Horsham community step up to the Climate Crisis
PRESS RELEASE
With climate change in the news daily, heatwaves, the hottest July date ever recorded, wettest August and now the Amazon ablaze, who would blame people to despair. Help is at hand to Horsham District residents, on the first Saturday of every month at the Horsham Repair Café. Not only do the volunteers offer repairs, refills and recycling advice but they give clean energy advice and switching and climate change solutions.
Governments have been talking about climate change since the early 90s, it is only now in 2019 that we are seeing fast escalating action, with more than half the UK’s principal local authorities having declared a climate emergency in the last eight months. The Horsham Repair Café run by Sussex Green Living with the help of the Horsham Quakers and lots of volunteers are stepping up to this climate crisis.
Carrie the co-founder of the Horsham Repair Café and founder of Sussex Green Living says “Switching to clean energy is part of the solution within everyone’s grasp and is the biggest action anyone can take in the fight against climate change”. At the Repair Café she helps people switch to clean energy providers at the Repair Café. She adds “Everyone (bar one household) I have helped to switch has saved between £90 and £366 in their first year. So surely it is a no brainer to change”.
Catherine Edminson one of the volunteers added “What many people do not realise is wind turbines and solar farms, as well as power stations all feed their energy into the National Grid, like rivers running into a big pond. When you switch to clean energy, your supplier guarantees that however much electricity you take out of the ‘pond’, the same amount of clean energy will be put in”. She continues “The more people who switch to clean tariffs, the more renewable energy that goes into the pond. This means that the energy sector is producing less pollution and carbon which is crucial if we are to reduce global warming and climate change”.
In just 5 minutes you can see a cost comparison with eight clean renewable energy by visiting https://bigcleanswitch.org/SussexGreen People can do this 
from the comfort of their home or if make an appointment at the Horsham Repair Café, taking a recent energy bill and you will be helped through the process. The next Repair Café is on Saturday 7th September and takes place in the Quaker Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham (near Sainsburys car park and the library).
For lots of other ideas on how you can help in this climate crisis and reduce your carbon footprint then download our guide ’22 Pledges to the Planet – action plan’ here https://www.sussexgreenliving.org.uk/adult-zone
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For more information contact:
Carrie Cort
About Sussex Green Living
Sussex Green Living (SGL) is a social community environmental awareness initiative. Our mission is to make the world a better place and to educate and inspire people to take action to reduce their impact on the Planet. We want to share practical ideas to help people to reduce the effects of climate change, to reduce their carbon footprint and to live in greater harmony with the planet now and for future generations.
Supported by about 120 volunteers (ad hoc) and hundreds of supporters we offer and promote these sustainable solutions:
- Horsham Repair Cafe – horshamrepaircafe.org.uk, repairs, cleaning product bottle refill, loose dry and organic food and climate mitigation advice.
- Clean renewable energy switching service – bigcleanswitch.org/sussexgreen and a supported service at the Horsham Repair Café.
- Single-use plastic recycling scheme – sussexgreenliving.co.uk/recycling-zone/single-use, public drop off locations at Quaker Meeting House in Horsham, William Penn School in Coolham, Thakham Village Hall and once a week at the Storrington Community Market. Other group collectors include: Leechpool School in Horsham, K2 in Crawley, The Pavilions in Horsham and Rudgwick Youth Centre.
- Free environmental/climate education assemblies and lessons – sussexgreenliving.co.uk/green-education
- Talks to adult groups – sussexgreenliving.co.uk/spread-the-word/talks
- Annual ‘green inspiration through the art’ with schools or whole community – 2019 sussexgreenliving.co.uk/oceanbombed
- An annual environmental event – sussexgreenliving.co.uk/care-share-and-repair-fair-2019
- Clothes swaps and kilo sale in partnership with Bags of Support in Horsham launching November 2019.
- Green stand supporting local events (sales and or info/advice) – sussexgreenliving.co.uk/recycled-stand
- Campaigning central and local government for greener living.
- Founded Climate Reality Global Education Working Group facebook.com/GlobalClimateEducation
- Initiated the formation of the South East Climate Alliance – seclimatealliance.uk
Sussex Green Living is a multi-award winning environmental and education community initiative, details of our awards can be seen here https://www.sussexgreenliving.org.uk/about-us
Horsham Repair Cafe
Launched in October 2017 this repair café has inspired a further seven repair cafes in Chichester, Worthing, Adur, Chailey, Dorking and Haslemere, with a further one forming in Crowborough. PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT VENUE AND TIME CHANGE DUE TO DEMAND as from October 2019:
From October onwards on the first Saturday of each month, the Repair Cafe will be split across the following two sites.
10 – 1pm Horsham Quaker Meeting House RH12 1SL – the household cleaning product bottle refill service and Earthkind loose, dry and organic food refill.
10- 1pm Unitarian Church Hall (about four buildings up Worthing Road opposite the bus station – same postcode) – All household electrical, phone, computer and textile repairs and energy switching. Please use side door to the right of the building.
January 2020 onwards check https://www.horshamrepaircafe.org.uk/ for location and time details.
Climate Reality Leadership Corp
March 2016 Carrie self-funded a trip to Manila, Philippines to train with Al Gore and leading climate change scientists as part of the Climate Reality Leadership Corp. This three-day training programme takes great leaders and trains them in climate change science and communications. Carrie now delivers climate change talks and education in schools and children’s groups.
