Sussex is Really Buzzing

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Getting Sussex Buzzing again!

Sussex is really buzzing in 2024 thanks to exciting new collaborations between Sussex Green Living and local businesses: a new way of combining practical solutions to current and future environmental issues with community outreach, fundraising and business wellbeing. The Pollination Education Stations and Green Business Network have been developed in collaboration with Billingshurst based agency PMW Communications as part of their generous gift of pro bono work with 30 local charities to celebrate their 30 years in business.

One week after Sussex Green Living launched these new endeavours at the Sussex Green Hub, the first Pollination Education Station (PES) has been installed. Horsham based business, Envitia Ltd, a digital and data services company based in Horsham, will focus on one charity each quarter and on Monday 4th March, as part of their fundraising and collaboration with Sussex Green Living, they set up their Pollination Education Station, a haven for pollinators, with a community herb bed and an information board.

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From the Path to the Shop: Natural Community Food Production

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From the Path to the Shop: Natural community food production.  With all the worry about climate change and food production, it feels important to get to know one another to develop good practices for improving soil fertility and the production of local organic food. Read more

Change is in the Air

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The UK’s flying insects have declined by 60% in 20 years. The decline in insects affects all the major groups, not just flying and in the next few decades, as many as 40% of the world’s species could become extinct, including bees, ants and butterflies. Clive Cobie asks the question, ‘”is change in the air?”

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How we can help nature

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We are all aware of the urgent need to protect our nature which has been depleting at a rapid rate. If you want to make some changes at home to protect nature, boosting the biodiversity in your garden or outdoor space is a great place to start.

Biodiversity and climate are inextricably linked, you can’t fix one without the other. There are lots of things you can do to help wildlife to thrive that don’t cost a lot but can help nature and create a lovely space for you to watch and experience all the life in your garden.

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The Importance of Nature

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We all want a world where our climate is stable, nature thrives, and where all people have health, happiness, and prosperity – it’s our human right, right?

Unless we change things, we are on track to breach the 1.5°C temperature increase limit set by the Paris Agreement by 2030. The breach risks irreversible environmental degradation and runaway climate change that will affect all our societies and economies.

An essential ally against the climate crisis is nature. We are losing nature at an alarming and unprecedented rate. For anyone who has been watching David Attenborough’s latest BBC programme, Wild Isles, you will know that Britain is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.

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Clive Cobie

Improving Soil Health with biochar

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It was the first experience I’ve had of using a retort kiln. Normally I use a ring type.

The ice crystals were glistening on the metal door as I pulled hard. It creaked with resistance as the morning sun shone upon what was left of the wood.  It had been reduced by half through a process called pyrolysis, (heating wood in the absence of oxygen).  The fire turns volatile oils into gases which heat the wood.

I always love that first encounter when I open a kiln, picking up a handful of charcoal and dropping it gently; listening to the tinkle as pure carbon cascades down while sunlight and left over heat create peacock blues or rainbow patterns over the blackness.

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Pollinator Highway

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As a child, I never understood the saying, “It’s an ill wind indeed that blows no good,” but I recently realised that’s what’s happening now.

I went to buy a thermal T-shirt, my current one sadly threadbare, but there were none to be had.  The assistant told me they had ‘overperformed’, because fuel prices are high and people are dressing up warmly at home rather than putting the heating on. Result!  I know people who, when working on the computer at home, take a break for a few minutes and go for a run, simply to warm up.  Loved ones are switching off the TV earlier than their usual habit and instead snuggling up in bed with a good book. Result!  People are jumping on their bikes or walking rather than taking the car for short journeys, and we’re driving more carefully because the roads are full of potholes. Result!

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Restoring kelp, eliminating single use plastic

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KelpDid anyone see the coverage of the Earthshot awards presented by the Prince of Wales in Boston earlier this month? They were awards given to organisations, companies or cities recognised as making a significant contribution to dealing with climate change, reviving our oceans, and other similar objectives. You can watch the whole ceremony on BBC iPlayer Earthshot Prize.

The winner in the Building a Waste-Free World category was a London based company founded in 2014 called Notpla (i.e. not plastic!) They have come up with a unique product made from seaweed – or kelp (to use the more scientific term employed by Sussex Wildlife Trust and local universities involved in the Sussex Kelp Restoration Project).

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How to Grow in Harmony with Nature

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Transition Horsham seed swapDid you know that farming more in harmony with nature can not only replenish the soil (without the need for manufacturing and transporting factory-made chemicals long distances in plastic bags) but can also produce crops throughout the year because different foods can be grown together, in the same way as they are on an allotment?

By planting a variety of a different crops each month, and especially by planting crops amongst fruit or nut trees, even more food can be grown in a small area.

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