Eco-pioneers:
We know we have to change our habits, but how do we go about it? Here are but a few pioneers showing the way, whether through biofuels or comedy routines
CULTIVATE SUSTAINABLE LIVING AND LEARNING CENTRE
To many Dubliners, the Cultivate Centre in Temple Bar is the place to pop in and buy a packet of organic oatcakes, a bean-sprouting kit, some natural paint, a wind-up torch or the latest issue of the Ecologist or Adbusters magazines. Others venture beyond the interesting shop and spend a quiet moment or two in the sheltered courtyard, where the curious foliage of loquat, ginkgo and datura rises from tall, timber-built beds. Still others might call by to look at a composting demonstration, examine a solar-heating display or find out how to use "grey water" in the house. In the evenings and at weekends another facet of the organisation comes to life: the deep learning side, where people arrive to take courses, attend lectures, partake in seminars and watch films on matters that fall under the broad banner of sustainability. Everything - from energy-proofing your home and ecological computing to first-world debt and the economic implication of climate change - is on the agenda.
Those who come are from all walks of life: architects, civil servants, journalists, businesspeople, lawyers, students, IT workers, tradespeople. They know that, quite simply, this is the best place in Ireland to learn how to equip yourself for the future, and that the people who work here - behind the quiet demeanours, the pony tails and the T-shirts - are at the leading edge of this whole sustainability thing.
The centre, which was founded by Ben Whelan, Davie Philip and Erik van Lennep-Hyland, opened its doors in March 2003. "None of us came from the traditional environmentalist's background," says Whelan, who did his master's degree "in issues around spirituality and sustainability". Philip also has a background in sustainability and anthropology; van Lennep-Hyland worked with Native American tribes.
"One of our main driving forces is that we take a positive perspective," says Whelan. "We don't subscribe to the idea that 'oh . . . everything is so wrong and desperate.' Instead, we believe that there are things that we can do. We want to show people how they can be done, and to paint the picture of a better life."
The structure of the organisation, which is run as a workers' co-operative, is testament to this. "It's a very democratic work place: one member, one vote. It's a brilliant idea," says Whelan. The dozen-plus members include all the staff, as well as volunteers and contract workers. "If you contribute hours and you have the co-operative's interest at heart, you are welcome to be a member of the group." Jane Powers
Cultivate is at 15-19 Essex Street West, Temple Bar, Dublin 8, 01-6745773, www.cultivate.ie. Events this spring include a conference on green building and renewable energy; a conference and course on climate change; and the Convergence Festival, which examines "powering down" in the community
VICKY HESLOP, BIOENERGY PIONEER
Vicky Heslop fell into bioenergy by accident. In 1990 she broke her back falling from a horse and had to take five months off to recuperate. Unsure if she'd be able to continue her work as an organic farmer and a harness maker, she started contemplating alternative sources of income. Having heard of biogas, she wrote to a UK company asking if it had an Irish agent, only to be offered the position herself. The job set her on a path that has led to her co-founding the Irish Bioenergy Association (of which she is now president) in 1998 and serving six years as a director of Sustainable Energy Ireland, the Government's national energy agency.
So what is bioenergy? Essentially it's energy derived from organic material such as wood, sewage and slurry. Heslop's main interest has been in a particular technology called anaerobic digestion, in which material such as slurry and food waste is decomposed in a giant oxygen-free digester.
"It's like a big stomach. It's an animal, not a machine. That's why farmers are the best people to run them. You feed it like you feed an animal. If you change its diet rapidly, it won't be happy." In 1995 Heslop decided to build an anaerobic digester on her organic farm in Ballymacarberry, Co Waterford.
Since then she has been experimenting with her digester, feeding its bacteria different food mixes - leftovers from canteens and pizzerias, milk sludges and slurry - to see how easily they are decomposed. If the artificial gut gets indigestion its effectiveness as a producer of high-energy gas and fertiliser is compromised.
Does she like her digester? She squeals with laughter. "Most of the time. It's a very challenging and interesting technology." The benefits derived from these digesters are manifold, says Heslop. They help fight climate change by capturing greenhouse gases that would otherwise vent straight into the atmosphere; they provide a local supply of gas; and they reduce the risk of water pollution from landspread slurry by two-thirds, because the digested fertiliser is a less potent polluter.
There are only about 20 digesters in Ireland, as opposed to thousands operating in Denmark and Germany, because it is hard to get funding for them - they fall between the administrative and regulatory stools of agriculture, energy and the environment.
Considering that the digested slurry from one cow would continuously run a 100w light bulb and produce twice as much heat, and that we have seven million cows, anaerobic digesters could provide a lot of energy, says Heslop. And that's not counting all the pig and chicken manure. Heslop's vision is that, instead of throwing all this energy away, "every farm, certainly the larger ones, would have their own digester, and the smaller farms would share one". Iva Pocock
GERRY CUNNANE, PROMOTER OF RENEWABLE ENERGY
Gerry Cunnane's obsession with energy stems from his years as a ship's radio officer in the 1970s. Although at the time, he says, his main interest in life was enjoying himself, the decade's energy crisis and discussion about the finite nature of natural resources made a profound impression on him. On returning to Ireland he followed his grandfather and father into the building trade, but his interest in the bigger question of energy grew and grew.
"I was a bit obsessed with energy and would bore people with it," he says, laughing. "Every conversation I had would eventually come around to it. People would see me and run." His first experience of renewable energy - installing a small hydro turbine for a remote home in Co Kerry - whetted his appetite.
Eventually, in 1998, he decided to go into renewables full time, setting up his company Wind, Water, Solar Energy Systems. "Even then it was a very, very hard sell." There were only two other people - both German - in the country offering similar sustainable-energy options, but his business slowly gained momentum, helped greatly by Duncan Stewart's work.
As more and more people started installing solar thermal panels, the myth that the technology could work only in countries such as Greece receded, to the extent that solar is "now almost commonplace". Of course, this burgeoning acceptance of the technology is driven by rising domestic energy bills, says Cunnane. "There's nothing like self-interest to motivate people."
His business, based in Kilgarvan, Co Kerry, is now thriving nationwide, and he's been joined by his eldest son, Donncha.
Cunnane welcomes the introduction of grants for renewable-energy systems but describes moves towards renewables as window dressing.
"Nobody wants to stand up and say we've got a serious energy problem. Ninety-five per cent of our energy is imported, we've so few natural resources, and the installed capacity of our electricity production is increasing all the time. The grants are all very well, but the truth isn't being told. Talk that there will be an easy transition from fossil fuels is all a con." What's needed, he says, is a dedicated effort to reduce energy use, not simply think we can replace the convenience and high energy provided by fossil fuels.
His vision for the future is one where homes are miniature power plants, feeding electricity from wind turbines and photovoltaic panels into the national grid. Daily electricity consumption from the grid would be capped at a few kilowatts and the whole thing managed by a home computer. But, for that to happen, the electricity grid has to be rebuilt to allow small electricity generators to feed into it. This may seem unlikely at present, but Cunnane is an optimist. "I've great faith in people's ability to change things," he says. Iva Pocock
BRUCE DARRELL, CITY FARMER
Two or three times a week Bruce Darrell hops on his bicycle and heads off from his home in Phibsborough to his Fingal allotment, where for four hours he will tend to his 400sq m patch of fruit bushes and vegetables such as carrots, fennel, cabbages, broad beans and potatoes. "It's my main form of recreation," says the Canadian-born urban farmer. "I don't consider it work."
Darrell is part of a growing trend. Such is the demand for allotments in Dublin that Fingal County Council alone has 350 people on its waiting list. While there is pleasure and satisfaction in being your own food farmer, there are other important issues, too. Growing your own food, Darrell believes, is the best way to tackle climate change. "We can prevent the worst effects of global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by changing how we produce food and our relationship with those who grow, process and sell it and, most importantly, change the location of our food production," he says.
He recently co-ordinated a conference at University College Dublin on the food we'll eat when oil runs out, which discussed issues such as the relationship between food systems and climate change. "Food systems are reliant on cheap fossil energy, whether pesticides, food miles, packaging or waste. One-third of all food is thrown out," says Darrell.
In Toronto he grew up in a Canadian culture of pride in one's garden and in a family tradition of food cultivation. His father not only gardened at home but also took over part of a neighbouring farm. "When he came home from work he went straight out to hoe," says Darrell. In Ireland he discovered that people equated growing their own food with poverty and was shocked to find so few vegetable gardens, particularly on Irish farms. "Most farmers in Ireland don't know how to grow crops - it's all beef, lamb, dairy," he says.
Darrell's vision of a future urban landscape is where the garden is an essential and vital part. "We need more green space - the Phoenix Park could easily have a garden - but I am more interested in alternative spaces like roofs or balconies for different forms of intensive, small-scale food produce in the city."
In Vancouver he has friends who have created a successful business farming other people's back gardens commercially. "Urban projects are interesting, and a lot of middle-class people want to do it for ecological reasons. Co-efficiency is better than self-sufficiency, and establishing strong connections between people who produce and those who consume is very important."
He is planning a project to teach a year-long course on food growing in Dublin and is looking for suitable sites. It will be a hands-on weekly course lasting nine or 10 months. The idea will be to grow a wide range of foods using four kinds of management systems. "People need to start growing food themselves, because that is where the solution [ to global warming] is. Setting up these systems is the most significant contribution you can make. Instead of saying, 'Where are we going to get this energy from?' let's change our food systems." "City gardeners unite!" is his rallying cry; the back garden could be the door to a greener future. See also www.foodurbanism.blogspot.com. Deirdre McQuillan
BRENDAN DOOLEY, PUBLISHER AND EDITOR
There are a number of ways to show your green credentials: going to the bottle bank or recycling centre; turning off any unnecessary electrical appliances; using only environmentally friendly cleaning products. Brendan Dooley went a bit further, however: he helped to set up a publication devoted to environmental issues and sustainable living.
The Local Planetis a quarterly newspaper devoted to green issues that boasts: "It's meaty but still good for vegetarians; it's the good news about the bad news; it's optimistically realistic; it's easily digested without producing too much wind." This light-hearted and accessible approach is fundamental to the paper's ethos, says Dooley - a recent front-page headline jokingly read "Birr farmer has Green SEX with Housewife Behind Recycling Bins", to attract readers' attention.
"We started two years ago," he says. "The idea was to have a
medium for debate and ideas. We felt at the time there wasn't any
other publication dedicated to the environment and available to
everybody."
Based in Birr, Co Offaly, Dooley and his fellow editor
Rosalind Fanning produce the paper with the help of a different
guest editor for every issue. The Local Planet brings into focus
the small measures we all need to take to ease the pressure on the
planet.
The most recent issue featured articles on the unexpected environmental cost of lawns, fair-trade tourism, nuclear power, energy-efficient building techniques and water issues.
Dooley is modest about his efforts, which he juggles with his full-time printing business. "I wouldn't really class myself as an environmentalist. I just have a general interest in the issues. My wife's late sister Freda Rountree was active in Crann [the woodlands-conservation group] and had a huge interest in environmental issues, and I was a convert. Her motto was think globally but act locally - and that inspires the paper, really.
"Most of us are so busy we don't have time to think too much or make too many big changes in our lifestyle," he says. "Looking after kids, going to work, a lot of people have a big interest in the environment but might not even have the time to find out about what they can do to help. We hope to help them find out. People will try to do the right thing, if they get a chance. That is a role of the paper, alerting people to the impact of cumulative change.
"There are so many things people can do very easily," he continues. "Buy items with a long lifespan, walking or cycling rather than taking a car, and you get a bit fitter into the bargain. Insulate your house well. Buy locally grown food, where possible."
The Local Planetis evolving, though. "People think of newspapers as more disposable, so we're changing to a new landscape magazine format, to be a little different and stand out. There are so many people who are passionate about the environment and who would like to see things done differently and better. The Local Planetis for them." Davin O'Dwyer
The Local Planet is available from newsagents and health-food shops. See www.localplanet.ie.
SALLY STARBUCK, ARCHITECT
Sally Starbuck trained as an architect but works for a firm of "ecotects". "Archi in Greek means the master - and the dominance of nature - but we're working within systems that already exist on a site, such as the microclimate and so on," says Starbuck, a director at Paul Leech GAIA Ecotecture, where she has worked for 13 years.
The Yorkshirewoman says that there are a surprising number of her fellow county people in the environmental world. "Yorkshire people are used to being social pariahs and telling people things they don't want to hear," she says, laughing. "My first job was in Yorkshire, for a local firm which was doing modern architecture with local materials in response to the landscape." The interest in regional materials and craftsmanship has stayed with her.
"High-quality construction - which the people making it put their heart and soul into because they're interested in it - is equally as important as solar panels. In fact there's a whole school of thought that says: 'Don't bother with the solar panels, just build correctly with good insulation and draught proofing and you'll do as much good as if you bolted any number of things on the roof.' "
Projects by Paul Leech GAIA Ecotecture, which was set up 27
years ago, tend to be for owner-occupiers, which has resulted in
commissions for projects from private houses to credit unions.
The latest credit union is in Navan; the firm presented its
design for the building, which uses natural ventilation and solar
heating, at the recent World Sustainable Building conference in
Tokyo.
Its better for a building's owner to use it rather than let it out; otherwise, says Starbuck: "The owner isn't worried about running costs and the tenant isn't worried about installation, maintenance and repair costs: if you put the two together people make better decisions. Since oil prices went up in the summer, though, tenants have begun to worry more about running air conditioning."
One project she is working on is in the Village, an eco-community of more than 100 homes in Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary. Starbuck is designing a community centre there, and another eco-architecture practice, Solearth, is designing the masterplan and some of the other buildings. "My building is mainly timber and it will be clad in either render or lovely green slates that we've used on other projects."
Wood-fired heating will be supplied to all of the homes from a central source and the solar panels to heat everyone's water will also be grouped together. "Having things centralised rather than having one on each house is more efficient," says Starbuck.
"People need to take control and responsibility. Members of the Village didn't want the standard builder's house so they've gone about making an alternative. It's entirely open to anyone else to do that. If you have a monoculture in any ecological system - whether it be agriculture or whatever - it just skews the picture and all the little creatures have no hope. We need more diversity.
The market seems to think there's a choice between an apartment in the city or a house on the outskirts. So people are pushed into weird life patterns of driving too far or for too long." Emma Cullinan
ROB NEWMAN, ECO-CONSCIOUS COMEDIAN
If you go to http://video.google.comyou'll find a free 45-minute theatre show called The History of Oil, a fascinating polemic in which the UK comedian Rob Newman shows how oil has been at the root of most conflicts around the world for the past 100 years.
Mixing stand-up and historical-political research, Newman talks
about peak oil and its implications.
A world without plentiful oil is a scary idea, and Newman
explains how merely paying more for our airline tickets and giving
up SUVs is hardly going to avert the crisis.
His conclusion is "that there can be no meaningful response to climate change without massive social change. A cap on this and a quota on the other won't do it. Tinker at the edges as we may, we cannot sustain earth's life-support system within the present economic system."
Newman began in comedy in the late 1980s, as part of the Mary Whitehouse Experience group, going on to enjoy considerable success working alongside David Baddiel. Over the years, though, his work has taken on a distinctly political hue, and it now reflects his role as an activist with a number of climate-change lobby groups.
"A lot of comedians will do material about politicians, slagging them off for being bad leaders," he says. "There seems to be this idea that, if only we were to change the leaders, we would have the solutions. My belief is that the structure of the system itself is flawed, and that's what needs to be changed - not just the leaders. It's harder to get this across comedically, because, obviously, it's easier just to tell a series of anti-Bush or anti-Blair gags."
He developed a fascination with the concept of peak oil and its effects when he read a book called The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societiesby Richard Heinberg. "Having read that, everything just clicked into place," he says.
The History Of Oilis the perfect introduction to the idea of peak oil and what it entails. Although you may not agree with all his conclusions, you can't but be deeply disturbed by Newman's core argument that we are overly dependent on oil in all aspects of our lives. If demand is shortly to outstrip supply, we're looking at a disaster-in-waiting.
If you think such matters are too weighty to be dealt with by a stand-up comedian, consider Newman's point that "jokes can be very useful in times of huge social change". Brian Boyd
You can view Rob Newman's The History Of Oil at tinyurl.com/ez92b. Richard Heinberg's book The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies is published by Clairview Books, £12.99 in UK