Reading Climate Action Network website
Low Carbon Development
It was great to be able to share some of the thing we are planning to do in our new Reading Climate Emergency Strategy last night. Many thanks to Michael Bright, and all at Reading Town Meal, for organising the event and for keeping things going despite the Covid restrictions.
As promised here are our presentations:
Low Carbon Workspaces is a grant scheme in Berkshire helping small and medium sized enterprises to make energy efficiency improvements or reduce their carbon emissions. Maximum grants of up to £5,000 are available to cover up to a third of the cost of energy efficiency projects.
The programme is operated by a specialist agency which will help appraise the project quoted cost and offer a green diagnostic to help identify other energy efficiency upgrades that could be made and how the scheme may be able to offer partial funding, subject to a successful application. Applications go to a Grant Panel who usually provide their decision within 3 or 4 days, although the operators stress that grants cannot be paid out retrospectively so it’s essential to follow the application process before undertaking any work or appointing suppliers.
You can find full details at: https://www.lowcarbonworkspaces.co.uk/
thanks to everyone who supported this new renewable energy scheme for Reading,. Construction can now start
This is the forth in the series of interviews that I had with the wonderful Ayo Sokale. In this, Ayo asks me about ‘Climate Change and Children’. My son was born close to time I started my role as Chair of the RCCP so this is very real for me. It is so important that we create a good future for him, and all of our children. We need to push hard, believe and make it happen…and there is no more time to wait.
All the best,
Chris
Exciting News: the Reading Hydro scheme has all of its necessary permits and will be built and commissioned in 2020 at a cost of £700,000.
You can be a part of this by investing as little as £75
If you think you might like to invest in this renewable energy project for the town. then please go to the Reading hydro website and read ALL about it before making your decision: the plans, the risks, the potential investment return and the community benefits
For more information about the scheme and to access the share offer document go to https://hydro.readinguk.org
We had a fantastic launch event on the 13th June. This opened the 6 month consultation on the 3rd Reading Climate Change Strategy.
Please do get involved: your ideas, energy and commitment are going to be really important to make a real success of this. You can take part in a number of different ways e.g. by attending meetings, commenting on proposals and encouraging others to also engage in shaping Reading’s future. To get in touch with the various themes, please find the contact details below:
4 cross-cutting themes have also been identified:
To get involved with these cross-cutting themes, or if you have any general questions or suggestions please contact info@readingcan.org.uk.
Each theme will have one of the action plans that are the backbone of the strategy. For more details about all of the themes, please scroll down.
The current strategic priorities are:
Key questions in meeting these aims are:
We can then use this to draw together an outline plan for the Town of Reading.
To find out more and get involved email: water@readingcan.org.uk
Transport has a key role to play in tackling climate change. Solutions to the transport and mobility question can also improving air quality and promoting health and wellbeing, whilst enabling economic growth and housing delivery. In addition to the Climate Change Strategy, the Council are in the process of updating the transport strategy for Reading, prioritising the provision of sustainable transport to encourage the use of public transport, walking and cycling as an attractive alternative to the private car.
Key questions in meeting these aims are:
To find out more and get involved email: transport@readingcan.org.uk
Climate change and associated air pollution is worsening physical and mental health and negatively affecting food production.
One of the key questions for this theme is:
To find out more and get involved email: health@readingcan.org.uk
The new local plan requires identification and enhancement of wildlife corridors through the town, connecting the existing green spaces and ensuring that new development contributes rather than detracts from these aims. Private gardens and business sites could be part of the solution. Green spaces need enhancement for nature conservation, management of water flows and droughts, assisting in reducing air pollution and urban heating and improving well-being.
One of the key questions for this theme is:
To find out more and get involved email: nature@readingcan.org.uk
Maybe one of the most challenging topics that is on the forefront of the Climate Change issue. We all need to find a way to reduce our energy consumption and use renewable energy for the energy we do use. This is closely linked to carbon emissions and solutions to both problems tend to go hand in hand.
Key questions in meeting these aims are:
To find out more and get involved email: energy@readingcan.org.uk
In short: stuff. Every choice we make about what to buy and consume has consequences. Our society has come to rely on a make-use-dispose model of consumption that assumes resources are infinite – both the raw materials and the energy used to manufacture goods. We have come to expect to be able to buy out of season and non-indigenous foods regardless of the water, materials and energy used to grow, package and transport them. In a zero-carbon future, we will need better ways to harness and conserve resources to deliver the quality of life we desire without leaving an unwelcome legacy for future generations.
One of the key questions for this theme is:
To find out more and get involved email: resources@readingcan.org.uk
The cross-cutting themes are common across the strategy. They do not have action plans themselves but they are useful lens to look across the 6 main themes. As we launch the strategy, we have identified 4 cross-cutting themes. This number could grow through time.
To find out more and get involved email: info@readingcan.org.uk
It was my great pleasure to be interviewed by Ayo Sokale – one of Caversham’s new Councillors. This is the first in a series of five interviews. In this we talk about our plans for new Reading Climate Change Strategy.
We are writing the new strategy between now and Christmas. Please do get involved – you can find out more here:
Earth Hour is a global WWF (formerly known as World Wildlife Fund) climate change initiative which brings attention to the effects of climate change by asking people to switch of lights at homes and businesses for an hour at 8.30pm (20:30), local time, usually on the last Saturday of March. This Year it falls on 30th March.
From the Sydney Opera House and the Empire State Building to Buckingham Palace and Edinburgh Castle, communities like yours have switched off their lights in a symbolic show of support. Last year over 10 million people across the UK took part to send a clear message: We’re fighting for our world.
Many of us feel powerless in the face of overwhelming threats to the planet. But when we all come together for Earth Hour, we create a strong voice that can change things for the better.
The power of our combined voices has already helped to:
And 90% of people who take part in Earth Hour say it inspires them to do more to protect the planet
Reading Community Energy Society (RCES) is launching a new community share offer this week, inviting local people and organisations to invest in renewable energy for the greater Reading area.
RCES is a community benefit society owned by its members and already runs 12 solar energy systems which have been generating clean, green energy for the past two years. In that time, their systems have saved 145 tonnes of CO2 emissions and they have awarded 3 community grants to support wider sustainability initiatives.
The Society are aiming to raise £363,000 so they can install new solar panels on ten buildings in the greater Reading area. The new solar panels will be installed on buildings including University facilities, 2 council buildings and a school. The project is off to a flying start having already installed panels on Woodford Park Leisure Centre in collaboration with Woodley Town Council and a recycling facility owned and operated by Select Environmental Services.
Tony Hoskins, Chair of RCES said:
“Encouraged by the success of our first group of solar projects, the Directors have worked extremely hard to bring together this new opportunity. As a community benefit society, we aim to build low carbon renewable energy generation to help tackle climate change, to raise funds for community projects and to give local people a chance to get involved and make a real contribution to work of the organisation.
By launching this second share offer and building more roof-top solar energy systems, we are opening the opportunity to even more people in an around Reading to get involved and join our existing membership. We hope local residents will take the time to visit our web-site, read the Share Offer document and consider joining us and investing in the new projects.”
Investments are invited from £200 – £20,000 and the Share Offer is expected to launch in the last week of February and will run until 29th March 2019.
More details on the scheme are available on the Society’s website – https://readingenergy.coop/share-offer-2019/ or Call 0845 373 3612
Or see the below attachment
Clothing is a necessity and for many a way of expressing ourselves and boosting confidence, yet the process of making them is extremely wasteful and polluting. The production of these textiles itself, whether they’re synthetic or natural, is also causing harm. Kay Politowicz, Professor of Textile Design at the University of the Arts in London, says “The increasing consumption of textiles for clothing is causing the biggest textiles impact on the environment” . The fashion industry depends on oil and gas and consumes enormous amounts of water, contributing to vast mountains of waste.
The life cycle of clothes we wear and buy is something most of us take for granted – right from the supply chain as to who makes them, where and how and where they end up after use.
This video from Ellen MacArthur Foundation explains the problem caused and the idea of circular fashion in a nutshell.
“Plastic from a variety of products – carpet, clothing, packaging – are showing up in our tap and bottled water and even our beer. ”
1) If doing a wardrobe clear out, use Traid who offer a free home collection service. Similarly you can donate to charity shops or use the recycle services from retailers, such as John Lewis and M&S.
2) Fashion Revolution’s ‘Who Made My Clothes?’ social media campaign tries to ask our brands to be transparent about the supply chain
3) Sustainability Savvy have come up with 7 Steps to building a More Sustainable Wardrobe
4) Do not succumb to impulse buying – Always ask these 10 questions before you make a purchase
5) Greenpeace’s high-profile campaign “Dirty Laundry,” which has called on some of the largest clothing brands to commit to eliminating hazardous chemicals in their supply chains, has spurred Adidas to begin talks with rivals Nike and Puma (among others) to establish an industry-wide initiative to develop an integrated chemical management program.
6) Clothing labels like M&S, Levis and P&G are encouraging customers to wash at lower temperatures.
7) The recent Fashion Futures project at Britain’s Forum for the Future envisioned what fashion will be like in the year 2025, in conjunction with their call for a more sustainable fashion industry
