The Roundhay Challenge
REAP received an encouraging response to the Roundhay Challenge, which invited ideas for projects to promote local action on the environment and climate change. Seven themes were identified as potential projects. On June 5th we held an open meeting to get community input on the projects and ideas to move them forward. The seven themes plus an "other" category have been listed below with local residents ideas.
Theme 1 - Practical Ways of Saving Energy
Theme Description: Advice and information (especially through the website and at our market stall) on recycling, insulation, solar panels, wind turbines (including on planning laws), green energy, eco grants and local info and reviews of green products and services.
- Turning appliances off
- Carbon clinics
- Free light-bulbs from local energy company
- REAP to provide information on what is and isn't possible in a conservation area e.g. likelihood of anyone getting approval for solar panels? If there is a problem then lobby to change the policy
Theme 2 - Energy Research
Theme Description: Investigating Roundhay's energy use through audits and energy meters
- Any useful data from Roundhay Planning forum
- Schools to look at research
- Get grant to buy a collection of energy meters to loan to community members
- Get energy data for whole community from Power companies
- Solar panels
- Ground source heating
- Info on Energy grants
- A local audit of energy use with the possible assistance of a University
Theme 3 - Inspiration and Education
Theme Description: Running courses and discussions as well as promoting local expertise and information to the community.
- Use of freecycle
- Better library
- Making links with local schools and youth groups e.g. brownies and woodcraft folk in order to involve children/young people and their families in the project
- Nature appreciation walks
- Workshops on any environmental information and local produce
- Encouraging people to have open gardens for showpieces (environmental education)
- Regular Café Scientifique on environmental theme
- Energy champions in each class at school
- Book club - reading environmental books and then passing them on
- Forum for locals on the website e.g. need a gardener or share a garden appliance
- Children's education/activity day
- LETS scheme to share local environmental knowledge and skills*
- Involve schools to find out what they are doing e.g. gardens, ponds and growing food. Speak to children about why reduce carbon footprint*
- Short courses on composting, cooking with the seasons, growing your own veg, saving energy, bike maintenance/safety.
- Skills/equipment exchange, freecycle day
Theme 4 - Lobbying
Theme Description: Lobbying locally and to the city for example for more bus or bicycle lanes or to local shops to become plastic-bag-free.
Lobbying
- Push Tescos to stop using as much packaging for vegetables
- Encouraging local grocers to stay open later
- Lobbying for better cycle lanes
- Plastic bag free Roundhay
- Car-sharing
- Bus that goes straight to St James/Quarry house/LGI
- Lobby for Leeds 'oyster' card
- Restore the 66b from Roundhay to St James/city centre
- Sustainable transport -mainly bike lanes -non aggressive cycling
- Influencing the Roundhay Design Statement with questions
- Influencing local developments e.g. pressing the Council to explain the green features of the new Allerton Grange build
- Lobby Npower - they might at the very least give us loads of free low energy bulbs to give away
- Down with 2 for 1 in Supermarkets*
- Lobby on policy - Local development, Community strategy, Local Action plan*
- Mobilising mass communication on climate change -especially TV
Theme 5 - Composting for Roundhay
Theme Description: Help reduce landfill and create productive waste.
- Garden/compost
- Info on recycling bins from Council
- Compost info on webpage
- Central compost point in Roundhay with compost available
Theme 6 - Transport
Theme Description: Promotion of environmentally friendly transportation such as walking school buses, bikes and car pooling.
- Car-sharing
- Bus Routes
- Bicycle incentives
- Bulletin Board for car-sharers
- Eco car info -hybrid car stuff
- Promoting safe cycling, more cycle lanes, especially to St James
- Experience of developing travel action plans for school governing body
- Bike hire in the park
- Walking bus for schools -see http://www.walkingbus.com/index.htm
Theme 7 - How Does Your Garden Grow
Theme Description: Making Roundhay's green spaces productive through garden sharing, tree planting, fruit cropping and other techniques.
- Allotments
- Garden sharing -especially in relation to CARE
- More use of gardens to grow fruit and veg
- Positive experiences of sharing gardens
- Miniature fruit trees for sale at farmers' market
- Methods of heating greenhouses to increase food production
- Tree planting
- Provide plants and veg at a cheap rate
- Get the allotments involved in the farmers' market
- Info on webpage about wildlife (BBC webpage -Springwatch)
- Open days within Roundhay at peoples' houses for an initiative
- Contact Gledhow Valley Woods re ideas on woodlands, bird boxes etc*
- Allow veg growers to sell on a stall and then REAP can take a % for funds*
- Sharing tools*
- Cropping unpicked fruit for use by local jam-makers/projects
Theme 8 - Other
Theme Description: Do you have any other ideas that you think could make Roundhay more sustainable?
- Suma food (split up and sell on at Farmers market)
- Offer of help from Roundhay Conservation Society
- Walking
- Local swimming pool
- Re-use The preferred option to recycling! Before people throw something away can they give it away? The sort of things that can't go to charity shops
- Collecting small things that can't be recycled via doorstep collection and can only be recycled at the recyclng centre eg paint, batteries etc
- Collecting rubbish
- Create a wiki to share information and co-ordinate actions
- Neighbourhood volunteer recycling advisers cf neighbourhood watch - people could become our local experts
- REAP Stall - ethical banking options
- Fairtrade event
* Starred items have been reallocated from theme 8
If you want to join or find out more about this inspiring new venture, please contact us.