Generous Actions

Support your local fête or fair

2009-06-29T04:20:45-07:00

Try to pop along to a fête or fair happening near you, because supporting local events in your area helps build local networks, relationships and, ultimately, community.

Fêtes and fairs are potentially really Generous happenings. They signify an amazing investment of social capital. As well as the connections and conversations, the fun and games, you might even pick up a bargain and a yummy cake, too – and all the money you spend contributes to your local economy.

So, as the summer hots up, we say: it’s time to get your local fête or fair buzzing – by being there if you can, and then telling us about it on Generous and Flickr-ing your photos as well*.

*When you’re doing Generous actions why not capture them on camera and upload the results to www.flickr.com? That way we get a fuller sense of our community activity, at the same time as adding more visual interest to our homemade website!

*In order for the Generous site to find your images and magically draw them in from Flickr, you’ll need to ‘tag’ them a certain way. So, any photo you upload relevant to a particular Generous action will need to be tagged with “livinggenerously:action=X” where X is the ID number of the action.

For example, for Give something away and declutter your life, the tag would be: livinggenerously:action=44 and for this action it would be livinggenerously:action=197

Go on! Show us just how Generous you are!

Flickr photo source – thanks Anguskirk

Sit down for a Big Lunch on 19 July

2009-07-01T14:05:37-07:00

On 19th July The Eden Project in Cornwall is asking the people of Britain to stop what they’re doing and sit down to lunch together. That’s right – the Big Lunch is a party in your street, in everyone’s street.

Why? Well, for lots of reasons really, but mainly to put a smile back on Britain’s face.

Imagine a summer’s day on which millions of us, throughout the UK, sit down to have lunch together, with our neighbours in the middle of our streets, around our tower blocks and on every patch of common ground. The food, entertainment and decorations we will have either grown, cooked, or created ourselves. This will be a day to break bread with our neighbours, to put a smile on Britain’s face.

Click here to find out more. And if you don’t think you and your friends and neighbours can get something together in time (it might be a be late for this year), click here to find out where your nearest Big Lunch is happening.

This is what the Big Lunch says about the idea:

‘Most of us are shy, many of us lead single lives and even when we are together often go our own way. We all know about the problems in our society and don’t need to be preached at about them. But inside almost everyone there is a notion that despite our differences, the ties that bind us are important.

‘The shared enjoyment of eating together, laughter, play, music and conversation bring us together and for all the fact that we are so fabulously different in our outlook and experience on many things, we know a simple truth – together we are strong. Wouldn’t it be great if for just one day we remind ourselves about all that is good about us and bring about a moment that ignites a spark?

’It may be tricky, it may feel slightly uncomfortable to start with. It takes a bit of courage to stop being a stranger. But think of the prize – to be able to walk down the street and into the wider neighbourhood and realise how many good people there are: people who, acting together, can create a real sense of community – a word that in Latin means; “together, in gift”.

‘So… if you’re up for it, try growing something, making something or generally getting stuck in for the Big Lunch. No one is going to tell you how to do it as your ideas will be perfect for you. If you want any prompting we’ve gathered together lots of ideas that might set you on the road for a day that at worst might be fun and at best could start to change your life in unexpected ways!

‘And, if having a Big Lunch just for fun doesn’t feel right for you then find a cause that’s close to your heart and doorstep – be it a hospice, reformed offenders scheme or even a hedgehog sanctuary – then use The Big Lunch as a fund-raiser or volunteer your time.’

Recycle your old bras

2009-06-06T11:31:01-07:00

Take your old bras into Oxfam. It’s been virtually impossible to resell underwear. Until now. That’s because Oxfam’s recycling plant in Huddersfield, Wastesavers, sees bras as “invaluable revenue-generating items.”

Bras are valuable because they are lightweight, meaning you get more in a kilo, which in turn means they fetch a higher price per kilo. And bras from the UK are particularly popular. “They are technically difficult to make and those from here are considered to be of superior quality in the developing world," says Tony Clark, General Manager at Wastesavers.

Wastesavers is where clothes that cannot be sold in shops end up, when the material is either recycled, if the item is damaged, or sold to traders who send them to developing countries.

(Please note that Oxfam is still in the process of notifying its 570 clothes shops, and the 1000s of volunteers who work in them, about Wastesaver. So you may find that your local Oxfam tells you it doesn’t accept bras. But they do. They just might not know it yet.)

Flickr photosource – thanks MathieuB

'Grey' water your garden

2009-05-25T12:19:34-07:00

Divert bath and shower ( that’s ‘grey’) water onto the garden soil.

Get a valve that fits onto waste pipes with 41, 43 & 44.5mm outside diameter and then, when open, grey water is routed through a hosepipe onto your garden or into your water butt</a. When the valve is closed, the water flows as normal. It’s a permanent fitting with simple pull-cord operation.

Click here to buy a valve now.

Make your garden bee-friendly

2009-05-25T12:22:38-07:00

Encourage bumblebees to your garden to play their vital role in pollinating your plants.

Bumblebees can be found in most habitats where there are nectar- and pollen-filled plants – whether this is in your garden, on farmland or in the countryside. But Britain’s bees are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. Various government bodies and research institutions have agreed to provide £8m to look into why populations are falling. But we can all do our bit.

The best way to help is to provide food and nesting sites in your garden for bumblebees. Wherever you live in the UK, you should be able to attract at least six bumblebee species to your garden. Try and ensure you have different plants that flower at different times of year and plant traditional cottage garden flowers and native wildflowers. You could also leave an area of your lawn unmown to provide flowers during summer.

Find out more about keeping your bees in clover.

Find out how to make a bee home.

Alternatively you could get involved in monitoring and recording bee species that you see in order to help organisations understand their current populations. Find out about surveys run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.

Why encourage bees?
Pollination is the number one reason. We need them to make trees, plants and flowers bloom. Also, they’re well adapted to the British climate and don’t mind getting out even when it’s not that warm. You’d be helping the British bumblebee to survive if you put out a home for them. Their population has fallen to the point where this trend needs reversing.

Fine out more about bees in your garden here (courtesy of Blue Peter).

Click here for a short video clip of bee facts.

And click here to listen to the Environment Minister Hilary Benn talking about this on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Click here for more on how to make your garden bee-friendly.

And register here for the Save Our Bees campaign.

Watch Martha Kearney’s BBC doc about the crisis on BBC2 on Friday 15 May at 7pm.

Fit a ShowerSmart valve

2009-05-11T04:01:40-07:00

As part of the Government’s commitment to reduce the amount of energy we use, eaga have one free ShowerSmart valve to give away to every household in Great Britain. This small gadget prevents unnecessary waste of water when using your shower. It’s free, simple to use, saves money and is also green. It’s got to be a Generous action.

So how does it work?
Basically, it creates a constant flow of 7.7 litres per minutes, giving a full, even jet with less fluctuation in the speed of the water flow from your shower. And a more efficient shower means that you will save energy.

When the item is delivered, it includes a measuring bag. To see if your shower would benefit from using it, simply put the showerhead into the bag, turn on the shower for five seconds and then switch off the shower. If the water level in the bag is above the printed measuring line, then your shower unit is not efficient and you will benefit from installing the unit. If the water level is below the line, then you have an efficient shower and there is no need to install the unit.

And how do I install it?
To install it, simply unscrew the shower hose, put in the red fibre washer between the unit and the taps, screw the unit onto the taps, and on the other end screw the shower hose on to the top of the unit. Job done. The water flow remains strong and is sufficient for a good shower.

So how can I get hold of one?
You can claim a free unit – plus some energy-saving lightbulbs if you are over 70 or, alternatively, are claiming one of the following benefits or credits: income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit, income based Jobseeker’s Allowance, attendance allowance, disability allowance, industrial injuries disablement pension benefit, war disablement pension, pension credit, child tax credit, or working tax credits. But it seems like most of us can claim a free unit (minus the bulbs) even if we’re not over 70 or on these benefits.

What could I save?
A two-person household could save more than 12,000 litres of water a year by using the ShowerSmart – and, at current prices, this will mean a saving of roughly £20 each year on gas bills and (assuming your water is metered) a saving of £20 on your water bill per year. This equates to over a tonne of carbon dioxide over products lifetime.

In summary:

Save up to £600 over the product’s lifetime.
Save up to £20 per year* on fuel bills.
Save up to £20 per year* if your water is metered.
15 Year manufacturer guarantee.
Easy self-installation.
Suitable for use with non-electric mixer showers or bath/shower mixer taps, provided they run off the mains water pressure.
Works by regulating the water flow, saving you water, energy and money.

*Based on a 2-person household. Source: The Building Research Establishment

Apply for your free eaga ShowerSmart here now. Or visit eaga.com/showersmart or ring free on 0800 953 0033 quoting reference ‘ShowerSmart-RF’.

NB. The makers indicate that the unit is not suitable with electric showers, showers with multiple jets or rainwater showers.

Here’s a related video.

Shower shorter from Generous on Vimeo.

Choose philanthropy, choose to give

2009-06-09T09:46:43-07:00

Flickr photosource – thanks Johnny Vulkan

Don’t leave philanthropy to the wealthy; the rich don’t always have the best view of what’s going on. And don’t leave your charitable giving to when something starts tugging at your heartstrings – what other financial decisions do we make when we’re all choked up? Giving money is a serious business, and seriously good for us to do. There’s a reason why clichés become clichés: it really is better to give than to receive.

So here’s the deal. Most of us give something, sometime. But most of us do it in response to big appeals or special fundraisers. Nothing wrong with that … except that good causes from charities to campaigning groups can never plan properly for the future if they don’t know what funds are coming in. They need people to give to them regularly – same day every month – like people do paying off their credit card or paying down their mortgage.

Our regular giving enables them to plan and do what they do better – which means that the people who rely on their help in turn get better and more support when they need it.

So this action is about putting business sense into your personal philanthropy. Work out how much you can afford to give away, work out who or what you would like to support and then work out how you are going to do it.

The great thing about giving regularly is that it defies the idea that none of us can give big time. After all, deciding to give a charity £2 a month, the price of a couple of takeaway cappucinos – or to give ten charities £2 a month – is deciding to give away £24 a year, or £240 a year. Or £2,400 over a decade – throughout which time, many of us won’t have missed it.

And, if you gift aid it, the charity can get your tax back too.

In fact, because giving to good causes is as serious a business as paying for our light or gas or water, the rather fine people at the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) have set up a simple-to-use system – which gives you your own account, debit card or cheque book. You put the money in every month, they get your tax back from the government and you give it away again – to whomsoever you like, as long as they are a charity.

CAF Online is the Charities Aid Foundation website at http://www.cafonline.org/ and they can help your giving go further if you’re a UK taxpayer. A great first port of call if you to choose philanthropy and start to give regularly.

(Thanks to Olly Willans for this suggestion.)

Links

Learn more about setting yourself up with a CAF account here
Tell CAF what you feel about giving in a recession here

Have a power-cut party

2009-05-25T12:23:58-07:00

(Flickr photosource – thanks Robin Kearney)

Organise a Power Cut Party. Ask your guests to bring candles, lanterns, instruments, board games, and songs. Create an emergency ration kit, light a fire (if you can), and then see – albeit dimly – what happens.

You could play ‘hunt the fuse box’. But, whatever you do, the idea is to create a different sort of convivial atmosphere and space where different types of connections can be made – at the same time as saving energy and highlighting its preciousness as a resource.

Here’s what Vincent Reid wrote in the Guardian about making an emergency kit:
What’s in your emergency kit? The bare necessities of life are available in most houses. We are all accustomed to having heat, water and electricity on demand. Without these things, we would be quite helpless. But what if something went wrong, such as a power cut or a broken pipe? It is worth discussing what you need and why. It may come as a shock that we are dependent on these amenities. After discarding the suggestions of favourite DVDs, our emergency kit ended up as a box of matches, candles, a blanket, two tins of beans, a pocket knife (with tin opener attachment), some spoons and a big chocolate bar. A few days later, we had to use it for the first time when the power went off. It was a remarkable success.

Get a wind turbine (if you live in a windy spot)

2009-05-06T01:55:28-07:00

(Flickr photosource – thanks NateOne)

When it comes to wind, Britain has the dubious honour of being number one in Europe. In fact, almost half of Europe’s wind energy buffets our islands. So why not harness some of that power to generate your own electricity by installing a wind turbine?

It’s been calculated that in windy areas of the UK – such as the outskirts of Wick and parts of Portsmouth – a turbine could reduce your electricity bills by as much as half. A wind turbine is especially beneficial if you live in a remote, off-grid home, where conventional supply is impractical. But, if you live in the suburban stills, the economics aren’t that great. This is an action for out-of-towners for now.

Here’s a good website that will help you find out more
Here’s a BBC website page that will give you more background

(Thanks to the BBC’s Bloom site for this suggestion.)

A related video, courtesy of The Green Curve.

Make your own bread

2009-06-22T03:09:38-07:00

(Flickr photosource – thanks fuzuoko)

Buy a bread-making machine and start baking your own. It’s quicker to put all the ingredients in the machine than to run to the local supermarket or bakery. The bread is healthier, and you can choose a different type each day.

Depending on what sort of bread-maker you get, you could even have a day a week when you bake other goodies – like healthy cookies, the odd cake or two – and put these into lunch boxes instead of crisps and chocolates.

And you don’t have to get a bread maker, of course. You could just do it the good old-fashioned way – kneading your dough and baking it in your oven. It’s just that a bread maker gives great results with the minimum effort.

(Thanks to Vanessa for this suggestion.)

Here’s the ‘Which’ review of bread making machines
And here’s a BBC web page all about baking your own bread

Holiday generously

2009-05-19T07:21:43-07:00

(Flickr photosource – thanks velodenz)

Here’s a cluster of holiday action ideas to help you think about going Generous for your summer holidays.

House swap

House swapping means someone will be in your property while you’re away, giving you peace of mind…and someone to water the flowers and feed your pets. It also means you get to stay in someone’s house, with all its quirks and character, rather than in bulk-standard accommodation. It’s also cheaper than booking hotels, hostels or campsites too.

There are loads of websites out that will help you house swap – both here in the UK and abroad. Google ‘house swap’ and browse away.

Here’s an international one we found and here’s a UK one.

Alternative holidays

Think differently about the kind of holiday you take. Why not a cycling or walking holiday -either with a company or one you arrange yourself. Or go away with a charity to work with one of their projects at the same time as experiencing something and somewhere different. After all, a change is as good as a rest.

Google ‘cycling holidays’ or ‘walking holidays’ and bring up the results. Loads of them!

Walking holidays in the UK
Walking holidays in Europe
Cycling holidays here in the UK
Cycling holidays in Europe

Or take a holiday with a charity working on one of their projects – click here for some options.

Free days out

If money is tight and a week or two’s holiday is out, then why not plan some free days out. Avoid theme parks and just go for a walk, a bike ride, or to a beach. It’s cheaper, better for environment … and it can be more fun. (Thanks Annie for this suggestion.)

Here are some websites that might help you out:

A Free Day Out
Do Free Stuff
Enjoy England

(Thanks Annie for these suggestions.)

Go by train to Europe

Hankering after a European holiday ? Why not swap the plane for the train? You could skip the airport queues, relax en route, and make big CO2 savings.

With the growth of Europe’s high-speed rail network, traveling city centre to city centre not only cuts out the misery of airport check-in, it can even be quicker than the plane on some trips. And a rail trip can save as much as 90% of the CO2 emissions from your journey.

Despite over 50% of us saying we are more concerned about the effects of flying than we were five years ago, only 8% of us actually fly less.

During the next 30 years, predicted air travel will create an extra 3000kg CO2 emissions per person – that’s the equivalent of driving a petrol car for an entire year. Scientists claim we need to reduce emissions by that amount to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

Here’s a good website to start with: Rail Europe

(Thanks to the BBC’s Bloom site for this suggestion.)

Keep The Warmth In Your House

2009-05-06T08:31:37-07:00

With energy prices as they are and the government offering help for households who make these moves (see here), there’s never been a better time to look at keeping the warmth inside your house.

Simple things like: putting reflective surfaces behind your radiators, insulating your hot water tank, lining your curtains and checking your loft insulation is sound are all part of you saving energy and playing your part in stopping the planet warming up.

Click here to see if you are eligible for insulation and energy saving grants. grants.

And click here for the government’s CO2 energy-saving website – packed with great advice and tips.

Flickr photosource – thanks MS Patt

Share The Journey

2009-03-13T05:09:30-07:00

Start a car club at work to share the commute. Or, for other journeys, use the online liftshare service at www.liftshare.org

Flickr photosource – thanks Fred R

Help Your School Start A Travel Plan Or A Walking Bus

2009-03-13T05:08:24-07:00

After the initial mayhem that marks the start of any school year it’s time to take stock and work out what is the best way to get your children to and from school – without using the car if possible!

Besides taking unilateral action and deciding to walk, scoot or cycle your own clan, most local councils will have information on their websites about setting up what are called ‘walking buses’ if you want to collaborate with other parents on this move (you can even get government grants for setting them up – see here).

There’s also a dedicated Walk to School website that outlines all the benefits – not just for the environment and your children!

And, if you want to be even more ambitious, why not encourage your children’s school to look into setting up a ‘Travel Plan’ of its own aimed at reducing the amount of individual car journeys to and from its premises each day. Point them to this great website for help with this.

(Click here to read one of our Generous bloggers on this issue.)

Flickr photosource – thanks Gak

Start An Allotment - Or Half A Plot

2009-05-05T14:16:51-07:00

Local councils have details of available plots in your area. If a whole plot seems a lot, some sites have half-sized plots or share one with a friend. From as little as £20 a year. And hopefully there’ll be some healthy veg at the end of it.

It’s a good time of year to get in on the lists as often they are comprehensively reviewed as leases come up for annual renewal with the calendar year. So, January could see the start of something new for you.

See our Generous blogger on his allotment adventure here, here and here.