Food
Approximately one third of the average UK resident’s eco-footprint comes from the production and transportation of their food.

The current trend in the UK is for shoppers to expect to be able buy any food no matter what the time of year. Understanding the environmental and social impacts of food is very difficult, there are so many factors to consider from growing the food to transporting it, cooking it and dealing with the waste.

Reducing food miles is an argument that makes a lot of sense. But just "buying local" could actually drive up your ecological footprint if you buy out-of-season produce that was intensively grown in heated greenhouses, whilst harming countries in the global South that rely on exports for development. There are some simple steps that you can take to reduce the impact of the food you eat:

1. Only buy the food that you need, and use leftovers. In the UK we throw away more than 30% of our food!
2. East less meat and dairy, which accounts for over half the average UK resident's food footprint. Livestock are responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than all transport!
3. Buy vegetables that are local (reducing transport needs), seasonal (rather than grown in heated greenhouses) and organic/non-intensive (reducing the use of oil-intensive chemicals).

Growing your own food Training and equipment was offered to residents to help them grow their own fruit and vegetables, in their gardens and on-site mini allotments.

The complementary Community Composting scheme turns kitchen and garden organic waste into nutrient-rich compost, for use in gardens and allotments.
The scheme creates a closed loop system where organic waste is recycled into fruit, vegetables and flowers. Funding to establish the Community Composting scheme came from the Onyx Environmental Trust.

The car club service was introduced to potential BedZED residents at pre-sales open days and at monthly residents welcome evenings as people began to move in.

The first car club booking was made in March 2002. A year later, membership had risen steadily to 35 people, sharing the use of three vehicles. Roughly half of the club’s members work for BedZED-based businesses, and half are BedZED residents. The club has also attracted members from the wider community. As a result of the car club service, nine members had sold cars or deferred car purchases by March 2003.

Electric vehicles - BedZED is equipped to make running an electric car a practical option. Public transport or car club vehicles can be used for journeys beyond the range of an electric vehicle.

Cycling facilities - Cycling offers a practical and fun way of travelling for all ages. There are no vehicle emissions and cycling helps you to keep fit.

BioRegional and local cycling group Cyclism formed a partnership to run free Dr Bike Sessions. The sessions provided a 10-minute bike check and basic repairs for BedZED residents and the local community.

Free cycling packs were compiled for residents. The packs contain everything you need to know about cycling including a booklet, ‘On your bike’, produced by BioRegional with a grant from the London Cycling Campaign, information on local cycling groups, money off vouchers for local cycling shops, local and regional cycle maps and information about cycle club membership and insurance.

There is good cycle storage provision around the site in the form of Sheffield stands and wall mounted locking points, and there are changing facilities in the club house.

Bio-fuel vehicles - BioRegional's Co-founder, Pooran Desai has a bio-fuelled, zero carbon, zero waste sports car. Follow this link to find out more.

Public Transport
The BedZED development site was chosen for its excellent public transport links. Hackbridge station (5 minutes walk away) offers regular trains to Victoria (20 minutes) and Kings Cross (40 minutes) and Mitcham Junction station (15 minutes walk away) is linked to Wimbledon and Croydon via tram system. Three local bus routes serve the development. BioRegional deliver public transport information such as new timetables direct to BedZED households and businesses.

At monthly welcome evenings residents were given comprehensive local public transport information.

Reducing the need to travel
BedZED’s mix of homes and workspace offers the option of working at home and cutting commuting.

On-site facilities enable businesses and residents to meet more of their everyday needs without getting in the car. These include a 5-a-side football pitch with club house, a dance studio, nursery, multi-use centre which can be used for film nights and book clubs etc., village square, recycling bins, home food delivery and allotments.

Find out about the zero carbon & zero waste sports car here

Waste
BedZED has been designed to make it easy to recycle, with the aim of reducing household waste output and to attain a recycling rate of 60%.

Composting The BedZED Community Composting scheme turns kitchen and garden waste into a resource for growing food.

Segregated under-sink bins Every BedZED home incorporates a colour coded, segregated under-sink bin. The colours relate to the type of waste – green for compostable vegan waste, two grey sections - for glass, plastics, paper and tins and brown for non-recyclables. This makes separating and transporting the materials to the corresponding outside bins easy.

Local Paper for London BioRegional’s office paper recycling scheme is available to BedZED residents and businesses. White office paper is collected, cleaned at the local mill in Kent and bought back by the same offices as 100% recycled white paper. A Westminster Council Study showed that paper accounts for 40% of commercial waste from offices.

Clothes and furniture swaps When residents first moved to BedZED a swap shop was set up. Residents took items that they no longer wanted and swapped them with other residents for items that they did. This continues in the BedZED Residents' Newsletter.