Hi everyone,
Happy Friday! Welcome back to your weekly update from the EcoCounts team. At EcoCounts, our mission is simple: helping everyone measure, understand, and reduce their carbon footprint in ways that fit naturally into everyday life. Action doesn’t require overhauling everything overnight, it starts by showing up, sharing ideas, and testing small, practical changes together. Here is what’s happening this week across our community:
WHAT’S ON
Mark Your Calendar: St Luke’s Autumn Fair (Saturday, 17th October)
Join us from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at St Luke's Church! Our data team will be on hand to calculate your personal carbon footprint live on our new dashboard. It’s completely free, friendly, and non-judgmental, a great opportunity to get a clear look at your numbers and find simple, practical ways to trim your impact before the colder months set in.
Weekly Monday Meet-Ups at St Luke's
Our team meets every Monday evening upstairs at St Luke's Church from 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm. From organizing upcoming seasonal community events (including a low-carbon supper) to refining our carbon measurement tools and sharing weekly eco-tips, everyone is welcome to drop in. This week, we will be reviewing our recent Mystery Eco-Screening season to reflect on what worked well and use those insights to shape our upcoming events programme.
Next Meet-up: Monday, 21st September, from 6:00 pm. Come along and say hello!
WHO COUNTS: THE ECO-TIP OF THE WEEK
(Got a quick tip, a repair project, or a realistic eco-habit? We want to hear it!)
No More Walking on Eggshells:
The UK consumes over 14 billion eggs a year—meaning an astronomical mountain of shells needlessly heading to landfill. Instead of tossing the "milky cloaks of your morning yolks," give them a second life. Interested in knowing what you can do to resolve this problem? 👉 Read Antonia’s full piece, No more walking on eggshells…, on our website!
The 20-Second Bed-Warming Hack:
Anyone living through a British autumn or winter knows that deep, damp chill at night, slipping into ice-cold sheets can make falling asleep almost impossible. But heating the entire bedroom with central or electric heating just to warm your bed, or waiting for a kettle to boil several litres of water for a hot water bottle (running a 2,500W–3,000W element), uses far more energy than necessary.
The trick:
Lift the edge of your duvet right before climbing into bed and give the inside a quick 15–20 second blast with a hairdryer. It traps a pocket of warm, dry air under the covers instantly, chasing away the dampness and letting you drift off comfortably for a tiny fraction of the energy and cost of heating the room.
The same applies when you’re facing that dreaded pair of ice-cold jeans on a frosty morning! A quick 10-second blast turns them from rigid ice-packs into cosy, wearable warmth without needing to crank up the radiators!
Over to you:
What’s your favourite unglamorous household hack that cuts down bills or waste? Hit reply and let us know, we'd love to feature your idea!
WHAT WE NEED
As we tighten our structure and gear up for a busy autumn, we are actively looking for for support from our community.
A Pre-Loved Laptop:
To keep our admin and day-to-day community operations running smoothly, we are looking for a working laptop. If you (or your workplace) have a spare or pre-loved device gathering dust in a cupboard that can handle basic web browsing, word processing and admin tasks, we would love to give it a second life! Reply directly to this email if you have one to pass on.
Volunteer Manager:
Love connecting with people and organising community efforts? We are looking for a Volunteer Manager to help coordinate, support, and grow our wonderful network of volunteers. Head over to our website to apply or reply to this email to find out more.
Join our Board as a Trustee:
We're looking for new Trustees to help steer EcoCounts as we grow, and we'd especially love to hear from current volunteers and participants! Do you want to enrich your work with EcoCounts, or get more involved in shaping where we go next? If you have experience in governance, strategy, finance, or simply a deep commitment to grassroots climate action, check out the role on our website or get in touch.
Long-Term Treasurer:
Help provide solid governance and financial leadership as we scale our grassroots projects.
Carbon Footprint Data Collectors:
Keen to learn how household emissions are measured and help run our dashboard during community pop-ups like the Autumn Fair? No specialist background needed, we’ll show you the ropes!
Explore all role descriptions on our website: Get Involved - EcoCounts
STAY CONNECTED
Instagram: @ecocountsclimate
LinkedIn: Follow EcoCounts
Join our Signal Group: Stay in the loop for Monday agendas and chat with fellow volunteers. (Reply to this email for the invite link!)
We hope you have a lovely weekend. See you on Monday!
Warmly,
The EcoCounts Team
