Making a change for the environment - 'We just want to help make a difference'

STRAPPING on his cycle helmet, zipping up his waterproof jacket, Iain Brotchie sets off on a 12-mile commute to work, weaving his way along country roads and the Union Canal before arriving in the Capital, fresh-faced and invigorated.

It certainly would not be everyone's idea of fun. Catching the train from his home in Kirknewton to his job in the city would definitely be the easier, less-energetic option, particularly in the early hours of the morning when most people are struggling to even wake up.

But this week Iain, 35, who works at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on Holyrood Road, decided to make a change, opting for two wheels and the open road, instead of the daily, congested grind of rail travel.

He chose to "go green", after the Evening News last week selected his family as the winners of a competition to find people willing to a make a start on the path to becoming more environmentally friendly.

His wife Rosemary, 36, an employee with the homeless charity Shelter, wrote the winning 200-word pledge, explaining how she and Iain, along with their children Harriet, four, and Thomas, one, would do their best to make a difference, from planting vegetables to cutting down on tumble drying, turning down central heating to opting for cycling instead of using their car whenever possible - all small but important steps.

"Iain's actually been enjoying the cycle to work," says Rosemary. "It is 12 miles there, and 12 miles back, but he used to feel quite tired when he came home from work yet now he says he actually has more energy."

As well as winning a host of "green" goodies, including an eco-friendly washing machine, on Monday the Brotchie family will meet Prince Charles when he arrives in Edinburgh to launch his green initiative Start, a scheme established by his charity, The Mayday Network, to promote a more sustainable way of living.

Rosemary and Iain will be able to tell him what their "green" goals are, and what steps they have already made in the first week of their new lifestyle.

"We've done quite a lot already," explains Rosemary. "But I don't want to give people the impression we are doing something extraordinary. We're just a regular family making small changes to our lifestyle. That's what this is all about."

As well as cycling to work, Iain and Rosemary took their children on a long bike ride in the countryside, packing a picnic and making it a cheap, environmentally-friendly day out - without their car.

The family also bought more recycling boxes, but decided a lot of their waste could also be given to Harriet's primary school, where teachers are keen to collect supplies for craft classes.

"That would allow us to re-use stuff rather than just chucking it out," says Rosemary.

In the home, an energy monitor has been put in place, allowing the family to work out exactly how much electricity their appliances use, meaning they will be more aware and cut down where possible, saving money and helping the environment.

This includes turning off lights, only using water that is needed when boiling a kettle and not using a tumble dryer whenever possible.

This week, Rosemary also spoke with Judith McDermid, from West Calder, whose family was crowned the most eco-friendly in Britain in April, following a national search by the Future Friendly Awards.

The family was awarded 10,000, allowing them to boost their already environmentally-conscious lifestyle and create a smallholding with chickens, bees and vegetable patch. The family's recycling and energy-saving efforts are even detailed on their website, www.gruinard.org.

"Judith shared a lot of her experiences with me," says Rosemary. "We spoke about renewable energy, particularly things Iain and I would like to do to our home in the future.

"But we focused more on small changes we can make at the moment, a lot of which I had already thought of, but that I need to do consistently.

"It's easy to think that to be environmentally friendly it has to be an 'all or nothing approach', but it's not. Some days we may have to use our tumble dryer for example, but this is about making changes when we can."

One of Rosemary's key goals was to stop using her dishwasher, convinced the luxury doesn't help the environment.

"But Judith told me this is not necessarily the case," she explains. "A full dishwasher, used once a day, can often be more environmentally friendly than doing lots of washes throughout the day.

"This is the sort of thing I am going to look into more so I can be fully informed."

Rosemary and Iain's efforts have not stopped there. This week they joined a local allotment group and plan to plant more vegetables in their back garden next year.

Composting is also under way, Iain has stopped letting the tap run while he cleans his teeth and the couple have refrained from tumble drying Thomas's cloth nappies, instead using a clothes horse.

"When it comes to the allotments, we're not planning to become totally self-sufficient," Rosemary says. "But it's nice to grow some vegetables of our own. We planted sugar snap peas and potatoes last year and the children really enjoyed them. We managed to get a meal out of it at least."

As Rosemary described in her moving competition entry, one of her key motivations to become more "green" is because of her children.

"Obviously Thomas is too young to understand any of this," she says. "We have tried to explain it to Harriet although she doesn't really understand it.

"We're on a journey now and any changes we make will become common place to our children. This is all about them and the legacy we can leave."

The Brotchie family pledge to be greener

"We want to start by rethinking how we use our time. We want to make time to think - thinking before we set out from home whether our journey is necessary, whether there is something we can do locally that we can walk or cycle to? Do our clothes really need to be tumble dried and can the dishwasher have a day off?

Shutting windows and putting on jumpers should be our first thought as the autumn arrives. And as winter forces us indoors, we want to begin to plan for the future.

We could start next year by planting peas and potatoes, watching them grow and then cooking our own vegetables. The more we think, the more we realise what better uses we could make of our time - slowing down, letting go of the drive to renew and replace, looking for ways to contribute rather than consume, thinking of our children - and their children."