 Back in 2020, we received funding from the Wandsworth Local Fund for our Green Walls project. Wandsworth Council kindly featured a piece on the installation at Smallwood and Hillbrook Schools in Tooting, photographed here.
The aim of the Green Walls project is to help schools mitigate the effects the effects of air pollution in playgrounds close to surrounding streets and to provide the pupils with more access to nature and greenery. Over the next year or two, the green walls will develop to provide an uninterrupted covering of green, attracting bees, butterflies and insects.
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Hi, I am Toby, one of the directors at CREW Energy. CREW is a not-for-profit community benefit society (Coop) that is supporting SW London’s transition to a low carbon economy. We work with schools, civic buildings, local residents and businesses to help them cut carbon, improve air quality and reduce bills. CREW also has an active community outreach programme, helping those struggling to pay bills, with face to face consultations, phone advice and home visits. You can find out more about our current project at: https://swleap.org.uk/. The gas crisis I wanted to spend some time in this article talking about energy prices. As you will know by now, prices are set to rise by 54% in April and are likely to rise further in October due to the Ukraine war and its impact on the gas market (see chart). Current estimates are that the next price cap, in October, will see a further 24% rise and this could increase further as the war drags on. So what can you do?Firstly, make behavioural changes. Turn down your thermostat 1 degree, and reach for a jumper to keep warm. Put a snake at your front door to reduce drafts. Close doors so you keep warmth in the room. Make sure your dishwasher and washing machines are full before running them. Reduce the time you spend in the shower or even adopt my latest fad, cold showers. These improve circulation, reduce inflammation and increase endorphins. What's not to like? For more tips click here.
Secondly, send your supplier an updated reading before March 31st so you are not charged at the higher rate for energy already used. If you are on a non-smart prepayment meter, top up for as much as you can before April 1st to avoid the cap increase. Then consider adopting energy saving technologies like LED lights (they will save 50-90% depending on fitting type) and smart thermostats which will learn how long it takes to warm your home and adjust that time depending on outside temperatures, something us geeks call weather compensation. Smart radiator valves will allow you to zone your home and only heat rooms when you need to. Why heat a bedroom from 5 pm or even at lunch time? Loft insulation is relatively inexpensive and can save up to 20% on heating bills. Commercial and domestic gas boilers are responsible for around 16% of London's NOx emissions (data from 2016). Energy efficiency measures can improve air quality and reduce your energy bills. Read about the things that you can change at home. 1. Make some behavioural changes:
  Just how bad is it?In historic terms, UK air quality is much better than it was back in the days when everyone had a coal fire leading to terrible smogs. In 1952, The Great Smog of London led to an estimated 12,000 people dying. Ultimately, the event led to the Clean Air Act of 1956. Even so, there was another smog reaching across much of the country during the big freeze winter of 1962. Looking at the graph we can see how pollution has declined.  Air quality is better, so what’s the problem?Even as air pollution has decreased, our knowledge of the harm air quality plays in our lives has increased. Fossil fuel pollution is now responsible for an astonishing 1 in 5 of all deaths worldwide. 9,400 deaths in London are attributable to air pollution. The role that Particulate Matter (PM) plays has become starkly clearer. The tragic death of Ella Kissi Debrah was the first to be directly attributed to air quality. As the science has become better, our knowledge of what the effects has increased: Children are highly affected by air pollution.
 Hi everyone, following on from Morgan, my name is Armelle and I am another member of CREW! I have just finished my studies in Geography with Economics and, outside of CREW, my interests lie in green finance, ESG investing and the global energy transition. I started with CREW at the end of 2019 and initially joined as an Energy Advisor, to be a part of the work CREW does to alleviate fuel poverty within our local community. Over the past couple of years, I have worked on distributing emergency fuel vouchers, helping clients access white goods and deal with arrears on their energy bills. I have also enjoyed helping clients access grants (which they are rarely aware of!) and generally spreading awareness of those small energy efficiency measures which can end up saving clients (and you!) a lot more money (and help the environment), than one would expect. However, not long after joining CREW, I began to learn more and became involved in the many ways in CREW's work to decarbonise our local community... Have a look at the Home Carbon Audit and the Our Projects section on our website and social media to see us in action! P.S. more in progress, and more to come soon! The community share offer at the DEVAS Club was the first big project I was introduced to, and I am still inspired by seeing the team work so hard towards raising the £50,000 (where four heat pumps were installed at the youth club in Battersea in March this year). From the fuel poverty side to all the renewable energy projects, CREW has extensive networks and expertise to call upon. This is definitely what makes CREW unique, and I have learned SO much already. I will also add that CREW is extremely adaptable and, for example, advice given at our Energy Cafés has already been altered to incorporate the impacts of the price cap and the recent energy supplier crisis. Overall, through working with CREW, I am convinced of the need for a community energy group within every local community, a sector which clearly has a lot of social value to add towards the pre-existing benefits of renewable energy.  Nine energy suppliers have gone to the wall and more are likely to follow in the coming weeks and months, under pressure from spiralling gas prices. We have heard the reasons for these price rises: last year's cold winter, a lack of storage (especially in the UK), interconnector issues and the global recovery post pandemic.
Perhaps the most concerning issue is the global demand for liquid natural gas (LNG) which is an international commodity that goes to the highest bidder. Britain needs LNG cargoes to balance our system particularly in cold winters. In 2019, 20% of our supply came from LNG imports. Factors likely to keep LNG volatile and tight in supply:
 Introduction to Morgan da Silva
Hi, my name is Morgan da Silva and I am a member of CREW. My background stems from the desire to see everyone have access to electricity around the world. In some places, renewable energy can provide clean and accessible electricity where governments cannot afford to extend the grid. I began with a development project in Nicaragua that operated on this principle and installed pico solar systems in rural areas. I then went to California, USA where I worked with Tesla on their residential solar market for two years. On return to the UK, I did a masters focused on the social aspect of the energy transition, leading directly into what CREW does to alleviate energy poverty. I started as an energy advisor with CREW in my spare time and now run my own business, Yes Make London, building green spaces in public places and contributing to CREW where I can. What is the most understandable, easy-to-see and interactive way of communicating the Climate Emergency? I have asked myself this question for a long time now, and I have finally found an answer I am comfortable enough with. So much so that I started a company to do it! Our company is called Yes Make London and we make green spaces in public places so that everyone can enjoy them.  If you've never switched energy company before and are on a standard tariff, did you know you could make an average saving of around £300 per year on your bills by switching? Tips like this are exactly why CREW’s free energy advice helpline is proving useful for the residents of Tooting! We are piloting a hyper-local, multilingual approach focusing on the Tooting Ward. The team are creating links with local organisations to generate referrals, such as Wandle Housing Association, DONS Local Action Group (a network of Covid-19 volunteers) and Mushkil Aasaan. Project flyers are available in Hindi, Spanish, Tamil and Urdu and CREW can offer advice in these languages as well as French, Polish and Portuguese. Our energy advice is aimed at people on low incomes, older people, families with young children, people with long-term health conditions or anyone else who is vulnerable in some way. We aim to save people money, assist them in navigating the often-confusing world of energy companies and tariffs, and make sure people are getting all the discounts, funding, freebies and support they are eligible for. One of our clients saved £440! Read on to hear just some of our success stories.  Taking greening... literally Usually the one place in your house that you won’t find a (traditional) plug socket, you might not think of the bathroom when it comes to energy saving. But, aside from the obvious water savings (which can still save you money if your water is metered!), there are plenty of ways to cut your carbon footprint by heating less water, switching to LED light bulbs and making plastic-free swaps.
So, water you waiting for? Time to make some savings.  This month's guest blog post comes from our local partner, Sustainable Merton! Read more as they tackle five tricky-to-recycle items and some creative ways of reusing and upcycling them, including:
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