Despite the heat (is it trying to tell us something?) we had a wonderful day at Cranleigh Carnival. Lots of people stopped to have a go at the quiz and receive a fair-trade banana as a reward. We are very grateful to Cranleigh Co-Op, who donated the bananas. Only one banana was left at the end of the day – a reward for one of our stall holders!

Joining us were volunteers from the Zero Carbon Guildford home energy advice team (HEAT), who talked to visitors to our stand giving out advice and low energy light bulbs.

Thank you to everyone who stopped to have a chat and have a go at the quiz. We really enjoyed all our conversations with you and eating fairtrade bananas!

CARNIVAL QUIZ

1. Why are bananas a good buy?
2. How much does 1 unit electricity and 1 unit of gas cost?
3. Think of 3 tips for keeping your house COOL in summer.
4. In winter, how does most heat escape from your house?
5. How thick should loft insulation be?
6. Can you think of three more ways to Save energy / money?

Here’s a peep at the quiz – with Cynthia and John enjoying their fairtrade bananas after getting it 100% correct (but you only needed to enter to get a prize).

Intrigued? Here are the answers:

1. Bananas are good because they have loads of nutrition (140 calories, Vitamins C, B6, potassium and fibre). They grow in natural sunlight (don’t need a greenhouse). Travel well and are shipped by sea (~1% air travel). They don’t need packaging: they provide their own!
2. Electricity: 26p/unit, Gas: 7p/unit. (1 unit = 1 kWh)
3. Three tips to keep your house cool:
   Close doors, windows and blinds when it is hotter outside than inside. Open when the other way round,
   Cover the outside of the sun-facing windows with sheets, towels, silver foil, to shade the glass and stop the sun getting through,
   Don’t use the oven.
4. Most heat is lost through walls (~35%), roof (~25%) then windows (~10%).
5. Loft insulation should be 270mm
6. Lots of options for this one: reduce drafts, turn down heating thermostat to 18C, lag hot water tank, draw curtains at night… And that’s just in the house – there are loads more things you can do elsewhere. See our pledges post for more ideas.

There are 3 great reasons to attend Cranleigh Climate Action AGM this year:

1. A wonderful venue as we shall be holding our meeting in the beautifully restored 17th Century Great Green Barn, Upper House Lane (Run Common Road end), Shamley Green, GU5 0SX, with refreshments available. 
   https://www.greatgreenbarn.com/
2. An informative and stimulating talk by Professor Steven Baker of UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory entitled “Measuring and Monitoring Climate from Space”, covering: What we can measure from space, what this tells us about climate; what we can say for sure and where uncertainty remains; and predictions for the future.
3. A chance to hear all about the success of our Library of Things and other developments in Cranleigh Climate Action.

Do come along, ask questions, make suggestions, and give us your support.

As it’s the AGM you will also have the chance to get more involved if you wish, as the present officers and committee will stand down at the meeting.
Members  and supporters are all encouraged to put themselves forward for officer roles, chair, secretary and treasurer or for the general management committee.

If you would like more information on roles and activities, do contact us by email, or phone.

Last Saturday, in our regular pop-up outside Cranleigh Co-op, we talked about ideas for coping with the new unpredictable climate, droughts and inundations. We also had lots of tips for attracting wildlife to the garden, which can help make the garden more resilient and provides safe spaces for other creatures.

The fun part was helping children to make little newspaper pots, fill with compost and then sow a seed (or two!) of their choice: sunflower, nasturtium, runner or French beans.

Cranleigh Climate Action is backing the Our Future Surrey Pledge for the May 2026 elections! 🌳

With new Unitary Authorities being formed, we have a once-in-a-generation chance to shape priorities from day one. The pledge asks all candidates to commit to what Surrey residents have told us matters most.

✅ Cut energy bills & create green jobs

✅ Make transport affordable, accessible & healthy

✅ Protect & enhance nature for everyone

✅ Build healthy, sustainable communities

✅ Empower communities

These aren’t abstract goals but solutions to real problems like congestion, high bills, and feeling unheard. For more detail about the pledges please see Our Future Surrey Pledge and for more information about the campaign go to https://ourfuturesurrey.org.

We asked Cranleigh residents at one of our regular pop-up events what they thought of the pledges and got a very positive response, with many writing postcards which we forwarded to the candidates.

You can still ask your local candidates to sign! You can see who’s already committed at ourfuturesurrey.org

#OurFutureSurrey #SurreyElections2026 #OurFutureSurreyPledge

Another scorching Carnival Day in Cranleigh – where lots of visitors took part in our quiz.  The children did very well – they know their stuff!  Do you know how much energy just one email uses?