Guilfoyles go green
A Lillington family has this year taken up Warwickshire County Council’s Sustainability Challenge to demonstrate it is possible to change your life to a greener way of living with very little effort.
With a helping hand from environmental experts at Warwickshire County Council the Guilfoyle family has been living sustainably over the last two weeks.
They have been given a compost bin, Ecover products, Fairtrade products, toilet paper made from recycled paper, low energy lightbulbs, and even pedometers to monitor how much they can walk rather than use the car for journeys.
The family has been loaned a video camera to allow them to create a video diary to help chart their progress.
Already the family – mum Liz, dad Hughie, three-year-old Shaun and ten-year-old David - have thrown themselves into the effort, and have even put a composting recipe on their fridge door.
To try and get a real feel for the way the challenge is going we had a chat with mum Liz and ten-year-old David, who attends Kingsway Community Primary School and will be at this year’s Sustainability Day 4 Schools taking place tomorrow and Thursday at Ryton Pools Country Park.
Q: What have you found the most difficult thing about the challenge?
David: Having to think about doing the composting
Liz: Having to think about what can and can’t be put in the compost bin
Q: What have you found the easiest thing to do?
David: Turning off the TV when I’m not watching it.
Liz: Putting things for recycling in the red box
Q: Why do you think it’s important to be involved with the Challenge?
David; One of the good things is that we can help people who live in poor countries by buying Fairtrade products.
Q: Do you think you will be able to maintain a sustainable lifestyle?
Liz: Yes, I’ve really got in to it, so I’d like to.
Q: Tell me one thing you have learnt, that you didn’t know before you started the Challenge.
Liz: The varied amount of items that can go in the red box.
Q: Has the Challenge been easier to do than you thought it would be?
Liz: It took a couple of days to get used to it, but yes, once you get started it’s easy. I don’t want to go back to how we were before.
David: We’ve all got into the routine now.
Q: Tell me a couple of things about your household waste.
Liz: We’ve really cut down on the rubbish for the bin men. We used to have six black bags a week, and this week we only had one and a half! It’s also great for the children to grow up learning about the importance of being sustainable.
Q: Tell me something you have learnt on the Challenge.
David: I didn’t know about sustainability until now and I really want to help the environment.
Q: What has been your hardest habit to break?
David: Having to turn off the TV before I have a shower because I always used to leave it on.
Q: How have you found the energy efficient light bulbs?
David: I’ve got one in my room and it seems exactly the same, but it’s much better because it’s saving energy.
Q: Have you been telling your friends at school all about the Challenge?
David: Yes, I have. I would like to set up a club at lunchtime so I can teach them how to live in a sustainable way.
David: "The Challenge has changed our routine forever. I just want to be sustainable every day I wake up".
Liz: "When I go shopping I’m going to look out for Fairtrade tea and coffee we really like it. I’d recommend living sustainably to anyone as at the end of the day we’ll all benefit."