Claire Teehan

Claire Teehan

Claire, from Riverside in Cardiff works at Cardiff and the Vale College in Barry. She’s a welsh speaker and is excited to be a part of the Way To Go campaign this year. She feels that there’s a great deal she could be doing to help improve her impact on the environment and she hopes to influence others through her blogs and social media activity.

“I’m really looking forward to doing all the different climate-savvy actions throughout the course of the campaign and then making them the norm as a result.”

Home Insulation and Saving Water

This task has been my favourite of all the Way to Go tasks so far.   The water butt in particular has brought back some great memories of when I used to help my Grandad in his garden.  He used to have a metal barrel that must have been filled with oil at some point but he used it to collect rain water.  He would never be seen watering his wealth of vegetables with a hose or water from the tap.  He would always say how important it was not to waste a drop of water and that since the water was falling from the sky and straight into the drains, it made no sense not to collect it for the garden.  In those days we had droughts and the water would be turned off and we had to try to save  what we needed in just one hour’s mains supply a day.  I’m aware that these days I can be quite frivolous with this natural resource and I’m grateful for the reminder and the tools to help me change my habits.  My small array of vegetables doesn’t compare well to my Grandad’s but I think if he was here he would appreciate my efforts to save water with my new water butt, although part of me thinks he would be scolding me for not creating my own out of something I already had. 

I’ve recently had my attic re-insulated due to the energy wasted with my serious lack of insulation up there.  I’ve already noticed that the house is much warmer and that I don’t need to have my heating on as much.  It’s early winter but the weather has already been quite frosty.  It’s not unheard of for me to have my heating on full but since the Get it On campaign I don’t go above 18 degrees and the insulation is helping a lot with this.  I know that I also need to seal some of my windows better as there is some cold air coming in.  I still need to find the time to complete this task but I’m confident that when I do I’ll  have a lovely toasty Christmas.

#BikeIt

This month’s challenge has been a challenge in many senses.  It is the month of holidays and I have been to France which was neither in walking or cycling distance, although we did choose to go through the Euro tunnel rather than fly as it is more ecologically friendly.  It also saved a lot of money.  The French countryside was excellent for cycling due to its easy roads and incredible beauty, (I’m a bit nervous of the roads at home due to the heavy traffic).  It was difficult to walk in France as the villages were too far apart.  At home we have made conscious efforts to walk whenever possible.  We recently went to watch the T20 cricket match between Glamorgan and Worcester; we chose to walk which was lovely and the weather was warm with a cool breeze which meant it wasn’t too uncomfortable.  Lager was our choice of beverage and I felt as though I had worked it off with the walk there and the walk back.  It was a lovely night, Glamorgan won and I was guilt free.  

I got on my bike for short journeys!

The cycling has also been very beneficial; I have learnt that you can take alternative routes if you’re nervous of the roads but also that the roads are not as scary as I believed.  My daughter has been excellent in helping me with this particular task as she has been cycling for years and knows when and where to avoid traffic and she will cycle anywhere.  I have changed the way I walk the dogs.  I would in the past have driven them to Llandaff fields and then the walk would begin.  Now we take the bikes and their walk begins immediately.  They love it and my body is loving the exercise, I’ll be going back to work a new woman.  I have also begun cycling as opposed to driving to visit my niece.  It is a seven minute drive in the car, takes about half hour to walk but is about 15 minutes for me on the bike.  It is so much more enjoyable than driving, like going back to your childhood.  Loving it!   

Car Sharing

This latest challenge to car share has helped me in more ways than one.  It was very easy to find someone in work that was willing to car share with me and she lived just seven minutes from my home.  We’ve been taking it in turns to drive to work for a few weeks now and have both seen the financial benefits.

It’s also been beneficial for work discussion and troubleshooting issues that may have arisen in work.  It’s been a great opportunity to build relationships and to change the mundane journey to and from work.  As my car sharing partner said to me on the way home on Friday, ‘having someone in the car makes a huge difference to that long journey home’.  I told her that I would be quoting that for this month’s blog!

I’ve also been car sharing where possible in my personal life.  For instance when I am going to Roller Derby I take turns to drive with my friend Ceri, again making the journey more pleasant and saving both of us a few pounds on the petrol.  I’ve noticed the diesel in my car is taking longer to go down and my annoying trips to the petrol station have decreased significantly.  I can’t see any downsides to the car sharing experience; it’s reducing my carbon footprint, helping my work life and my social life and protecting the pound in the pocket.  This is something I’ll definitely be recommending to family and friends.

#TicketToRide

This month’s challenge has really been the most interesting.  My public transport is Cardiff Bus.  As a lecturer I had to solve the issue of how I would get back and forth to work on a bus with all my marking, I usually have the luxury of a spacious boot to put anything in I need to take to work.  I also had to work out routes (not at all complicated by the way, Cardiff Bus provides a user friendly timetable) and make sure I was organised to leave early.  The first issue was resolved with the use of a lovely big rucksack.  I wear it when taking the dogs for a walk if I’ve needed to pop to the supermarket for some shopping and you really can carry a lot.  It’s actually perfect for my marked assignments.

Look at all these tickets!

The bus journey itself is so relaxing; you can drift off into your own little world while someone else takes on the driving stress.   I suppose you could always catch up on some marking but I get a bit travelsick so looking down is never good.  I just make the most of the opportunity to do nothing. I also get to see my students in a very different environment and they seem to like seeing their tutor on the bus.  Getting up early is not much of an issue as I like to be up and pottering long before I need to start getting ready for work.  It’s not ideal for everyday as some days require big boxes of work being carried back and forth to work but it is a nice break from the norm.  I’ve also found it to be an excellent self-esteem booster; it’s a real feeling of achievement when you need to put a bit more effort into your travel.

Just Enough

Well I’m still keeping the heating down and wearing my jumper when necessary, and continue to be impressed by the lack of complaints from the family.  Result.  So the Just Enough task has been a bit of an eye opener into my tea making behaviour.  I thought this task would involve some sort of mental maths which would have taxed me somewhat until some clever person pointed out that all I had to do was fill as many cups as I wanted with water and pour them into the kettle.  Simple.   The task for me was not to keep re-boiling the kettle because I had got distracted doing something else.  I realised that I very rarely just boil the kettle once which defeats the object of only filling the kettle with as much water as I needed.  I have had to learn to be very focused with my tea making and only to boil the kettle when I am absolutely ready to sit down and drink.  For me this has ticked a cuzillion boxes as I am drinking less tea (health tick) boiling the kettle less (energy tick, finance tick), using less water (carbon footprint tick) and actually sitting and enjoying a proper break (wellbeing tick).  Ok so not a cuzillion but like I said maths is not a strong point for me.  Being involved in the Way to Go team has not only saved energy and money, it is making me look seriously at my behaviour and how wasteful I have become.   This is not because I am or was a terrible person but simply because I have never taken time to look at these things before.  I have to say I am enjoying looking at the world with my eyes open for a change.  Roll on challenge number three! 

Get It On!

Well I’ve just ended my first week as part of the Way to Go team and attempting to be ‘Climate savvy’.  My first task was to wear my lovely new orange jumper instead of turning the heating up.  I have to keep the thermostat at 18 degrees and if I get cold I have to wear my jumper.   Well, I won’t lie, I dreaded the first night, especially as someone who is known to feel the cold.  My cold hands, body hugging stance and chattering teeth are legendary, as is the furnace that is my house.  I felt the first bite of cold and reached straight for the thermostat ready to flick it to the highest number, but then I remembered and reached for my jumper instead.  It was a very cold night; I think we were at 6 degrees outside, so I was not expecting miracles.   However, I have to say that once it was on I did not feel the need to reach for the thermostat for the rest of the night.  When it was time for bed I wore a vest underneath my jarmies which worked a treat.  I was expecting a few tears and tantrums from the kids but it was like they didn’t even notice!  The only comment was from my sixteen year old who wants my jumper when I’ve finished!  

No need to pop this guy on anymore!  Just put my cosy Get It On jumper on instead!

I’m impressed with my ability to cope the old fashioned way with the cold weather after forcing myself out of my comfort zone.  I feel more positive about my ability to help with climate change and I’ve saved a fair wack of cash already.  Next is to only fill the kettle as much as needed. This might involve some maths which is not my strong point, so watch this space.