Welcome to Going Carbon Neutral Riverside

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We are

• a community organisation in the Riverside area of Stirling in central Scotland.
• taking steps to tackle climate change and high energy bills by lowering Riverside’s ‘carbon footprint’.
• working closely with Stirling Council, Riverside Primary School and other local organisations.
• part of a wider Going Carbon Neutral movement in Stirling, Scotland and the UK.
• Going Carbon Neutral Riverside have been set up with support from Stirling Methodist Church and Scotland Unlimited.

Read about our progress at our 'Energy Reduction Diary'.

Renewable Energy Feasibility Study

Thanks to the generous funding support from the Energy Savings Trust via SCHRI, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, and SUST, we have raised enough money to start the renewable energy feasibility study, undertaken by Renewable Devices, on 12 July 2007.

What is a carbon footprint?
It is a measure of the net carbon emissions arising from an entity – a community, a household, a company, or an entire area.  Going Carbon Neutral Riverside designed a carbon footprint survey for distribution to the community.  We have now collated the responses of this survey.  To read our report on Riverside's Carbon Survey please click here.

Towards a Carbon Neutral Community
Going Carbon Neutral Riverside approached the WISE Group for funding and advice, who then contacted Strathclyde University where it has become the second term project for the MSc Energy Systems & the Environment postgraduate class. Using the Riverside community as a case study, the group was able to form a greater methodology identifying three main steps for communities to reach their goals in becoming Carbon Neutral.  Read more on this study.

Carbon Neutral Bike Ride hopes for a chain reaction
Huge thanks to the keen cyclists who cycled from Ashton Hayes, England to Riverside, Scotland! Wow!  Read the full article.

What does ‘going carbon neutral’ mean?
In brief, it means working towards a point where we are not adding to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Across the world, we must reach this point very soon to keep the climate safe for our children. We believe that all of us: Government, industry and ordinary people have to play a part. View more information on what 'going carbon neutral' means.  

Free Light bulbs!
Stirling Council have generously donated 600 low energy light bulbs for the use by Riverside residents to help to reduce their energy bills, and carbon footprint. Any Riverside resident who wants some of these free light bulbs can contact - shaun@goingcarbonneutral.net. The only rules are that you must be a resident of Riverside, and have completed a carbon footprint survey, also available from Shaun, or here.

Stirling Council has awarded Going Carbon Neutral Riverside a Community Grant of £700 to cover this years overheads. This money will be used to maintain the website, pay for the hire of meeting venues, stationary costs, and has been used to help pay for a successful quiz night, held on the 9th March in the Riverbank Centre.

GCNR would like to thank Stirling Council for its help so far.

Artists Project Earth
Artists Project Earth (APE) aims to help create a better world by bringing the power of music and arts to support climate change awareness and natural disaster relief.  APE raises its funds solely through sales of Rythms del Mundo, and it can be bought in all the usual outlets or on line here.  Going Carbon Neutral Riverside are really excited that the road sign they are putting up has been funded by APE. The road sign will mean that the community of Riverside will have a very visible message to all visitors that we are the first community in Scotland to make the Going Carbon Neutral commitment.

We hope that this sign, and the associated publicity through APE and the press, will widen our message from the community level to the national, and make other communities throughout the UK realise that the road to carbon neutrality is easy, and encourage other communities throughout the UK to aim for carbon neutrality.

As a group we are happy to share our experience and answer any questions.  We would like to thank APE for their support.