I’m considering installing a rainwater recycling system, but the cost puts me off. Will it ever save me money?
Kevin McCloud replies Fresh water is now traded on the world’s markets just like oil or pork bellies, so it’s not difficult to see the writing on the wall. Even in the UK we’re having to get used to frequent hosepipe bans. It makes sense to harvest the most obvious source of clean, untreated water available – the one that falls from the sky. It’s free and at the very least can be stored to wash the car or water the vegetable patch. What’s more, it’s soft water, so no limescale if used in your washing machine.
Go to well-water.co.uk or britisheco.com, or the excellent aboutrainwaterharvesting.com run by TWAD, the Tamil water authority. I kid you not. The solution need not be expensive or difficult. Rob Roy, the eco builder in the first series of Grand Designs, fixed an old black plastic 100-gallon container to his downpipe; the combination of black plastic and sun gave him piping-hot water all summer.
Can you explain why burning wood is a sustainable way of heating a home over coal or gas? Doesn’t it produce as much carbon and destroy forests that produce oxygen? I know sustainable forests exist, but if everyone installed woodburners as the main source of heat in their home, wouldn’t we run out of forest?
Adam Ritchie replies The best way to understand why burning wood is more sustainable than coal or gas is a crash course in the carbon cycle. It’s important to bear in mind that the cycle operates on different timescales and for simplicity we will use trees for this example.
Over a short period of years and decades, the natural decay and burning of wood releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, while the simultaneous growth of other trees removes the carbon and gives the oxygen back. Provided trees are replanted, this is a reasonably balanced process. Now, over a slow cycle of tens of millions of years, trees which remove carbon from the atmosphere become accumulated in the depths of the earth where conditions may favour the formation of fossil fuels – say, coal.
However, in a relatively short period of time, say 250 years, we have released an enormous amount of the carbon back into the atmosphere by burning the coal as a fuel. This is not a balanced process. Burning wood will not be the right solution for everyone, especially not those in cities, but making sure the wood fuel comes from forests that are re-planted, or from waste wood products will help make woodburning a sustainable form of heating.
Need inspiration on interior design for the rooms in your house, well check out these useful guides!
Top tips from George Clarke and Naomi Cleaver!
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