Surrey Green Homes Open Days 24th – 25th March

Feb 232012
 
 February 23, 2012

On Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th March, a network of homeowners across Surrey will open their doors to the public to share their knowledge and experience about making their own homes more energy efficient and ecologically sustainable. Homeowners will be able to report on how these changes have affected their fuel bills, and the comfort of their homes.

This County-wide event will build on the success of last year when 30 homeowners opened their properties to over 300 visitors, illustrating what they could do to their own home to reduce fuel bills and generate their own renewable energy. The weekend will be organised by Action Surrey, Surrey’s energy advice service that supports local councils across the county, Guildford Borough Council and environmental volunteer groups.

Ben Wood, project manager for Action Surrey added “this is a great opportunity to speak to homeowners who have been-there-and-done-it. Many of these individuals have installed solar panels, heat pumps, insulated their properties as well as they can, and explored other innovate ways to save energy. This is set to be a brilliant event made possible by passionate individuals who want to share their experience.”

Viewing a Surrey Green Home is free but booking is strictly required. Please visit www.actionsurrey.org/surreygreenhomes to book your ticket.

If you wish to participate and open your own home to the public to talk about your own experiences of retrofitting energy saving measures/renewable technology please contact us on info@actionsurrey.org

Action Surrey is funded by the Surrey Improvement Partnership and the eco-open homes event is supported by ICLEI, a network of sustainable cities operating worldwide to raise awareness of saving energy and other environmental challenges.

For further information about Action Surrey or the eco open homes event please visit

www.actionsurrey.org

www.actionsurrey.org/surreygreenhomes

16 year old Amber starts petition to banish plastic bags – please support her by signing it

Feb 222012
 
 February 22, 2012

I saw on Twitter a tweet by Amber asking people to sign her petition to banish plastic bags, I signed it and was so impressed by her determination I offered to share her story on my website, she needs 100,000 signatures by August 18th so please spend a couple of minutes and help her do this, thanks – Trudy

Please sign the petition to Banish the Plastic Bags  – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/12786
 

Hi my name is Amber Bytheway, I’m 16 years old and I’m currently studying for my GCSEs at Dover Grammar School for Girls which I take in the next few months. I have had an interest in the environment from a young age as my mum used to take me to Friends of the Earth meetings when I was younger. As I grew up, I helped for campaign for things such as recycling, Fairtrade, renewable energy etc. A couple of years ago I drifted out of it though and focused on other hobbies and left my campaigning days behind. I was inspired to start campaigning again by seeing what others were doing, in particular an actor I admire, Ian Somerhalder, the star of the hit show The Vampire Diaries. When I became a fan of the show and followed him on Twitter I noticed he had his own foundation. Unlike celebrities who set up charities for good publicity but with no real dedication to make change, Ian is extremely passionate about changing the world and empowering youth. Every day he is tweeting about campaigns and lots of things we can do to help the environment and his foundation. His passion struck a chord and I knew that I couldn’t just give up. It’s my future and young people around the world today that will suffer the consequences of the problems such as climate change.

I decided to start up my own campaign, I set it up with the help of my local environmental group, Deal With It, who are extremely supportive and helping me promote my campaign locally as well as nationally. I decided to campaign against plastic bags because they are a huge worldwide pollution problem.

There are better alternatives such as reusable cotton bags, and throwaway (but biodegradable) vegetable starch bags. Many countries have successfully banned them or implemented a tax on them to massively reduce plastic bag numbers.

The aim of the campaign is to put pressure on the government to do something about the alarming usage of plastic bags.

Plastic bags do not biodegrade, they just break into smaller and smaller pieces which contaminate our waterways, soils and enter the food chain. Every year 100,000s of marine life die due to the plastic pollution in the ocean. Plastic bags can entangle, choke and suffocate marine life. Also plastic bags are made from polyethylene devised from crude oil, which is running out and we complain about the scarcity of fossil fuels. We can help conserve them longer by changing the materials we use for certain things. To be successful in this campaign we need 100,000 signatures by August 18th of this year. It is a difficult task but I know we can do it.

On Twitter  -  @No2PlasticBags

Knitstorm in Farnham

Feb 212012
 
 February 21, 2012

Look what has happened in Farnham! 

Last night in the early hours of the morning some knitters hit the town with their creative mischief.  They tweeted me this morning to let me know what they had been up to, so I took Blue the Bricks and Bread sausage dog for a walk around the town to see what knitting I could find.  Here are my pics, I have no doubt there is much more I missed.  When I was taking pictures I noticed how many people just walked past without noticing that something was a bit different about the lamp post or railings, but an older gentleman who saw me taking pics stopped and looked a bit puzzled by the knitted railings, I was really pleased when he turned to me and said ‘Isn’t that brilliant, I love it’.

So well done to the secret Knitting Ne’er Do Wells you did a fantastic job of cheering up sleepy Farnham. 
You can connect with them on Twitter their username is @K_N_D_W

Competition on Twitter to win a year of mentoring from Trudy Thompson

Feb 192012
 
 February 19, 2012

This week we ran a little competition on Twitter as a bit of fun, to guess the time and day we hit 6,000 followers.  The prize was a year of mentoring support for a year from Trudy Thompson.

Our 6,000 follower was @76minty (Andy Mintram) at 15.17pm on the 17th of Feb

We had so many entries who guessed close to the time that we decided to give the prize to the nearest four.  Congratulations to;

@KeepersAcc
@atalbotcoaching
@SocEnt_Michelle
@SteveGibbsPR

The competition was so popular we will run it again when get to 6,900 followers which should be in a couple of weeks time – to guess when we hit 7,000 followers.

Thank you to all these Twitter friends who joined in the fun;

@AnnabelBroom @cutletcountrycr @littlebigsports @BeckiSBT @thisisfreegle @ameliaswardrobe @jenetteogborn @porkpackerpete @MyRustyHalos @jessiejumbles @myrobalanclinic @changekitchen @BatBSustained @WhiskyTastingCo @TheBellaBow @x1sjh @creatingspace4u @Wild Extreme @abcsportsacad @DomsPropertySer @CarolynCross @BakedByMeUK @awwcreations @JustBunting @KoolSunKidz @csBlackie @Vintique71 @FreegleBrighton @2rosebandb @MBLearning @BedsforBuilders @niccishepherd @StreetPin @StainedGlass1 @Caring2Care @Youthdiscovery @TheVDCUK @cctheatreco @MyDreamKitchen

Tips on using Twitter by Trudy Thompson

Feb 142012
 
 February 14, 2012

I shared this pdf Trudy’s Twitter Tips on Twitter yesterday, 24 hours later it had been read more than 23,000 times!

 

Royal Holloway MBA students visit Bricks and Bread for inspiration about eco innovation and social enterprise

Feb 142012
 
 February 14, 2012

Crafters & makers exhibition storyboards

Feb 052012
 
 February 5, 2012

At Bricks and Bread Sustainable Living Centre we promote crafters and makers stories in our exhibition area.  Here is just a small selection of the other storyboards we are displaying in our exhibition area;

These inspiring stories are seen by everyone who hires the Centre or attends events during the week. On Saturdays the Centre is open to the public, the exhibition is free to visit and in the same room we have creative activities for all the family to take part in, either using materials from our scrapstore or a workshop run by one of the exhibitors

 
On the 18th Feb Rachel Ellis from Cutlet Country Crafts will be back to teach her  popular extreme knitting and peg looming workshop click here to book, this is the Cutlet Country Crafts Exhibition Storyboard.
 
 

Extreme knitting & peg looming workshop

Feb 042012
 
 February 4, 2012

Free workshop here today & on 18th Feb – Peg looming and extreme knitting workshop by Rachel Ellis of Cutlet Country Crafts
Book here to attend the next free workshop

Rachel is one of the crafters & makers exhibitors who is sharing her inspiring story and promoting her work at Bricks and Bread – here is Cutlet Country Crafts Exhibition Storyboard

Rachel Ellis Contact Details
www.cutletcountrycrafts.weebly.com
Twitter – @cutletcountrycr
facebook – www.facebook.com/cutletcountrycrafts
email – cutletcountrycrafts@hotmail.co.uk

 

Trudy’s Twitter Workshop & Networking sessions on Thursday’s

Jan 292012
 
 January 29, 2012

Read my FREE guide here, it has my top Twitter tips to help you get started - In pdf format here for you to download – Trudy’s Twitter Tips

Demystify using Twitter & find out how this free social media website can be used to become your most effective tool for sales, marketing, research and PR

On Thursday’s Trudy Thompson hosts two hour sessions throughout the day for people to join her at Bricks and Bread Sustainable Living Centre in Aldershot for coffee, networking and learning the most useful tips for using Twitter effectively – for business use or just for fun.

Register for Trudy's Twitter Workshop & Networking sessions in Aldershot, United Kingdom on Eventbrite
Trudy has been using Twitter (username @bricksandbread) since 2009. Her use of social media has played a vital part in the success of Bricks and Bread.

In these sessions Trudy shares the most useful things she has learnt about using Twitter.

These are very relaxed and fun events, all with coffee & networking opportunities.

You can bring a laptop, ipad or use your phone to try out the techniques whilst the session is on.

There are 3 sessions to choose from: (same content for each session)

8.00 – 10.30am
11am – 1.30pm
2pm – 4.30pm

Costs £50 a session – or £25 for Bricks and Bread hub members (to join the hub click here, its free and highly valuable – http://www.bricksandbread.com/index/join-our-hub )

The workshop will cover;

Usernames
What to say in profiles & which pictures to use
Joining up your social media with your website & business printing

Writing effective tweets
The value of tweeting pictures
How to shorten your tweets and links
How to use hashtags
Check your spelling

Asking for help
Who is useful to talk to?

who to follow, how many followers & unfollowing
Follow Friday, who to recommend, how many to send & checking your #ff ranking
Your social media profile how do you rate?

Popular events to take part in on Twitter – like Theo Paphitis #sbs

Conversations with other twitter users
how and when to direct message someone
Retweeting – what to RT & when to do it

Using the search facility
Reading the timeline
What is trending?

 Older Entries