Sustainability and the environment

Activity 8        Save a plastic bag and make a fashion statement

Each year in the UK we use 8 billion plastic bags equivalent to 134 per person. The vast majority of these end up in landfill sites and they are believed to take up to 500 years to decompose. With very little effort we could reduce this waste problem simply by going out with a reusable shopping bag like people did in the old days. For maximum longevity and style why not go for a woven willow shopping basket?

Activity 19      Grow your own firewood

Willow wood is generally classed as second rate firewood. This is because the wood can contain up to 60% water when harvested and when dry burns very quickly. However, a willow coppice is very cheap and easy to establish and produces a good crop in only a few years. This activity explains how to grow a mixed coppice of willow and ash to provide wood for your wood stove.

Activity 20      Green up a challenging site with willow

Willow trees and shrubs are true pioneers and survivors. This colonising ability makes certain willows ideal candidates for providing green solutions for many problem sites including derelict and disused land. Whether they are planted on a capped landfill sites or an ex sewage farms willows can be thanked for turning barren blots on the landscape into attractive, green oases providing valuable wildlife habitats.

Activity 25      Beat the wind with a willow windbreak

Willows can provide very effective shelter from the wind and are used in the horticulture industry to protect soft fruit, crops, reduce heat loss from glasshouses and reduce wind damage to polytunnels. Windbreaks such as those described in this activity can also be used as sight screens and noise barriers.

Activity 27      Protecting a riverbank from erosion using willow spiling

Throughout history humans have utilised the close association of willows with water courses to help stabilise riverbanks. One of the commonest ways to alleviate riverbank erosion uses the traditional technique of spiling, basically the creation of living willow hurdle which acts as a retaining wall.

Activity 57      Construct a living willow snow fence

Snow is a major cause of disruption on roads and highways in Northern Europe and North America. Snow drifts not only cause road closures and hazardous driving conditions but also are a major expense. Using living willows to create snow fences is much cheaper and more effective than conventional options. Here’s how to do it.

Activity 62      Consider biomass for your energy needs

At present SRC willows are being grown commercially in Sweden (18,000 hectares), UK (2,000 hectares, mostly in Yorkshire) and USA (200 hectares in New York State). In Sweden biomass is used to produce both heat and electricity as part of district heating schemes whereas in the UK and US it is mostly mixed with coal in small quantities and co-fired to produce electricity only. This activity tells you how it’s done.

Activity 68      Using willows to stabilise an eroded slope with brush layering

When you drive along a motorway you are certain to see roadside verges covered in vegetation and trees. This is one of the simplest forms of what is known as bioengineering or the use of plants to protect the soil surface from erosion caused by rain and water flows, wind and frost. The technique of brush layering involves embedding willow branches on horizontal platforms in the face of a slope.

Activity 84      Try your hand at hedgelaying

One of the most familiar features of the British countryside is the hedgerows that border farming fields. Willows are not generally a first choice for hedge laying but are suitable for exposed or wet sites. Flexible willow rods however are the best material for binding or hethering the top of Midland style hedges designed to restrict the movement of bullocks.

Activity 98      Make your own BBQ charcoal in an oil drum

Today, the main use of charcoal is for barbecues and in the UK we use 60,000 tonnes per annum. Of this, only 5% is produced locally whilst the majority is imported from largely unsustainable sources such as tropical forests and the endangered mangroves of South East Asia. The activity below describes how you can make your own charcoal.