Moray Sustainability Handbook

116 Pages·2007·2.17 MB·English

MMMMMooooorrrrraaaaayyyyy
SSSSSuuuuussssstttttaaaaaiiiiinnnnnaaaaabbbbbiiiiillllliiiiitttttyyyyy
HHHHHaaaaannnnndddddbbbbbooooooooookkkkk
h
g
u
o
R

e
T h t o

e
d e
i r
u u
G t
u
F

s
’
y
a
r
o
M
1
2
Index
No Chapter Section Page
Introduction Sustainable Development 5
Jargon Buster 6
1 Energy 9
Climate change 10
Energy efficiency 12
Renewable energy 15
Fuel Poverty 17
Building Sustainably 18
2 Environment 21
Trees and Forestry 22
The Great Outdoors 25
Environmental Organisations 29
Biodiversity 35
Natural Heritage Designations 37
3 Transport 39
Greener Driving 40
Public Transport 44
Cycling and Walking 46
4 Community 49
Health and Welfare 50
Volunteering 53
Children and Families 55
Politics 58
Community participation 63
Inclusion 66
Community Development 70
5 Economy 73
Business 74
Social Economy 76
Poverty 78
Green Tourism 80
6 Products 83
Resource Consumption 84
Food 87
Fairtrade 90
Eco labelling 92
7 Waste 95
Reduce 96
Reuse 98
Recycle 100
Disposal 103
8 Pollution 105
Water 106
Land 108
Air 110
Noise 112
Feedback 114
Feedback Sheet 115
3
Acknowledgements
In 2003 members of the Moray Sustainability Forum started to research and write this
booklet as we had identified the need for a simple guide to the complexities of sustainable
development and a handy contact list for organisations in Moray. We received grant
funding from Awards for All towards the estimated costs of researching, printing and
distributing 4,000 copies. It is our intention for copies of this free booklet to be widely
distributed throughout Moray to Libraries, Schools, Community Centres, Post Offices,
The Moray Council Access Points and Tourist Information Offices.
We would like to thank the Lottery Funding through Awards for All for their patience
and support for this booklet. Without their financial backing this project would never
have made it past the planning stage. We would also like to thank all the individuals
and organisations who helped to research information, gather leaflets, give advice,
contribute sections and proof read parts or the entire booklet. There really are too
many to name but thanks to you all. However, particular individuals whose contribution
must be acknowledges include: The Moray Council and The Northern Scot for their help
and permission to use some of their photographs; Gary Templeton, Roy Anderson,
Claire Ross and Kevin McDermott for their input; and Posthouse Printing and Publishing
Ltd of Findhorn for keeping us right.
We sincerely hope that you will find this booklet interesting, useful and thought
provoking. Perhaps it could encourage you to implement your own sustainable strategies
that will contribute to a better future here in Moray.
On behalf of the Moray Sustainable Forum,
Rod Lovie and Mike Bowker
February 2005
Photos in this booklet courtesy of:
The Northern Scot: page 9, 15, 39, 83, 88, 95, 105
The Moray Council: page 1, 11, 21, 28, 47, 49, 54, 73, 81
Additional copies of this booklet may be available from:
MSF, C/o REAP, 177 Mid Street, Keith Banffshire AB55 5BL (cid:11) 01542 888070
4
Introduction
Sustainable Development
Making Moray’s future better without making others worse
Development is needed to tackle poverty, Environment and Development,
unemployment, homelessness, ill health, published in 1987 as Our Common Future.
poor access to education and low quality The report, often referred to as the
of life throughout the world including Bruntland Report, explained that:
Moray. However, if the same “Humanity has the ability to make
development happened throughout the
development sustainable – to
world that has already occurred in the
ensure that it meets the needs
Western Countries the environmental
of the present without
damage would be such that the human
compromising the ability of
race could not survive.
future generations to meet their
Traditional economics, regardless of own needs.”
politics, identifies two types of resource
It was the UN Conference on
in society: Capital and Labour. In
Environment and Development,
contrast sustainable development
commonly known as the 1992 Rio Earth
encompasses three resources: economic
Summit, which attempted to resolve the
capital (roads, rail, mines, factories),
apparent conflict between short-term
social or human capital (labour, skills,
economic growth and both social and
community spirit, local knowledge.
environmental justice by endorsing both
culture), and environmental capital
development and environmental
(landscapes, habitats, plants, animals).
protection through sustainable
Economic growth has traditionally been
development. Most attending countries,
made at the expense of social and/or
including the UK, signed up to Agenda
environmental resources. Therefore we
21 - a practical, world-wide blueprint for
need a different kind of development
taking sustainable development forward
which tackles poverty but does not
into the 21st Century. This requires
damage the environment. This is
governments to establish and implement
sustainable development.
national strategies for sustainable
The accepted definition of sustainable development, grounded in participation
development comes from the report of with the public, businesses and charities.
the United Nations World Commission on
Useful Contacts and Websites
Scottish Executive Sustainable Development Commission
(cid:29) www.sustainable.scotland.gov.uk (cid:29) www.sd-commission.gov.uk
(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11)(cid:11) 0131 244 7311 A UK wide body to review progress and
Sustainable development issues and build consensus to progress sustainable
grant scheme. development.
Sustainable Scotland Network
(cid:29) www.sustainablescotland.net
(cid:11) 01786 468235
Brings together Scottish Local Authorities
to advance sustainable development
action.
5
Introduction
Jargon Buster
Concepts Behind Sustainable Development
“The problem with land is that they stopped making it some time ago.”
Mark Twain
Natural Capital – our life support system
This is the natural assets on which the earth, causing depletion of
current and future generations depend. the earth’s natural capital as a
We can only sustainably manage consequence.”
ecosystems by not taking out more than WWF (2000)
their regenerative capacity i.e. the
The fact that industrialised countries are
amount that they can naturally restore.
living beyond their means will have
This ensures that the earth can continue
serious consequences. Future
to produce a similar bounty for future
generations will have to survive on fewer
generations. However:
resources and these resources will in turn
“At some point in the 1970’s have a reduced regenerative capacity
humanity as a whole passed the to create resources for subsequent
point at which it lived within the generations.
global regenerative capacity of (cid:29) www.panda.org/livingplanet
Ecological Footprinting – our demand on our natural resources
Sustainable development is not just the resources they are consuming. The
joining of existing social, economic and organisation Redefining Progress
environmental policy fields. It should be calculated the global footprint of nations
viewed as a new way of providing for in 1999. There is only 1.9 hectares of
our needs while staying within the biologically productive space available
capacity of our ecosystems. To this end per person on the earth however the
new ways of measuring sustainability average citizen has a footprint of 2.3
have been developed. Ecological hectares. This means that we are
footprinting is one method of measuring exceeding the earth’s ecological capacity
the impact of human activity and by over 20%. Northern countries like
development. The footprint of an the USA have an ecological footprint of
individual, country or region is an 9.6 hectares while Pakistan has one of
indication of the amount of land each 0.7 hectares. This shows the huge
would need in order to produce the disparity of resource consumption in the
amount of resources they consume and world at present.
to dispose of the waste they produce. (cid:29) www.bestfootforward.com
This enables different societies to
(cid:29) www.redefiningprogress.org
compare how much of the earth’s
Sustainable Development Indicators – measuring sustainability
Policy-makers are familiar with their own development, the Scottish Executive has
territory but feel adrift when faced with adopted three groups of priority issues:
the immense breadth of ideas which resource use, energy and travel. These
sustainable development raises. In order are intended to drive forward
to measure sustainable development it sustainable development within the
is important to agree on what is being responsibilities of the Scottish Executive.
measured. To take forward sustainable (cid:29) www.scotland.gov.uk
6
Introduction
Environmental Space – how much can we use?
The concept of ‘environmental space’ is each year and for non-renewable
another way of presenting this resources this is calculated by
information. The amount of each natural considering the most pressing limiting
resource that can be used each year factor regarding its exploitation. Friend’s
without damaging the environment or the of the Earth Scotland has calculated that
environmental capacity of the earth is Scotland would have to reduce its oil
calculated. For renewable resources this consumption by 80%.
is the amount that can be replenished (cid:29) www.foe-scotland.org.uk
Ecodebt – are we exploiting others?
The responsibility of industrialized by resource extraction. In other words,
countries for the destruction caused by the impoverished countries of the South
their production and consumption are subsidizing the rich countries of the
patterns is called the ‘ecological debt’. North! While during the colonial period
Natural wealth extracted by the North the extraction of precious metals and
at the expense of southern people has other resources was an openly violent
contaminated their natural heritage and affair, today’s looting uses methods that
sources of sustenance. Indeed, the are more subtle. International
living standards enjoyed by the organizations such as the IMF, the World
industrialized countries owe a great deal Bank and the World Trade Organization
to the immense flows of natural and seek to dictate world economic policy in
financial resources and labour (either order to maintain a system of dominance
slave or underpaid) from the Third World. and control over the trade in financial
These flows do not take into account the and natural resources.
social and environmental damages caused (cid:29) www.foei.org
Environmental Justice – taking sides
The lack of sustainability in our often the environment is dismissed as
communities is not just a problem of poor the concern of those who are not
management. Imbalances are caused confronted with bread and butter issues.
because some groups benefit while other But the reality is the people who have
groups loose. This leads to injustices. the most urgent environmental concerns
Some appear to be obvious while others are those who daily cope with the
remain hidden and many communities consequences of a poor quality of life,
benefit from some injustices while losing conditioned by their environment. By
out on others. Most inequalities are being forced to live in circumstances,
maintained because people get used to which would not be acceptable to better
enjoying privileges and do not make the off groups in our society, they are being
connection between their lifestyle and denied environmental justice.
the injustice it causes to others. Too (cid:29) www.ejrc.cau.edu/
7
8
Chapter 1
Energy
Energy Efficiency
Renewable Energy
Fuel Poverty
Building Sustainably
9
Energy
Climate Change
The Biggest Global Problem?
Most scientists agree that our climate is larger quota it would get to pollute in
changing rapidly and that this is not only the future. But even this was too much
due to natural fluctuations. The major for the U.S. Senate who voted 95 – 0
cause is believed to be greenhouse not to sign the treaty unless India also
gasses whose emissions have increased signed. Because India pollutes so little
dramatically since the industrial it would only get a tiny quota and so
revolution and the creation of the internal was seen to be exempt from the treaty.
combustion engine. “I oppose the Kyoto Protocol
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate because it … would cause serious
Change (IPCC) reported in 1990 that if harm to the U.S. economy.”
we wish to save life as we know it on this George W Bush
planet we must cut our carbon dioxide
levels by 60% - 80%. For years low
It is difficult to predict what the result
lying pacific island states urged the
of climate change will be. However
industrialised nations to take action
scientists have estimated that the result
quickly before rising sea levels wiped out
for Northern Scotland may be:
their countries.
• By the 2050’s average temperatures
“ The wilful destruction, with will increase by up to 2°C with more
foreknowledge, of entire countries hot summers and less cold winters.
and cultures represents an Winter rainfall to increase by 25%
unspeakable crime against and summer rainfall to decrease by
humanity.” up to 30%.
The President of Nauru. • By the 2080’s the sea level may rise
However it wasn’t till 1997 at Kyoto that by up to 60cm and flooding in inland
a hundred countries agreed to reduce areas may increase by20%*.
their greenhouse gas emissions to 5.2% From Climate Change Scenarios for the
below their 1990 levels within fifteen UK, April 2002 (see www.ukcip.org.uk)
years. This meant that the more damage *From Scottish Executive Flooding
a country had caused in the past, the Occurrence Review 2002
What Can We Do?
Many ideas are included in more detail throughout this booklet. We can all make an
individual contribution by:
Energy: Ensure you are using energy efficiently and use renewable energy
Environment: Plant a few trees or join an organisation which does
Transport: Walk or cycle rather than use the car and car share when possible
Community: Put pressure on political representatives to reduce greenhouse emissions
Economy: Support local businesses
Products: Buy local organically grown vegetables
Waste: Compost vegetable waste and recycle more
Pollution: Inform the authorities of instances of pollution
10