The decision about whether to replace our gas-fired central heating and woodburner with an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) is not an easy one. Yes, we want to stop “burning stuff” to keep warm, and to no longer rely on our woodburner as we get older and less inclined to all the work. But it’s […]
You are browsing archives for
Author: chris@rigdenage
Selected Eco Resources
The resources available are endless, so of course this list is not exhaustive. I have found these helpful over the years, and as a starting point for your own research. The book links are for info and reference, I don’t have any kickback from them. (I’ve rescued this content from a domain site I no […]
One Air Source Heat Pump
There’s a lot online about Air Source heat pumps, pro and con. The gist of it *seemed* to be that IF you have a really modern, super-insulated home then an ASHP is great, or IF you are replacing oil central heating then at least it won’t be more expensive to run. Or IF you could […]
Living with Solar PV
There is a lot of talk about solar PV panels these days, some of it positive and a lot of it seems un-informed negative. We’ve had these panels (and more on the roof to the left, not in this photo) for 10 years, and they are great! I thought I would give you something of […]
New Ways with Plastic
Good news! A new thing has begun, called the ‘Flexible Plastic Fund‘. This is a collaboration of companies that have got together to make the recycling of ‘soft plastics’ (which are widely used in food packaging) work. This involves coordinating companies who will do the processing, and subsidising the price so that it is economical […]
Retrospective – Plastic
Wow, is it really three years since I started this blog, and the journey of seriously cutting back on single-use plastic? We all know what hurdles 2020 and multiple lockdowns has put in front of us, with so many constraints on where to go and what we can get due to the pandemic. And yet, […]
References on Climate Change
People ask where can they go to understand more about how and why the climate is changing, so I thought I’d put together a list of the resources I know about and include a comment. Hopefully you can find something here of use to you. A couple of paragraphs from Skeptical Science seem relevant: “When you […]
Money, money, money
A few weeks ago I heard a news item from Mark Carney, the Governor of the Bank of England, before he retires. He has always seemed a sensible guy, with a balanced perspective. The gist of the interview is a call to the financial industry to get its act together and make a plan to […]
Considering disposables
I see more and more places getting cups, or bags, or other containers made from ‘bio plastic’. This is the material many companies are using, whether to remove plastic from tea bags, or replace polystyrene chip trays. Compostable is good, if you DO compost them. But I’ve read people saying “it’s just as bad as […]
Nibbling at meat eating
I’ve been reading a very interesting book ‘There is no Planet B‘ (Mike Berners-Lee). A great collection of info about the relative environment cost and benefit of all sorts of things, related to the current environmental crisis. One section that caught my attention was the one on food, its carbon footprint, and having enough to […]