Gareth Jones

Gareth Jones

Gareth is a district nurse from Mold, Flintshire. He lives with his wife and two dogs and is keen to get involved in the campaign to learn about more climate savvy behaviours and bring himself up to speed with his more climate conscious wife.

“We’ve recently moved to a new house and we’re keen to save some money, so I’m looking forward to learning more about the different challenges as the year goes on. It’ll be interesting to see how easily we can implement these actions into our daily lives.”


Home Insulation and Saving Water

Since my last update regarding the Way To Go campaign, the weather has changed, it’s got a lot wetter, a lot colder but surprisingly (compared to my attitudes last year) I’m automatically implementing some of the ‘tasks’ that this campaign has encouraged me to do.

Firstly...through the summer my wife and I (and especially the dogs) enjoyed spending time in our local area just walking around, discovering new places and leaving the car keys behind. I think we’re still recovering from one epic 15 mile walk! Even my mum got used to me randomly turning up on her doorstep (7 miles away) on my bike. I didn’t mind the ride down, the main problem was the ride back - uphill all the way!!  Nearly killed me initially! Lol. 

Also, thanks to this campaign I’m best friends with the washing machine and the setting for all washes now rarely leaves 30 degrees. One of the personal challenges my wife and I set this autumn was to see if we could leave the heating off until November! Scary thought!

Through October we cleared some trees in our garden, collected all the papers we could, even collected twigs on walks and we cranked the wood burner up. The best way we could describe our lounge on most evenings through October was ...toasty........and the heating was free!!   Yey!    Admittedly the heating has gone on now, although it’s at least 2 months later than last year.  And with the turn of the weather  comes the rain.  Which also means storing up the water!   Our water butt is now fully functional and merrily filling up! 

#BikeIt - A Tiring Summer!

Well since my last update a few things have happened....summer arrived, a bike arrived, and an increased effort and awareness in ditching the car keys in favour of some foot/pedal power was made. Throughout this year I have been striving to save water, conserve heat and generally become more aware, and spread the word regarding conserving energy. Now that it’s the time of year it pays to be outside, the next step was to embrace the outdoors and reduce the impact of cars on the environment. 

I have taken to the bike...unfortunately not for work as for that I would need to be Bradley Wiggins!!....and have started taking advantage of a lot of the back lanes and coastal routes around the area where I live to ride my bike. Using the car to visit friends a couple of miles away, popping down to the shops, taking the dogs for a run, I hadn’t realised how many miles were racked up, and how much petrol I used to waste on easy routine jaunts! By using the bike, more often than not, I actually got to wherever I was going a lot quicker too!  It’s quite a nice feeling coasting past a line of stationary cars stuck in a traffic jam!  

The 8 mile journey down to my mum’s house has now become a feature of my weekly routine, although the 8 mile journey back uphill isn’t the most pleasurable of experiences!!  But the benefits are obvious...I’m feeling fitter, I’m spending less money on petrol and more importantly my carbon footprint is reducing at a rapid rate! Even my wife is now jealous and wants a bike for herself! Ah well......there goes the spending less money theory! Never mind, at least we are having fun!  Way to Go!!!!!!

Washing at 30º

Now I knew this month’s task for the Way To Go campaign was going to me a bit more of a challenge for me than the others. Not from a physical point of view, nor from a ‘hardship’ perspective but I was being asked to undertake a task that I had very limited experience in......doing the washing!!!

Now I know it sounds awful that as a grown man I knew little to nothing of how the washing machine worked........First I had my mum to do it...then when I lived away I took it all back to my mum’s house ....and then I got married and my wife did it. It’s just something that I have never needed to learn how to do!  So when the challenge was to do all the washing at 30 degrees, I feared that this was one challenge that was beyond me!  So I roped in my wife to give me some lessons....admittedly a bit embarrassing but what the hell! If it saves energy, saves water and saves money then everybody is a winner.

My wife was more than happy to help, although her reservations seemed to stem from the fear that washing at 30 would ‘never get the clothes clean, and I will only have to do them again!’. None the less we gave it a go.

‘You put the washing liquid in here......You put the ball in with the washload......You turn the dial to 30’.  All the instructions were given, and I followed them precisely and like magic the washer worked!  My wife laughed as I was overly pleased with myself that I had managed to do this by myself!  Well I felt that it was an achievement!!!

The washing came out perfect to the point that even my wife was surprised by how well it washed!   We are now both converts! I have even done the washing on my own now with success!!  Woohoo!

Next to grab a bunch of people to invade the local laundrette as a ‘Wash Mob’!  Keep an eye out for the pics!  Should be fun!

Car Sharing

The next challenge is upon us and it is all about the joys of car sharing, to reduce car use and its effects on the environment. Now I will be perfectly honest from the start, I am a District Nurse so it has been a little more difficult for me to fully embrace this month’s challenge, what with being a lone worker and needing my car for visits.

Therefore, this month’s challenge has mainly been lived through my wife!

Recently she started a new job, about 10 miles from home, and during the ‘getting to know you’ process with her work colleagues she mentioned about my role with the Way To Go team. A few were interested and through these chats she found out that a couple of the girls in the office all lived locally to us. So a car sharing plan was devised! For the past 3 weeks the girls have taken turns driving to work and they love it! My wife has found it a lot more convenient, catches up on the gossip, saves money from a petrol and parking perspective and it has also taken two cars off the road! Ideal!

From my side of the bargain…the bike has been getting a run out! A few trips that I used to make in my car are now being done via pedal power! Personally I feel better for it and look forward to having a few more bike rides now the sun is beginning to shine.

Next challenge is using the washing machine at 30º…first question… ‘Lynn, how do I switch the washing machine on??”

#TicketToRide

Well since I have started campaigning and advocating climate change through the Way to Go campaign, my own awareness and attitudes towards conserving energy, appreciating the environment and all round climate change has spiralled.

Now the weather is improving (well it is according to the weatherman!) it’s time to discover the great outdoors. Whether it be exploring new places, seeing old friends or just chillaxing, summer is on its way its time for us to enjoy it responsibly. From my own perspective, having recently moved back to Wales with my new(ish) wife and two dogs, its fun rediscovering all those local places I used to know as a child. And who needs a car to get there? Loads of little villages are situated on bus routes and we can stop off, have a cheeky glass of wine and not worry about the car journey home. Also, how much of a pain is it to constantly circle a city centre car park looking for that space. More often than not there is a perfectly good bus stop/train station pretty close by, and especially with the price of petrol it makes more and more sense to use public transport to get about.

I had a great day!

I spent and enjoyable morning recently at Wrexham bus station, handing out free tickets to unsuspecting people waiting for their particular bus to arrive. The tickets, given as an appreciation for using public transport, were initially treated with suspicion but then the smiles broke out. People used the tickets to get to work, get home, go to the shops – whatever their particular reason was, they were all gratefully received. Way To Go!

For the next months challenge, it’s all about advocating car sharing to again cut down on usage of cars. I will be meeting with the leader of Flintshire County Council and hopefully increasing awareness again. Keep and eye out for the pictures as I will post them to Facebook when they come through.

Just Enough

Well here we go again..energy saving task no. 2!   Don’t waste water by overfilling a kettle, use 'Just Enough' for what you need. How easy is that! 

The wife always complains that I waste water.....'When's the coach load arriving??' she often says as I am pouring litre on litre into the kettle. Force of habit I suppose. In my head it was convenience. It will get used eventually, but invariably it didn't.  Just went back down the drain.  Until I started this task I didn't fully appreciate how much water was being wasted, let alone the energy being used in boiling a full kettle. 

Now for the acid test...we are having a new kitchen fitted and that means builders in the house. The tea consumption is going to sky rocket, so the wife and I come up with an idea. We are in charge of the kettle, the builders don’t like it but tough. As the thirst grows in the builders we begin to pour the water, just enough to fill their cups and no wastage in the kettle. In all fairness they took it in good spirits, and were amazed by how quick it took the kettle to boil. By my reckoning we saved at least 2 kettles full of water on the first day alone.  Very impressive!

As a hardened coffee drinker, changing my ways in order to conserve energy is a hard habit to make but is necessary in ensuring that energy conservation, along with water usage is maximised. Most of the seemingly simple tasks are more difficult than they seem as they tend to involve changing ingrained habits, but they are all a means to an end and luckily for me, this habit has well and truly been changed.

Get It On!

When I saw the advert from the Way To Go team looking for volunteers, I called knowing that this could and would be a good opportunity to help others, help myself and have a little fun in the process. Four years ago I was probably the target market for a campaign such as this. At the time I was single, living alone, takeaways most nights for convenience and the heating ramped up in the house so I could wear shorts in January! It was all work, work, work with little time for outdoor activities or even considering impacts it was having on myself or the wider world. Since that time I have met and married a gorgeous lady, have a little 'family' of two dogs and have moved back 'home' to Wales. My wife is very much an advocate of healthy living and very conscious of the impact that we are having on the world we live in. As such my awareness of the effect that we have on the world we live in and the role we have in protecting it has risen significantly. 

Although some of the measures the Way To Go team are advocating seem small and simple, the effect they can have not only on a personal level, by reducing heating costs and improving health measures, but can have an effect on improving the climate that we live in. Our thermostat is already down to 18 degrees, we are wearing that extra layer to stay warm when needed. Over the coming months the challenges ahead are going to be fun and hopefully I will be sharing some pictures with you as the year rolls on.