Flowers are a precious part of our life-events, but are we aware of the significant environmental and human costs of the demand for cheap flowers at all times of the year? Until the 1970s, bought flowers came from British farms, while today, most are grown commercially in Holland, Columbia, Ecuador and Kenya, routed through Dutch […]
Pires Place Vegan Market is conveniently placed in the centre of Horsham in Piries Place. It’s a regular event and takes place on the last Saturday of each month from 9.30am to 3.30pm. Featuring up to 16 stalls, the vegan market offers tasty cold food varying from plant-based artisan ‘cheeze’, pies and savouries through to […]
As mentioned in last week’s blog, a jolly band of Sussex Green Living’s recycling ‘wombles’ enjoyed a tour of Biffa Mechanical and Biological Treatment Facility at Warnham recently. And when I say ‘enjoyed’ I really mean it! If anyone had told me even a few years ago that I would be excited about a tip […]
I recently listened to a Sustainable Squad podcast (Listen to this episode now on @spotify and @applepodcasts) with Shane Jordan, who became a chef by chance because of his involvement with Food Cycle, collecting unwanted food from shops by bicycle then taking it to be cooked at a Sussex community centre. In his book, Food Waste […]
Building Your Dreams While wardening at Puttenham Bunkhouse Barn last weekend, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Meeks, its founder, who spent many years as editor with Cycling UK, (Cyclists’ Touring Club), and who, aged 16, was the youngest elected member of the YHA’s management team here in the south-east. Sitting relaxed in the […]
A surprise from a zoom I attended last week was that many people are unaware that we have a real water crisis here in Horsham District, the first ever in the UK on this scale. The huge water shortfall means that all building work is now on hold while solutions are sought. Southern Water provide […]
NCS (National Citizens Service) Eastbourne is a volunteer youth group. They are currently running a social action project to raise awareness for Plastic Free Eastbourne which helps raise awareness of the dangers of plastic pollution and encourages people to reduce plastic waste.
Last month marks 2 years since the launch of our Youth Eco Forum (YEF), a group of young environmentalists that meet to discuss their concerns about the environment, share solutions and plan events. “Whilst it’s true that you can only do so much alone, by coming together, we can find ways to reduce the human […]
Going plastic free for a whole 31 days does sound pretty daunting, some would argue impossible, but it’s a great opportunity to get a little creative, learn something new and hopefully pick up a couple of new habits you can stick to. It’s like diet and exercise, if you’re not enjoying it and it doesn’t […]
Soaring temperatures have left Sussex residents sweltering after an extreme heat warning raised the question whether this week has been the hottest on record in the region and what we should be doing to tackle climate change. The national emergency came only a day after Sussex Green Living’s CEO Carrie Cort, her son and the […]
I have been blessed to spend 20 years working in the Ecuadorian Amazon and Choco cloud forest, a world away from my home in Pulborough. It has been like having parallel lives. The UK has one of lowest levels of tree cover in Europe at 13%, globally ranking 136th out of 189 countries. Looking down […]
Go Greener Rudgwick (GGR) is a group of local volunteers who meet regularly to sort single use plastics that can’t be recycled at home, but can be left in the Rudgwick Youth Centre recycling bins. We work in conjunction with Sussex Green Living in Horsham to sort and box items to be sent to Terracycle, […]
We’re slowly moving towards creating a more permanent Green Hub for Horsham, inspired by the excellent Zero at Guildford. One of the many things we’d love, alongside a Community Fridge, a Seed Bank, and a Library of Things (such as ladders or tents) is a Green Book Library. There are countless wonderful books available, some written […]
Swifts have been thriving for about 70 million years, when they would have been nesting in crevices in rocks and trees alongside the last of the Tyrannosaurs. But despite millions of years, something has now gone dramatically wrong, and UK numbers have plummeted in the last 25 years. These extraordinary birds can remain in the […]
I’ve always considered myself to be a bit of a greenie, I recycle after all! However, last month I took part in The Big Plastic Count organised by Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic. The aim was to count my plastic packaging waste over the course of a week and record it as part of a nationwide […]
2022 marks 50 years since the conference which led to the designation of 5th June as World Environment Day. ‘Only One Earth’ was the motto for the 1972 Stockholm Conference and half a century later, do we doubt that this planet is our only home, whose finite resources are running out? World Environment Day 2022 will be […]
Don’t we all love to see spring lambs in wildflower meadows, and sheep in green fields? In total contrast, who wants to see a factory producing acrylic? A synthetic produced mainly in India and China, it’s made from chemicals so dangerous that special regulations have had to be made to prevent explosions at the factories […]
Checking out at the supermarket, the young cashier suggested to the much older woman, that she could bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologised and explained, “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my earlier days.” She was right in that my generation didn’t have […]
No doubt you have heard that for a healthy planet, we should use peat-free compost, but do you know why, or what exactly is peat? Peat is soil made up of organic matter that has only partially rotted down. The lack of oxygen and the acidic nature of waterlogged peat bogs prevent bacteria and fungi […]
The UK’s recent petrol crisis was caused by many individuals doing the same thing at the same time. Due to media stories, people’s behaviour suddenly changed, causing nationwide problems. When I commented to the attendant, “I bet you’ve been popular these last few days”, he replied, “Yes, I’m everybody’s best friend! It’s madness. We’ve […]
Local Locations for TerraCycle® recycling single use plastics “The bins are ready and labelled. All bags (canvas for mixed recycling and large 300 litre black sacks for the crisps and snacks) are ready to go. I’ll bring them down on my way to The Horsham and Shipley Community Project to save an extra car journey.” […]
Soil or Earth? The very name of our planet is also the name of our soil. Earth. One of the most precious things for our existence. It’s an apparently strange mixture of living beings and dead ones, inert substances and active ones. Anyone over the age of 50 is likely to remember the abundance, […]
Gardening is for everyone – I truly believe that! It’s time to change its reputation as a middle class hobby for retirees or young people who would like a pet but don’t fancy finding poo on the carpet- so they settle for a cheese plant. From some pots on a balcony to an ambitious permaculture […]
I found myself in the role of Light-Police recently at a joyous family gathering to celebrate several ‘zero’ birthdays which had been postponed due to Covid. At our beautiful AirBnB, bathroom lights, shower lights, bedroom lights, corridor lights and kitchen lights were left on even though the family were all outside for much of the […]
Imagine a beautiful Persian carpet. Then cut it into a thousand squares. What do you get? Not a thousand smaller Persian carpets but a thousand scraps of cloth unravelling at the edges. That’s what’s happening to nature in the modern landscape, the scraps becoming ever smaller as the threads begin to trip us up. It […]
