About us.....

Abingdon Carbon Cutters is a Community Action Group formed to help reduce the carbon footprint of Abingdon in response to climate change, and to promote a sustainable and resilient lifestyle for our town as fossil fuel stocks decline. We meet on the third Wednesday of each month at St Ethelwold's House, which is here.

At some meetings, we have guest speakers to present various topics, and at others we discuss our own personal actions to address climate change. The group has a focus on encouragement, both of one another, and of the town community.

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Monday, February 28, 2011

Abingdon Green Drinks


This Thursday sees the first session of Abingdon Green Drinks. Come along to the King's Head and Bell any time between 7.30 and closing time and meet up with fellow "greenies" for a pint or two and a chance to put the world to rights, or at least start reducing our carbon footprints! ... Read this ...

Friday, February 4, 2011

How to Insulate Your House: Carbon Cutters Meeting Weds 16th Feb at 7.30pm in St Ethelwold's House, Abingdon

Our next meeting is a really practical session for this time of year: "How to Insulate Your House (and Avoid Problems)". As we all know, it doesn't make sense to spend money on renewables unless and until you have stopped losing all that lovely heat through your roof, walls and floor.... Richard Twinch is a local architect with vast experience of adding insulation to existing homes. Come and fire your questions at him! ... Read this ...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Carbon Cutters to have a stall at the Local Excellence Market this Saturday!


We will be handing out FREE tasters of delicious home-made soup from our stall at the Local Excellence market this coming Saturday 29th January. The soup is going to be all made by volunteers, from locally-grown, organic veg. Free recipe leaflets will accompany!
If you'd like to try your hand at soup-making, here are the recipes below.
The market runs from 9.30am to 2pm. Come and join in the fun!
To run a stall yourself, talk to Choose Abingdon

Pumpkin and Beetroot Soup (adapted from Jamie Oliver)
Serves 4 - 6
• 1/2 onion,
• 2 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• ½ med pumpkin or squash
• 2 tomatoes or 1/3 of a tin
• Seasoning
• 1 ¼ pints of veg stock
• Approx 2 beetroot (1/2 as much as the pumpkin)
• Balsamic vinegar
• Feta cheese (optional)

• Roast the beetroot in some olive oil at 190 with a sprig of thyme.
• When it is roasted take it out of the oven and pour in a dessertspoon or two of balsamic vinegar and stir around.
• Meanwhile soften the onion on a slow heat, add the garlic and cook for a few minutes.,
• Then turn up the heat and add the chopped pumpkin until it begins to brown
• Add the stock and tomatoes and simmer until the pumpkin is soft.
• Add the cooked beetroots
• cool a little and liquidise
• Add the juice of half a lemon and more thyme leaves and seasoning to taste
• Adjust the thickness with more stock if necessary
• It should be thickish and velvety.
• Add parsley or chives before serving and Feta cheese if liked
NB
Minimise the use of energy by roasting the beetroots when you have the oven on anyway to cook something else. Alternatively you can just boil them but the flavour is better when they are roasted.

Curried parsnip (simple)

Serves 4

25g butter
500g parsnips peeled (unless organic) and chopped into 1” dice
1 med onion
1 tsp med curry powder
1 Lt stock
250 mls milk
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Parsley

• Soften the chopped onion and parsnip in the butter for about 10 mins.
• Add the curry powder and cook for 2–3 mins.
• Add the stock and the milk and simmer gently until the parsnips are soft – approx ½ - ¾ of an hour
• Cool slightly before liquidising
• add more stock, water or milk to adjust thickness
• Add plenty of chopped parsley before serving.

Curried parsnip (slightly less simple)

Serves 6

700g parsnips peeled (unless organic) and chopped into 1” dice
50g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 med onions chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
1.5Lt vegetable stock
1 heaped tsp each of coriander and cumin seeds
6 whole cardamom pods (seeds only – cut off the end and squeeze out the seeds)
1 rounded tsp each of turmeric and powdered ginger
Salt and freshly milled black pepper
Parsley

• * Dry-roast the coriander, cumin and cardamom seeds in a small saucepan for 2–3 mins and then crush finely in a pestle and mortar.
• Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan and soften the chopped onion for 5 mins
• add the garlic and cook for a further two minutes
• add the crushed spices and the turmeric and ginger and cook gently for 5 mins
• add the parsnips
• .stir well and then add the stock and simmer uncovered for about an hour
• .seasoning to taste, remove from the heat and liquidise
• add plenty of chopped fresh parsley before serving.

*Dry roasting the spices gives a more genuine flavour than curry powder

NB
You can turn this into Apple and Parsnip by grating a peeled Bramley apple into the soup after it has been liquidised and simmering for a further 5 mins ... Read this ...

Sunday, October 17, 2010

"Film night" - This coming Wednesday 20th October

Dear Carbon Cutters both old and new! You are warmly invited to our next meeting when we will watch the film "Home", (see the attached poster and the review below), followed by coffee and cake and a chance to swap stories about the Eco Fair and plan the next one (only joking!)
If you have somewhere to put up a poster do print it out and put it up - at work? in your window?
Best wishes,
Sally


HOME is an ode to the planet's beauty and its delicate harmony. Through the landscapes of 54 countries captured from above, Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes us on an unique journey all around the planet, to contemplate it and to
understand it. But HOME is more than a documentary with a message, it is a magnificent movie in its own right. Every breathtaking shot shows the Earth - our Earth - as we have never seen it before. Every image shows the Earth's treasures we are destroying and all the wonders we can still preserve.

And here are a couple of reviews:
http://www.theecologist.org/reviews/films/272468/home_by_yann_arthusbertrand.html

http://www.spiritlevelfilm.com/earth-from-the-air.html
... Read this ...

E-mail your MP and tell them you don’t want climate change funds to be cut

Dear Carbon Cutter,
A member asks us to take action. On Saturday at the Eco Fair Nicola Blackwood asked us to let her know when we thought the cuts seemed to be "throwing out the baby with the bathwater". This sounds like one big baby.
Please take two minutes to e-mail your MP and tell them you don’t want climate change funds to be cut: just click on
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/protect-green-jobs/ and put in your postcode. I've just tried it and it works!
Read more details below,(Of course it takes longer if you then write a personal message, but it will help!)
Onwards and upwards,
Sally

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Babbs - 38 Degrees
Date: 14 October 2010 13:47

38 Degrees Logo

Dear Sally,

In a few days, the government will announce its plans for cuts. Every day we’re hearing about new threats to cut funding to tackle climate change. [1] That could mean thousands of job losses for people who insulate homes, put up solar panels, and build wind turbines. It would mean thousands more new green jobs in the UK would never happen.

Wrangling over cuts will go right down to the wire. [2] If enough of us email our MPs now, we might be able to save funding for tackling climate change. The government claimed it would be the “greenest government ever”. If they hear from MPs that thousands of voters are worried about green jobs, they’ll realise cuts to climate funding could ruin their image. [3]

Please take two minutes to e-mail your MP and tell them you don’t want climate change funds to be cut:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/protect-green-jobs/

Cutting funding to stop climate change would be a huge step backwards. It would mean fewer people installing solar panels and insulating their homes. Firms making wind turbines would lay-off workers. It would be a massive false economy, with thousands of green jobs going abroad.

When we work together on climate change, we get the attention of politicians. Last year, hundreds of 38 Degrees members quizzed Ed Miliband, then Climate Minister, just before he left for the global climate talks in Copenhagen. We’ve changed government plans by putting pressure on MPs before - now let’s do it to save green jobs and make sure tackling climate change doesn’t get cut.

It only takes two minutes to e-mail your MP by clicking here:
http://www.38degrees.org.uk/protect-green-jobs/

Thanks for being involved,

David, Hannah, Johnny, Ramzi, and the 38 Degrees Team


[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/13/treasury-battle-green-investment-bank
[2] http://www.leftfootforward.org/2010/09/treasury-trying-to-shut-down-climate-department-and-axe-clean-energy-funds/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/sep/21/chris-huhne-fights-treasury-attacks
[3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8709000/8709627.stm

The bigger we are the more we can do. Please forward this email to your friends and ask them to get involved.

38 Degrees brings you together with over 175,000 people to take action on the issues that matter to you and bring about real change. To find out more visit our website, Facebook or Twitter.
... Read this ...

New Saturday Market organised by Choose Abingdon and the Farmers' Market group

Dear All, Your apple-pressing, delicious cake-baking skills are needed again for Saturday October 23rd! Please reply direct to Anthea at akpea@stepea.plus.com. More windfalls will be needed on the day, please bring them direct to the market-place or drop them off at St Ethelwold's house the day before.
Susie Howard is in charge of loaning out long-handled apple-pickers, our crush and press, and pasteuriser, and also an electric juicer which makes short work of turning windfalls into juice. Contact her on susiehoward1@googlemail.com or 01235 533278 . The equipment is stored at St Ethelwold's House and must be picked up and returned there.
Sally
----------------------------------
Dear all,
Susie and I are on the committee for the New Saturday Market that is to be held in the market place on Saturday October 23rd. The aim is to promote local produce and is being organised by Choose Abingdon and the Farmers' Market group.

Carbon Cutters have been allocated a stall. We plan to press apples, sell the Food Directory and offer cake testing as a way of advertising Carbon Cutters.
Could you let me know if you are available to do a stint? The market will be open from 9.00/2.00 and we shall need help setting up and clearing away at the end of the day.
We shall also need cakes from the famous Abingdon Cake Club.

Please let me know if you can help on the day or with cakes.

Thanks
Anthea
anthea pearson
akpea@stepea.plus.com
... Read this ...

Are you planning to Eco-Renovate?

If you're planning any work on your house in the future, one of these events might be of interest to you

1. Future Oxfordshire Eco-renovation discussion – Monday 25th October, 7-9pm, Oxford University Centre for the Environment (Directions )

Thank you to those who have already responded to say they’re coming to this – there’s room for more, so if you’d like to come please email jo@climatex.org at least 3 hours before the meeting.

Intro: Overview of community eco-renovation activity in past few years in Oxfordshire

Where next? Open space to discuss ideas and potential collaborations, which could include, but not be limited to:

· Future eco-renovation projects

· Networking

· Skill sharing

· Householder to householder support

· What’s working well with eco-renovation on a local level

· What people would like to see happening

What might come out of the evening: Collaborations, potential projects..

Background: Oxfordshire ClimateXchange and the Climate Outreach Information Network (COIN) have run a variety of eco-renovation events over the past three years, and have been funded to do this. There is currently no funding to support more eco-renovation events at ClimateX or COIN, but there is a strong network of eco-renovators with plenty of experience and knowledge to share, which is a great resource. Networking doesn’t always need funding, and in addition to the online networking I would be interested in what ideas you have for continuing the eco-renovation networking and events organising. It might be a web forum, it might be someone who would be willing to develop the eco-homes ideas in Oxfordshire... or it might be someone who’s willing to develop the ideas further and work with others to attract funding.

If you’re interested in developing the eco-renovation network further, but can’t come to the meeting, please let me know beforehand – either email or phone. I’ll circulate a brief post- report of the meeting.



2. Post Occupancy Evaluation of Local Eco-renovated homes, Monday 1st November, 6.30 – 7.30 pm


Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is an evaluative tool used to understand the performance of a building in use. Its purpose is to answer the following questions:

1) How is a building working?

2) Is this what was intended?

3) How can it be improved?

‘Ecovation’ is a communications project run by COIN (Climate Outreach Information Network) who, in partnership with Oxfordshire ClimateXchange, have organised a series of events showcasing householders who have refurbished their properties to a high environmental standard. A POE was carried out by Oxford Brookes University Department of Architecture on three properties, which acted as case studies in helping to understand which refurbishment methods were most effective in relation to energy reduction and occupant satisfaction. Internal conditions of the properties were monitored for 6 months and occupants were interviewed as part of the investigative research.

The key findings showed that the most energy-efficient measures are not necessarily the most effective, showing unintended consequences throughout, while occupants and their behaviour play a crucial role in the performance of buildings. These findings will be presented and discussed in the form of a public talk at Oxford Brookes University.

Details of the talk are as follows:

Date: Monday 1st November 2010

Time: 6:30pm to 7:30pm

Venue: Room G119, Gibbs Building, Oxford Brookes University, Headington Campus, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP

directions

**The room is only able to accommodate 30 people, so please confirm your attendance by emailing Simon at simonchung13@gmail.com **



... Read this ...