| Red
Pig Farm functions around the primary objective
of sustainability (in its true ecological meaning) driven
by the fact that the best way to reduce the production of
damaging Greenhouse Gases is to completely stop using fossil
fuels and all that is based around them. |
All
the electricity used on this farm is generated from a small
hydroelectric system, which was designed and installed by
Engineer Dave. It has been built at a cost of around £10,000,
and is expected to have repaid this investment within 18 months.
This reduces our collective footprint by 40 tonnes of carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions annually.
We need to move, and being based in a fairly remote location,
we don’t have much choice. We all get about in older
vehicles, which have been running on biodiesel (recycled cooking
oils) for the past four years. We have four vehicles, which,
between them, cover about 60,000 miles annually. We manufacture
our own biodiesel on site from fuel that is either collected
locally, or imported from other parts of the UK. |
|
By
using biodiesel we are reducing our carbon footprint by a
further 25-30 tonnes of CO2 annually. Despite the fact that
our movement is all but carbon neutral, we continue to reduce
the need to travel from the farm.
We are fortunate to have enough land to grow our own food,
which we do to organic standards. This reduces the need to
support the supermarket industry on a daily basis. We are
a long way from self-sufficiency in terms of food production,
but the ambition is continuous.
The buildings are heated from coppice, water is collected
from roofs and a spring, and human waste is treated on site
and remains on site (and most of us are still wearing clothes
that were fashionable in 1984!). |
|
|
| Saintly
we’re not: the chainsaws, the strimmer, the quad bike
and the wee generator run on petrol. We eat Mars bars, Walkers
crisps, smoke (additive free tobacco) & drink alcohol.
Occasionally, we eat meat, break the speed limit, leave lights
turned on (low energy bulbs, of course), leave doors open,
use nasty paint and buy newspapers. We watch TV and You Tube,
believe we’re not alone out there, hate paying bills,
worry about the Bilderberg Group, don’t trust politicians,
and, from time-to-time, would like to stop for a while and
sit down! Just your ‘normal’ everyday human beings,
trying to do our bit? . . . . |
|
|
