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Home visits encourage sustainable living in Peterborough

by 26 Aug 2010

As Peterborough’s Green Team clocks up 2,000 home visits, Rachel Huxley, who leads on pro-environmental behaviour change at environmental charity Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT), looks at how visiting householders to help them ‘go green’ can effectively encourage sustainable living.

Peterborough, a city in the East of England with a population of around 180,000, has set itself the challenge of becoming the UK’s Environment Capital. This challenge builds on over eighteen years of environmental progress since the city was designated one of the UK’s Four Environment Cities in 1992.

Peterborough: creating the UK's environment capital

A key part of this challenge involves engaging local people in Peterborough with the environment and encouraging them to change their behaviour to live in a greener way.

Active engagement for more sustainable living

PECT’s previous projects with householders demonstrated that directly visiting residents in their homes had a far greater impact than more passive interventions such as providing advice in leaflets.

The organisation’s previous green behaviour change projects have included the three-year Seeding Sustainable Communities project, funded through Defra’s Environmental Action Fund. This project trialled the idea that there are certain times during a person’s life when they are more susceptible to breaking old habits and forming new ones. Residents on new housing developments were visited in person and assisted to change their behaviour. This resulted in 100% of the 950 homes visited making at least one pro-environmental behaviour change, with many making more than one change.

The Green Team visits over 2,000 households

Building on this project and the effectiveness of personal visits, over the past five months a dedicated Green Team has been visiting residents in Peterborough to help them reduce their environmental impact. The team has just achieved their 2,000th visit.

A Green Team surveyor talks to Peterborough residentA Green Team surveyor talks to a Peterborough resident (and his baby twins)

The team of eight are all aged between 18-25 and have been employed through the government’s Future Jobs Fund scheme. Peterborough was one of the areas awarded Future Jobs funding which helps unemployed young people aged 18 to 24 who have been on Jobseeker Allowance for between 26 and 50 weeks. Through the scheme young people are offered six month work-placements allowing them to contribute to the community and also providing them with the essential skills needed to continue to work.

The Green Team project, which is being managed by PECT in partnership with Peterborough City Council, aims to bring the city’s aspiration of becoming the UK’s Environment Capital a step closer.

By visiting people in their homes, and providing green help and advice the team is helping locals live in an environmentally friendly way. The team is also raising the profile of local environmental initiatives and collecting data to help establish what kinds of things local people are already doing to reduce their environmental impact.

Working towards greener lives for the UK’s Environment Capital

Team members conduct a short survey with all the residents they visit asking a range of questions about their lifestyle, home and local area including:

  • Did you know that Peterborough is now working towards becoming the UK’s Environment Capital?
  • How do you try to save water in your home?
  • Do you think it is important for each of us to work towards living greener lives?

Sophie Antonelli from PECT is heading up the team and is delighted with the project’s success so far:

“Between us we have spoken to hundreds of local people encouraging them to do their bit. This project is really important if Peterborough is to achieve its aspiration of becoming the UK’s Environment Capital.

“We have worked in a number of different areas in the city and overall people have been extremely positive about the project and receptive to our suggestions to reduce their environmental impact and save money. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many people are already doing their bit and believe that Peterborough’s aim to become the UK’s Environment Capital will be beneficial for the city and those living in it.

“Alongside the benefits for the city and the local people we’re visiting, there are benefits for the young people in the Green Team. Each of them is local to Peterborough and has struggled to gain the skills and confidence to get a job once leaving school. This project has allowed them to gain a raft of experience and in fact two original members of the team have now secured full time employment.”

Samantha Dalton, Peterborough City Council’s cabinet member for environment capital, praised the work being done by the Green Team. She said:

“Most people want to adopt more sustainable lifestyles and are grateful to receive some practical suggestions and encouragement to take action. The Green Team is doing some fantastic work in showing people how just a few, small changes in normal behaviour can make a big difference in improving the whole city’s environmental performance.”

The Green Team project is due to be completed in October this year when the data gathered will be evaluated and the findings published. For a copy of the project findings, please contact Nyree Ambarchian on 01733 866437 or email nyree@pect.org.uk

Peterborough Environment City Trust (PECT) is a charity which was set up following Peterborough’s designation as a UK Environment City in 1992.

PECT carries out research and implements practical projects to protect and improve the environment. PECT’s mission is to lead and support the city in delivering growth and regeneration in a truly environmentally sustainable way.

As a successful charity PECT works with a wide variety of stakeholders to make a difference for the environment – through innovation, enterprise and commitment to action on the ground. PECT has a strong track record of delivering projects of regional and national significance. It has a staff of 25 working on initiatives from green spaces to business environmental management to sustainable communities and lifestyles.

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