city in Brazil was transformed

11am 1pm, 3pm The Power of Community
How Cuba became self sufficient in food

In the Civic Space (outside):
2pm Solar One: mobile alternative energy exhibition in a van

In the Greener Hawick room:
Vision table – write down what you would like to see happen in Hawick
Membership stand

Organised by a A Greener Hawick - your local environmental group

Bye-Bye Plastic Bags

Tues 29th April
7.30 pm
Eastgate Theatre, Peebles

Come along to an open meeting to discuss a plastic bag-free Peeblesshire and promote a bag-free Borders with local MSP Jeremy Purvis. There'll be brief presentations by local activists and a Q&A session with a panel an environmentalist, retailers and campaigners. Organised by Peebles Environment Concern.

Slow Food Berwick

Slow Food Berwick, the food group devoted to high-quality local produce, is heading into 2008 with plans for a food festival.

There will be events taking place all over Berwick, but the focus will be the Barracks where there will be a Producers’ Market, cookery demonstrations and historical re-enactments. A marquee outside the Barracks will house a beer festival which will feature Peelwalls cider from Ayton. Outside Cowport there will be a display of livestock. Borders Organic Gardeners will also be holding their annual produce day to coincide with the festival, which will be held on 12-14 September.

After the success of this year's producers' markets, more will also be held next year, kicking off on Easter Sunday. The organisers say people in Berwick are beginning to get a taste for local produce - including locally produced wild boar stocked by Skelly’s, a local butcher.

There's lots more info on the tasty Slow Food Berwick website, and Liz Houghton is happy to answer any inquiries on 01289 332247.

Freecycle - Neil Fox Explains...

Until two years ago, Stow man Neil Fox had never heard of Freecycle. But leafing through a climbing magazine, he suddenly discovered a great new source of free kit:

'The article was about the cost of climbing / walking equipment and clothing,' he explains. 'Two writers for the magazine had to equip themselves for a day on the hills, from scratch. One was given a budget and was allowed to buy brand items from regular retail outlets. The other was to buy the cheapest items available, and where possible, get them for free.'

Neil was amazed by the amount of stuff to be had for free, if you looked hard enough. 'I was particularly impressed by the North Face fleece and trousers the guy found on his Freecycle Group.'

With hobbies including Monroe bagging and sea fishing, and three children in tow, the 42-year-old fencer realised the great potential of freecycling. But as yet, there was no group in the Borders.

'One thing led to another and I soon found myself signing up to start a group for the Central Borders. The group went live on 6th April 2007, but was initiated eight months before that.

That's because I had to be approved by Freecycle as a Group Moderator, and make sure the geographics, logistics and dynamics of our proposed group met the criteria set out by Freecycle.'

The central Borders Freecycle Group now has over 270 members and is growing steadily. Neil is currently collecting statistical data, just to see how much stuff can be diverted from landfill. This will eventually be forwarded to the recycle team at SBC, who have expressed an interest in the Group.

So how does it work? Basically, you head for the website, sign up and then can either browse through what's on offer, post your own unwanted items, or subscribe to a daily digest of postings. If something catches your eye, you contact the other member via Freecycle and arrange pickup at your convenience. The service is free and Freecycle is a not-for-profit organisation.

What sort of things can you find on Freecycle? Pretty much anything - someone in Galashiels is offering a couple of colour printers and computer monitors, in Lauder you can pick up an electric sewing machine, and a child's BMX bike is going spare in Jedburgh. And on the 'wanted' side, there's everything from mattresses to dog guards to curtains. Neil is pleased about how enthusiastically Borderers have embraced Freecycling: 'I consider every item diverted from landfill to be a success of its own.'

For more information, visit the Freecycle site, Borders Freecycle Group, or the Borders Freecycle Discussion Forum, which promotes topical discussion between members.