BioRegional Newsletter November 05

BioRegional Newsletter

Issue 12

November 2005

Our Challenge

We live in a consumer society where over-consumption is driving environmental degradation.
If everyone in the world lived as we do in the UK we would need three planets to support us.

The BioRegional challenge is to find ways of living and working where we can reduce our consumption by two thirds to the one planet level.

BioRegional Solutions

BioRegional is an independent environmental organisation implementing real-life, commercially viable solutions for sustainable living - bringing local sustainability into the mainstream

New 3-year programme allows construction industry to buy sustainable building materials

at discounted prices

You may have seen the position of Executive Director for One Planet Products advertised in February’s newsletter. Well, we are pleased that Sarah Jeffcote has joined us to run this bulk buying initiative focused on sustainable and environmental products and materials for the construction industry. It will be a member-owned club providing members (including developers and housing associations) a means of buying environmentally friendly materials more cheaply and easily. It will take advantage of the combined purchasing power that a large group of members will have.

An advisory committee consisting of BioRegional, WWF and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) has been set up to provide expert advice to the club.

The club has nearly completed the first formal tendering process for potential suppliers, during which suppliers were asked to provide detailed environmental information about their products and materials. Once the group has formalised demonstrable savings, it will set membership fees and sign up members. The scheme will formally launch in January 2006 and will roll out region by region over the following 18 months to 2 years .

One Planet Products is being established with the help of a 3-year grant from the Environmental Action Fund, funded by DEFRA. The grant is providing essential start-up funding and will used to support One Planet Products through the start-up phase. www.oneplanetproducts.com

A "powerful new alliance" leads to a change in Directorship at BioRegional

Pooran Desai and Sue Riddlestone

Earlier this year saw the establishment of BioRegional Properties and in Oct 2005 a joint venture between BioRegional Properties and property developer Quintain plc “BioRegional Quintain” (BQL) was publicly launched.

This partnership will have the commercial backing to be able to build sustainable communities using the BioRegional approach.

This has led to a fundamental change in the management team at the charity. Pooran Desai has stepped down as co-director handing over the reins to fellow co-founder and co-director Sue Riddlestone who will take the lead as Executive Director of the charity. Pooran will work part time for BQL as Sustainability Director and part time for the charity focussing on sustainable communities and forestry during 2005-6.

Sue Riddlestone said:
“It is a real success story for BioRegional that our ten years of experience in sustainable communities is being carried forward through this powerful new alliance.

BioRegional Quintain has the potential to make big changes in the property market.

Pooran has now stepped down to work on a part time basis for both the charity and BioRegional Quintain, so I will be taking over as sole Director at the charity. As co-founders Pooran and I have worked together for fourteen years and he has done a great job at BioRegional. I am pleased that he will continue to develop our work both at the charity and at the new company.

For myself, I am looking forward to taking the lead at the charity and continuing to do what we do best at BioRegional, showing in a practical way that a sustainable future is not only possible, but attractive and affordable too"

Study shows local paper loop reduces office paper impact by up to 93%

Since 1999 BioRegional have been promoting the sustainable local paper loop - where offices in London and the south east recycle their paper to the local mill and buy back the paper produced - through Local Paper for London, Local Paper for Surrey and the Laundry kerbside collection. Over 1,200 offices from the House of Commons to small designers in Soho have joined the loop.

Intuitively we knew a local loop system ought to have a better environmental performance. We commissioned Surrey University to carry out a Life Cycle Assessment to find out the facts.

The LCA shows local production and supply can help us meet CO2 reduction targets through reduced transport. Best Foot Forward used the data to produce an ecological footprint which showed a 93% footprint reduction compared to virgin imported paper. The study, to be published this year, will be promoted to office paper buyers and policymakers. See www.bioregional.com

The LCA was primarily funded by Shanks First,
m-real and Surrey County Council

Hemp for textiles goes back to basics

Hemp is a crop which can easily be grown organically in the UK, and in most climates, to produce linen like textiles and many other useful products.

Thanks to funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Wyndham Charitable Trust we are just starting the next step in our work to introduce efficient methods of hemp fibre processing which could allow "bioregional" production of hemp textiles in the UK and even in cotton growing countries. This exciting new two year project involves appointment of a full-time researcher at Leeds University working with the Plant Sciences, Green Chemistry and Textiles departments as well as agricultural engineers at Cranfield University. The research programme will build on previous work by BioRegional.

New techniques will be employed by Leeds University to identify the location and nature of pectic polymers within the hemp plant to aid successful fibre extraction, Cranfield University will work on on-farm processing and handling techniques, and the textile experts will spin the fibres produced. Life cycle analyses will be completed to ensure environmental impacts of production are minimised.

Project partners include hemp growers Hemcore, Huddersfield cotton spinner JL Brierley, DEFRA Central Science Laboratories and industry representatives all along the processing chain.

BioRegional’s International One Planet Living Team
The global network of six sustainable “One Planet Living” Communities moved closer to reality as two new staff started work at BioRegional in October. Our truly international team each come from the region or country in which they will work with local partners to build a sustainable community according to One Planet Living principles. The team, pictured below, includes Australian Kendal Marsland Murray our BedZED Exhibition Centre Manager, South African Sarah Alsen who has worked on BioRegional	paper projects since 1997, Xiaohong Chen, a Chinese civil engineer joined BioRegional in October together with Greg Searle, a Canadian internet entrepreneur now developing the North America Community. Portugese conservationist and writer Eduardo Goncalves manages the Mata de Sesimbra OPL Project in Portugal. The OPL International Communities team is managed by Gael Leopold, a Frenchman who formerly led international development projects. Californian Dr Jules Siedenberg completes the	team and will work with the country managers to ensure the projects meet OPL standards. Jane Durney is our UK Z-squared Project Manager and now leads BioRegional’s work on sustainable communities in the UK. One Planet Living is a joint initiative of BioRegional and WWF. BioRegional’s co-founders Pooran Desai and Sue Riddlestone are the two BioRegional Directors of the OPL Programme working with WWF OPL Directors Paul King and Jean Paul Jeanrenaud.
Kendal Marsland Murray Country Manager Australia	Sarah Alsen Country Manager South Africa	Xiao-hong Chen Country ManagerChina
Greg Searle OPL North America	Eduardo Goncalves Coordinator, OPL Portugal	Gael Leopold OPL Communities Programme Manager
Dr Jules Seidenberg Lead Technical Manager OPL Communities	Jane Durney Z-squared Project Manager

BioRegional gifts for Christmas

Buy on-line www.bioregional.com

Hemp writing sets
Made especially for BioRegional using 20% Essex hemp and local recycled paper, presented in a gift wallet.
20 envelopes with writing pad
£4.00 + p&p

Local Lavender essential oil
South London was the lavender growing capitalof the world in the 1900's. This pure lavender oil is distilled from our own south London field, planted with traditional
lavender varieties.
£3.99 + p&p or 3 bottles £10 + p&p

The BioRegional story:
BioRegional Solutions - for living on one planet
An easy to read guide on how you can live bioregionally. Written by BioRegional’s director Sue Riddlestone and Pooran Desai.
£6.00 + p&p

Also available in Japanese
£12.99 + p&p

Like what we’re doing?

BioRegional offers a range of reports, books, CPD training and BedZED tours. You can visit our on-line shop,
call 020 8404 4880 or email info@bioregional for further information.

The next BioRegional newsletter will be circulated in February 2006

Work starts on Industrial Scale MiniMill in Manchester

We are delighted to report that the installation of our demonstration MiniMill has begun at a pulp mill in Manchester. Straw makes good paper, but it is a bulky material and so it is only economical to pulp it on a small scale. As there was no clean technology to do this, mills in Europe have closed and mills in China and India are causing water pollution. Even so, 10% of the world’s paper is made from straw. Since 1997 BioRegional have worked to develop the MiniMill to allow clean production of paper pulp on a small scale.

A series of pilot trials have shown that MiniMill could compete with large wood pulp mills thanks to the efficiency of the technology. The demonstration plant is not a complete mill, it is designed to test only the newly invented parts of the MiniMill on an industrial scale. A comprehensive work programme during 2005-6 will provide the final operating data needed before building a commercial scale plant.

The project is supported by DEFRA, Home Grown Cereals Authority, The Rufford Maurice Laing Foundation, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and JJ Charitable Trust

The MiniMill twin screw pulper with MiniMill engineer Philip Hartwell, Dr Kim Blackburn from Cranfield University and MiniMill inventor
Trevor Dean.

BioRegional Newsletter Issue 12 November 2005