City neighbours aiming to be the country's greenest street

It was ten months ago that a quiet Edinburgh cul-de-sac was chosen to take part in a year-long nationwide contest to become Britain's greenest street.

Scottish Gas supplied the residents of Colinton Mains Green with a range of energy-saving devices, insulated their homes and taught them to switch off their lights and say no to 'stand-by'. They were then challenged to beat the residents of seven other streets around the UK in cutting their energy consumption during 2008 and win £50,000 of energy-saving equipment for a community project. After an initial lead, the street has now dropped to sixth place – although it's cut its energy by 23.16 per cent. As the contest heads into its final few weeks, SUE GYFORD meets some residents . . .

NAN FAIR
At the beginning of the year it was Nan Fair's grandsons, Rauridh, 15, and Liam, 12, who encouraged her to go green – but now she's teaching them a thing or two.

When they come to stay at her ground-floor villa she tells them that she's timing them in the shower. "They used to be in there for about half an hour but now they quickly say 'I'm coming out, I'm coming out'."

The 61-year-old retired planner says the good habits she has picked up over the year have become so automatic that she will keep them up long after the end of the competition.

Along with a new boiler and cavity wall insulation, she has also appreciated being given a few back-to-basics items. "We got a carpet sweeper to use instead of the vacuum.

"It's great for when my granddaughter Emma, who is two, is eating her dinner – I can just sweep up round her, and she loves using it too."

She also received a push lawnmower and said: "It's excellent – you don't have all the bother and palaver of getting the cord out. As long as you keep your grass short it's easy to use."

While admitting to disappointment that the street is not further up the leader board, she says there could be a last-ditch attempt to improve its ranking. "We're all thinking 'What are we going to do for Christmas dinner? Go to someone else's house and make dinner there!'"

THE RAMSAY FAMILY
At the start of the project bank worker John Ramsay was learning to save energy in his home, but as the months have passed he has also found himself using his good habits elsewhere.

"If you're down in the gym changing rooms there'll be lights left on and I'll put out the lights – occasionally you'll get a shout from someone in the corner that you've not noticed. Also, switching off your PC monitor if you're not at your desk helps.

"It's not huge, but it all adds up."

John, 51, lives with wife Susan, 48, a legal cashier, and son Scott, 24, a law student.

Scott, busy with his studies, has found it a little harder to stick to the new regime, according to his dad. "Scott does spend a lot of time on his laptop and sometimes we have to work at him to keep buying into it, but in general he's not too bad."

He says the good work will continue after the competition ends.

"Energy prices being what they are, they're certainly not going to come down and it's one of the easier ways of saving a bit of money.

"Cutting down on stuff like lighting and heating can save you a few hundred pounds a year."

LINDSAY CRAIG
The lights are low in the cosy living room of biology teacher Lindsay Craig. Like Nan, he has found himself reverting to a few old-time tricks to cut his energy usage. "I normally just have standard lamps on and I put the candles on in the evening because I'm usually just watching the TV or listening to CDs," he says.

The energy-use monitor, which was a real talking point at the beginning of the year, later failed – along with all the others in the street. They were replaced, but Lindsay hasn't put his back, because he had already worked out which of his devices were the real energy-guzzlers – he now uses his microwave more frequently as it uses less energy than the oven.

Lindsay, 58, has also found that monthly competition meetings have made friends out of neighbours.

"I've lived in the street for 26 years and folk that you passed and just nodded to, now you've actually met them and know their names, which I didn't before."

He is, however, baffled by the street's rating towards the bottom of the tables. "I don't understand how the others are so low, I wonder what the rest of them are doing – it really is difficult to figure out what else we can do. We have Green Street meetings and we're all saying, 'What else can we do?', but I think we're down to the minimum – you've got to have some sort of life, you can't go back to the dark ages."

THE SMITH/LAMB FAMILY
At the beginning of the year, Julie Lamb was dreading giving up her hot baths. But the 39-year-old primary school teacher has reined in her habit. "During the week I would always have a shower in the morning and run a bath at night, whereas now I do save it for a treat on a Saturday night."

She and her husband Mike Smith, 43, who is an ecologist with the Forestry Commission, have adopted new habits such as switching off lights, but she thinks the biggest difference has been receiving a new boiler. The family were the street's biggest energy consumers at the beginning of the year, but have been the second biggest savers so far – they even received a £230 refund with their last gas bill because they'd cut back so much.

Children Joseph, nine, and Lois, six, have also got in on the act, she says. "They've been really good, they came across to the first few meetings and they were pretty aware of what it's about – they're good at switching lights off. As children, they've still got computer games and stuff, but you've obviously got to live your life while the competition is going on."

Family keeps to its energy regimen after loss of father
THE INGLIS FAMILY

Colinton Mains Green lost one of its most enthusiastic participants during the year.

Len Inglis, 52, pictured below with wife Susan, who was a wood machinist and joiner, had suffered from oesophageal cancer before the contest began, and sadly lost his fight against the disease in July.

Susan, son Mark, 21, and nephew Steven, 14, who lives with them, are still doing their best to cut energy usage.

Susan said: "I've actually not had to have my heating on as much recently – with Len not being well I had to have the heating on a lot. Now I just put an extra cardigan on. I'm not using the cooker as much because he was eating small and often, so now I'm cooking one less meal a day. My bills had gone up because I was having to use the heating more – now I'm trying to really make an effort not to."