Staff at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust are being encouraged to cycle to work in a ‘go green’ initiative which will also gain more car parking spaces for patients and visitors.
Around 500 members of staff currently bike in and, with a Trust-wide focus on bicycle security, it is hoped that many more will follow suit.
Simon Dallas, security management specialist, said: “We are aware of the problems with car parking at the hospital and are doing all that we can to tackle this. One big way to ease pressure is for more people to cycle to work but many people...
We might like to think we are environmentally friendly but what does it mean when we say we are ‘green’? In reality we probably mean different things which can be seen as a spectrum of colour… So what might this mean if applied to thinking about a low carbon Christmas?
Being Light Green is what might be termed acting in enlightened self-interest by taking small actions that are generally beneficial. For instance, changing to energy efficient light bulbs, turning down the thermostat or heating valves, recycling, wildlife conservation, saving water all help to reduce impact on the...
This week the House of Commons was the venue for a prestigious event to promote the South West green energy sector on a national stage. Renewable energy champions Regen SW hosted the South West Sustainable Energy Reception at the Members' Dining Room at Westminster on Tuesday 8 October with support from leading lawyers Osborne Clarke and Western Power Distribution. More than 150 opinion formers, investors and innovators assembled to hear from The Rt Hon Edward Davey MP, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. Merlin Hyman, chief executive of Regen SW, said in his introductory...
As we head towards Car-Free Day this year (Sunday 22 September) perhaps it’s timely to ask a very challenging question. Should Christians, and other people of faith, drive cars? Or to be less controversial, what might our attitudes be to driving that express something of the spiritual and ethical values that are central to religious tradition? We ask similar moral questions about our sexuality, war, economics and medical ethics. Why not about transport? There are rights and wrongs in our travelling which relate to how we love others as ourselves. If a particular focus of faith is...
Devon’s churches are getting greener. Eighty churches from all over the South West took part in a pioneering conference to look at heating their buildings more effectively. Churches are encouraged to carry out energy audits or benchmarking to determine both the use of their buildings and also energy demands, with a view to making more efficiencies in the future. The new national energy- measuring scheme aims to grade our churches like fridges and to improve each year from F towards A ratings. The conference was held at the recently re-ordered St. Stephen’s church in Exeter High Street,...
So let’s face it. We are in a huge mess, despite the rose-tinted spectacles used by some of our political leaders who are clearly not well in touch with the realities that most of us face. The neo-liberal economics of recent decades combined with the assault on the ecology of the planet may be reaping dividends for the rich few, but for the majority of us the immediate outlook is bleak.
Our society is fracturing and breaking up, and, in my view, this is being encouraged by a government which seems intent on systematically dismantling the structures which have held us together since...
Hundreds of teddy bears swallowed their fears and went 100ft up in the air on a cherrypicker to do a sponsored parachute jump for charity on Cathedral Green this afternoon.
Organised by the Rotary Club of Exeter and sponsored by Burgoynes Estate Agents, the toys were jumping in aid of the children's ward, Bramble, at the RD&E, as well as fundraising for the cathedral's Third Millennium campaign.
The event was compered by Radio Exe, who announced every bear - as well as its nervous owner below - before they jumped, while the Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service...
Christow Primary School has been selected to take part in an exciting new national initiative to save energy and cut carbon emissions.
Christow is one of just 40 schools across the country selected to be a Solar School. This is a ground-breaking initiative that helps schools to cut carbon emissions, boost budgets and teach pupils about energy. The school is planning to raise over £6,000 this year to install solar panels on its roof.
Headteacher David Lamoon said: “The school has a large south-facing roof, which will generate free renewable electricity. We...
As energy tariffs hit front page news, TV Dragon Deborah Meaden and around 250 representatives from renewable energy companies, trade associations, environment and development charities, the National Federation of Women's Institutes (NFWI) and faith groups lined up outside the Treasury in a united call on David Cameron to step in, green our electricity, and get all parts of his Government to start taking the green economy seriously.
The action took place on the morning Energy Secretary Ed Davey delivered a 'myth busting' speech about the forthcoming Energy Bill at an event hosted...
