It’s Be Nice to Nettles Week - 14 - 25 May 2008

Highlighting that the stinging nettle plays a very important role for both rural and urban wildlife supporting over 40 species of insect including some of our most colourful butterflies.

The stinging nettle is one of the most important native plants for wildlife in the UK. An ideal home for insects.

More info here, maybe you could create your own nettle patch, but I know some allotment sheddies are well ahead of the game.

I have done my part already with a few bottle of Hugh Fernley Whittingstall wossname River Cottage stinger Ale made from organic nettles, a nice rounded beer I found…

Welcome Sheddie, this blog is about sheds! You can share your shed, or view other people's sheds. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed.

Shed tags: Beer of the Week > Environment > nettles by Wilco
No Comments »

This weeks shed is a practical and green shed, not like the blue ones I posted about last week

Wind Powered Shower Shed, New Quay, Wales

More pictures after this click

As Gareth the owner explains.

This shed is a shower and toilet unit for my parents caravan site. It was designed from scratch by myself and built with the help of the family.

The main structure is 3×2 cls with Shiplap cladding and it has a reclaimed welsh slate roof.

The internal and external lighting system is going to be run off of a 12v battery using a 100w DIY wind turbine and the hot water will be run off a Morco gas boiler.

Shed tags: Environment > Just Sheds Tuesday by Wilco
No Comments »

On the Grand designs live thing

Home Of The Year Best Eco Home Nominee - Penwhilwr

This ‘Quiet Earth Project’ two storey load-bearing straw bale house; the first in the UK, second in Europe, delivers beyond expectations. With a u value of 0.13, the straw bale walls with thermafleece in the cedar shingled roof are highly insulating, requiring only a wood burner using coppiced wood for heating. The solar panels, thermal system and wind turbine supply all requirements on a 24v system. The house is abundant in natural materials - the floors are wood, slate, glaster limecrete and earthen, with leca insulation. The straw walls are rendered with lime and clay, with a stone turret for the bathroom. All timbers are locally sourced. This is an aesthetically harmonious, chemical-free home which breathes with its owner.

See it here.

The owner and builder lived in a shed in the garden without water and electricity for 8 years while shed built it with the help or the local community

Shed tags: Environment > Shed.tv by Wilco
No Comments »

Shed of the Year judge and of course windup things Inventor Trevor Baylis explains the story behind the Eco Media Player.

You can buy them from Natural Collection

Shed tags: Environment > Trevor Baylis by Wilco
No Comments »

If you have had any shed related incidents with this weather then let me know, and photos of your shed being blown away, demolished or better still holding out against the weather, then contact me, or put them up on the Flickr shed group.

There are reports from around the country about shed incidents.

Our very Own Alex, has had weather issues.

Above is Shedworking HQ, entry barred by the neighbour’s Ceanothus tree, ripped off a foot from the ground which is a pity as its blue flowers are extremely pretty more

A spokeswoman said the council received reports of three trees falling in the south of the county, and a garden shed collapse in Wiston.

and the insurers give some good advice, but it’s probly too late now

“Also, have a quick check for any loose tiles or slates and make sure shed or conservatory windows and doors are tightly shut. And if you have a garage, use it.”

Shed tags: Environment > Shed News by Wilco
2 Comments »

I saw this the other day on the metro

Artist Sumer Erek’s newspaper house is an idea that stands up.

He is creating a house made out of about 80,000 papers.

Erek, 48, said: ‘People don’t think you can build a house from newspapers because paper is flimsy, but when it is rolled up it is quite strong.’

He said the project was about ‘making public use of a public space using public waste’.

and Alex sent me this about a house and workshop made from beercans.

Michael Stravato for The New York Times

John Milkovisch spent twenty years emptying 50,000 beer cans and recycling them into cladding for his house and workshop, using the tops for a clever sun-shading system. It opens this weekend as Houston’s latest tourist attraction. A quote from Mr. Milkovisch is on a wall: “They say every man should leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal.”

An art patron explains why Houston is home to so many zany houses: “One good thing about not having any zoning is you can do stuff.”
via treehugger

Shed tags: Environment by Wilco
No Comments »

I know most sheddies don’t have much bother with grass, better to get a bigger shed on the space or a veg plot, but as the thing is for green things, then this may be of interest.

A new breed of high-tech, environmentally friendly lawnmower producing no emissions is set to go on sale in the UK.

The Husqvarna Automower Solar Hybrid is the world’s first solar/electric hybrid robot lawnmower.
It can cut grass unsupervised, and its manufacturers say it could save up to 40 hours of labour in the garden – the equivalent of a week’s holiday – every year.

The futuristic lawnmower uses the same amount of energy as a standard light bulb and is made from 90% recyclable materials.

The area of grass it cuts can be defined using a boundary cable, which also stops flowerbeds being damaged and helps the mower find its way back to its charging station.
While not the first robotic mower to reach UK markets, the Automower is the most environmentally friendly.

Bengt Andersson, CEO of the Swedish-based company Husqvarna, said: “This is as green as mowing gets, without compromising on performance. 90% of Automower is recyclable, it eliminates the need for fertilisers, it is silent and it delivers perfect results with zero emissions.”

The blades of the mower cut the grass with small blades in an irregular pattern, leaving a fine mulch that does not need raking and acts as fertiliser for the lawn.

Shed tags: Environment > Shed Shop by Wilco
No Comments »

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham visited a Grade II-listed pigeon loft threatened with demolition.

Mr Burnham was taken to the cree, on an allotment in Ryhope, near Sunderland, by local MP Fraser Kemp.

English Heritage granted it listed status in 1998 but the land’s owners, Newcastle-based Worktalent Ltd, want to redevelop the allotments.

The cree’s owner, 75-year-old Maurice Surtees, and 21 other allotment holders have vowed to save the loft and the surrounding land and their efforts have been backed by local campaign groups and MPs.

credit: striatic

The allotment holders were offered a £250,000 compensation package to move out, but they all turned it down.

Another developer has started talks with Worktalent hoping to broker a deal to save the site.
Mr Surtees said: “My message to the developer is if he has got any decency, take the offer and leave us alone.

“We just want to live in peace. Give up? Never. I’d rather drop down dead than give up.”
Mr Burnham said: “The cree is a unique piece of culture in this part of the world.
“I represent an area similar to this one in the North West and from my point of view heritage is not just in other parts of the country.

“We have got to celebrate our culture wherever we find it.
“The cree is listed for a good reason. I know there is a decision on-going and it is not for me to intervene in that.”

The row has reached Parliament where Labour MP Fraser Kemp, whose constituency includes the cree, tabled a Commons motion backing the pigeon fanciers.

More info here

Shed tags: Allotment > Environment by Wilco
No Comments »

Building a 230ft (70m) wind turbine to supply energy to the Glyndebourne Opera House could spoil the tranquility of the South Downs, conservationists said today.

Plans to build the 850kw turbine on Mill Plain, between Ringmer and Glyndebourne in East Sussex, are being discussed at a public inquiry in Lewes.

Officials at Glyndebourne – famous for its production of Mozart operas – say the turbine forms part of their vision to cut carbon emissions by 71% and make the venue more environmentally sustainable.

I’am sure our sheddies wont have such problems putting up a small windmill on their sheds.

Shed tags: asides > Environment > Planning by Wilco
No Comments »

The UKIPO has launched this years Cracking ideas competitoin which our very own Trevor Baylis is involved.

The UK-IPO’s Cracking Ideas 2008 is launched today at the Education Show being held at Birmingham’s NEC.

Cracking Ideas offers teachers resources and activities for the classroom through a website http://www.crackingideas.com The resources link to a nationwide competition to find the inventors of tomorrow. Children aged 9-11 will be encouraged to come up with a new invention - with the emphasis on something eco friendly.

The campaign is backed by Oscar(r) winners Wallace & Gromit and uses inspiration from their new film A Matter of Loaf and Death and features their own green inventions. Prizes for the winning schools include a special screening of the new film.

Minister for Intellectual Property Baroness Delyth Morgan said it was an important initiative to get children thinking about innovation at an early age.

Trevor Baylis, one of Britain’s most famous inventors, has recently launched the innovative Eco Media Player. The inventor of the Wind-up Radio has brought the idea to a modern media player which stores 500 songs and comes with a radio and torch. It plays music for 20 hours before it needs to be charged - and this is done by cranking a fold-up handle at the rear rather than plugging it in.

Shed tags: Environment > Trevor Baylis by Wilco
No Comments »