Climate anxiety is a straight-forward expression of stress from our subconscious telling us that we feel threatened. It can take several forms, from sleep disturbance to feelings of dread. It can be fleeting or it can be continuous. The neuroscience says that this anxiety is a signal to act. However action will only ameliorate the…
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The Big One
In case somehow you have not heard about the Big One, this is it: a huge demonstration at the Houses of Parliament involving originally Extinction Rebellion and now everyone from WWF and the RSPB to the Nurses Union and faith groups from across the land. Protest is the sixth pillar of climate action that every…
Hugh Archibald White
Sadly Hugh died on Monday (27th March 2023), unexpectedly to most, although he had been recently diagnosed with a heart condition. As the chair of the trustees, he was always a steady hand and a great help when it came to running the charity and he’ll be sorely missed. He always seemed fond of his…
Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the garden centre…
The government in 2022 banned the sale of bagged peat-based compost from 2024, which is a big step in the right direction and should save thousands of acres of peat bog in the country. Peat bog destruction causes huge amounts of CO2 emissions. When that law was passed, the government explained that the use of…
Plant-based Milks and Dairy Milk
Milk from dairy cows has a higher carbon footprint by any measure than any plant-based milk on the market, including soya, oat, hazelnut, cashew, almond, rice, hemp, pea, potato or coconut. Replacing some or all of the cow milk in your diet and reducing your carbon footprint should be relatively easy from a taste perspective,…
Grand Designs Workshop
I ran the climate fresk for a group from St Luke’s on Hillmarton Road at Bernadette’s house. She also helped me make the gingered carrot soup and baked some bread, so it almost seemed like a dinner party at times – it’s nice to have so many people paying attention to what I say at…
Kid’s Climate Workshop
The kids at St Mary Magdalene’s year 5 class were all 9 to 10 years old. They did well, concentrating for a whole 2 hours. Teachers probably deal with this problem all the time but the issue of what to say and what not to say (about how rubbish adults are) made it quite challenging.
February’s Workshop
Another interesting mix of people. It was really interesting to hear about one participant’s involvement in the aftermath of the London fires in July 2022 last year. It was shocking then but it’s a sad tribute to people’s ability to mentally adapt when we realise how the shock and the fear for the future after…
Plastic Microfibres From Our Laundry Shouldn’t End Up In The Ocean
Polyester and other man-made fibres make great cheap clothes, but they slowly disintegrate, shedding plastic microfibres every time they are washed. In fact cotton does as well, but the cotton will break down in the environment, unlike microplastics. The microfibres end up in the oceans, where they appear as food to planktonic micro-organisms and enter…
Buying Sustainable Flowers
Mothers Day is on Sunday, March 19th this year, so there is time to think and avoid being trapped into getting the most unsustainable flowers at the last minute from the supermarket. There are three major sustainability problems with growing flowers: To a certain extent, the first two are mutually exclusive – the reason for…