Child in Tree

A Fond Farewell for our Green Queen (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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children and natureAs one of her final decisions, the Queen chose to mark her Platinum Jubilee this year with the Queen’s Green Canopy, a unique tree planting initiative which invited people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.  The first wave of planting took place in the spring, and as we mourn her passing, how fitting it seems that the second planting season will be taking place, from October until the end of the year, creating a living memorial to a wonderful monarch who embodied dignity and wisdom, and who stayed up to date and informed in her serious passion to serve, right up until mere days before her passing. Read more

Do you consider what happens to your waste? (First published in West Sussex County Times)

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Recycling In West Sussex, 58.8% of an average household waste bin’s contents could have been diverted from general rubbish. Shockingly, 12.9% of the contents are items that could have been placed in kerbside recycling, and 40.5% is food waste. West Sussex County Council (WSCC) are asking us to reduce what we use, and re-use where possible. If items can’t be re-used, then recycle or compost. But what happens to the rest of our waste?

As managing our environmental impact becomes increasingly important, this is a question on many peoples’ minds. In West Sussex, all household waste is processed at two sites managed by Biffa, West Sussex Ltd. A team of our recycling volunteers recently organised visits to Brookhurst Mechanical Biological Treatment Facility and Ford Materials Recycling Facility to find out more.

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The Humble Bumble (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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BeeWhen I was invited to write an article on my experience with bumble bees, this title came to mind.  I like to think it’s part of Christopher Bollas’s  ‘unthought known’ territory – something you’ve carried around in your mind without ever really realising it.  And as it turns out, the phrase is rather apt:  Darwin referred to them as the ‘hum bee’ – because they ‘hummed’.

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Sustainable Flowers & Floristry (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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Smal tortoiseshell butterflies on Echinachea flower

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 auctions. The flower industry has a massive carbon footprint, from heating greenhouses to refrigerated transport, a vast chemical footprint from pesticides, herbicides and preservatives, some banned in the UK, polluting soil and water, poisoning pollinators, impacting flower workers and their communities, many producers are not Fairtrade.

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Horsham Vegan Market (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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Vegan cake

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 the most delectable cakes & sweet treats, with some gluten-free options of course!  There is a hot food stall each month, often hotdogs (vegan of course!), and a new-comer offering a range of freshly made vegan pizzas.  You will also find non-food stalls at the market selling anything from make-up and body care through to eco-friendly household goods and gifts, all of course, completely vegan and not tested on animals.

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Want less, Waste Less (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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Wombles

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 trip, I would have been very sceptical – but there we are, that’s how life rolls.

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Taste or Waste? (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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Food waste

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 Philosophy, he explains that he uses every edible part of plants in his cooking, including banana skins.

I was struck with his passion and ingenuity.  Another inspirational example is Horsham chef Lenny Salsano, who works at Hill Top Primary School in Crawley.  Pre-pandemic, he engaged the pupils in planting, growing and cooking the food used in their lunches.  Lenny is keen for the children to learn how important it is to eat fresh, unprocessed food, and shares his skills with pupils.  This year they have made salads, chopped vegetables and watched him make bread, which they then eat.  Five other schools under the Caterlink umbrella are now using Lenny’s model.

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Puttenham Barn Bunkhouse

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Chris MeeksBuilding 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 sunshine, amid butterflies and flowers, wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “Wilderness not woodchips”, Chris continues to share his passions.

He’s an astonishing example of how one person can inspire a generation.  The bunkhouse began life as an idea: finding a place, negotiating the lease with Guildford Borough Council, raising £130,000, removing a huge cattle trough and digging out the floor to lower it by 50 cm. The eventual opening in 2005 was achieved thanks to enormous input from a team of volunteers, including John Bannister, an alternative technology expert.

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It’s Crystal Clear…We have a water crisis (first published in West Sussex County Times)

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Crystal glass and bees

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 drinking water for over a million properties, and remove and recycle the waste water of almost five million people.  Quite a task!

Although we have 205 reservoirs, this provides only 7% of our water.  The majority comes from underground aquifers, with around 25% being taken from rivers.

The cost of this service from 2020-2025 is around £1,000 per property, with improvements ranging from digitisation, artificial intelligence and machine learning to re-vamping the 3,500 pumping stations and 40,000 kilometres of sewers.  Over a thousand options are being modelled including banning non-essential water use and building a desalination plant at Shoreham.

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Beach clean & Art to highlight plastic waste in Eastbourne

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Beach CleanNCS (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.

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