Sally is based in Richmond, North Yorkshire. She’s signed up for Greener Together through Abundant Earth, a community supported agriculture project based in Durham. Sally is a member of a local transition town group and it was through a fellow member of that group that she heard about Greener Together.

Sally was already interested in environmental issues, but decided to sign up to Greener Together to find out more about the practical things she could do and whether there was anything that she could pass onto her local community. She was already fairly knowledgeable about certain green issues, partly through her job as a gardener, and partly through the membership of the local transition town group. She’s signed up to ten pledges related to energy saving and transport.

Achievements & Successes
So far, the biggest success has been the installation of the energy meter. “The energy monitor was one of the suggestions and it’s been very useful in finding out where we waste energy. Things like switching off and unplugging devices, boiling less water in the kettle and making sure that when I’m using the oven, I’m fully using it rather than just for one dish. I know I do a lot of little things like that because of the meter which I didn’t do before. I’m thinking more in advance. It’s definitely been the most useful thing so far. It really makes you think about what you’re doing and it’s also a win win situation because you’re cutting down on your fuel bills while at the same time reducing the energy demand and therefore helping reduce emissions” she says.

Sally’s biggest achievement is being resistant to putting on the heating. “I’ve wanted to put it on but I’ve managed so far. That’s my greatest struggle”. The reduction in energy costs to the household has been another positive impact of the project. “We’re also growing more vegetables for ourselves and having the mindset of eating what’s available in the garden rather than thinking ‘I’m bored with that, I’ll go and get something else’” she says. “I’ve become more creative in my cooking as a result”. Sally’s also using information from the website, when she visits it, to add to the transition window that she has, which displays what’s going on and the themes they’re working on.

Impact of participating
Although Sally’s knowledge hasn’t expanded as much as she’d wanted from being part of Greener Together, she admits that she’s much more aware of a global energy problem than she was before. “Things being made a little more difficult for me also gives me a better understanding of what it must be like for people in other parts of the world. It’s made me think more globally by acting on a more local, personal level”. She also thinks that she’ll be more ready to ask questions than she was in the past when purchasing bigger items, such as a new fridge. The costs benefits of cutting down energy use have also been a positive impact. However, Sally also acknowledges that the financial returns on some of her efforts won’t be as immediate. “We’re putting photovoltaics on the roof and although we’ll get the feed-in tariff benefits immediately, the return on the panelling is going to be a few more years down the line. However, it will be a positive return in the end because it will have benefitted us, and it’ll also be good for the price of the house when we come to sell”. Sally admits that although the couple were going to get the panels anyway, it’s becoming part of Greener Together that has galvanised her to discuss it with her husband and do it sooner. “We’re discussing the issues far more and I don’t think I would have prompted things to happen as quickly before. I would have just waited for my husband to take the initiative. Being part of Greener Together has definitely accelerated some changes.”

Challenges
Sticking to the pledges has not come easily however. “Using public transport is really difficult here in the North Yorkshire Dales” she reports. “If you try regularly going anywhere by bus, you’re as likely to be late for a meeting because of a herd of sheep or cows going by. Or perhaps the bus hasn’t arrived at all, and it’s the only bus of the day”. Despite these obstacles, she’s still trying to use public transport, but admits that because of the unreliability of the buses, it’s had quite a negative impact, and she’s had to cancel meetings, setting work back by several weeks. As a result, she’s decided to only use buses for her own purposes but not if she needs to be somewhere else.

Other pledges have been abandoned altogether for the time being. “I found reducing the heat of the washing machine very difficult” Sally explains. “I just prefer a hotter temperature to get white things cleaner, but everything looked grubby. I might try it again, but I have to admit that I’m reluctant to”.

 Sally found turning down the thermostat and putting on an extra jumper to be another challenge. “I find it very difficult because I get cold if I sit for long and so I have to pile everything on. The temptation is in the evening when the warm day has chilled down, to put on immediate heat rather than dealing with it. I’m working very hard on that one”.

However, Sally has implemented some innovative strategies to help her with that particular challenge. “We’ve now got a winter bedroom and a summer bedroom and that makes quite a difference. My desk is wonderful in the summer because it’s lovely and warm but in the winter, it’s perishing cold in that location, so I’m going to move my desk upstairs to where there is a warmer patch of sun and I’m selling a family heirloom piece in order to get a more efficient desk to work there”.

One of the other challenges that Sally has faced is the fact that she was already doing a large number of the actions suggested by Greener Together. The couple were already growing some of their own food, had solar panels on the roof for hot water and Sally’s husband was already quite interested in saving energy. Sally has also yet to make full use of the Greener Together website. “My natural inclination is not to go onto community websites on the internet so I’m probably not making as much use of it as other people who are more used to going on those sorts of sites” she explains. “However, I do think that I could try to respond to people’s questions and suggestions more, and perhaps initiating something myself”.

Impact on friends and family
Sally’s not really publicised her pledges to her friends and family. “My family would probably look at me as though I had signed up to a new religion or something” she says. Instead she hopes to do the pledges quietly and then talk to people more intelligently, and subtly. “I’ve already got a number of people going to the library where they can hire out an energy meter as they would a book. They’re now doing that and they hadn’t thought of that before, so they are becoming a bit aware”.

What would she do differently?
“If I was starting out again, I’d like to have got in touch with the person who designed the questions and talked to them about giving me more flexibility” she says. “I was already doing quite a lot of things from each section and I found it too prescriptive. I would have questioned that at the beginning.”

Advice to others
To others starting on the Greener Together journey, Sally recommends working more with the other people in your group – and interacting more on the website. She suggests answering their questions and making suggestions and so on, right from the start, so that you’re working with each other.

At the time of interviewing, Sally was four weeks into her Greener Together pledges, which she plans to keep up even after the ten weeks has finished, trying to stick to as many as she can, for up to a year.

Many in the co-operative movement draw attention to the climate threat through demonstration or petition, which are valuable actions. Greener Together – the co-operative way builds on to those by supporting individuals to change their behaviour and reduce their impact on the environment.

The Project enables member organisations of Co-operatives^UK, the Confederation of Co-operative Housing (CCH) and the Plunkett Foundation to help their members and customers live in a more sustainable way.

The core aim of Greener Together is to advise, support and provide the means to share lifestyle changes that reduce members’ and customers’ environmental impact in three key areas: energy, waste and personal transport.

Spread over these 50 co-operatives and community owned enterprises, in England, 3,600 people will be supported to take action.

Join with other member organisations and work together to pioneer change. We need 50 committed organisations to sign up.

 Working Together we can make a real difference

For more information please visit: www.greenertogether.coop

Co-operatives^UK is delivering a two year national project Greener Together – The Co-operative Way funded by Defra’s Greener Living Fund. The programme aims to achieve a measurable change in pro-environmental behaviours and provide information on sustainable behaviour.  This is a beacon project for Co-operatives^UK and places co-operatives firmly at the heart of the fight to mitigate the affects of climate change.  

Building strong relationships with a wide range of project partners and stakeholders to boost individual member support, you’ll coordinate the successful delivery of this exciting and influential programme. You’ll also develop a project website and manage events and communications.

An experienced and enthusiastic project manager with a background in environmental issues, you’ll have a proven track record in delivering results and excellent organisational and communication skills.

To apply, call 0161 246 2960, email petra.morris@cooperatives-uk.coop or visit: www.cooperatives-uk.coop/greenertogether

Closing date: 4 pm 03/08/09. Interviews: 13/08/09.