www.everythingsgonegreen.co.uk

Last night I went to a climate change consultation with my local Rushmoor Borough Council.

40 local residents were invited down to Aldershot on a cold February night to discuss the borough’s policy and, arranged into small groups, we brainstormed Rushmoor BC’s plans for the environment and the future.

Of course, the number one topic raised was the issue of climate change itself. Currently, if you spend a lot of time in the media, the subject of climate change seems to be getting a real kicking. The Climategate affair, involving the leak of data from the University of East Anglia on the eve of the Copenhagen summit, followed by the controversy over the predictions of retreating Himalayan ice and now Sir David King’s attack on the IPCC mean that a lot of scepticism is creeping in and, last night, a few dissenting voices were heard in the room.

The important consensus though was that climate change is happening. It’s not just global warming or global cooling, but variations in “local” climate all over the world and, whether it’s man-made or natural, it’s best to prepare for it.

So, that first hurdle over, Rushmoor BC presented their plans for the next 20 years. The big issue locally is the Aldershot Urban Extension, meaning that our neighbouring town of Aldershot is to be the subject of a 4,500 home expansion. Whilst brownfield sites are preferable for new builds, it seems inevitable that so many more homes will be needed and the council will have to develop a new “town” of so many houses.

This will surely impact upon on our small Borough which is already a busy commuter area (with great links to London and the south coast via train and motorway). The plans are to lessen the impact of any new development, and Rushmoor BC made bold statements to meet and exceed environmental building standards by an additional 15%.

That prompted questions of “are the current environmental standards stringent enough?” meaning that beating them by 15% is a fairly easy task plus that age old question of “the council says it will meet & beat standards but will it actually do it?”

Many ideas were bandied around in our group with a lot of focus on restoring localisation, creating closer community, water run-off into the River Blackwater etc. Plus there was great interest in the proposed new power plant, powered, presumably, by local waste and providing heat & energy. The notion of creating an “eco town” was popular with the notion that Rushmoor could be as well-regarded as the city of Brighton which is always thought of as one of Britain’s greenest urban places.

The usual topics of individual wind & solar power arose with ground-heat pumps and green roofs being thrown in for good measure.

Overall, a wealth of ideas were explored and there seems to be a consensus that the majority of people were in favour of bold steps in order to make the borough a greener place in terms of planning over the next 20 years or so.

The Natural Environment

The second part of the night revolved around Rushmoor’s natural environment. Surrounded by military land, we are blessed with a fairly natural environment that is protected by its ownership under the MOD.

The consensus was that we should not only protect every single piece of green environment that we have around here but that we should also restore and improve upon it. Natural and man-made attrition of the trees in the borough is something close to my heart as I’ve seen numerous trees come down locally over the years, never to be replaced. Do we get an organisation like the Woodland Trust involved to help us re-green Rushmoor?

Cycle paths were mentioned again as local citizens expressed a desire to expand cycle routes and to encourage more use of cycles in the borough. One resident even complained that where he locked up his cycle in the North Camp part of town they had removed the cycle racks and never replaced them!

Conclusion

There was a very healthy discourse over the evening and a number of people felt as though this was just the first of many discussions regarding the environment in Rushmoor. The many notes that were made were taken away to be digested by the council and they will have much food for thought.

Some great ideas came out of the meeting and, for starters, I would like to see the replacement and replanting of more trees, an extension of cycle tracks and a push to get more people cycling, loft insulation for all, better buses and routes and a green roof initiative.

Every piece of green and MOD land must be fought for and preserved and the inevitable expansion of Aldershot MUST be sustainable, green and a benefit to current residents not a detriment.

Finally, I’d like to see flights to Farnborough Airport capped as they are. I’ve seen no major benefit to the local economy from the planes flying in and, working near the airfield, the avgas fumes are unpleasant and unhealthy, not to mention the M3 motorway and the ridiculous “sound barrier” erected for residents who brought houses right next to the M3 but complained it was too noisy! (irony?) Thanks to them the sound bounces off the wooden fences and pollutes an even greater area.

Let’s hope Rushmoor Borough can only get safer, greener and cleaner.

It was pleasing to see the news this morning that Triodos, the environmental & social investment bank, are doing well.

According to Third Sector, the charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprise website, Triodos Bank has increased lending & investment by 73% over the last year.

In 2008 Triodos Bank lent just over £200 million whilst in 2009 that had increased to nearly £250 million. The bank has increased future loans from an expected £30 million to around £150 million.

Triodos Bank’s customer base has grown by about 15% over the last year as greater numbers of clients have sought to invest in environmental and socially-beneficial causes (not to mention ethical and sustainable investments too).

Triodos Bank’s growth areas have included offshore wind projects and waste processing facilities plus organic farming and food projects. Scotland and Wales have seen the greatest increases in the amount of lending.

Personally, I’ve been mulling over getting an account with Triodos Bank for a number of years, but I think now is the time to get started

Whilst Governments bicker over reducing CO2 emissions and take too long to consider giving away money to poorer countries to help them in the fight against climate change, the world is changing, and not for the better either.

For years the term biodiversity has been bandied around as an important factor in identifying the richness of the environments on this planet and the flora and fauna supported within each connected ecosystem. But now the United Nations has decided that 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity.

For environmentalists, green people and nature lovers everywhere, every year should be a year of biodiversity but the UN campaign aims to create an awareness of the threat to the world’s dwindling natural populations.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon has stated that species are being destroyed at about 1000 times the natural rate and is quoted as saying that

“business as usual is not an option”

which fits nicely in with not only biodiversity but the sustainability message too.

As usual, it’s human activity that’s encroaching upon the natural world with city-building and agricultural practices mainly to blame for the decline in biodiversity. I’d also throw in the lack of knowledge and education on sustainable practices plus the west’s greedy demand for the use of ever more natural resources plus the willingness of people to sacrifice nature for the sake of trade and money without the slightest thought for the consequences.

There will be plenty of material available after the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity today, so keep your eyes open for some incredible work in the fight to slow down man’s destruction of the natural world.

And think about the portent from some biologists who believe that if we don’t do anything this could be the earth’s sixth “great extinction” where the previous five were all caused by natural disasters such as asteroid strikes!

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has been running a consultation for the regulation of inorganic phosphates in domestic laundry and cleaning products (DLCPs) since October 2009. The closing date of the consultation is 21^st January 2010.

The consultation by DEFRA’s Water Quality Division seeks to gather comments on the banning of inorganic phosphates for forthcoming regulation.

In their own words, DEFRA states that:

Many rivers do not meet EU standards for phosphorous content. Phosphorous reduces the oxygen content of water and harms aquatic life. A ban will help to reduce inorganic phosphate pollution and mean the water industry has to use less energy and chemicals to remove phosphorous from sewage effluent.

So, by banning inorganic phosphates:

1. Britain’s rivers will be cleaner as the water quality improves, meeting EU targets at the same time.
2. Our aquatic life will no longer be harmed and
3. By not adding additional chemicals to DCLPs the water companies will not need to purchase and use further chemicals in order to treat waste water to remove the chemicals that were added to it elsewhere in the first place!

Banning inorganic phosphates from DCLPs looks like a win-win-win situation from here. Not only do we clean up our rivers & environment and help our wildlife but we also make huge efficiencies by banning inorganic phosphates. With the water industry using “less energy and chemicals to remove phosphorous from sewage effluent” you would expect their costs to decrease; they would be more energy-efficient, they would have less overhead in having to not purchase and use additional chemicals and their treatment methodologies would be simplified with less processes.

In addition the water industry would be taking another step toward their corporate social responsibility which is good for their conscience and good for their public image. Efficient, clean and green; what could be better?

The only losers in this equation would be the manufacturers of inorganic phosphates but with demand for phosphates increasing, particularly due to the increase in world population and the demand for meat & crops, phosphates will continue to be used in artificial fertilisers. However, as phosphates are a finite resource prices have increased massively, so discontinuing their use is an economic benefit for manufacturers of DLCPs.

The alternatives are plant-based environmentally-friendly products such as the excellent Ecover range of cleaning products (such as their lemon & aloe vera washing-up liquid or non-biological washing powder) which have minimal impact upon the environment.

So, if you have any thoughts on banning inorganic phosphates from domestic laundry and cleaning products then head over to theNetregs “Detergent regulations consultation”, read the details of the consultation and tell them your thoughts on the matter before the 21^st January 2010.

The deadline of 1^st January 2015 for the complete “ban” (with it being an offence to market DLCPs with more than 0.4% inorganic phosphates) has been set up to allow the industries concerned time to change their products and packaging, although with the speed at which they can launch products, this seems far too generous (five years to remove inorganic phosphates and “redesign” the packaging?!)

For further reading about see the Wikipedia entry for phosphates or the excellent SNB phosphate recovery website.

The idea behind the bottle bank arcade machine is that making things fun makes them more usable…

Any opinions on the fact that it’s sponsored by VW?

Why buy organic? What is organic? Why isn’t everything organic if it’s so much better? Why is organic more expensive?

If you know the answers to these questions then you’ll be happy to see this wonderful little movie from The Soil Association. If you have friends that need convincing that organic food is actually better than intensively farmed food then, again, you’ll like this.

We like the “public service broadcast” style because, in essence, it is a public service to understand and remind people why organic food is better for the food itself, us, the consumer, and the land and for nature.

(In particular we like the Jack Drummond tone of the film, but that’s another story, especially as we’re reading The Vitamin Murders at the moment. Green book review coming soon)

And if you like this film feel free to pass it on

A one-day climate summit in New York yesterday saw about 100 world leaders attend ahead of the crucial Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in December.

China, now the world’s biggest polluter, taking the shameful crown from the United States, seemed to make the biggest commitment with President Hu Jintao saying that the country would cut carbon emissions by a “notable margin” by 2020.

The United States’ climate change envoy, Todd Stern, was reported to have said that China’s stance was helpful but that they needed to “provide figures”.

US President Barack Obama didn’t provide any figures for his own country nor did he say anything ground-breaking or commital, prompting criticism that the US, producing around 20% of world pollution, is taking too long to act.

Britain’s own Gordon Brown had said, two days before the summit, that the Copenhagen Conference is in danger of collapse if world leaders neither attended nor made committments towards a low-carbon world economy and was understood to have been trying to convince other world leaders to attend Copenhagen. Brown was the first world leader to commit to Copenhagenyet he has been accused of failing to provide strong leadership in Britain’s own green initiatives.

Whilst China stole the headlines, Japan’s new Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, announced the “Hatoyama Initiative”, pledging to cut Japan’s carbon output by 25% by 2020 (compared t 1990 levels).

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, said the talks had privded fresh impetus for Copenhagen whilst formwr US vice-president and environmental activist Al Gore praised China for its loose committment.

The countdown now ticks until the 7th December although France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has called for leaders to meet again in mid November. It remains to be seen whether our leaders are prepared to make any tough decisions.

I’m currently staying in Germany, the land of recycling, where they’ve had recycling machines for years, so it’s nice to see that we’re catching up in England and the county of Lancashire has now its first reverse vending machine.

Blackpool and The Fylde College has installed Lancashire’s first Reverse Vending Recycling Machine at their new University Centre. Students and staff are being encouraged to recycle more bottles & cans. Every can or bottle that is placed in the machine is a unit worth 5 pence and vouchers are issued to spend in the new Grads Café Canteen in the Central Hub.

The innovative reverse vending machine not only compacts and saves recyclable materials but also monitors and records the types of units deposited, allowing the data to be viewed online so that the college can review the success of the vending initiative.

Ruth Paisley, Vice Principal of Resources & Planning at Blackpool & The Fylde College commented:

“We’re really pleased to be leading the way environmentally with innovative new ideas and a commitment to reducing our impact on the environment.

“We were one of few projects committed to achieving a post-construction BREEAM ‘Excellent’ merit, meaning we have stuck to our plans and not compromised on environmental impact in order to cut costs.

“I’m sure the ReVend machine will also give students and staff even more of an incentive to recycle their waste.”

It would be great to see this initiative extended to other schools & colleges and even better to see reverse vending machines in every high street in Britain, so let’s hope this is the first of many. If you’re interested in reverse vending machines then pay a visit to the Reverse Vending Corporation.

It’s funny how most Brits say that self-sufficiency would help us out in this recent financial crisis and yet half of us admit to lacking the skills our grandparents had in abundance.

According to research commissioned by the Soil Association and conducted by Pollab a massive 92% of Brits polled said that self-sufficiency, being able to “grow your own” and having your own livestock would certainly have been beneficial during this latest recession. The notion has been echoed by recent activity from DEFRA, the Government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in their Food 2030 initiative and a lot of interest from the general public in allotment space.

Yet despite the huge majority of people wishing to be self-sufficient the poll also found that:

• 45% of people admitted to lacking in cooking skills
• 47% of those polled say they were less able to grow their own food
• 48% of Brits believe they have lost the rural craft skills to allow them to be self-sufficient and
• 51% said they had no idea how to rear livestock

So, although the will is strong, the skills are weak. But fear not for the Soil Association have picked up on Brits’ lack of confidence and are launching 300 Organic Farm School courses over the next 2 years with help from the Daylesford Foundation. The new Organic Farm School courses cover a range of skills from growing vegetables to bee-keeping and keeping chickens to making bread and cider. Te full list of organic farm courses inlcudes:

• wild food foraging
• hedge laying
• cider making
• bee keeping
• cheese making
• preserving
• butchery and game preparation
• seasonal cookery demonstrations
• willow weaving
• dry stone walling

Patrick Holden, Director of the Soil Association, commented:

The Organic Farm School is about relearning skills which are vital to becoming more self-sufficient. In the recession this will not only be cheaper but it’s healthier for you and the environment too. I think one of life’s greatest pleasures is eating food that you’ve produced yourself.

My vision for the Organic Farm School is that it enables and inspires a whole generation of young people to acquire these vitally important skills from the very best practitioners – the farmers and growers themselves.

The Soil Association is aiming to strike a chord with over 3000 people with their Organic Farm Schools initiative, the intention being to pass on practical skills from farmers, growers and producers to reinstate modern urban people with the skills of their forebears.

Monty Don, President of the Soil Association, concluded:

The Soil Association’s Organic Farm School is a fantastic opportunity for anyone to come and learn skills from the experts. Each course is an enjoyable day out on an organic farm and a chance to experience the rich satisfaction of country life.

So, if you think you need to brush up on your bread, cider & cheese-making skills, then take a look at the Organic Farm School courses to see which ones appeal to you.