Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve

Just back from Merthyr Mawr National Nature Reserve. This is a fantastic sand dunes complex on the south Wales coast. Famous for it great number of invertebrates and its unique flora. The dunes lie on top of a limestone outcrop. Hardly a soul about, but really great to see local stables using it. But I have got to have a rant. The amount of litter across the reserve is appalling. No matter where you looked you saw it. Come on Countryside Council for Wales, I know that it is difficult to stop these ignorant people dropping the litter, but what about a few volunteer parties to pick it up and who knows, if there was no litter then maybe people would be less likely to drop it.I would certainly sign up to volunteer. What about getting Keep Wales Tidy involved as well?

Picture from the Ramblers



Chris Gledhill
Future Directions

The Hiddens Costs of Climate Change

With the outcome of the recent UK elections and the BP crisis, there hasn't been too much kin the papers or the media about climate change. Sadly it is still there and following a recent piece of research by the u-Switch website, it looks as though the average household is now paying £84 per year to meetthe increasing environmental levies. This includes the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, the Community Energy Saving Programme and the Renewables Obligation currently make up 7% of energy bills.Writing in the Independant Nicky Burridge reports that this could well double in the next 10 years. It is clear that as governments (UK and Europe) look to tackle the challenges of climate change whether we like it or not we the end user will have to pay.

So what are our options? The simplest way is to cut back on our use of electricity and fossil fuels. We have  installed an energy meter to better manage the way we use electricity in addition to switching to a green tariff.  We also have installed a multi fuel burning stove from Clearviews Stoves. We are really impressed by its performance, but it does take quite alot of work in cutting the wood. However we have an agreement with our neighbour, we do work on his hedgerows and get the wood.

Our next consideration is to practice what we preach and our looking at solar and photovoltaics.

Future Directions are pleased to offer advice and guidance on energy reduction and alternative energies. e-mail us or call us on 01874 638979