Lunchtime Speaker -Steph Bleach – Zero Carbon

Our speakers this week were Steph Bleach and Maddie Evans from Zero Carbon Guildford (ZCG). ZCG
is a charity which carries out environmental projects, mainly in the Guildford area, although some of them
are Surrey-wide. It always tries to involve the local community in its projects and has 215 active volunteers.
Its guiding principles are Reducing Waste, Protecting the Countryside and Protecting Health. Steph described
five of the many projects which ZCG is leading. The Community Fridge collects surplus food from grocery
stores and supermarkets which are still in date but near the end of their shelf life. People can collect these
items free of charge. Unlike a food bank, anyone is free to take them. The object is to divert them from
landfill. Since it was set up, the Fridge has saved 25 tonnes of food from landfill and saved residents almost
£74,000. It operates from a warehouse in The Riverside Business Centre. The Library of Things is based at
Guildford Library. It rents out items to local residents, which include tools, DIY equipment, carpet cleaners
and other items which are useful but used occasionally rather than every day. Potential borrowers have to
register using photo ID and a bank card to create an account - similar a conventional library account- and
then they can borrow items free of charge. River Testing ZCG and partners test the water in Guildford’s
two local rivers, the Wey and the Tillingbourne. They test weekly for e-coli and monthly for other pollutants.
ZCG works jountly with the Wey River Trust and Water Rangers. The Sustainable Business Network is
Surrey-wide and consists of 300 SMEs. It offers advice to small businesses on energy saving. ZCG has
recently obtained funding for an energy surveyor from Surrey County Council. It also offers guidance on
creating a sustainability plan and case studies and peer to peer knowledge from Surrey businesses leading
on formulating net zero plans. ZCG’s HEAT service offers free home energy surveys to all Surrey residents.
The survey highlights where energy is is leaking out and offer advice on how to improve energy efficiency.
Maddie spoke about air sourced heat pumps and said that by using off-peak electricity they can be made
economic and save money compared with gas boilers. After questions, Sue Jackson gave the vote of thanks