Dave Raval

We all know that the fuel used for transportation is a major problem for the environment. This is a conundrum - travel brings communities together and cheap flights seemed to be one of the best developments of the 20th Century. But the trouble is that travel technology in widespread use today is not yet 'fit-for-purpose' - it simply uses far too much energy.

As a result, I never fly within British mainland anymore. If I need to go to Scotland, then I use a sleeper train. I also try to minimise my travel overseas, and much prefer the train if going to Europe - it's much more fun as well as being better for the environment. Booking trains to Europe is not as easy as it should be, and you can only book them 3 months ahead, but have a look next time you want to visit Europe! - try (for example) this link for more information.

The Labour party wants to build a third runway at Heathrow, which will emit the same annual amount of carbon emissions as all of Kenya. The Tories say they won't expand Heathrow but they will build another runway somewhere else near London instead. (Doh!). I am opposed to airport expansion for environmental reasons and have joined Greenpeace in their campaign to buy part of the Heathrow site to block the expansion .  

Most  of my travel within the UK is done by public transport, cycling or walking. In fact, I took a detailed survey of all the travel I undertook in one whole month (July 2009), which you can see by clicking on the 'Read More' link below. Where driving is the only option (e.g. carrying a heavy load or visitng somewhere without good public transport), then I do drive. I bought a low-carbon Mini in 2008, which was at the time one of the very lowest carbon cars on the market. Its emissions are listed here . There's also a handy reference guide to all cars' emissions here . However since about a quarter or a third of the total energy used by a car comes from its manufacture, then if you really need a car, it is generally better to keep your car for as long as you need it, rather than to replace it regularly with the latest model.

Sometimes sitting at home isn’t great for the environment either! But fortunately some things are quite easy to do to change that. I recycle everything that I can. Before that of course, it’s better to reduce the use of ‘stuff ’ and to re-use things wherever possible. I don’t buy products where there is excessive packaging. Just ask the rest of my family about how I keep on reusing pieces of paper and telling them not to waste too much water! I compost and I have a wormery for food waste. In terms of products in the house, when I have the budget to buy new appliances, I make sure they are approved by the Energy Savings Trust .

Everyone can take such actions at home. But then there is the bigger picture of changing the building you live in. Of course, one of the biggest problems in places like Hackney is that because so many people rent, they are unable to make changes to the property, but the landlords don’t care as they see little benefit in reducing their tenants’ energy bills (this problem is called ‘split-incentives’). Even council properties suffer this – the council’s so called “Decent Homes” refurbishment isn’t decent for the environment alas. The solution would be to force landlords to make changes, especially when they sell their properties or carry out a refurbishment. Energy mortgages (a Lib Dem policy for years) are great for landlords and homeowners alike as they can provide low cost funds to make changes, then you pay the mortgage back through the energy you save or the rental premium you can charge.

But as it happens, I do own my own house, in fact I bought it partly as a project to refurbish in a low carbon style and you will be able to visit my house as part of the Victorian Terrace Energy Reduction Initiative . The first thing I did was replace the light bulbs with low energy versions – compact fluorescents and LEDs. The LEDs I have only use 1.8W and the fluorescents use 7-11W. Each bulb they replaced used 50W! I put Thermostatic Valves on to my radiators. I have also fitted a ReGen Ventilator on to my roof, in place of a chimney pot. This is a world-first prototype which will provides fresh air whilst stopping heat from escaping at the same time. You can see the inventor, Thor, talk about his product in this video , alongside the fabulous Alexis Rowell who is a Lib Dem councillor who won an environment award for his fantastic work. You can read Alexis’ blog here .

The next thing I want to do is to insulate my property fully. I have asked IRT Surveys to take a thermal photo of my house so that I can see where I’m losing all the heat. I may also get an air-tightness test to see where the leaks are. I’ve already put in loft insulation and will be insulating the walls next, and replacing the windows. Most of the building work will start to happen after the General Election, when the weather is warmer and when I am not out campaigning all the time.

Once this is done, I will look into installing solar thermal on my roof, probably using the excellent Willis product which saves a lot of the money of putting solar into existing buildings.  

Finally, whilst most of this section has been about energy saving, there are other aspects to the environment too! I am fortunate enough to have a garden and I intend to plant this in a way that benefits local species, e.g. by planting wildflowers and native plants. I also kept a small woodpile over the winter to provide a place for insects to live.

I’m always looking for new ways to save energy and help the environment at home, so if you have any other suggestions, please let me know!

This is not something that many people think of, but what you eat has a real impact on the environment. Put simply, rearing animals takes a lot of energy - to grow crops for the animals, to keep them warm (if they're kept indoors) as well as to kill and transport them (usually in refrigerated trucks).

So as a result, I would encourage people to simply eat less meat. There are plenty of good, healthy alternatives. Most supermarkets and restaurants nowadays offer good veggie selections. There are also some exclusively veggie/vegan places, for example I sometimes eat at the Pogo Cafe in Hackney or (when I can afford it) Saf in Shoreditch. Or I've bought some yummy stuff from the Happy Kitchen, who have a stall at Broadway Market every Saturday. If there are other places that would like to be listed here, let me know.

On a separate point, I also firmly believe that we should not keep animals in cruelty. Death should not be a welcome relief for animals kept in horrendous conditions. For that reason, I can't stand factory farming. The first ever campaign I was involved inwas organised by Compassion in World Farming . I am also very happy to pledge my support to Vote Cruelty Free and to Friends of the Earth's campaign against the environmental impact of the livestock sector .