“I live in King’s Heath. I want to undertake thermal cladding on my detached 1910 solid wall house (external & internal as appropriate) and am struggling to find climate-change-savvy local contractors to develop the spec and do the work. I could hire from afar, but local is better, as we know.”

PLEASE add any recommended builders in the comments, with contact details if possible, and what you know of their work. Builders are welcome to add their own credentials – or contact us if you want a page on this site.

Fortunately, greater minds than mine have delved into this issue and made recommendations to the rest of us, such as this article at www.ethicalconsumer.org. But it relates to October 2008, so if anyone has more up-to-date sources of information, please add a comment.

Good Energy (01249 766090) comes out top, just ahead of Green Energy, Utilita and Ecotricity – although you’ll see from the article that it matters exactly which tariff you sign up to in each case, though thankfully Good Energy only has one. (No, this isn’t an affiliate link – I must ask them about that.) As it happens, I’m a Good Energy customer at home. Being a small company, their customer services department is very friendly – though I’ve asked them to review their procedures about dealing with complex issues.

I don’t think there is any such thing as zero carbon electricity, so signing up to a green tariff is no substitute for throwing the stuff away through a poorly insulated loft, for example. You might get work like that done for free if you’re on a low income – try phoning Warmfront on 0800 316 2805.

What energy tariff are you signed up to at home? Why did you choose that one? Would you consider switching?

Chris Duggan

If you want something different for a child this Christmas, have a look round. There are some good alternatives to the usual plastic, some fun educational things, growing kits… and the prices are very reasonable.

The Kitchen Garden Cafe is a tranquil oasis in the heart of Kings Heath’s busy shopping centre, combining a garden shop, café, deli and meeting room surrounding an old blue brick courtyard filled with plants.

17 York Road  Kings Heath  Birmingham  B14 7SA
Telephone: 0121 443 4725

www.kitchengardencafe.co.uk

These are the links currently on the directory page

Local Food Retailers in Birmingham and Solihull

Birmingham’s Farmers Markets

Veg Box Schemes serving Birmingham and Solihull

Restaurants, Cafe’s, and B&B’s serving local food

Fruit and Vegetable Producers

Meat and Fish Producers

Eggs, Milk, Cheese, and Yoghurt Producers

Bread and Baked Goods Producers

Drinks Producers

Sauces, Preserves, Cereals,  and other Ready Made Food Producers (Oils and Vinegars here too!)

There’s a calendar of farmers’ markets at www.loafonline.co.uk too (look down the right hand margin).