We are hoping to use sustainable materials, such as hemp or wool as the insulating material. Connected to this we have two questions and wonder if anyone can help:

- Does any of you know of a good place for sourcing these materials? They still seem really expensive from our builder’s first research. We are wondering if any of you already got stuff like this and can help.

- Does any of you know of any grants that are available for using sustainable building material, that are less toxic and can be re-used rather than burdening the landfill if they ever had to be un-done?
Any help, either direct advice or websites to search etc very much appreciated!

From Birgit of BSustained

With the government pledging a million new ‘green collar’ jobs over the next two decades, Shell Springboard is urging UK SMEs to capitalise on the growing market opportunity by applying for a financial boost from the programme. James Smith, Chairman of Shell UK, said: “SMEs are a vibrant and creative sector of the economy, so they’re ideally placed to be climate change entrepreneurs”. He continued: “Shell’s scenario planning suggests that in the future we will be reliant on a mix of a number of different energy sources and energy saving technologies. Grassroots innovation from small businesses could be a crucial factor in driving the development of this mix. I’d urge SMEs operating in this field to give serious consideration to the Springboard programme”.

Shell Springboard offers a financial boost for UK businesses with compelling ideas for tackling climate change. These must be ideas which:

• will lead to greenhouse gas reductions
• are commercially viable
• are innovative

Up to six awards of between £20,000 and £40,000 are on offer in each of three UK regions. Last year awards of £40,000 were made to five businesses from across the UK.

The deadline for 2008 entries is 7^th November 2008. Full details and an online application form can be found at www.shellspringboard.org

Shell is one of the world’s largest oil supply companies. Using oil is a major contributor to climate change. A recent advert claiming their operations were sustainable was challenged by WWF and outlawed by the Advertising Standards Agency because operations to extract oil from the “tar sands” in Canada caused eight times more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil extraction – see this article

I visited our local allotment yesterday and there were apple trees groaning under the weight of their uneaten fruit!

Question submitted by Tim to the Transition Birmingham email list

Please put your answers as comments below.

A trailer bike attaches to the back of an adult bike, so that a young child can tag along, and pedal too. It has one wheel, a set of pedals and handlebars. It can be a safe way of riding with a child on the road, when they are too big for a bike seat.

An alternative is a bar which attaches an ordinary child’s bike (minus front wheel) to the back of an adult’s bike.

We were asked recently about the suitability of such things for a three year old.  If you have any experience of using one, or have one to sell or give away, or can recommend a particular type, please get in touch or better still, add a comment to this page.