So here we are – Barry’s first handy hint covers the whole tricky business of bleeding your radiators. And when we say tricky, this is a tough one. It must take all of about 30 seconds. But it’s really worth doing.

When excess air gets into your radiator, you will find it doesn’t heat up efficiently – there may well be an Arctic-type chill coming off the top two thirds – and you are left wondering why you are burning up so much fuel and yet still shivering round the tootsies. In short, here’s one you can try at home:

Claire wants to know the extent to which these trees help the local community in addition to offsetting global carbon emissions.

Good question. Happily the people of Kumbo and the surrounding areas are benefiting on several different levels, including local employment and income generation.

• All the trees were nursed locally and planted by local farmers.
• The 10,000 new trees will protect the land from erosion and preserve water catchment areas.
• Many planted are medicinal trees highly valued by the traditional herbalists of the area.
• The tree programme is also combined with a apiary venture generating revenue from bee farming.

Subscribe to our Grant Management Blog updates and stay informed of progress in Cameroon as the project matures.

Matthew Douzart, project director of the Himalayan Institute Cameroon, has just written to tell us that the first 10,000 trees have already been planted in protected reforestation plots and water catchment areas and plans are well advanced to plant more trees after the rains start next spring.

Sponsored by Global Trees, the forestation work is part of a project run by the Himalayan Institute, a non-profit, international organisation committed to humanitarian programmes.

Their new community centre near the town of Kumbo (Google map) is intended to be the first of many spread across Africa offering practical support and empowerment for local communities.

Matthew Douzart reveals that, of the funds allocated, 94% went directly to tree planting with plenty left for thousands more.

If you would like to know more about the project, there are details on the Himalayan Institute Cameroon web page and photographs from the most recent tree planting on our Flickr pages.

First, The Sun launches a hunt to find the greenest school in Scotland while urging school children to raise enough money to plant a new forest.

Every school which takes part will be awarded a commemorative plaque while the school which raises the most money before the 2008 school holidays will win a specially-commissioned steel sculpture by Andy Scott.

For every £5 raised by their efforts, Global Trees will buy a tree to be planted by the Central Scotland Forest Trust in the a new forest at Carron between Falkirk and Stirling.

The newspaper interviewed Peter Grant who explained how he started the Global Trees charity after being inspired by a speech given by Bill Clinton emphasising climate change as the most serious issue facing the human race.

“By December” says Peter. “We had made both Grant Management and the flats we manage carbon neutral.”

“Since then Global Trees has planted over 100,000 trees in Scotland and worldwide to help individuals and small and large companies go carbon neutral.”

“Kids know trees are the lungs of the world, absorbing CO2 and replacing it with oxygen. Here’s hoping this campaign helps them raise enough money to plant thousands of trees in our new Scottish forest and literally breathe new life into our environment.”

No sooner had we digested the morning papers than a report appeared on Scotland Today, the news broadcast from Scottish Television, also covering the campaign to plant a new forest for Scotland.

Environment Minister Michael Russell MSP lent his support to the campaign:

“I think the really important thing is getting young people involved in the issues of climate change and the environment.”

“Young people know that the planet is in trouble and they are very enthusiastic about doing something about it so making sure that they are actively involved in fundraising to plant the trees is one part of it but there are other parts too and that includes changing behaviour and talking to the children this morning, they know that they have to do that too.”

Peter Grant was also interviewed on camera:

“In our first year, we have managed to plant 100,000 trees across the world, some in Scotland and some elsewhere. Countries benefiting include Cameroon, Cambodia and Ecuador but we are hoping to plant millions of trees ultimately because we have got to make a big difference and the more trees that we can plant the more of a difference we can make.”

The full report and video is available here on the STV website.

“Anything which details the private citizen’s impact on the environment and explains, in clear terms, what we can do about it has to be a good thing. We have a commitment to 100% carbon neutral properties at Grant Management and that is a message we are very keen to get across to anyone looking for an environmentally-friendly house to rent or student accommodation. That is precisely why we launched our new Rent Carbon Neutral site last week.”

“We do our best to offer general guidance to tenants keen to save energy at home but this new government one stop shop seems like it could be a useful resource of more specific advice on everything from keeping heating bills down to refuse disposal.”

“However,” he continued. “It must be adequately funded and advertised and, above all a Green Homes Service needs to be properly managed to make sure it doesn’t consume more resources than it saves. The last thing we need is more hot air.”