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 […]
The new kelp forest off the Sussex coast is becoming real. That’s the message from Councillors and wildlife and fisheries experts. And it puts Sussex in the forefront of efforts to combat global warming, habitat destruction and the return to a cleaner, more sustainable world. The marine forest which stretched between Chichester and Rye was […]
The COP26 Climate Summit starts in Glasgow on November 1st. It’s an opportunity that simply can’t be missed if the world is to get on top of climate change, and the multiple threats it poses to the planet, before it’s too late. But who knew that crucial, behind-the-scenes, preparations for the conference are happening right […]
Do you have solar panels at home? Is it time to join the move to community funded renewable energy? Do you want to explore practical ways to make it happen here for Horsham? Maybe you’re able to use your skills in finance, marketing, law, engineering or management to help form a community group to do […]
Knowing what to do in the face of the global climate crisis can often seem a daunting task. Whilst it’s true that the really big changes need to be prompted by Government action there’s still a lot you can do as an individual. Small changes build up, especially when other people join in. A major […]
Seals on our Sussex coast show that conservationists are getting something right. It’s not just Gavin the well-loved harbour seal who sports with paddle boarders in Littlehampton; we can see these marvellous creatures now in Chichester harbour, Eastbourne and in the Adur, where two seals named Bramble and Rivier (who swam in from Belgium) have […]
How Green is Copper? With a rush for electric cars and renewable power some of the most biodiverse areas on Earth are under threat. Hidden beneath primary forest teeming with life metals lay buried. Whilst Ecuador was the first country in the world to put the #rightsofnature in its #constitution, sadly this has not stopped foreign interest from […]
What is in the Great Green Hamper? Bottle of Method – Wild Rhubarb anti-bac Bottle of Method – Peach Blossom anti-bac EcoVibe dish brush EcoVibe dish soap EcoVibe compostable sponge x 2 Circular & Co reusable 227ml cup Sea Saver microfilter bag Isle of White Gin 3 x mini Mermaid Gin Crumbs Brewing beer gift […]
On Wednesday 14th July, Sussex Green Living’s Youth Eco Forum led a day of outdoor activities in an area of ancient woodland near Billingshurst. The event, named Beyond Be-Leaf, hoped to give young people who would not usually have the opportunity to get out in the countryside a chance to get hands-on and creative, learning […]
We have decided to remove sponsorship from Amazon from our website with the realisation that it contributes to so many of the problems we are all striving to resolve. The brilliant choice of the word “Amazon” is a stroke of genius- linked with one of the most life-sustaining, essential things on the planet! Calling a […]
If you are reading this column, there’s a good chance that you have an urge to do ‘the right thing’. You’re the sort who’s first to help in a crisis. You were the first to raise the subject of climate change. And the first to actually do something about it! And what better first step […]
Earlier this month I had the great pleasure of being shown around two of the four sites managed by Keith and Liane who, along with a great team of trustees run the charity Sustainable Sussex. Volunteer Fiona, who lives in a flat 20 minute’s bike ride away, told me, “I’ve been helping for two years […]
Dave Goulson is Professor of Biology at the University of Brighton. His books, include ‘The Garden Jungle’ and ‘Gardening for Bumblebees’. At a recent talk, he explained that we need insects to pollinate our food crops. In the UK some growers are now employing people to hand-pollinate their plants, because insect numbers have declined so […]
At our last Sussex Green Ideas Zoom event on Wednesday 16th June we learnt about the challenge of transitioning from gas and the urgent need to cut the 17% of UK emissions that come from heating our leaky homes. You can view the Homes after Gas presentation here. It helps that we can now choose […]
What’s your next strategy for sustainable shopping? Find out… by Oisin Collishe With the shops re-opening now, can we use this moment to briefly pause and ask ourselves if we need to rush out to buy stuff which we might use for a season then discard? USEFUL QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN SHOPPING: (We don’t […]
By Paul Hannam, Chair of Greening Steyning As Sir David Attenborough and others have warned 2021 is a turning point if we are to get on top of the climate and ecological crisis we are all facing. Whatever your politics, whatever your lifestyle, whatever your values or interests, we have to rise above our individual […]
Nuthurst Community Allotment by Sally White One of the better things that happened in 2020 was that Jonathan van der Borgh turned up on Angus White’s doorstep. He brought with him the brilliant idea to create a new community allotment in Nuthurst. That idea is now becoming a reality. As soon as we spread the […]
Some fear that the fires are a danger to health and the environment. And a Billingshurst man stoked up anger when he called on people to stop using them and suggested that the fires were merely ‘a fashion statement.’ Robert Bishop maintained that it was impossible to follow Government Covid advice and open windows because […]
