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.
Sussex Green Living Achievements 2022
Ashington Youth Club
Well what a year 2022 was for Sussex Green Living. As we reflect on the last year and plan for the future and 2023, we thought it was worth taking a moment to share some of our achievements…
Demand for Sussex Green Living environmental education services in schools and public events has never been higher, so much so that requests for our help vastly outstripped the grants we had been awarded to be able to deliver the work in schools.
Students create inspiring art in Repair Cafe Challenge
When thinking about living an environmentally sustainable life, the first thing most people think about is the 3Rs: ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’. As part of Sussex Green Living’s education outreach programme, we initiated a School Challenge looking at how you can reduce waste by repairing.
Our school challenge for Horsham District Schools was supported by a Horsham District Community Lottery Grant, a donation from a Horsham councillor and kindly judged by Horsham artist, Morag Warrack.
The challenge invited students to learn about repair cafés, what they do and how they help reduce waste on our planet. There are items that could be repaired but often people don’t have the skillset to make repairs. Repair Cafés are run by volunteers who have both a passion and the expertise to repair electrical, mechanical and textile items. The premise is that you can take along your items and for a small donation, they will try to fix them while you stay, watch and hopefully learn a new skill at the same time.
Protecting the Battery Life
“The battery won’t charge…” We hear these words very often at the Horsham Repair Cafe. It’s true that batteries don’t last forever, but we can make a drastic difference to its life expectancy. The original hybrid car, the Toyota Prius, uses a large traction battery. Many are still running 20 years later. So, how can the Prius keep the battery working efficiently for 20 years when some phone batteries only last three? Why do some household battery devices (vacuum cleaners for example) sometimes become useless after two years?
Communities take Action
Green Hub Map
You might be feeling the world is not making enough progress with serious action to address the climate and ecological crises, especially with attention being diverted to the energy and cost of living crisis. Crisis after crisis, hey! However, we are seeing a rising of communities coming together to show how being leaner and greener helps save money and the planet.
News from the Horsham Repair Cafe
Sorry to say that the Horsham Repair Café will not be physically opening for our once a month repairs, refills and energy advice for a while. However we have reviewed the situation and are now going to trial a weekly repair service which will run alongside the household and personal hygiene bottle refill service. We can offer repairs to small electrical household and IT items only at the moment. This drop off and collection service will be offered each Saturday between 10-12 noon (with suitable covid social distancing and product handling restrictions).
Please book in your item by completing our online booking form here, we will then email to confirm the procedure and location for drop off. Please note that we are not able to repair any textiles for the foreseeable future.
Costs:
Electrical repairs – our volunteer repairer will assess the item and inform you if there is a need to purchase any parts. If you agree to the costs on collection you will be asked to pay for the costs, a voluntary donation to the Horsham Repair Café is optional. Read more