The Green Citizens visited the Hockerton Housing Project to see how they live sustainably with their food, water, heating and electricity. Deb, who lives and works there, very kindly showed us all around the site, which is just up the road from Flower Pod Southwell. 

We had fun picking apples and pears and identifying other fruit and vegetables in the veggie patch and talked about the carbon footprint of food. Food that you grow yourself is much better for the environment than food that has been flown halfway across the world! Deb was kind enough to let us take some apples back to Flower Pod, which we turned into delicious juice. 

The residents at Hockerton have their own reservoir and the water goes through a sand filter which makes it clean enough for them to wash themselves and their clothes in. 

The eco-houses don’t have any radiators, but they don’t get cold because they have lots of windows facing the sun, and inside the walls is really thick insulation which acts like a big blanket to keep the house nice and cosy in the winter. 

The clients also climbed onto the roof! The eco-houses are half buried into the ground to add extra insulation, so we climbed up a small hill to get there. We could see lots of solar panels which they use to make electricity from the sun’s energy. Flower Pod Southwell will be getting some of our own solar panels soon so we can make electricity without burning fossil fuels. 

The Green Citizens really enjoyed seeing the chickens and sheep they look after too! 

Flower Pod Southwell and the Hockerton Housing Project are only 1.5 miles away from each other so as Deb says “we hope this is the beginning of a long journey working together”. 

The Green Citizens