Taking the green dream to extremes

Jed Milroy, 29, musician, Leith Walk

AS A banjo and guitar player – with amps and a microphone stand – who gigs across the city and beyond, Jed Milroy has the kind of job that most people would say was dependent on a form of motorised transport.

As would Jed himself – until the 29-year-old's VW Transporter blew up on the city bypass last Christmas in the pelting snow.

"I had to wait about four hours for the AA to come as they were getting lots of calls because of the weather. Sitting in the back of a van on the bypass in the snow, all I could think was there must be a better way. This is a hassle, it costs a lot of money and the environmental question was in my mind."

The van was costing him around 150 a month – now he's slashed those costs by converting to a bike. With a trailer for his banjo and guitar, panniers for his amp and his microphone stand strapped to his handlebars, he can easily reach any gig in town. The furthest he's gone is 56 miles to Falkland Palace in Fife to play at the Big Tent Festival.

Jed, who plays with bluegrass band The Southern Tenant Folk Union, and folk band The Homecoming String Band, laughs: "It took me five hours – then I had to play a ceildh for three hours! But I went on the coastal path from Musselburgh to Fife and it was beautiful."

His original bike was stolen at Hogmanay – and his new bike is greener still, made up of old parts rescued from skips and put together by his pal, Bill Rennie.

Getting used to the physical strains of cycling took around a week. "Not everyone is able-boded enough to do it, but I think a lot of people would be fit enough if they gave it a go for a week," says Jed, who also uses his trailer for the weekly shop.

But if a gig really is out of reach for a bike, Jed does hire a car for a day. "It still works out cheaper and you have to make it work, it's got to be reasonable," he says.

At home – Jed lives with partner Joanna Jefferies, 27, a dancer – he also tries to be green, but living in a rented flat means major home improvements, such as fitting insulation or double-glazing, are outside the couple's control. Instead, he has fitted heat-shrink film on old-fashioned sash windows as a cheap alternative to double glazing and says it's made an incredible difference (visit www.merelake.com/window-insulation-film/index.htm).

And while having no hot water – other than that from the kettle and their electric shower – sounds extreme, Jed says that, in the circumstances, it's not. "At our last place, the boiler was very inefficient – we realised we were heating up a whole tank just to wash our hands. That's when we realised we didn't need it. If we had our own place and a Combi-boiler which just heated up what we needed we would use that."

He's also a fan of Freegle, the website where unwanted goods are offered for free. "When we moved from our last place, we put the furniture we couldn't take – and wouldn't be able to sell – on Freegle. Within ten minutes we had loads of replies and the next day everything was gone, a lot easier than getting the council to uplift it!"

The Ferrigan family, Currie

IT WAS 25 years ago that Mike Ferrigan began trying to live a greener life – today, along with wife Carole Ferrigan, 48, and daughters Mairi, 15, and Rhian, 13, the family live by the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

In the mornings, they don't switch on the heating, they brush their teeth with a minimal amount of water and cook up an organic breakfast using mainly local produce and ingredients from their own allotment.

Even in winter, the family only heat one room in the house, the living room. The rest of the time they rely on hot water bottles and thermal clothing.

Mike, 52, says: "Many methods are actually simple, although they take a bit of time to get used to. As a family we started off with recyclable nappies, which doesn't sound the most pleasant, but it's got a bit easier since then! And we grow our own veg."

Mike also reveals that there are innovative tactics to ensure that less water is wasted. He says: "If you take the top off the loo and place a plastic bottle filled with about two litres of water, this reduces the water loss every time you flush by about two litres. It's a good method because the toilet is a terrible source of water waste.

"My wife is also great at making old materials useful. She is a scout leader and they are currently creating an allotment so she is using old tyres to create the vegetable beds and she uses old railway staples to create raised beds."

Mike has also set up green organisation PIPER, which aims to educate children and adults about green policies to help create eco-schools and eco-homes.

However, there is one energy-draining luxury that Mike can't give up: the footy on TV. He says: "I haven't managed to give up watching the game, but it is far better than travelling hundreds of miles to the match in a car. That is a terrible generator of carbon. Apart from football, I only watch the news so I allow myself that from time-to-time. "

www.piperonline.org.uk

Carrie Todd, 47

children's entertainer, Clermiston

WITH two kids in the house, single mum Carrie Todd might be forgiven for taking the easy route and slinging unused food into the bin.

Instead, the 47-year-old can say with pride: "We never throw any food away." A compost heap takes care of much, while unused cooked food goes out for the birds or other animals – "If I have a chicken, then I make chicken soup and bones go out for the cats." Lots of scraps, from old apple cores to heels of bread, get munched up by the family's guinea pigs.

And while her children get some Christmas presents bought new from their inevitable wishlist, Carrie has a strategy to make the festive season a little more environmentally friendly – and a little less expensive – by shopping in charity shops. She recommends those in Stockbridge and Corstorphine.

Daughter Cora, 10, received a fortune telling teacup, which cost just 1 or 2, and a CD player for 5. And some charity shop finds can prove more popular than longed-for toys – her son, Dorian, five, adores a game bought from a charity shop which involves shooting fake beer cans with a toy gun.

"It's a real guy game, but it doesn't need batteries or make a lot of noise, it's just an air-pump thing. It's really good compared to other guns which just get broken or continually need batteries or caps," she says.

And to ease her children into the way of thinking about recycling and passing on possessions they no longer use – and to clear space for new toys – before Christmas she gets them to clear out their old toys and sell them for cash on Gumtree. "It is kind of a bribe," she laughs, "but it brings them gently around to the idea that if you can't get much benefit out of something, then maybe someone else can."

She also doesn't have a car and uses a trailer and panniers on her bike to get to jobs. Aside from the fitness and thriftiness that having a bike involves, she says there are other advantages. "If a car breaks down you are stuck. If a bike breaks down and you haven't got the things to fix it, at least you can just get in a taxi with it and get home."

With the children, she sticks to quiet roads and cycle paths – she says most people would be amazed at how many there are in Edinburgh – and she says by riding a bike herself she teaches her children invaluable road sense.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT . .

EDINBURGH, West, East and Midlothian Councils provide recycling and other environmental services, such as allotments – visit their websites for details.

&149 The Energy Saving Scotland advice centre South East covers the city and Lothians. Call free on 0800 512012 Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, for advice on easy, low-cost ways of cutting energy use and bills; insulation and grants or funding to help with the cost of installation; generating your own heat or energy through small scale renewable technologies and the grants and funding available; how to eco-drive, information about purchasing a low emission vehicle or finding more sustainable ways to travel; and how to apply to the Energy Assistance Package.

Edinburgh-based Changeworks (www.changeworks.org.uk) can provide advice on real nappies, composting – with master composters who will come out to homes – reducing kitchen waste through their Kitchen Canny project and charity shops.

It is possible to erect solar panels even in conservation areas – The Grange Association is running a project in that area, visit www.grange-energy.org/

Reusing is better than recycling – the Evening News has a huge range of second-hand goods at rock bottom prices in its Bargain Basement section or try Freegle for free goods. Katie Kerr, 51, of Bruntsfield, also recommends trying auction houses, such as Ramsay Cornish in Leith and Lyon & Turnbull,.

Don't throw your used cooking fat down the drain – recycle it instead along with other kitchen scraps into free food for birds. Visit www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/feeding/index.aspx for more information on how to do it.

Check out www.greenerleith.org for advice and information on green issues in the Leith area

The Try Cycling project which shows individuals and families safe routes around Edinburgh is currently suspended but is due to restart this year – keep an eye on the website, www.trycyclinginedinburgh.org.uk/. Or visit www.cycling-edinburgh.org.uk/ for information on cycling in the city.