The south Devonshire seaside town of Torbay is to become the first local authority in the UK to put an economic value on every one of its 28,000 trees. Using software developed by the US forest service, the town has surveyed its tree cover and calculated the benefit it brings in terms of pollution being removed from the air and energy saved due to summer shade and slower heat loss in the winter. A similar survey, in New York found that every $1 spent on tree planting brought benefits worth $5.6.

Several years ago, American researchers identified the value of woodlands in flood prevention and water purification. I’ve often wondered what role the woodlands around Loch Ness play in helping to reduce the chance of flooding when heavy rain falls on the surrounding hills. Woodlands can help slow the speed at which rain landing in the surrounding area, flows into the Loch. They can act as a natural flood defence.

Will this continue to change the way we think about the tress and forests around Loch Ness? While many trees were planted with the aim of producing timber, the Loch’s woodlands are providing a natural habitat for wildlife, a first class recreational resource, they are helping to absorb and store carbon and they could be helping to reduce flooding and provide shelter. Loch Ness trees it would seem are quite a valuable resource. One member of destination Loch Ness converted a 90 acre livestock farm into native woodlands which would more than offset their Loch Ness self catering business carbon emissions for many years.

Archie Prentice

www.practically-green.co.uk

As one of the team involved in setting up our local community recycling facility near Loch Ness, I am constantly amazed by the volumes of waste we as a society are producing.

Over 2 million tonnes of food waste is produced every year in Scotland. If just half of this food waste was captured and treated through anaerobic digestion, the electricity generated could power a city the size of Dundee for six months, provide heat for local homes and businesses, and produce enough fertiliser for ten percent of Scotland’s arable crop needs. A hotel in Glasgow recently announced it has become the first city centre hotel to partner a recycling business to recycle food waste into electricity and fertiliser.

While it can be harder for more rural businesses to engage with this new technology, pioneering Loch Ness businesses like the Lovat Hotel at Fort Augustus are already grappling with the issue of food waste. Caroline, who manages the hotel, recently installed a food composting system known as the “The Rocket”, the first one in the Highlands. This turns food waste into compost and avoids it going to land fill where it degrades, producing green house gasses.

As of 2015, not too long away, all food waste will be banned from landfill in Scotland, so expect to see many more waste solutions emerging from innovative accommodation businesses around the Loch. 

(note from A) Wouldn’t it be wonderful though if we all stopped being so wasteful with our food, it hurts me to see so much going in the bin. 

Archie

www.practically-green.co.uk