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Community Development Action Hertfordshire

Inspiring Projects

Food for Your Future

A new way of getting fresh, local food…
FlintShare CSA was started, in 2010, by a group of people who wanted local food produced in a cost effective and sustainable way. We recognise that the days of cheap imports are numbered (perhaps thankfully) and ways of producing more food locally and ‘gently on the land’ must be found. FlintShare members now get fresh, local food, the opportunity to be ‘hands on’ and there’s more in the pipeline.

We grow veg on all the sites and members exercise control over how their food is produced and how the land is looked after in the process.

All members can have the veg whether they help to grow it or not. We each pay an annual membership (£24). Veg accounts are optional and we start with £25 cash and can then ‘top up’ with either labour or money. This means that those who can spend time on growing (or admin) may never pay more money in but those who can’t contribute financially. We need both sorts! Prices are set pretty low. All members can access produce from any of the sites so there is a good range available.

All of us are volunteers and we each give the skills and time we feel we can. This varies from none at all to many hours a week! We don’t have all the answers, and may not be a ‘slick’ operation, but have lots of fun and some lovely, organically grown veg. Anyone can join and find their own level of involvement – there are so many ways to help out, we always struggle for enough hours in the day.

People are at the centre of FlintShare and they are always inspiring! It’s wonderful to connect with like-minded people – come and share celebrations, workshops and events as well as the veg. The food is always good!
In 2013 we hope to create a job for a grower to produce on a larger area for us but with our help. We will be offering 20 regular veg shares.

World’s Biggest Citizen Science:

Did you know that 76% of the UK’s resident and regular migrant butterflies and two-thirds of our larger moths are in decline? Gardens can act as important refuges for pollinators like butterflies, which are increasingly under threat from habitat loss, agricultural intensification, and climate change.

Why not do your bit to help them this summer? We would like to invite you to take part in the Big Butterfly Count, the largest citizen science survey of its kind in the world! All you have to do is record what butterflies you see in a 15-minute period. The count runs from Friday, July 19 until Sunday, August 11.

Full Details

E-Car Club Drives into East Herts:

An electric car club has been launched by East Herts Council offering a convenient alternative to running a car while helping to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality for everyone in the district.

It will also offer an excellent opportunity for people to trial electric vehicles before making their own move to one.

The scheme has been founded through a Defra air quality grant, with the sites for the cars chosen to be close to two Air Quality Management Areas – Gascoyne Way and Hockerill Junction.

Biodegradable Bowls:

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Be a Renewable Energy Hero:

You don’t have to be Superman or Wonder Woman to become a Climate Change Hero. There are several energy providers in the UK that offer consumers the opportunity to purchase electricity and gas from renewable sources. Tim, our CDA hero, is saving 3,085 kg of CO2 every year, the equivalent of an Orca in weight or 1,543 trees, after switching to a renewable energy provider. Although the results are significant, only the accumulation of efforts can play a more significant role. For instance, the UK renewable power supply has reached 33%, overcoming Nuclear (20%) and Coal (5%). Although Gas Natural is still the main source of electricity in UK (39%), switching to renewable energy suppliers can help to increase its demand and consequently increase investments on solar and wind power.

These School Children Have Found an Inspirational New Use for Plastic Waste:

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Community R4C’s Trash to Treasure Project:

Trash to Treasure is a ‘circular economy’ initiative by Community R4C to provide economic, social and environmental benefits for Gloucestershire by treating our waste as a valuable resource rather than burning or burying it.

The Trash to Treasure initiative will support the creation of a sustainable alternative, an independent recycling plant to get value from over 90% of black bag waste by sorting recyclates for use as raw materials, and by creating sustainable fuel in the form of high quality biomass pellets.  For this it will use the latest in Mechanical, Biological and Heat Treatment.

This short video explains how this is done.

Watch the video

Conkers Farm:

The objective of Conkers Farm is to create a community hub that is used as a platform to demonstrate sustainable living and eco-friendly principles and provide a space for people to learn and practice these principles for the benefit of their local community.

The farm’s main demonstrator will be generating its own electricity and heat using biogas, which will be produced through the anaerobic digestion of its own bio waste and food waste from the local community.

Charge My Street:

Charge My Street is a Community Benefit Society which raises the money for local electric vehicle chargepoints, installs and operates them. Our vision is for every home to be within 5 minutes’ walk of an Electric Vehicle Charging point.  We want cleaner air and quieter streets and want to enable people who want to switch to electric vehicles but are held back by not having a drive or garage where they can charge.

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Good Energy’s Wind Power Developments:

Onshore wind has a vital role to play in the UK’s transition to a more secure, low- carbon energy future.

Wind power is recognised as being the cheapest large-scale renewable energy source and has one of the lowest carbon footprints compared to other forms of electricity generation.

To find out how wind turbines work Click Here

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Mumbai Beach Clean Up:

Three years ago, Mumbai beach was overwhelmed by plastic rubbish. Thank to the incredible effort of Afroz Shah, who kickstarted the world’s largest beach cleanup, turtles have started to hatch again.

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Hemel Hampstead Fire Station – A Case Study on Behaviour Change, CO2 Reduction, and Sustainability:

Jim Attenborough conducted a case study on the cost-benefits and environmental improvements resulting from behaviour changes in and around the Hemel Hampstead Fire Station.

Read the Case Study

Swindon Common Farm Solar CIC (Community Interest Company)

A 4.8MW solar farm in Swindon is generating clean energy for residents and a financial return for the Council and investors

Swindon Borough Council has a Vision to develop a low carbon economy by 2030 and this project is helping them achieve that. In spring 2016 investors, including many Swindon residents, co-funded a 4.8MW solar farm, investing £1,783,000 alongside the Council’s £3,000,000.

The solar farm is generating electricity which earns revenues from the Feed-in Tariff and Export Tariff, creating a long-term income for the Council, investors and defined community initiatives. The site itself is a biodiversity hotspot, a place for plants and insects to thrive with sheep also grazing part of the year.

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A Grant-Funded Instillation of LED Lighting Has Come to the Aid of a Serviced Office Provider, Which Will See a Reduction in Its Energy Bills and CO2 Emissions:

Claydon House Business Centre, run by Sarratt Management Ltd in Aylesbury, is home to start-ups and small businesses and organisations. The various  offices and meeting rooms in the building were preciously lit by inefficient fluorescent tube lights, something Sarratt Management recognised as an isssue and set about rectifying. A referral to Low Carbon Workspaces followed, and a grant of just under $2,000 was delivered to support the business’s energy saving efforts.

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A Village Hall Has Installed Two New Boilers and a Modern Thermostat Thanks to a Low Carbon Workspaces Grant, Reducing Energy Waste and Saving £600 a Year:

Thanks to support from Low Carbon Workspaces, which delivered a £3,500 grant, Farnham Royal Village Hall, near Slough, has realised its plans to separate its heating system into two, replacing the old boiler with a new ‘A’ rated version that will reduce consumption by 15%, and installing another new smaller boiler in the school area. This ensures no wasted consumption when only one area is in use and will reduce overall consumption compared to the old set-up.

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The Aylesbury-Based Charity Has Installed a New Efficient Condensing Boiler, Thanks to a Near-$4,000 Low Carbon Workspaces Grant:

The boiler in the residential facility, the George Amey Centre, was 15 years old, inefficient and had broken down in early 2017. To keep the building warm for the young people in residence, they had to use portable electric heaters to get through the cold period. After a quick application process, Action4Youth were soon benefiting from a £3,780 grant to install an A-rated condensing gas-fired boiler at the George Amey Centre. This will help the charity save 14,202 kWh of natural gas and 2.61 tonnes of CO2 per year.

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Other Inspiring Projects