NEWS

Interview with The Green Parent Magazine October 2009

QUESTIONS FOR ETHICAL SPOTLIGHT:
Please can you describe your family and where you live?

Clare, Glen with Sasha (16) and Nathan (14) live in a modern Power House in Todmorden in the Pennines with 3 cats (Pascal, Pumpkin and Splatt) and 1 dog (Snoopy) – all rescue animals. It’s a Power House in that our award winning solar PV installation produces around 80% of our electrical needs and our 150m long garden which is based around a SW facing sloping railway embankment - gradually looks less like Steptoe’s yard and more like a garden, as we use up more of our piles of re-claimed timber to terrace the embankment to grow more vegetables.  Usually you can hear the sound of percussion (Sasha), violin (S & N), or brass (Glen Bb tuba, Nathan Eb tuba, Clare horn) coming through the windows or walls – we had to be detached.

What inspired you to start up your business?

So many politicians, MDs and Quangos ‘talk the green talk’ before jetting off on holiday or to a meeting.  We (having been brought up by parents who lived through World War 2 in a naturally eco / make do and mend / grow your own veg / catch your own fish / make your knickers out of parachutes way)- - actually wanted to ‘walk the walk’ too.  We made a conscious decision to buy a house with easy access to public transport and to invest in order to cut our carbon footprint and fuel bills and as we’re all hoarders, recycling/ re-using and full of good intentions to repair, this went hand in hand with our existing lifestyle. We were already a power engineering company, and the evolution to Eco-friendly, educational & FUN: green gadgets, science kits, renewable energy experiments, gifts and gizmos seemed pre-destined.

What are the aims of your company?

On a grand scale to educate tomorrow’s scientists and engineers to include renewable energy (and eco design) as an integral part of their lifestyle rather than a ‘bolt on’, and on a broader spectrum to bring fun in learning green science to inspire both children and adults – providing them with eco hobbies they can do together, also to spread the green word without preaching – in a light-hearted way, even to grumpy gas guzzlers.

Can you describe a typical day in your life?

The children catch the school bus 2 minutes walk from home opposite our town centre offices at 7.30am.  This allows an early start for us, so we try to finish work by 6pm to spend the evening together on the rare occasion that all 4 of us are in. An ‘in-office’ day includes the normal admin / accounts / personnel management / stock control/ marketing associated with any small business.  An ‘out of office’ day could be talking about carbon reduction with a large rail company, promoting our ‘save battery waste packs’ to a public body or demonstrating all our eco gizmos at a school fair / ‘environment’ day.  Our children have gained in confidence, business skills and socialisation by helping at such events with us over the last 6 years, and are fantastic eco-ambassadors, always surrounded by children and parents, demonstrating solar power, hydraulics or clockwork. On Friday evenings we enjoy relaxing at our local Band Practise – we form 20% of the band!  By the end of the week, our dining table resembles an archaeological dig, with homework, work papers and half-made green gadgets piled high.

How do you manage the work/life balance?  

With great difficulty sometimes, but now we have completed our move into our ‘environmental award winning’ premises, its proximity to home means that the children can pop in after school to use the computers for homework, and we’re never far away – no time or emissions wasted on commuting. Also, true green living doesn’t have a line between work and home as the same sustainable ethics underpin both; Aborigines don’t work 9-5pm. As described above we involve our children whenever we can in our work, and if we need to stay away we try to make a business trip into a little holiday too.  Also when does socialising become networking?  The best we can do is to keep the ‘boring’ bits Mon-Fri 9-5pm.

And what is your vision for the future?

Every house has to reduce its energy needs and generate power for itself as far as possible.  This may sound crazy now, but then so did every home having its own computer 30 years ago! Also the ‘costing’ of buildings / power supplies and transport must take account of their environmental /social impact and not just cash outlay, if we really want to reduce carbon emissions and increase sustainability

Winners of the Halifax Courier and Calderdale Community Foundation - Environmental Desiggn

ECO SCHOOLS - special offers on re-chargeable batteries and saving battery waste

Wednesday 24th June, The National Eco-Schools Show, 2009, Stoneleigh Park Exhibition and Conference Centre, Coventry 9am-5pm

ECOMAZING RECHARGEABLE BATTERY OFFER FROM ECOLIFEGIZMOS.CO.UK

Each USBcell battery, which comes in AA size, is re-chargeable 500 times with its own integral USB re-charger to plug into any USB port – so charge as you work, study or play – no need for a costly and cumbersome separate charger.

Normal retail price is £10.99, for a handy pack (or should I say footy pack?) of 2.
  
Show Special price only £8.25 - save 25%

On an estimate of only 50 uses, each USBCELL saves 7kg of CO2, 3kg of toxic waste and £50

Any school / individual bringing in an old disposable battery to put in our special recycling tube at the Eco Schools Show, or signing up for one of our ‘Save Battery Waste School Packs’, can buy a pack from us for only £8.25 – a saving of 25% - you don’t need to pre-register, but if you send an e-mail via our website, we’ll reserve 1 or more packs for you (max 5 per person).  For more details phone Mel, Becky or Clare on 01706 814931

SCHOOLS ‘SAVE BATTERY WASTE PACK’

We are also launching this pack at the Eco Schools Show for only £125

To include:
• Introductory letter – details of collection scheme, why recycle batteries etc
• Battery recycling box (+ collection when full)
• 3 x posters – with details of Scheme for putting up on school walls
• Gift Box of 10 packs of USBCELL – for prizes to recycling champions
• Post & packaging

FACT: in the UK, we get through 680 million domestic batteries every year, that’s 19,000 tonnes of batteries!

FACT: most batteries contain toxic chemicals such as mercury, cadmium and lead – some are known carcinogens

FACT: only 5% of dead batteries are safely destroyed and recycled.

FACT: the remaining 95% of dead batteries end up with normal rubbish in landfill, causing soil and water pollution.

FACT:  The UK must recycle 25% of domestic household batteries by 2012 by EU Directive

Sustainable and Eco appearances 2009

Sunday 11th April, Unitarian Church, Longfield Rd, Todmorden, Incredible Edible Todmorden Egg Festival, 12-4pm

Friday May 8th and Saturday May 9th, Made in Tod event, Todmorden Business Association, Todmorden Town Hall, Todmorden Central Methodist Church and Todmorden Market, 10.30am-4pm

Friday 12th June  Halifax High Wellesley Park ,Gibbet Street, Halifax,West Yorkshire,HX2 0BA , 1pm-3pm

Saturday 20th June, Todmorden Agricultural Show, Centre Vale Park, Todmorden, from 8am until 5pm

Wednesday 24th June, The National Eco-Schools Show, 2009, Stoneleigh Park Exhibition and Conference Centre, Coventry 9am-5pm - see special re-chargeable battery and schools pack offer

Sunday 16th August, Fun in the Country at Hollingworth Lake Country Park and Visitor Centre, Rakewood Road, Littleborough, OL15 0AQ
Telephone: 01706 373421 Fax: 01706 378753

Wednesday 9 September 2009, 09.30am ? 4.30pm
The new Learning Centre and Library, RHS Garden Harlow
Carr, Crag Lane, Harrogate

Saturday 19th September 2009, Todmorden Station Partnership family fun day, Todmorden Station 12 noon-4pm

Wednesday 6th October 2009 ,Leeds Arena within Leeds City Museum
Northern Rail Environmental Champions Day

Monday 12th October, 7-9pm at Harveys of Halifax Official Launch of Totally Locally Calderdale

Wednesday 4th November, 7-9pm St Chad's School, Hove Edge Brighouse, Christmas Shopping Evening

Wednesday 18th November, Oakworth Primary School is having an Xmas Fayre

Saturday 21st November, Craft Fayre at Crossley Heath School, Savile Park, Halifax HX3 0HG, 11am-3pm

Thursday 3rd December, Low Carbon Best Practice Exchange, Harrogate International Centre

Wednesday 9th December 2009, Yorkshire Forward Winter Fair, Leeds, 12noon-2pm

Appearing for your sustainable delectation 2008!

Last autumn we appeared at:
Crossley Heath School Halifax Saturday 15th November 11am-3pm
St Chad's School Brighouse, Wednesday 19th November, 7-9pm
Water Street Wonderland, Todmorden Saturday 22nd November, 10-5pm
Kids Fest Todmorden Town Hall, Saturday 29th November 2008, 11am-3pm,
Ingrow Primary School, Ashbourne Road, Ingrow BD21 1BH, Saturday 6th December 10am-12noon

If you'd like to discuss the possibility of a stall at your event or fair please contact us - we're happy to donate a percentage of the proceeds to your chosen charity or school or to discuss any other requirements you may have.

Urban Mines featured product of the month December 2008

We are delighted and honoured to have been chosen by the prestigious environmental consultancy as 'Product of the Month' for December 2008.

Some of their staff visited our stall in Brighouse, found us to be 'right up their Green Street' and recommended us for this wonderful opportunity. Fortunately for us, their bosses agreed with them and have chosen our website as their featured product of the month. If they as such a long established and well respected environmental organisation love our Sustainable, Educational and Inspirational gifts, gadgets and gizmos, then we must be doing something right!

We have a plethora of renewably powered kits, toys and gadgets and exciting environmental gifts for everyone from a 'green aware granny', a 'gas-guzzling executive' to an 'eco-conscious under-18'. We hope that you'll love them too and we'll help you to do your bit to cut your carbon whilst having fun.

http://www.urbanmines.org.uk/

Winner Yorkshire & Humber Microgeneration Awards 'Best Home Installation'

http://www.yhassembly.gov.uk/News/2007/E%20factor%20winners%20wow%20judges

Yorkshire & Humber Assembly's 'Meeting the Climate Change Challenge' - contributor

We support Incredible Edible Todmorden and Todmorden Social Car Service

Winners of Yorkshire and Humberside Microgeneration Award for Best Home Installation

Glen and Clare of Harmsworth, Townley & Co. Ltd are extremely proud to have demonstrated that, when it comes to alternatively powered energy, they practise what they preach. Not only does sustainability form the ethos for their business group, but the couple also do everything they can to maintain an environmentally-friendly home. Together with their family, Glen and Clare recycle, repair and re-use ad infinitum; they use only one car, clocking up just 3,000 miles per year; and they have reduced their household waste to a minimum. Perhaps the family's greatest achievement, however, is their award-winning home installation - the 5kwP Solar Power Installation - which produces around 80% of their domestic electricity. Glen and Clare's success at the prestigious Yorkshire and Humberside Microgeneration Awards was widely reported in the local and regional press, and they remain keen to continue in their pursuit of a sustainable future.