The Green Triangle - Recently Updated Pages

The Green Triangle Home

Apple_Gilly — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:52:43 CST

The Green Triangle:..

...together for a greener neighbourhood
...see the Strapline thread

NEW STUFF

Slideshow of Kev & Rob's interior insulation work (also see the Houses page for more detailed photo descriptions, and a downloadable fact sheet).

REGULARS

Forthcoming Events: Christmas Party 17th December 2009 See the Events Page for more details.
Next Meeting [19th Nov] & Agendas on the Meetings Page
How to use the Discussion Forum (attached below)

Below you can also find:

'Site Map'

'How to Join In'

'Tips for finding stuff'

Who we are and what we do

We are people living on Albert, Shirebrook and Kent Roads in the Meersbrook area of Sheffield (S8). We want to find ways to do something locally about climate change at the same time as enjoying working together as a community. We have grown in numbers over the last year and there are now about twenty of us. We are keen that other people who live in these streets and share this interest know they can join too. These are some of the things we do:

Share tips on insulating and draught proofing our houses. See Houses page
Help each other with food growing in gardens and allotments and...
Run a community composting scheme. See the Food Growing page
Hold social events eg a community picnic (“Picnic for a cool planet” in torrential rain in July!) and a ”Harvest Supper” in October. See the GT Events page
Have lists of tools and other things we can lend and borrow. See Houses, Food Growing, Consumer Goods and Carbon Reduction pages
Enjoy getting together for example, apple picking and wine making workshop, and an evening to find out our own ecological footprints. See the GT Events pages
Develop ideas for what we can do ourselves, as households and for the “Green Triangle”, and what we need to lobby our politicians about. See the GT Meetings, Local Area and Carbon Reduction pages

We are independent of any political group or organisation.

Site Map

The pages on this website approximately cover the following areas:

GT Meetings: Next Meeting; Agendas (showing you what we generally discuss and progress); Minutes.
GT Events: Our next events; ideas for future events; other events in the local area; Past Events Scrapbook
Food Growing Etc: Allotments & Gardening; the Community Garden and Composting; Skills & Resources Available; Skills & Resources Wanted; Other Sources of Local Food; and Ideas for Using Surplus Produce and Leftovers
Transport: Car-sharing; Cycling; Public Transport
Houses: Green Buildings; Local Eco House Project; Draught-proofing & Insulation
Consumer Goods: Plastic Bags; Recycling; Junk mail; more sharing resources and skills
Local Area: Planning Applications & Development of the Local Area; Key Contacts in the Local Area
Carbon Reduction: Information & Books; Carbon Reduction & Climate Action Groups; Carbon Trading.
Odds n Sods: Things that won't go anywhere else

How to join in

Anyone, (Green Triangle Member or not), can leave comments on this website, on any page - see 'Threads' at the bottom of any page, or go to the Discussions section (also shown on the green bar at the top of the page).
For those new to the Green Triangle who want to join in our email list, send us an email.
Anyone can also join this Wiki - you just have to click in the 'Join This Wiki' box in the top righthand corner and follow the instructions. You'll then also be able to send mesages to individual members of this site. For example, by clicking on a link that someone has made such as Contact Kev. (Kev administers our email list, so you can join the email list that way too.)

However, only Green Triangle members can edit the pages on this wiki. Either Contact Gilly (if you've registered), or send us an email (if you haven't), for more help with this.You can also click on the 'Apply to be a Writer' button.
Green Triangle members who have registered but want more help, Contact Gilly.

Tips for finding what you want

Finding the latest additions to pages and threads: click on 'Updates' on the green bar under the website name at the top of any page. Try this 'Updates' link to go and look now. There'll be a summary of the latest contributions with further links to take you there if you think they look interesting.
'Search this site' box - this is under the green bar, on the lefthand top corner of any page. You can put in your own keywords.
'Keyword Tags': In the yellow box at the bottom of each page (but above any 'Threads' or 'Attachments'), there's a list called 'Keyword Tags' - these are the keywords we've used when making the pages. If you click on any particular word, a list of other pages with that same tag will come up. At the same time, you'll also see what's called a 'tag cloud' on the righthand side of the page - this is an alphabetical list of all the keyword tags used on the site.
Use the Site Map above

GT Meetings

Apple_Gilly — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:51:15 CST

We meet at someone's house about every month to discuss any projects, campaigns or events that we are involved in, either as a Group, or as individual members. We also share information. These meetings are informal and there's usually a glass or two of wine.

Our Next Meeting:

GT Regular Meeting: Thursday 19th November 2009, 8pm, Shirebrook Road Bowling Club.
Next Area Panel Meeting (not known) (see the Discussion on this). Contact Heather
CRAG meeting for GT Members (Carbon Reduction Action Group): (not known)

Agendas:

The Group is still relatively new, and we're trying to work out the best way to develop an agenda for each meeting. In the table below, you can see the items that regularly come up (showing where to look up the progress we've made). Items to be specifically discussed at the next meeting can be posted (and suggestions made) on the Next Agenda thread (click on the link, or go to the bottom of this page). If you can't get to a meeting, you can also send your apologies, or voice your opinions here. If you've never used a thread in the discussion forum before, there's an attachment on how it works at the bottom of the Homepage. Some issues already have threads going - you can get an overview of them all in the discussion forum.

Food	Local Growing Local Buying	See the Food Growing etc page
Transport	Car-sharing Cycling	See the Transport page for both and also... Our Cycle Ride 4th May
Houses	Home energy efficiency New eco-house plan	Not much up on the first yet, but See Houses page
Consumer Goods	Local composting scheme Reduce, re-use, share Plastic Bags/ Junk mail	See the Food Growing etc page See the Consumer Goods page
Local Area	Kent Road Development Kent Road Trees	See Kent Rd developmemt discussion thread See Kent Rd trees discussion thread See Local Area Page
Carbon Reduction	Should we become a CRAG or join one	See Carbon Reduction page
Events	Planning the next event Ideas for future events	See the Events page for both
Communication	In the Local Press At Local Events Wiki & Email List	Heeley Voice Article is attached to the Home page See Heeley Festival in the Past Events Scrapbook; Contact Kev to join the email list; Contact Gilly to join the Wiki
Campaigning & Projects	Things to do as a Group Reports on individual efforts	See Local Area Page (planning applications) See Consumer Goods Page (plastic bags/ tetrapak recycling)
Anything else?

Minutes of Previous Meetings:

These are attached to this page (scroll down to the bottom, underneath the yellow box and 'threads'). Minutes from July 8th are now there.

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GT Events

Apple_Gilly — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 02:50:07 CST

Green Triangle organises activities and events. Our next event will be:

Christmas Party Thursday 17th December 2009

This will be held at Meersbrook Bowling and Social Club on Shirebrook Road. There will be food, a raffle and a quiz. More details to follow nearer the time.

Bike Ride (date to be confirmed)

Details coming soon

See what we've already done in the Past Events Scrapbook

and for more pictures of events, see the events album in the Photo Gallery

Ideas for Events

These are some of the ideas we've got for future events:

An annual swapping stuff event 'Street Swap'
Street Party in the summer of 09
A brief 'energy survey' of houses on the Triangle - where could you be doing more to save energy in your house?
Harvest Supper – repeat of last year’s, and to become an annual thing.
Play in a Day – Joan had seen an example of this and thought it could be fun.
An event to kickstart a Carbon Reading Group in the GT (see the section on Information & Books on the Carbon Reduction page)

Other (non Green Triangle) Events in the Local Area

See the Transition Sheffield website for their events.

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Past Events Scrapbook

Apple_Gilly — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:02:41 CST

See the GT Events Album in the photo gallery for more photos of these events
Events older than August 2008 have now been moved to Events Jul07-Jul08

Autumn Walk in the Moss Valley Saturday 17th 4th October 2009

	Weather was glorious. Pace was leisurely with plenty of snacks and breaks. The route included parks, woods, and farmland. The ploughing competition below was just concluding as we went past.

Weather was glorious. Pace was leisurely with plenty of snacks and breaks. The route included parks, woods, and farmland. The ploughing competition below was just concluding as we went past.

Harvest Supper Sunday 4th October 2009

This year the Harvest Supper was held at the Meersbrook Bowling and Social Club. There was the usual array of fine home-cooked food and raffle prizes, as well as apple-pressing and bobbing, and a visit from the Heeley Dragon (see the GT Events Album for more 'Harvest Supper 09' pictures).

This year the Harvest Supper was held at the Meersbrook Bowling and Social Club. There was the usual array of fine home-cooked food and raffle prizes, as well as apple-pressing and bobbing, and a visit from the Heeley Dragon (see the GT Events Album for more 'Harvest Supper 09' pictures).

Triangle Litter Pick Saturday 21st March 2009

Only a few of us made it to this event, but the Triangle streets did look a lot tidier after an hour or so.

Only a few of us made it to this event, but the Triangle streets did look a lot tidier after an hour or so.

Walk in the Moss Valley 25th October 2008


Lots of walking...	...then lunch: Rob & Izzy

Harvest Supper and Apple Scrumping 4th October 2008


Food waiting to be eaten (even more arrived later)	Produce to be raffled: wine, jams, pickles, veg, cakes

To see more pictures of the Apple scrumping side of the event go to the new Apples page

'Energy Saving' Tour Saturday 13th September 2008 at 10am

Lots of people came to this (picture of lots of people>).

We looked at local examples of energy meters, triple glazing, internal wall insulation, cellar roof insulation, wood-burning stoves, a conservatory, solar photo-voltaic panels (producing electricity), and solar water-heating panels in houses along all three GT roads.

There were also simpler and cheaper tips such as using perspex to add an insulating layer to windows and backing radiators with foil.

Hopefully more information on these examples and ideas will be added to the Houses page over the next few months.

Picnic & Rounders Match 16th August 2008

Rain held off. Sandwiches galore. Surprising displays of athleticism from middle-aged and young alike.


Scoffing sarnies at the Millennium Park	Diana & Daughter (bowler), Ant at first base

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Transport

Apple_Gilly — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 07:43:17 CDT

This page looks at: Car-sharing; Cycling; using Public Transport; and anything else you can think of to get from A to B

NEW STUFF: add new information here so it's easy to spot. It can be placed in the appropriate place later on

Rob and Kev have bought a (partially recycled) bike trailer from Camcarts: http://www.camcarts.co.uk/ You are welcome to borrow the trailer but you'll need a bracket on the back of your bike. The brackets cost £10 so if think you'd like to use the trailer then let us know in the next week and we'll order one for you. If you decide later that you want to borrow it, I think the brackets don't incur a delivery charge so you could order one separately later. Contact KevWalters or Rob
If you remember Sheffield's 'We Want our Buses Back' campaign from a couple of years ago, it is being relaunched soon in expectation of big fare increases likely to be announced by First Buses in December and increases already implemented on some fares by both First and Stagecoach. To keep in touch with the campaign, you can join the WWOBB email list be contacing: alistairtice@yahoo.co.uk The campaign aims to bring back some public control of the fares private bus companies charge.

Car Sharing

Bardy is investigating the possbility of a local car sharing scheme. At some point there will be a public meeting to gauge interest, and share ideas. If you have any information on types of car sharing schemes, or would like to be involved in planning the meeting, contact Bardy. This is some of the information that's been collected so far:

CarPlus (rethinking car use): There’s also a pdf with a section on insurance (too large to attach here (7 MB) (GT Email 06/02/08)
Liftshare website
Whizzgo - pay as you go cars
There is a statement from the Association of British Insurers on carsharing insurance attached to the bottom of the page (GT Email 10/01/08)

Cycling

For pictures from the GT Cycle Picnic on 4th May 2008 see Events Jul07-Jul08
For information on cycling training from Pedal Ready, see: http://axelrod.plus.com/ppmw/index.php/Training and also Sheffield City Council website: http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/cycling-and-walking-and-prow/cycling/cycle-training
Child's bike free to good home (for 10yrs approx). Contact Helen
Child's 'Tagalong' (attaches to back of adult bike) Contact Helen

Public Transport

Traveline Public Transport: Journey Planner, Yorkshire - good for working out bus routes, but also includes local train links

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Local Area

Apple_Gilly — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:34:40 CST

We are involved in campaigning to improve the local environment and green-up local infrastructure. We work either as a Group, alongside others in the local area, or as individuals. This page looks at Planning Applications & Development of the Local Area and also lists some of the Key Contacts in the Local Area.

NEW STUFF: add new information here so it's easy to spot. It can be placed in the appropriate place later on

Sheffield City Council has signed up to the Sustainable Communities Act. To find out more about the Sustainable Communities Act, go to: http://www.localworks.org/
Want to attend the next area panel with us? see the area panel thread
The next meeting of the Park/Heeley Area Panel is at 7pm on Tuesday 7th October in the Town Hall. Shaffaq Mohammed – the new Lib Dem cabinet member for climate change will be there. The Area Panel meeting will be a good opportunity to ask the panel about what plans there are for action on climate change in the Park/Heeley Area and for aiding residents in making low carbon lifestyle choices easier. Several Green Triangle members are planning to attend and others are encouraged to come along if they can. It also seems that the Area Panel are now responsible fro distributing 106 money (e.g. from the Kent Road Development).

Planning Applications & Development of the Local Area

Section 106 Policies: S106 contributions are moneys paid as a result of a planning agreement (or a 'planning obligation') whereby planning permission is granted for a development subject to the applicant signing a legal agreement under section 106 of the Act. This agreement may be a one-off arising out of the special circumstances of a particular development, or it may be a standard type of agreement applying to all or most instances of a category of development. In the case of the latter, in Sheffield the most common type of standard agreement is when a housing developer agrees to pay towards improvements of existing open spaces (parks/play areas etc), in lieu of providing a new open space on the housing site as part of the new development. Improvements to existing parks are normally better for everyone than very small new open spaces, which are expensive to maintain and often too small to be useful eg for play activity. This type of standard agreement has to be based on an adopted planning policy, so the s106 agreements for open space improvements are based on policies in the Unitary Development Plan (Sheffield's current statutory development plan) and the detailed guidelines and formula for the payments are set out in Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG). To read the Open Space SPG go to this webpage - www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development/planning-documents/spg [Reply to query from John on Shirebrook Road from Sheffield City Council 28th February 2008: Ben Benest, Forward and Area Planning Team, Development Services, (tel) 0114 273 4212]
A pdf showing all the S106 monies allocated to Park & Heeley Area Panel since Jan 05 is attached to the bottom of the page.
Sarah and Joan are investigating introducing the GT Group formally into this process, so we can input into any planning applications in the GT area.
There are several discussion threads currently underway about planning issues. To see all of these go to the bottom of this page, or click on the ones that interest you:
Kent Road Trees; (just left from the top of Shirebrook Road)
106 Money from the development on Kent Road;
Oxfam in Heeley;
You can see all the current threads in the Discussion Forum.
Other interest in improving the area: Bohemian Cafe: "Cameron from the Bohemian has said he'd really like to hear from anyone who's interested in improving the environment on Chesterfield Road, to make it a much more inviting, green, thriving sort of place. He was encouraged to get a meeting together at the Bo - so watch this space. In the meantime if you have ideas, connections, long held fantasies, know-how, resources please drop by and speak to either Cameron, Imran or Jonathan the chef." (GT Email 23/10/07)

Key Contacts in the Local Area

S106 Obligation Officer: Oliver Gamble, Environmental Planning, Sheffield City Council, Howden House, 1 Union St, Sheffield, S1 2SH, t 0114 273 5804, f 0114 273 5002 e oliver.gamble@sheffield.gov.uk
Community Tree Officer: Moira Walker (Moira's post was temporary, but the address and landline should lead you in the right direction), Park and Heeley Community Forester, Parks and Countryside, Trees and Woodland Section, Meersbrook Park Offices, Tel: 2734303, Mobile: 07816 596228
Planning Officer: Stewart Greenslade, Howden House, I Union St, Sheffield S1 2SH, Tel: 203 7768; stewart.greenslade@sheffield.gov.uk
Local Councillors in Gleadless Valley: Frank Taylor & Denise Reaney (Lib Dem), and Garry Weatherall (Labour):
Area Panel: A group are hoping to attend the next area panel meeting on 7th October click on the link to see the thread going on this. The area panel plan for 2008-9 is available as an attachment below.
The Sheffield Star now have a dedicated green section called Green Scene: "If you want to get involved with Green Scene, have news to share, a photo to show or just a comment to make, email staronline@sheffieldnewspapers.co.uk and mark the subject field 'Green Scene'. See: http://www.thestar.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?pageid=73301

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Houses

Apple_Gilly — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:30:50 CST

How do we make our houses more efficient? Tell us what resources and skills you have that you can share with others in the group. These are the suggested headings: Green Buildings; Local Eco-house Project; Draught-proofing & Insulation. There's various other tools and expertise that can be shared within the group, and these are listed at the bottom where they don't already fit in under another heading.

NEW STUFF:

Rob & Kev's Interior Insulation

There is now a photo album detailing the process of installing interior insulation (at Kev and Rob's house). When you go to the album, you can either view it as a slideshow, or to see more information on each photo, click on the individual photo. You will then see a larger version of the photo with a yellow box to its right containing a description of the picture. A help sheet will soon be available as well.
A fact sheet 'Installing interior insulation for solid wall houses' is available as an attachment at the bottom of the page.

Rented Housing and Affordable Warmth

Anyone out there live in rented housing? I know there's lots of Housing Association properties around Albert Road. I live in a South Yorkshire Housing Association one and would be interested to hear from anyone living in rented accomodation who is also trying to watch their carbon footprint/ energy bills. Contact Gilly .

Solar Panel information sheet

A Shirebrook resident has put together a sheet detailing their experience of installing solar photo-voltaic panels and solar water heating panels - this is attached to the bottom of this page.

Energy Saving Triangular Tour Saturday 13th September 2008

See the Past Events Scrapbook. This was well attended and there were lots of examples from local houses of energy saving projects that had been undertaken (eg triple glazing, internal wall insulation, cellar roof insulation, installation of wood-burning stoves, a conservatory, solar photo-voltaic panels (producing electricity), and solar water-heating panels) This means there's lots of local knowledge out there, and we will try and make either the information or contact details available on the wiki over the next few months. In the meantime, contact Rob or send us an email. Some information is already shown below. There were also simpler and cheaper tips such as using perspex to add an insulating layer to windows and backing radiators with foil.

Green Buildings

I'm an architect specialising in low impact low energy design so would be more than happy to chat through any ideas / questions you might have. Contact James Norton. There's some useful links below (plenty more where those came from but that should get things going. James):
PassivHaus UK (UK Passive Haus info site)
Building for a Future discussion forum (Look out for my posts!)
Amazon Nails (Straw bale building experts)
Centre for Alternative Technology (You probably know this one)

Local Eco House Project

See the attachments at the bottom of the page for our new Low Environmental Impact Houses on Shirebrook Road It would be great to get some feedback (good or bad) before we submit to planning These files are all reduced in quality to keep the file small (2MB). Contact me if you want paper copies or hi res versions (5MB) which are much better quality: contact James Norton
"06-002-620 D+AS lo res" - DESIGN STATEMENT
"06-002 Drawings" - DRAWINGS

Draught-proofing & Insulation

There's definitely some experience (trial and error?) in the group. Please share.
I'll exchange whatever you might have to offer for some home-made draught-excluders (plain or with animal features?): Contact Gilly I'm still thinking of a good filling/ stuffing, so let me know if you've any ideas.
KevWalters and Rob have insulated three rooms of their solid-walled stone house using insulated plasterboard (phenolic foam) and some polystyrene (due to ignorance and difficulty in finding useful info on local suppliers). A fact sheet of costs, methods, links to websites and local suppliers will appear shortly. Should will have some photos of different stages of the work.


Rob demonstrating roof space insulation (12 inches) on energy saving tour	Rob demonstrates insulating a loft door with polystyrene

Other Tools & Expertise to share

Kev and Rob have various tools available to loan: workmate, tile cutter. Contact KevWalters or Rob
More tools from Mary&Ant: pick axe; small sledge hammer; and a ladder (2 sections, approx 17ft max extension)
There's lots of sources of information and books to borrow on the Carbon Reduction page if you want to do any research into house projects.

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Apples

Apple_Gilly — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:23:38 CDT

What do your do with yours?

Let us know where are good places to pick apples, and how you use them.


Now you see 'em...	..now you don't

Recipes

Please add your favourite apple recipies....

Bobbing


Bobbing	Bobbed

Good Places to Pick Apples

Other Recipes
Back to Food Growing etc. page

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Recipes

Apple_Gilly — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:22:42 CDT

Share your favourites recipes for using up local produce. (There's a separate page for any Apple Recipes.)

Back to Food Growing etc page

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Food Growing etc

Apple_Gilly — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:49:28 CDT

Share your information on Food Growing. There's sections on Allotments & Gardening, the Community Garden and Composting, as well as Skills & Resources Available and Skills & Resources Wanted. 'Etc' is for Other Sources of Local Food, and Ideas for Using Surplus Produce and Leftovers

NEW STUFF: add new information here so it's easy to spot. It can be placed in the appropriate place later on

New pages for Recipes. There's one page dedicated to 'Apples' (you can also share where to pick 'em and anything else you might like to do with an apple), and then there's a general 'Recipes' page for any of your other favourites.

Allotments & Gardening

There's an album in the photo gallery of the 'Allotment Soup' event held by Heeley & District Allotment Society's on 21st September 2008. Local artists got creative on some allotments.
Breaking news: Important update from the Federation of City farms about contaminated manure: see the news pages of the FCFCG website at www.farmgarden.org.uk (makes you think about how organic you are using farmyard manure - never had problems with Heeley City Farm).
Denise Reaney has acquired a skip for the allotment site through area panel (that she now chairs) - well done Denise.
We should also be getting a 40 cubic yard skip through Veolia (via Chris Healey at Allotment Advisory).
Kevwalters and others have completed their annual survey of the allotment site. There is no change from last year: still approx 85 plots not being worked (but not the same 85).
The Heeley and District Allotment Newsletters are available as pdfs at the foot of this page.
A map of the Heeley and District Allotment site is available as a pdf at the foot of this page.
KevWalters has developed a website for the Heeley & District Allotments
Join in organic veg growing on Meersbrook community allotment. Contact Heather (or call if you know me)
For pictures of allotments, gardens and yards where people are growing stuff, see the My Veg Patch Album
Do you put grass clippings in your green bin? If so then lease consider passing them to KevWalters to use on his allotment as mulch.
Thanks to Pete, the allotment shop sells an increasing range of organic products from slug pellets to tomoato feed. Anyone can use the shop (for a membership fee of £3/year). Some of the 'earth friendly' products we sell are on the website.
There's lots of information on food growing in Sheffield, organic food growing generally, seed companies on Heeley Allotments website information page: http://heeley-allotments.wikispaces.com/Useful+Websites

Community Garden

The community garden is located in the Heeley and District allotment site. It is open to anyone and has open days throughout the year. See www.carfieldfarm.ik.com for more details.
The entrance gate is at the end of the lane next to allotment plot 286 (see map attachment below).
Their latest newsletter is available as a pdf below.

Composting

Council looking for volunteers to trial Green Cone food waste digester using sun as power source. Garden space needed 2 foot deep by 2 foot wide.http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/environment/waste/gardenwaste/green-cone-trial
If anyone's using a kitchen composter/ bokashi bin, I found the best deal for buying the bokashi bran from Wiggley Wigglers: www.wigglywigglers.co.uk . It was £25.00 (+£3.00 p&p) for a 5kg bag. If you find a better deal, let me know Apple_Gilly
We run a community compost scheme; a pdf with further details is available at the foot of the page.
If you want to buy a compost bin, then subsidized ones are sometimes available at http://www.recyclenow.com/compost/
The Bohemian Cafe may still have waste vegetables to collect ["I usually text Awad -the guy working in the shop - on the same day to confirm there is stuff to collect. You'll need a car (unless you want to walk through the streets with a wheelbarrow) with protection on the floor of the boot as containers sometimes leak a bit. A mobile is probably the most useful form of communication (which can be a bit eratic)." (from a GT Email 09/10/07)] Not sure if this is still available, but if anyone's interested, pop in and ask them.

Skills & Resources Available

I've a lot of years of winemaking experience I'm very happy to share the fruits of. Contact Izzy.
I have a few seedling trees wanting a good home: silver birch, hazel, horse chestnut, holly and forsythia. Contact Heather (those that know me, please call me)
Kev and Rob have various tools available to loan: workmate, loppers, extendable tree pruner, electric hedge trimmers, wheelbarrow, tile cutter. Contact KevWalters or Rob
More tools from Mary&Ant: pick axe; small sledge hammer; and a ladder (2 sections, approx 17ft max extension)
Circular BBQ on wheels: Contact KevWalters or Rob
Petrol Driven strimmer.. contact Judy Harris

Skills & Resources Wanted

Pallets for making a new compost bin-2 or 3 about a metre square would be great. Contact Heather (if you know me, call me)
Would also like pallets to extend a compost bin and does anyone know a supplier of straw bales, not too far away? Contact Lollorosso
Branches and trunks from tree felling for wood burning stove. Contact Heather
I'm interested in growing more food. I'm not up to an allotment yet, but last year I started growing a few things in my backyard. As it's a yard, I have to use containers rather than putting stuff in the ground. I'd welcome advice from anyone else growing stuff in pots. Contact Gilly.
Splitting axe; contact KevWalters

Other Sources of Local Food

Sheffield Farmers' Markets
Banana Bobs (used to be on Valley Road), does Organic/ Local (UK) box deliveries. He doesn’t charge for delivery and will personalise orders. Tel: 249 1800. (GT Minutes Jan 08)
Local milk deliveries in bottles. Co-op delivers 7.30am, guaranteed from Yorkshire, 58p a pint. Reuses bottles. Tel: 250 0051. (GT Minutes Jan 08)

Ideas for Using Surplus Produce and Leftovers

I'm happy to buy (or consider buying) any allotment produce you have surplus. Contact Gilly
I've a lot of years of winemaking experience I'm very happy to share the fruits of. Contact Izzy.

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Events Jul07-Jul08

Apple_Gilly — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:22:12 CDT

Solstice Walk in Gleadless Valley Woods 21st June 2008

It had rained all day, but about twenty five of us turned up for this leisurely, gentle guided walk, based on a route from the Gleadless Valley Wildlife Trust''s new leaflet marking sites of special interest in the area. The rain didn't penetrate the trees too much, and actually made a nice background pattering noise. We saw the site of the old Lees Hall Farmhouse, pond and orchard, and really did find some 'pearls' (mother of pearl shards), on Pearl Button Lane - this had been the route where carts tooks loads of mother of pearl to a factory to be made into buttons. We also walked through meadows that are cleared of grass annually to encourage wild flowers. Anyone interested in joining Gleadless Valley Wildlife Trust should contact Kev.


Stopping in the Woods for a look round.	A meadow in the woods - grass flattened by the rain.

Heeley City Festival Green Triangle Stall 21st June 2008

To follow up our article in the Heeley Voice Magazine (attached at the bottom of the Homepage), we had a stall at the festival to give out information and sell plants and cake. We covered our costs and made some extra.

Cycle Picnic 4th May 2008

About twenty people came along despite unfavourable weather, including ten-twelve children, and some people who had not been involved in the Green Triangle before. The cycle ride started at the Millennium Park on Albert Road and went as far as Ecclesall Woods where there was picnicking:

Harvest Supper October 2007

We held a harvest supper in October, which forty people thoroughly enjoyed, with food, games, an apple press to produce our own delicious juice, a raffle and a bonfire. [The raffle raised £30: The community garden only wanted £20 and donated £10 to Sheffield Campaign against Climate Change. The wine and chutney sale for Oxfam raised about £30 too. (GT Email 22/10/08)]


Some of the produce that was raffled.	Yvone, Izzy, Kev and Lisa trying out the apple press

For more harvest supper pictures, see this photo album of Green Triangle Events

Green Games Evening November 2007

The ideas from the evening are attached at the bottom of the page (under the yellow box and 'threads')

Consumer Goods

Apple_Gilly — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:19:37 CDT

'Consumer Goods'? Things, possessions, chattels, stuff. This page is for ideas on how can we reduce, re-use, recycle all the stuff cluttering up our modern lives? The GT have already been working on reducing plastic bag use, recycling tetrapaks, and avoiding junk mail. We also share resources and skills which can help lessen the need to buy even more stuff.

NEW STUFF: add new information here so it's easy to spot. It can be placed in the appropriate place later on

The Council are putting up recycling waste bins in public areas - including one of London Road. Reported in The Star 30th September.

Plastic Bags

We've been writing to the local Co-op at Heeley Green trying to get them to promote their reusable bags, and display them more prominently. For more info on this, contact Izzy.
See the article from the Star attached below (11th June 2008). It's about a local scheme in Penistone to get locals to stop using disposable plastic bags. The Co-op are providing free reusable bags instead!

Tetrapak Recycling

We will be writing to Veolia (Sheffield) to try and get a tetrapak (juice boxes), recylcing facility at Heeley City Farm. There's currently a 'test' one at Waitrose. Firstly, we will be researching the pros and cons of recycling tetrapaks, so if you know anything about this, contact Izzy.

Junk mail

For some tips on reducing junk mail and junk calls, see the attachment at the bottom of the page which was sent round the GT Email List in October 07 by Izzy.

Resources & Skills to share

I'm a reasonable seamstress/ knitter, if anyone wants help or advice with making their own soft furnishings or clothes. Contact Gilly
Mary&Ant also have a wide selection of paperback books to loan
There's also other tools, resources and skills that people have advertised to share on the following pages: Food Growing Etc, Houses, Carbon Reduction (books & info)

For getting rid of food waste, see Composting on the Food Growing page

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Carbon Reduction

Apple_Gilly — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:48:55 CDT

This is obviously the overall aim of a lot of the areas Green Triangle works in. This page gives you some pointers to understanding how it all fits together by giving you sources of Information & Books you can borrow. There's also information on other groups which individual GT members are involved in such as Carbon Reduction & Climate Action Groups and Carbon Trading.

NEW STUFF: add new information here so it's easy to spot. It can be placed in the appropriate place later on

There will be a meeting at Izzy's house on 2nd October to discuss setting up a Green Triangle CRAG (see below for more information about CARG's - Carbon Reduction Action Groups)

Information & Books

Yvonne has been providing consultancy for various live/ work, homelessness and carbon reduction programmes, in particular the Nesta Big Green Challenge Award for Community Carbon Reduction Schemes. In the course of this work, she has gained access to and information about numerous sources of advice and funding for green initiatives which she is happy to share. Contact yvonne@ambel.co.uk
Kev and Rob have various books & magazines available to loan: Heat by George Monbiot, Green consumer guide by Julia Hailes, How to live off-grid by Nick Rosen, Scenes from a smallholding by Chas Griffin. Contact KevWalters or Rob. Also available to loan is Go M.A.D: Go Make a Difference 2 (500 daily ways to save the planet) Ed. Jo Bourne and Emma Jones from Gilly.
There's a copy of Leonardo DiCaprio's 11th Hour in circulation. Contact Gilly, and I'll see if I can locate it for you. Also see Yvonne's review of the 11th Hour in the thread below.
Green Search Engine: This tech-stuff blog by Phil Bradley reports on a Green Search Engine called 'Green Maven'. Phil reports: "The Green Maven is your gateway to the Green Web. They're a search engine that focuses on green, conscious, and sustainable websites. It works well if what you want is in that subject area - if you do rather more general searches the results start to get a little bit flaky." See: http://www.greenmaven.com/ (From http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2008/04/green-maven---t.html 11th April 2008)
Care4Air TV can be accessed at care4air.org and the service was officially opened by Sheffield city councillor Ray Satur with campaign spokesman Mark Daly. The group works to improve air quality throughout the area, but is also now giving advice on how people can reduce their carbon footprints. Care4Air is highlighting through its website and TV service small changes that can be made every day to help the environment. http://www.care4air.org/ [From The Star]

Carbon Reduction & Climate Action Groups

Heather is involved in Sheffield Climate Action Groups (SCAG). For more details, contact Heather (Heather also has a smart meter she is willing to lend out).
Also see the Climate Outreach Information Network (COIN) who run the Climate Change Condensed seminar programme, and read about Carbon Reduction Action Groups (CRAGs).
Sheffield Campaign against Climate Change (SCACC) have an e-newsletter that brings you a regular update on climate action in Sheffield and how to get involved. It is distributed through their mailing list or you can see it on their website: You can re-subscribe at any time by sending an email to: scacc-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
Western Park Museum’s report “Whatever the weather-changing climate, changing cultures, Is Sheffield’s weather changing and what do Sheffield people want to do about it?” It includes Heather’s and Jenny Patient’s research.

Carbon Trading

Rob is involved in the Omega Climate Change Course (also part of SCAG), who are running a pilot carbon trading scheme to identify problems with such schemes. Contact Rob

For ideas on how to reduce your carbon footprint in individual areas of our lives, see the other pages on this wiki on Food; Transport; Houses; Consumer Goods; and the Local Area

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Odds n Sods

helenr — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:40:36 CDT

Well there's always stuff that won't go anywhere else. Put it here, and perhaps some of it will fit together at some point and go to make an entirely new page. So far we've got:

KevWalters is a mathematician (and rob's a physicist) - so if you or your kids need any tuition (or have a burning issue in algebraic topology/ string theory) let us know.
piano player - contact Helen

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