Sustainability at Newton Dee
At Newton Dee, sustainability is at the heart of community life. From the way we grow our nutritious food, the production of wonderful handmade products, and how we develop and maintain our homes, we strive to reduce the environmental impacts associated with life in the village.
From the beginning, we have embraced biodynamic practices in the gardens and farms, producing seasonal vegetables, compost, eggs, dairy products, and meat, without the use of pesticides or herbicides, whilst prioritising biodiversity and land resilience.
Our approach to sustainability is holistic and deeply integrated into every aspect of life in the village. In 2020, the Newton Dee Sustainability Group was formed to ensure that our environmental impact is in the community’s daily decisions and long-term planning. This group is working to guide Newton Dee’s development towards becoming an ecovillage.
The Sustainability Group focuses on five key areas:
Energy
Food
Water
Waste and Recycling
Transport
The Sustainability Group works closely with Building Development Group, which oversees the maintenance of the built environment. Co-operatively we started to promote a fabric first approach, taking care of existing renewable energy sources, and retrofitting systems to improve the energy performance. By prioritising the renovation and upgrades to many of the historic buildings instead of building new, we aim to reduce our environmental impact. For these renovation projects we are using responsibly sourced and natural materials like timber whenever possible.
Key Sustainability Initiatives
• Renewable Energy: Newton Dee’s electric supply is 100% renewable, shared between our own production of electricity and that bought from the grid from a supplier which only produces and buys 100% renewable energy. This shift has helped the community reduce its carbon footprint by 127 tonnes per year.
• Energy Upgrades: Of the 47 buildings in the village, 22 have been fitted with renewable technologies such as solar thermal panels, photovoltaic panels, air source and ground source heat pumps, and a wind turbine. Air and ground source heat pumps are replacing oil and gas boilers as part of our ongoing retrofit strategy.
• Water Conservation: Many houses and several workshops have now installed tanks to collect water to use in the gardens and a farm borehole has been reactivated to supplement water needs.
• Recycling: We have taken steps to recycle products which cannot be recycled by the local council, ensuring more materials are reused or responsibly disposed of.
• Sustainable Transport: Through support from Cycling Scotland, we’ve enhanced bike accessibility with refurbished bicycles, accessories, and a maintenance contract with a local repair shop, encouraging community members to embrace cycling as fun and safe experience.
While carbon emissions are important, Newton Dee is aware of other environmental impacts that are often not addressed, and the community is committed to reduce these impacts as well. Working with recycling and water consumption schemes, biodiversity, and rewilding projects, we strive to make sustainability a shared and accessible value by highlighting that we all can make a difference with our day-to-day tasks and contribute to a positive global change.
For more information on our commitment to Sustainability, please contact: sustainabilitygroup@newtondee.org.uk