We will celebrate our Net Zero Heroes on our website and across social media.
Net Zero Heroes is a new scheme inviting Leicestershire residents to nominate local people and groups for taking positive climate action and living sustainably.
We want to celebrate and recognise those residents who are inspiring others to take action within their local communities, helping to achieve the county’s ambition to reach net zero by 2050.
There are many different kinds of voluntary contributions we are looking to recognise, such as, but not limited to:
- Nature projects such as tree planting, rewilding, planting a community garden
- Environmental volunteering in the local community/setting up a volunteer group
- Installation of renewable energy sources or retrofitting their property/community buildings with energy saving measures
- Reducing private car use by cycling/walking/using public transport in daily life
- Teaching and educating others about the environment
- Setting up a reuse / repair service
- Charitable work to support the environment/sustainable living
- Becoming a flood or tree warden
To nominate someone, please complete the form below and we'll be in touch with your nominee:
Note: There is no prize reward for this scheme and we only accept nominations of persons over 18.
Our fair processing notice explains how we will use your information:
Our Net Zero Heroes
Here are some examples of our Net Zero Heroes, inspiring others to live sustainably:
Rod Weston
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Rod has volunteered as a Master Composter since 2009. He has spent more than 4,000 hours educating and supporting thousands of residents across Leicestershire to reduce their carbon footprint through composting their organic waste at home.
Rod is very keen on promoting home composting to the public. He offers composting workshops and talks to garden clubs, allotment societies, community groups and schools across Leicestershire. He is also active on social media and through his webpage Carry On Composting where he provides composting advice.
Rod established a composting demonstration site at the Stokes Wood Allotments. His tireless effort in promoting and supporting composting was also recognised by North West Leicestershire District Council when he was awarded the Green Footprints Award in 2011.
Judy Burrage
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Judy was a keen gardener and allotment holder before applying to become a Master Composter in 2010. Since then, Judy has also volunteered as an Environmental Action Volunteer and has given more than 500 hours of her time engaging with the public and supporting local residents across Leicestershire to reduce their environmental impact and to start composting.
Judy said: “Creating your own compost is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of contributing to soil health. It is a great way for all of us to do our own little bit for the planet.”
In 2020, Judy became one of the founding members of Sustainable Harborough Community, a local group boasting more than 200 members that aims to educate local people about the environmental challenges we face and the need for a positive local response to increase sustainability.
Fix It Group 23
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Image: John Fitzgerald, Paul Worth and Joanne Liversidge celebrating Fix It Group 23’s first anniversary.
Fix it Group 23 is a volunteer-led group that runs monthly repair cafes in Mountsorrel. The group aims to reduce unnecessary waste going to landfill and save residents money while providing an opportunity to bring the local community together.
Set up by the current Chairman, John Fitzgerald in 2023, the group currently has more than 20 volunteers and has successfully repaired in excess of 600 items including clothes, soft toys, small electrical items and more.
Members of Fix it Group 23 are also happy to share their experience establishing a repair cafe and provide advice to other groups seeking to establish their own repair cafes.
More details of the amazing work the Fix it Group 23 do can be found on Fix it Group 23’s webpage.
The Charnwood Eco Hub
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Image: Emma Ward, Clive Bagley and Sarah Goode from the Charnwood Eco Hub.
The Charnwood Eco Hub is a not-for-profit Community Hub based in Loughborough that aims to encourage and help residents across Charnwood in adopting eco-friendly practices.
The Eco Hub offers a Scrap Store where surplus and waste materials from businesses and residents are made available for creative use. The Makerspace is where residents from all age groups and skill levels can access tools, equipment and resources to create and develop their skills, and they host a Library of Things where residents can borrow items such as tools, gardening equipment and kitchen appliances rather than purchasing themselves.
The group has had major success in reducing waste and ensuring residents can live more sustainably while saving them money.
The group also organises an annual Sustainability Fair held in September to highlight green initiatives, promote a wide range of local sustainability and eco groups and encourage collaboration within their community.
More information about Charnwood Eco Hub can be found on the Charnwood Eco Hub’s website.
Kim Oldfield
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Kim is the lead volunteer for the community fridge at the Eco Village in Market Harborough. The community fridge provides residents with free access to food that would have otherwise been wasted.
Kim is passionate about reducing the environmental impact of food waste while serving her community. With the support from a team of amazing volunteers, the community fridge saves around 2.5 tonnes of food per month from going to landfill unnecessarily.
Over the past 12 months while training a dedicated group volunteers, Kim has also played a key role in expanding the fridge area to accommodate a larger volume of rescued food. Kim keeps the 1,100 members of the Community Fridge Facebook Page updated on when deliveries are made to the Eco Village.
The Community Fridge accepts donations from local supermarkets, food businesses and households. Currently, they depend on volunteers to collect the food and are eager to welcome more volunteers to join their team!