Celebrity television presenter and author Dick Strawbridge is a man on a green mission. He and his family are determined to find a sustainable way of living that is not wasteful and does not damage the environment.

“When I retire I don’t want to be paying big bills to utility companies because I know I don’t have to,” says the star of It’s Not Easy Being Green and Scrapheap Challenge, who is using his three-acre Cornish smallholding as a test bed for his own green beliefs.

“My aim is to make the house pay for itself.

“My family’s experience has shown that your quality of life does not have to suffer by reducing waste. We are having a lot of fun and living really well.

“When it comes to turning on the lights at home, our power comes from solar and wind or an eco company that makes green electricity.

“People living in the poverty trap don’t have the money to waste on electricity, so we need to ensure that our homes are energy efficient.

Quality of life

“What people should be thinking about is that the work that they’re doing on their homes now to make them more energy efficient is, in effect, helping to ensure their quality of life in the future.

“When I’m 60, the things I’ve done at the house are going to be helping to pay those bills and reduce my outlay.”

The former army lieutenant colonel will be sharing his first hand knowledge of living a green life when he makes a star appearance at the Greener Homes and Buildings Show at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells on June 6 and 7.

Apart from speaking about his green living experiences, he will be taking part in a question and answer session and giving a demonstration of how water can be pumped up hill.

He confesses to being baffled by some people’s logic and attitude towards making their homes greener.

“When we put in solar panels, people immediately talk about payback, yet they don’t talk about payback when they have a new bathroom,” he said.

“Solar panels are an investment. My panels are guaranteed for 25 years, but they will probably last for 40 years and will save me money.

Insulation issues

“Insulation is another issue. It’s not sexy, but it works. The problem is that people tend to think that they already have enough insulation until you actually physically show them how much you mean, which is something like a foot, whereas most houses normally only have a few inches at best.”

Looking forward to returning to the Greener Homes and Buildings Show, he confessed that he boosted his own knowledge at last year’s event.

“I learnt a lot by going around and talking to people,” he explained. “The show gives you the opportunity to see what fits into your home. There is an awful lot of knowledge and information available in one place.

“This year, I will be talking about my experience of how to make your home environmentally friendly and how to save money.

Taking care of the planet

“In this credit crunch the first thing that you have to do is reduce what you use, whether it’s energy or water.

“It’s common sense that if we use more than we have, we will run out. It’s about gaining knowledge so that we can try and live more sustainably, take care of the planet and realise that we cannot afford to waste resources.

“As consumers we bear a lot of responsibility because what we spend our money on creates the market. What I am saying is let’s make sure that we create the right market.”