Whether you are a cargo bike pro or have never tried one, come and join us at our launch event at Bruntsfield Links (just opposite the top of Leamington Terrace), 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm, Saturday October 26th. Hop on a cargo bike, enjoy a cake and hot drink, bring the kids and let them enjoy the Halloween-themed activities.
Since it’s the last Saturday of the month, Critical Mass will be organising a ride from Middle Meadow Walk and we hope that they will join us in the course of the afternoon — this could be a great opportunity to find out more about their initiative.
We still have a few loose ends to tie up before we make cargo bikes available for loan — we are aiming to go live on Monday 4th November. In the meantime, you can check out the Bike Library page where you will be able to register to be a member of the bike library and make a reservation.
On Thursday 9th May, 6:30 pm, BANZAI will be showing a new documentary: Why Not Scotland? The screening will be held at Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, 70 Leamington Terrace, Edinburgh, EH10 4JU.
Event Details
6.30 pm: Doors open 7.00 pm: Film (60 mins) 8.00 pm: Discussion and close
The event is free but ticketed. Please register on Eventbrite.
There will be refreshments, by donation. If possible, please bring cash.
Why Not Scotland?
Why Not Scotland? is a brand new feature-length documentary from SCOTLAND: The Big Picture. As we stand at a vital crossroads in the future of our land and seas, the film explores the Scottish landscape through the eyes of Flo, a young Scot from Glasgow. Seeing the depleted state of nature across her own country, Flo feels dispirited and, like many of her generation, increasingly fearful about an uncertain future. However, on a journey around Europe, Flo encounters a different story, finding places where nature is making a dramatic comeback and revitalising human communities. Encouraged by these stories of hope and renewal, she is prompted to wonder: if this is possible elsewhere, then why not Scotland? We really hope to see you for this informative and inspiring event.
Rewilding Scotland
Why Not Scotland? is the central pillar of the Rewilding Nation campaign, led by the Scottish Rewilding Alliance. The campaign calls on Scotland to declare itself the world’s first Rewilding Nation, committing to nature recovery across 30% of land and seas — for nature, climate and people. If you want Scotland to become the world’s first Rewilding Nation, please support the campaign by signing the charter.
Have you ever wondered what it is like to ride a cargo bike? Now is your chance! Come along to the Bruntsfield cargo bike event on Saturday 23rd September, 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm — organised by BANZAI in collaboration with Cargo Bike Movement.
On 20th June, we held a very successful public meeting on Home Energy and Retrofit. About 40 people attended, roughly half of whom were residents of Bruntsfield. Others came from further afield, including most parts of Edinburgh — Marchmont, Morningside, Tollcross, Polwarth, Meadows, Southside, The Grange, Leith, Duddingston, Portobello, Willowbrae, Bellevue, Comiston and Meadowbank.
Questions considered included:
What retrofit measures can individuals take to improve energy efficiency in their homes?
Does it make better sense to look at retrofitting groups of properties, for example in a whole tenement, rather than just on an individual level?
How might we deal with the social and financial challenges of retrofit and low-carbon energy distribution at a communal level?
There were brief presentations from three experts, followed by a panel Q&A:
Jo McClelland — RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Conservation accredited architect with EALA Impacts, a social enterprise for sustainability in the management of our built environment
Calum Duncan — Calum Duncan Architects, locally-based RIAS (Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland) Sustainable Building Design and RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) Conservation accredited architect
Cat Magill — Dark Matter Labs, a non-profit collaborating with communities to shape institutions and infrastructure for response to the climate crisis
We will shortly publish a more detailed report on the ideas, questions and challenges that emerged from the presentations and ensuing discussions. In the meantime, we thought it would be useful to make copies of the three presentations available.
We will be holding a public meeting on the topic of Home Energy and Retrofit, 7.00 pm – 9.00 pm, Monday 20th June, at Bruntsfield Evangelical Church, 70 Leamington Terrace,=.
The Retrofit Challenge
Home energy and retrofit present major challenges, both for individuals and for society as a whole. This public meeting will focus on how to approach the task of retrofitting typical Edinburgh tenement flats and homes in order to increase their energy efficiency. On the plus side, fixing the problem of wasted heat will reduce bills and improve domestic comfort. It is also going to be crucial in realising the Council’s ambition of making Edinburgh a net zero city by 2030. On the other hand, retrofitting older buildings, especially tenements, requires money, good planning, and reliable, skilled contractors. So it is important that we gain as much information and insight as we can about the options open to us.
Finding the resources to change the fabric of our homes is daunting. This meeting will address topics such as:
What retrofit measures can individuals take to improve energy efficiency in their homes?
When does it make better sense to look at retrofitting groups of properties, for example in a whole tenement, rather than just on an individual level?
How might we deal with the social and financial challenges of retrofit and low-carbon energy distribution at a communal level?
Meeting Schedule
We will start with brief presentations from three experts:
Jo McClelland — architect with EALA Impacts, a social enterprise for sustainability in managing our built environment
Calum Duncan — Calum Duncan Architects, locally-based RIAS Sustainable Building Design and RIBA Conservation accredited architect
Cat Magill — Dark Matter Labs, a non-profit collaborating with communities to shape institutions and infrastructure in responding to the climate crisis
The talks will be followed by a refreshments break, a panel Q&A session and an opportunity for informal discussions in breakout groups. The panel of presenters will discuss how their different areas of interest align and address questions from attendees, both in the plenary session and in informal discussion time.
I had a vague aspiration for many years to make a small pond in our (shared) back garden. In 2021, I finally got around to making it happen and mistakenly thought it would work best if I could just sink a smallish container into the ground. However, after a couple of failed attempts, I did what many people do, and turned to YouTube for pointers to a better solution.
The idea of constructing a pond with a butyl liner was something I’d shied away from over a number of years — it seemed way too tricky. Nevertheless, after watching an inspiring three-part series of videos on this approach from the excellent YouTube channel Wild Your Garden with Joel Ashton, eventually I decided to give it a try.
Pond construction
It took me a while to figure out the best (or least bad) location for the pond, taking into consideration sunlight, leaf litter, existing plants, washing lines and the desire paths of three Tibetan Terriers. In the end, various factors led me to constrain the hole to roughly 2m x 1m. Although a greater depth is recommended, the best I could manage to dig down was about 40cm.
Digging the hole was ‘interesting’. There is only about 10 cm of topsoil in our garden (apart from beds that have been worked and composted), followed by a layer of building rubble and then clay and stones. After removing the bigger stones, I ended up with many sacks of clay subsoil. And aches in muscles that hadn’t been used in a while.
Rather than using special-purpose fleece, as suggested by the Ashton video, I lined the hole with various large pieces of thick fabric that were lying around. This was followed by the butyl liner and then another layer of fabric, namely an decorator’s sheet provided by my neighbour Anne. Finally, I used up all the bags of subsoil to provide a low-nutrient substrate for pond plants. This approach means that you don’t need to bother with special planting baskets.
I realised, however, that I needed more subsoil for the pond margins, and making a virtue of necessity, I dug yet another hole, in a shadier spot nearer to the garden wall, which became a small bog garden. The hole was lined with an old camping groundsheet which I perforated with a garden fork, and then filled with garden compost. The bog garden was situated to receive any run-off water if the pond overflowed (as it did during the heavy downpours last year).
Because of the fine particles in the clay that I was using as a plant substrate, the water stayed very cloudy for a couple of months and I thought I might have to add something to pull the particles out of suspension. However, by September the water had started to clear considerably and is now fine.
Planting
Following Ashton’s advice, I tried to plant up the pond in terms of different zones, as shown in the diagram. Over the second half of 2021, I ended up adding all the plants shown in the list.
Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get much in the way of surface cover, that is, plants in the D and E categories. This probably led to some of the algae build-up that appeared — hopefully I can remedy this over the coming months.
Photos
Early June 2021 — the pond is in place but not many plants and the water is cloudySeptember 2021 — plants have flourished. A mini wildflower meadow has been started on the righthand side of the pond.Bog garden, September 2021February 2022
Video of pond snail
As many people have observed, wildlife starts appearing very soon after a pond is constructed — lots of insects, one frog which took up residence in a crevice under a stone slab, birds paddling in the shallows.
The pond snail shown in the little video found its way into the pond during the course of the summer. I have no idea how it got there!
One of the main virtues of a pond? I feel happy when it rains!
