Communities or custodians?
It’s not just Spring in the air!
I can feel a new wave of environmental awareness amongst the communities around us, uniting and supporting each other to reduce our impact on the planet.
In 2020, that terrible year, lots of positive things happened within villages, towns and cities around the world, with large groups of people coming together to help each other. We saw love-thy-neighbour-mutual-aid-ism with more and more people spending time in and appreciating nature, realising it’s one of the best (free!) medicines for physical and mental health.
As restrictions were lifted, some people remained excited about having the natural world at their fingertips again along with an innovative ‘make do and mend’ approach to living; for others, the unexpected satisfaction of things like making a smart garden sofa from pallets and generally focusing on using fewer resources gradually waned, and they slipped (or jumped) back to old consumer habits. Living a careful life became less important and they paid less attention to where everything was coming from, let alone where it would end up.
But there’s a definite renewal in the urge to make things better, and Sussex Green Living has an ambitious three-year plan to raise funds to lease a shop in Horsham and create a High Street Hub as a central space, bringing together all aspects of adaptation to a new way of living – and what we can do as individuals. It would be for up-to-date information about energy, practical advice with a tool library, a repair shop, baby clothes and nappy loan system, ways of reducing plastic, resources around food, wellbeing and more, depending on the space.
My vision has also been to support and mentor the development of satellite community hubs in the villages and towns, and I’m really excited to report this is now happening!
Happily, we’re now seeing a huge wave of communities uniting as so many of us recognise that we’re running out of time and the science is clear- we need to act together. Fast.
In April we supported the launch of Kirdford Green Living on 1st, Arundel Green Living on 15th, and rolling on into May, the launch of Partridge Green Repair Cafe (Partridge Green Village Hall, 3rd Saturday of the month 2-4pm. For more information, email repaircafepg@gmail.com).
Thanks to a Horsham District Council Community Climate grant, in 2023 and early 2024 we will be working with ten parish councils within the Horsham District to find ways to help unite and build resilient communities. Which, of course save money too, a win-win for all!
by Carrie Cort
