Kathryn Mantovani-Davies
Kathryn is a Student Support
Officer with Carmarthenshire County Council. She lives in Llangennech, Llanelli
with her partner and three children and she’s keen to influence their approach
to tackling climate change.
“I’m really excited about taking part in the campaign
and I’m hoping to see some benefits on my health and reductions in my energy
bills by being more climate conscious.”
Home Insulation and Saving Water
It’s been a wet month
this month with some new arrivals, the inflatable Bath Block, the Water Butt,
and the Energy Efficient Shower Head. As with my first ever blog, I still find
it amazing that I can actually contribute to being climate savvy, sometimes
without actually lifting a finger and letting nature do all the work for me – as
with the water butt. My children and I have got together to record how much
rain the water butt has collected each day. We are hoping to do some maths in
March to see how much tap water we will have saved just by collecting and
storing rain water and using that to water our daffodils instead. The
inflatable water block has been a huge hit, it’s suctioned onto the base of the
bath and replaces litres of water. It’s also like a magical magnet, drawing my
youngest into the bath for some special splashing fun time. My only complaint
is that it takes up a lot of room when I’m in there with it, but if it saves
water, I can put up with it. The shower head has only just been received, so
more on that in my next blog.
We have been very brave and
climate-savvy and not adjusted our temperature in our home to suit the weather
outside. Instead, we put on extra layers and for the bedtime reading/film
session the children and I all cuddle up in one room. Bills lowered. Done my
bit for the environment. Children educated. Family bonds restored.
Moments shared. Memories made. Good times!
#BikeIt
Since
having my new bicycle from “Way To Go Wales” I’ve found a new love. I hadn’t
had a bike in years, so it’s been fun to
get back on the saddle again! I went straight out and bought a bike buggy which
I attach onto the back of my bike and have been off everywhere with my little
‘un in tow and two older children cycling (usually well up ahead of me!). I
thought I was unfit and wouldn’t be able to make the trips, but have managed
long cycles to Burry Port Harbour and to Cefn Sidan beach, and wonderful cycles
along the bay in Mumbles enjoying the beauty that this end of Wales has to
offer us. I’ve also done my bit for the environment by using my bike for
shorter journeys to the shop and tiny trips across the road to the Scouts hall
where I’m an Assistant Cub Scout Leader, to which I used to drive! You can see
my blog on my walk over to the hall on youtube #tickettoride – it only took 2
mins!!!
I’ll soon
be having a go at taking the bike onto the train to get to work, its a 26 mile
trip so I don’t feel brave enough to cycle the whole way just yet, (even though
I ran the London Marathon in April this year!) and I’ll be thanking other
“cycle to work” workers for their contribution by giving them a free bike
sticker from Way To Go Wales. I’ve had only one downside with my bike when I
mounted the pavement in an awkward manner, the buggy came off the back of the
bike and sliced my tyre and inner tube leaving me out of action for a few days
whilst I went out to buy a new set and my little one and I had to walk home –
we were ok by the way. But I’m not put off, as the new lifestyle has
contributed to me losing almost 2 stone in weight! Way to Go Kath!
Washing at 30º
The 30 for 30 challenge -washing clothes at 30 º c for 30 days has been a welcome challenge. I was well prepared for this. Having
already been challenged to reduce my heating at the start of the year, it was
no big problem to reduce my washing temperature this month.
I
wasn’t very well mid month so my usual antics on Twitter came to a grinding halt....so
did the washing. So, I decided to take the whole lot down to the local
launderette! The lady there was great, she helped me with the washing and
together we got through 6 bin liners of washing, all at 30 degrees! I’ll be
back at my local launderette on Saturday where I’ll be encouraging people to
ditch their half loads. But the best part of this month has been the generous
refund on my gas/electric bill! Thank you Way To Go for helping me to become a
Climate Savvy chick!
Car Sharing
I kicked off this month’s car
sharing venture with a visit to my local Councillor and car sharing group.
Working for the County Council means that we have already been prompted to car
share whenever possible.
I have car shared for many
years with colleagues for work purposes and with friends for longer trips so
this was a nice easy challenge. Through Twitter, I found other friends who car
share and wouldn’t have it any other way! Like me, they are delighted to have
made friends, save money and do their bit to tackle climate change all in one
go!
#TicketToRide
We are well
into May now and that means trying out public transport. I received my bus pass
not so long ago in the post – thank you once again Way To Go Wales and First
Cymru - and have been eager to use it ever since.
I have found
that, unfortunately, the bus service that goes from my home in Llangennech to
my work in Carmarthen takes 2 hours to complete. I don’t have that time in the
morning what with all the children to get ready and such, so I have therefore
decided to try to use my bus pass for other purposes and to just try a few
trips to work with my pass.
Not being a
regular bus user, I am amazed at all the planning you have to do in order to
complete a bus trip. It was last Friday when I decided to take a lunchtime
shopping trip down to the local town in Carmarthen from my work. I made my way
out to the front of the building and jumped on the bus with one of my
colleagues. I thought “this is easy!” I quickly realised on the bus that I had
no idea where it stops, or even if it went down to the store that I had planned
to visit. When the bus eventually arrived at the main depot in Carmarthen town
I jumped off it and went to find the next bus down to the store - but which one
do I catch? Was there a bus going there at all? I decided to ask one of the bus
drivers from a First bus, who was superbly helpful in informing me that I had
missed the one I needed and another wasn’t due for an hour. I decided to walk
the rest of the way to make the most of my lunch hour. Note to self, use the “Traveline
Cymru” app on phone to plan journey next time! So the jury on using the bus is
still out for me. I’ll keep trying and hopefully get used to it.
I found that I
had a flair for PR during this month’s Bus Ticket giveaway in Llanelli. We gave
away lots of free tickets to a diverse group of ever-so delighted recipients
who were looking forward to their free day trip around South Wales.
Aside from
using the bus, I have given in to walking for short trips. The shortest walk
that I have to make is on a Thursday to my Cub pack, you will find it on one of
my daily Vlogs (video blog) on Twitter @katloveswales #TicketToRide. You’ll be
embarrassed for me at the distance I have been driving to get there – the walk
took just over 2 minutes from my home!!!
I must go now,
got a bus to catch, as well as my short walk or cycle - it’s Thursday already
and my Cubs are waiting for me!”
Just Enough
It’s a big step to make any changes in your life,
especially when there are so many other things to think about. So when I was
accepted on to the Way To Go Wales challenge I wasn’t sure how this would
affect my lifestyle. Truth is....it has affected my life, but much to my
advantage. I could start with a list of before and afters, but I will leave
this up to your imagination. Basically, this is how it went before: all rubbish
into black bags, whack the heating up to full and leave it on all day so it was
warm when I got home, drive everywhere (often all in separate cars!) and let
that pipe drip endlessly with water. NOT ANYMORE!!
I have begun my year working to the ideas that the Way
To Go team have set for each month. March saw the introduction of #JustEnough.
I have started by only filling my kettle equal to one cup of water which is all
I need, how life changing is that? Not at all! In actual fact, it saves time
waiting for the kettle to fill and waiting for it to boil as there is less
water in there. I’m happy because I get my cuppa that much sooner, my boss is
happy because I’ve taken a shorter break, and we are all happy because I’ve
managed to save water and energy at the same time! When you multiply it by at
least 2 -3 cuppa’s a day then it soon adds up over a week or a month. I’m
thinking about what that saved energy can go toward instead, go online and have
a look for yourself!
But behold, obsessive traits are starting to creep in,
because now it’s not good enough just to save water. I’m now finding myself
looking around me at everything, little thoughts pop into my head such as, did
I turn the heating off or down before I left the house? Why is that light on in
the office next door if there’s no-one using the room? Who can share a car with
me next week? Why is that person overfilling their kettle? And so it goes on!
But that’s great! And well worth the questions!
Monday sees me meeting up with Matthew at Jewson’s
Building Merchants in Priory Street, Carmarthen for a photo shoot with his staff.
We will be putting that kettle on with our mugs at the ready, but only filling
our kettles up with as much water as we need! #JustEnough!! April will be an
interesting month, not quite sure how it’s going to work for me yet as I work
at least 15 miles from my home and our theme is about using public transport for
longer trips/car sharing or joining a car club. As it turns out, my car engine
has failed this week and will cost too much to fix, therefore, where there is a
will, there is a way, and I will be catching the bus/train and cycling to work
with my little princess who attends crèche near my office. Watch this space!!
That’s it for now I’m off to fix my leaking pipe!
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