Reading Climate Action Network website
Natural Environment
If recycling boxes or wheeliebins are cluttering up your porch or garden, consider constructing a home for them with a green roof. This one is made from the slats and legs of an old bed and planted up with sedum varieties.
It keeps the recyclate dry, frees up space in the home and feeds a host of insects. Win-win.
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:
The first draft of our food waste fermentation and composting advice is available and we’d love some feedback to nature@readingcan.org.uk whilst the graphically capable amongst us make it look pretty for the real thing. Does it help? What’s unclear?
The early Spring meant the earliest average emergence of butterflies in the last 20 years. . Please spend just 15 minutes on a sunny day (don’t choose boiling hot at midday weather) to count butterflies in your garden or on your daily exercise route so that Butterfly Conservation can understand how the changing weather patterns affects populations.
You can download an app to identify and count butterflies on the move, or scribble in a notebook to enter the data later at the butterfly count website
You ‘ve probably noticed that Reading Borough Council is leaving a number of grass verges and roundabouts to grow longer this year rather than having their normal 6-7 cuts a year. This is part of their commitment to the climate action plan and biodiversity action plan, but monitoring is needed to review the impact of these changes, both good and bad. You can help with this if you record your interesting sightings on their rewilding page (deer already seen on one), which is where to go to read more about this action and the location of rewilding sites.
One of the most ubiquitous materials in the World, palm oil is used in around half of all toiletries, cosmetics and food products. It has been implicated in habitat destruction, displacement of indigenous people and soil erosion. But is it really the villain it is made out to be?
In fact, the oil palm is a highly efficient crop that is significantly more productive than any of its alternatives. So in theory this means that cultivating an alternative crop could use more land and further exacerbate the environmental damage that’s caused currently. The crux of the problem is that industry’s insatiable appetite for palm oil means that land continues to be cleared for its production at an alarming rate, destroying irreplaceable tropical rain forest and peatlands that we rely on to store CO2 and produce oxygen as well as being home to humans, animals and plants. In addition, burning the forest and peatlands causes dangerous air pollution and there is evidence of significant human rights abuse to displaced people and workers. The lack of governance regarding land clearance for palm oil means that it’s too easy to clear more and more land for its production, rather than ensuring that the land employed for its production is used more efficiently.
We’re part of the problem too. Palm oil is used extensively in convenience foods, because it is odourless and colourless, stable at high temperatures and resistant to oxidation. One of the most effective ways to reduce demand for palm oil is to cook from scratch rather than buying pre-prepared foods – easy to say, but not everybody has the time or cash to do this. Avoiding food waste can help, too, and brings other environmental benefits as well as saving cash. As for toiletries and cosmetics, making our own isn’t an option for most people so curbing demand is primarily a question of avoiding waste.
So, should we boycott palm oil? That’s a matter of personal choice, of course, and some would argue that displacing palm oil in favour of oils from less productive sources is counter-productive and risks eroding the GDP of developing countries. It also assumes that we can recognise the 20 or more terms that can be used to describe it on labels – a time-consuming task for any busy consumer. If we do choose to buy products containing palm oil, it certainly helps to choose those containing sustainable palm oil. The RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) is the most established certification programme and it strengthened its criteria in November 2018 making it more effective at avoiding human rights abuses and environmental degradation – look out for its “RSPO certified” and “Green Palm” labels.
As with so many environmental challenges, things are rarely black and white and there is always a risk that in solving one problem we will unwittingly create another. But arming ourselves with the facts means that at least we can choose to do the best thing based on the information we have. You can find more information on Palm Oil and the RSPO at WWF, Rainforest Rescue and RSPO.
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:
In 2010, eight million tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries—far more than the total that has been measured floating on the surface in the ocean’s “garbage patches.”
That’s the bad news. The even worse news is that the tonnage is on target to increase tenfold in the next decade unless the world finds a way to improve how garbage is collected and managed.
There is absolutely no excuse for using single use plastics and we need to act now. Not only is this causing drastic climate change but is also killing the marine life and nature.
Maya Beach in Koh Phi, Phi Leh island in Thailand is now closed. After years of receiving 5000 visitors a day, pollution from litter, has destroyed around 80% of the coral around the bay.
Are We Also Eating Plastics?
This novel 3-D animation video from National Geographic dives into how our consumption of plastics has affected marine species deaths and increased human health risks, and it explores possible long-term solutions.
To read more and watch the video on how to keep plastics away from our oceans click here
“…This plastic binge threatens attempts to meet the Paris climate agreement. It means that by 2050 plastic will be responsible for up to 13% of the total “carbon budget” – equivalent to 615 coal-fired power plants – says the research published on Thursday….”
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