New Year’s evolution

Richard Robinson, 57, director of Brighton Science Festival, Brighton

2007: “To waste less time on hot air. I’m having a T-shirt printed which says ‘Conserve energy, don’t argue with a climate change denier’. At the science festival 3R’s forum we’re going to be rolling up our sleeves, getting down and dirty and finding out exactly how to save energy. No more talk about how good it’s going to be, it’s time to act. No more hot air, just cool thinking.”

2009: “I definitely kept my New Year’s resolution. We had the Three Rs forum at last year’s Brighton Science Festival, which included how to make a difference with food, housing, transport and energy.

“This year we’ve got the Too Hot To Handle series and we’ll be talking about the whole planet. Thurstan Crockett at the council is helping us get a debate together about whether we need mitigation or adaptation. The motion is: The Government should stop searching for alternative energy tomorrow and start preparing for a climate change catastrophe today. We’ll be debating and pursuing both sides.

“I’ve also been trying to have a lodger, but in an eco house it’s not that easy. If we say we’re not putting the heating on, the lodger will come down in a T-shirt saying ‘you need more central heating’ and I’ll say ‘you need more pullovers’.

“It’s hard being ahead of the game. I gave an energy-saving light bulb to someone about 20 years ago and back then they were as big as cars. You could hardly move around the room for them. I said ‘It’s the future’ and they said ‘You’re the past!’. They weren’t grateful at all but now I can say things like ‘I told you so’.”

Jane Howard, 23, freelance artist, London (previously an art student in Brighton)

2007: “I don’t want to buy any herbs from the supermarket, I want to grow my own. Parsley is £1.80 a bunch which is such a ripoff – it dies quickly, it’s over packaged and often it comes miles to get here. It’s so easy to grow and the self-satisfaction of growing your own makes you feel better. It also adds character to your home and garden.”

2009: “At uni we did get our herbs together but never really got into the cooking. We didn’t have a garden and space was quite limited. I had a little window box, and now I’m back living with my mum and dad in London and eating a lot of home-grown food.

“It’s really rewarding and exciting. I love helping my dad tend the garden. At least every Sunday we eat something that was grown in the garden. We get lots of rhubarb and cabbage. It’s not my own house but the whole thing has taken on a bigger scale.

“Anyway, I did manage to grow my parsley. I also bought a basil plant which I called Basil. He’s still growing away happily. I think the trick is to put it in a massive plant pot. When I’m in doubt for presents now I always buy a pot of basil. I’m quite conscious of environmental stuff but I don’t do anything extremely out of the ordinary.

“Now I’m back in London I don’t feel as eco friendly as I did in the utopia of Brighton. It just feels dirtier here. In Brighton the air was fresher, it was windswept. Here I have loads of black stuff in my nostrils when I come home.”

Matt Chittock, 32, eco journalist, Hove

2007: “Despite being a ‘green’ writer I’ve managed to murder every plant I’ve ever touched. But after inspiration from The Idler’s Tom Hodgkinson I’ve decided to rent an allotment, get stuck in and grow my own veg. It’s going to be painful because I don’t know what I’m doing but, hopefully, my mates and I will make a go of it. The good life – or withered veg and sore joints – awaits.”

2009: “It’s not a very positive story I’m afraid, as I haven’t found the time to grow my own veg. It’s been a bit of a shame. I’ve seen people who are really into having their own allotments have not had the time to keep up with it because of the economy, and work commitments have taken over.

“There is a certain amount of eco-guilt surrounding it, because I was so up on the idea. On the plus side though, I have been getting stuff from farmers’ markets, buying a lot more local food and getting supermarkets out of the way altogether.

“I’ve also noticed friends who weren’t that eco-conscious before getting into the importance of buying local. One of my barometers for trends is my mum and dad. I reckon if it gets to them, it has got to the Daily Mail readers, and even they are up on the importance of buying local and how the supermarkets fit into the food system.

“It has been interesting because I think all this stuff is a process and it has definitely started me on a journey. No resolution for 2009 – I’ve learnt not to say I will definitely do something but to go with instincts instead.”

Thurstan Crockett, 46, head of sustainability at Brighton and Hove City Council

2007: “On a personal level, having found out my household’s carbon footprint was pretty low, I want to improve it further by doing more on energy efficiency at home and then looking into microgeneration. Professionally, my resolution is to be bolder. The Sustainability Team is on the move into the council’s central policy unit, which is a real step forward and should mean more sustainability influence and responsibility across the board – and opportunities to be bold: exciting times.”

2009: “I’ve done OK. I took advantage of the council’s universal home energy efficiency grant eligibility as a kind of mystery shopper and had a good experience. I got thick loft insulation at a good discount and helpful surveyor advice about low-cost draught-proofing. Too much else to do and not enough cash to go for renewables yet, but you should always cut demand first – and Warm Homes can pay almost half towards a solar hot water system, so maybe this year.

“As for being bold at work, I’ve had some breakthroughs: going for a high-profile sustainability conference and Urban Biosphere status as a city, commissioning a One Planet Living Plan with Bioregional to show how we can cut the city’s ecological footprint; committing to a short-term target for both the city and the council of a 4% annual cut in carbon dioxide emissions; overseeing an effective Carbon Management Programme internally to cut our emissions; and setting up a new City Sustainability Partnership. I’ve had a strong hand in all of these but it’s as much a collective effort of council and partners as anything else.

“I never feel as though I’m doing enough, given the scale of the challenges we face – so for 2009 the resolution is ‘be bolder still’.”

Caroline Ashmele, 35, environmental campaigner for EDF Energy, Kemp Town

2007: “Being a vegetarian I get through tubs and tubs of humous every week. I throw them away because you can’t recycle them and it breaks my heart. So my New Year’s resolution is to make my own houmous. I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time. I’m also toying with the idea of making my own bread.”

2009: “I’ve been sticking too it! I’ve been pushing my blender to its limits, and it’s amazing how quick and simple humous making is once you get into the routine.

“I’ve also been experimenting with different flavours – olives and roasted red peppers. I even tried using butter beans instead of chickpeas – it was thicker, but lighter. Well worth a try.

“I definitely feel like it’s contributing. If you think about three tubs of humous a week over the last two years, that’s 312 plastic tubs I’ve saved, it’s not bad. I’m very pleased with myself. It might seem like a small thing but imagine if everyone was doing it. I say power in numbers. It’s the little things that count, especially if you can work them in to your everyday life without too much time and effort.

“I didn’t get round to making my own bread, the reason being a deli shop opened just by my front door, which makes the most amazing home-made bread and they don’t serve it in plastic bags, so that’s dissuaded me from doing it myself.

“For next year I want to go to farmers’ markets more often and support our local farmers.”

Dan Glass, 25, activist, Scotland, (previously University of Sussex Students’ Union president)

2007: “For USSU, environmental action is now a top priority. We aim to become an ‘EcoUni’, a Sussex-pioneered accreditation scheme, including 100% domestic recycling, 50% reduction in plastic use and no flights bought within the UK. USSU stands for sustainable lifestyle choices and, ultimately, for reprogramming the doomsday machine – because if we fail in this task, we fail in everything.”

2009: “I’m not at Sussex uni any more but it all happened. I got a text the other day saying Eco Uni is over and I thought ‘Oh no’. But it was because they achieved everything we set out to do.

“Recycling and composing initiatives have spread across campus, new environmental staff have been appointed and pioneering flight reduction policies have set the standard across higher education in both the University of Sussex and the students’ union.

“Since 2007 it dawned on me there has been inconsistency in my actions. The Government likes to wag its fingers at students and working people saying it is our responsibility to tackle climate change, but behind closed doors it is making money expanding really big polluters, such as airports and coal fired power stations. It’s farcical.

“That’s why I involved myself with Plane Stupid. We take direct action against the fastest growing cause of global CO2 emissions – aviation. We’ve scrambled over the roofs of both Scottish and English parliaments to hang banners, blockaded the runways of private jets, shut down Stansted airport and Super Glued ourselves to the Prime Minister.

“Next year can only hold more challenges and opportunities. It’s an exciting time for society and I will do whatever it takes to stop climate change and the ensuing social injustice to save our future.”