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08 June 2009
By Chris Bond
IT started off as a bit of a PR stunt, but for the residents of one Yorkshire street going green has changed their lives.
In March, the residents of Green Lane, in Cookridge, Leeds, came out top of a national competition involving seven other streets in cities up and down the UK, after cutting their annual energy bills by more than a third. The neighbours were taking part in the British Gas Green Streets programme which came with a £50,000 prize to go towards making a community building of their choice more energy-efficient.
Three local projects were short-listed and representatives from each one then had to give a presentation to the residents and a Dragon's Den-style panel, including British Gas energy experts, Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland and myself, to explain why their scheme deserved the money.
The residents had the final decision and opted for Caring For Life (CFL), an innovative charity based at Crag House Farm, on the outskirts of Leeds, which provides support for homeless and vulnerable people across the city. Speaking after the residents' decision, CFL's media officer Pam Parkinson said the money would have a 'huge' impact on their project, allowing them to install solar PV panels, energy-efficient lighting and new loft insulation in their farm house.
It means their annual energy bill will be cut by 11 per cent, saving them more than £3,000, money that could pay for meals for five people a year, or provide vital equipment and tools for their horticultural project. 'It will pay for the new technology that allows us to become more energy-efficient and it means we can improve our conservation area, so we're able to help the wider environment as well,' she said.
The Green Streets challenge started back in January 2008 when eight families on eight streets, all with the word 'green' in their address, were given a budget of £30,000 to spend on energy efficiency measures such as insulation and solar panels. Through this and by following simple instructions – such as not leaving TVs on standby and taking showers instead of baths – all 64 families taking part in the scheme reduced energy use and carbon emissions by 25 per cent.
Critics might argue that anyone could reduce their energy bill if they were given the cash to help them do it, but the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says if similar savings were replicated across the country, then families could cut electricity and gas bills by £200, which given the fact that everyone is looking at how they can tighten their belts right now is a significant amount of money.
At present, domestic energy use makes up 28 per cent of the UK's total CO2 emissions and accounts for nearly 60 per cent of each of our carbon footprints. Phil Bentley, managing director of British Gas, believes the Green Streets scheme illustrates how ordinary people can save money.
'We live in an era of volatile energy prices. Reducing the amount of energy we use is the single biggest thing we can all do to reduce bills and cut emissions. We are very aware that our customers are facing tough financial times. But with £1 in every £4 that people spend heating their homes being wasted due to poor insulation, through small changes in behaviour and cheap measures such as better insulation, families can make significant savings off their bills.'
The Green Lane residents' success led to visits from Yorkshire Cabinet ministers Hilary Benn and Ed Miliband, while local Lib Dem MP Mr Mulholland, who has followed the scheme from the outset, praised their 'fantastic' efforts. 'The project has brought people together, which in modern society doesn't always happen as much as we would like it to. But by working as a team they have made their homes more energy efficient. I think it sends out a message that people can reduce their own carbon footprint and at the same time make a difference to climate change.'
And what about the residents themselves, how has this social experiment changed their attitudes? Geoff Fawcett, 72, is a retired teacher who lives on Green Lane with his wife Rosalie. He believes it worked because everyone wanted to be involved. 'It probably took a couple of months to really get going, but slowly your habits began to change. It was small things like putting your clothes on the line to dry rather than using the tumble dryer and switching the TV off at the set at the end of the night. I used to keep my computer running during the day so I could dip in and out, but I started making sure I turned it off when I wasn't using it, and all these little things add up,' he says.
'A lifetime's habits aren't easy to get rid of but I found myself questioning the things I would normally do. So if it was cold I would put a jumper on, rather than turning the heating on.'
The residents started having monthly meetings where they shared information. 'That was important because you picked up useful tips about what worked and what didn't and it brought people together. Before that I recognised people in the street to stop and say 'hello', but through this we got to know one another better and in some cases became good friends.'
Mr Fawcett says he managed to knock 25 per cent off both his annual gas and electricity bills. While another Green Lane resident, Ian Lewis, a part-time copytaker with the Press Association, also saved hundreds of pounds.
'Our energy reduction saved us about £670 on our energy bills over the year, which we've been able to spend on family days out and a summer holiday.'
Mr Lewis, 40, who lives with his wife Janine, and children, Bethany, 10, Samuel, seven, and Sophie, two, says there were two reasons why they agreed to take part. 'We've always tried to be a bit green and the original incentive for us was to do something to help the environment and our children's future. But the recession and credit crunch mean energy-saving is now something that's relevant to everyone regardless of their views on green issues.'
He says even the children became involved. 'They would watch TV in the morning before they went to school but they cut this right down so now they only turn it on if there's something they really want to watch, whereas it used to always be on in the background.'
Mr Lewis hopes that what he and his neighbours achieved can be used as a model for communities up and down the country.
'It would be great if the Green Streets model could be used in other sectors such as vehicle fuel use and water consumption. It's really opened our eyes to what's possible, because most of the changes we made were small and on their own don't make much difference. But in tandem, when you add them all together they have a really big impact.'"
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