Shop un-fitting begins at last
We have now started our shop un-fitting, stripping off the damp woodchip in readiness for some remedial work, and then selecting a range of wall solutions (from reed boards to pavatherm internal insulation, lime plaster to glass plaster) to show in profile to give you a better idea of the practicalities of each option.
Nipper starts on the wood burning stove display and cupboards this week, and we’ll finish off with some of our lovely paints and hardwax oils.
In the meantime lots more people are finding out about our paints, often thanks to people we have only met briefly or not at all, but who know about us and are happy to recommend us – to all of you, our heartfelt thanks. It’s great to know we’re reducing the amount of solvent and acrylic paints being sold, and we’re helping people create healthier homes in lovely colours 
Watch this space!
Work starts next week on turning this empty space into an inspiring display of woodburning stoves & integrated renewable energy systems with the help of some beautiful reclaimed wood & some of our lovely natural paints – all brought together by the collective genius of Sune & Nippa!
Sune Nightingale (of Stoves Online) will also be setting up a touch screen info zone on a low energy ‘thin client’ – come in & play!
Zero Som, Yeovil
The Bedminster team went to Yeovil today to show LILI’s “Low Impact Living exhibition” as part of Somerset Together’s Zero Som event.
Zero Som offered people in & around Yeovil the chance to learn more about general & local options for doing things differently, in more sustainable, ‘low impact’ ways. The Yeovil Innovation Centre was full of stalls run by people involved in council / statutory initiatives, volunteer projects & local businesses and the front car park was full of electric vehicle options as well as information from the police & fire service. Everyone you might wish to have sharing ideas, offering information & working together was there … except the people of Yeovil!
Whether it was lack of awareness, or interest or just the glorious sunshine, we don’t know but we came away disappointed about the missed opportunity for people wanting to know more. Just for starters there was great info & practical examples there on local food groups & co-ops, allotment gardening (with lots of seasonal fresh produce on display), and we had demos of solar thermal hot water, solar electricity & clay paint making.
For those who did come they got one-to-one attention & queries & discussions ranged from questions about whether compost loos smell (check out for yourself in the store) to the properties & weight of our recycled plastic slate-look roof tiles. There were also some great stall holders to share info with & we’ll be following up with Caroline for support & tips on the new food group / co-op about to start in the Bristol Green Store.
All in all it was a great day & we even had steam coming out of our solar panel it was so hot Interestingly, out of 60 councillors, most of whom had apparently expressed enthusiasm for this event, only 6 turned up – which doesn’t seem to be an example of leading from the front or following through on rhetoric but perhaps there were good reasons that kept people away.
You can view the Low Impact Living exhibition in the Bedminster shop during opening hours, or check the LILI website for more information & free downloadable factsheets
A day of firsts!
Today was a day of firsts for the Chessel Street store – we hosted our first community meeting & Emma was a speaker & panellist at her first public event!
Transition BS3 held their monthly planning meeting in the shop, followed up by an interactive slide show & discussion on safe road cycling practices by Veronica Pollard of Lifecycle & Transition BS3.
Meanwhile Emma was at the CREATE Centre taking part in the “Eco Renovate your Home” event. The event started with humourous & informative presentations by Dave Hampton (the ‘Carbon Coach’) & Lucy Pedler (local eco architect & founder of the Green Register) looking at why we should (or shouldn’t) eco renovate existing houses, and talking through the experiences, successes & problems of their own eco renovation projects. It was surprising, and a bit daunting, to learn that both Dave and Lucy had had difficulties with their tradesmen, despite both having years of experience ‘in the trade’. Both houses are large detached family homes and each had different issues to address but for both Dave and Lucy their primary focus was on minimising the energy use of their house by insulating everywhere they could. Dave also set out a series of reasons, from saving money, dealing with peak oil and trying to ensure a future for our grandchildren, to try and persuade us of the importance of taking action on our homes. Lucy’s presentation focused on the details of what they decided to do and how they did it, including before, during & after photos.
Emma then spoke of her own current project, eco renovating a Bristol terrace on a tight budget & with relatively little experience of managing or coordinating tradespeople. With limited knowledge of running such a project, Emma has relied on building strong relationships with very local contractors, and explaining what she is trying to achieve all along the way. Emma’s presentation highlighted the realities of undertaking the management of such a project yourself. There is definitely a ‘price’ to be paid for living on site and being responsible for all the details & coordinating everything. The more time you can put in the more you can ensure you are getting what you intended. Equally, the more time you take to explain yourself and get to know your contractors, the easier it gets because you create a teaml working towards a common goal.
The last part of the event was a 45min Q&A session, and Mark Letcher (Carbon Works) joined Dave, Lucy & Emma on the panel to try and answer the audience’s questions. There were several issues in common across the audience, mostly about being confused about which changes were the priorities to have the most impact on our homes’ energy use and about how to select the right materials and methods of insulation for specific property construction types – the main thing to come out of it all seemed to be that we need to get stuck in and learn a lot more about the technicalities of how our houses ‘work’ in terms of air tightness (air quality, renewal & circulation) and breathability (how our house handles moisture & humidity and what impact it has on the physical fabric of our house). I’m off to learn more about the ‘dew point’ of a space …
