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What is the RCCP? – Interview with Chris Beales (RCCP Chair)

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In this second interview with Ayo Sokale, I talk about the Reading Climate Change Partnership (RCCP): who we are, and how we are trying to Get Reading Ready for the challenges of climate change.

This website, and the Reading Climate Change Strategy that it hosts, are going to help us to deliver our vision. However, it is critically important that we develop a strong network of people and organisations to really link through to everyone in the town. This is the Reading Climate Action Network (ReadingCAN), which I hope you’ll all join us in being a part of.

Ayo summed it up really nicely: “Reading CAN but it needs you to get engaged with it!”

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Help us write the new Climate Strategy for Reading

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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:

  • Education
  • Adaptation (Resilience)
  • Business
  • Community

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.

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Water Supply and Flooding:

The current strategic priorities are:

  • to manage supply of and demand for water
  • to provide guidance about safe reuse of water
  • to reduce the expected impact of water shortages on consumers and on wildlife
  • to reduce the risk of flooding, pollution, and potential damage to homes
  • to develop an adaptation plan for Reading so we can plan for extreme events associated with the changing climate.

Key questions in meeting these aims are:

  • What will prevent us from getting the water we need?
  • How can we engage in practical water efficiency messages, calling people to help build a water efficient town, using and reusing water sustainably?
  • How can we measure the real impacts of flooding, not only as events, but also the damaging effects to the local economy and the domestic, community, and business lives, and not to forget to the sustainability of the town?

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 and mobility:

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:

  • What is it about our way of life that encourages private vehicle ownership and non-low carbon transport infrastructure?
  • What kind of alternatives can we imagine and how might we influence or bring about these changes?
  • What technologies and solutions can help reduce the dependency on fossil fuel based transport systems whilst continuing to service our economy and communities?

To find out more and get involved email: transport@readingcan.org.uk

Health:

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:

  • In what ways might emphasising climate change as a personal and public health issue in Reading encourage people to participate in steps to curb climate change?

To find out more and get involved email: health@readingcan.org.uk

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Natural Environment and Green spaces:

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:

  • What are the changes needed and how do we get the community to participate?

To find out more and get involved email: nature@readingcan.org.uk

Energy and Low Carbon Development:

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:

  • How can we bring about a reduction in energy demand?
  • What renewable energy technologies will be best for Reading and how can these be encouraged and installed?
  • How can buildings reduce energy consumption and are there alternative ways of heating and cooling buildings?

To find out more and get involved email: energy@readingcan.org.uk

Purchasing, Supply and Consumption:

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:

  • How are we able to consume less or in a much more considerate way?

To find out more and get involved email: resources@readingcan.org.uk

Cross-cutting themes:

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.

  • Education – this theme covers the interaction with schools, colleges and other educational establishments, as well as a general sharing of our “learning about climate change” so we can all make better informed decisions.
  • Adaptation (Resilience) – this theme captures the need to “Get Reading Ready” for the changes that we expect to happen with the changing climate. Weather patterns are already shifting, and the risks associated with extreme events are increasing. We must prepare for this, and our First Reading Adaptation Plan will help to guide our initial steps.
  • Business – the business community has a very important role in helping us to deliver our strategy, as well as ensuring that each individual business is switched-on to the twin challenges of getting ready for climate change and cutting our carbon footprint to zero by 2030.
  • Community – the community of Reading is diverse and complex, with varying levels of engagement and capacity when it comes to climate change. We need to grow the Reading Climate Action Network (ReadingCAN) to make sure we get through to everyone who lives, works and visits this town. We need to help people to make good choices and pick up an optimistic vision of the future for Reading.

To find out more and get involved email: info@readingcan.org.uk

 

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About the new strategy consultation – Interview with Chris Beales (RCCP Chair)

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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:

 

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PLEASE STOP Single-use Plastics

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.

Say no to Plastics

 

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.

  • Seabirds and marine life are found with their stomachs full of plastic items
  • Plastic are killing the coral reefs
  • Plastics is found everywhere even the remotest parts of land and sea

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

The Guardian has provided results of a study that shows how bad the plastic footprint actually is. Please read the article here. Noting the huge carbon footprint associated with plastics…

“…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….”

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Is your cat addicted to whiskas? new recycling scheme in place

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Whiskas is the leading partner in a new European pet food container recycling programme to collect the plastic packaging that is not recycled through door to door collection systems. The system works through teracycle  https://www.whiskas.co.uk/terracycle , an organisation that recycles a whole load of post consumer packaging from Pringles containers to Colgate tooth products and walkers crisp packets. Probably more pet food manufacturers will join the scheme in the future.

it provides a recycling route for manufacturers whose products do not fit within a normal municipal recycling programme.  you’ll find collection points around the area and the money raised goes to various charities. pet food containers are a new venture and teracycle are looking for new collection points. you can do it yourself at home (they’ll send you labels to print for UPS to collect) or set up something in a local church, school or centre available to the public and donate to that charity. at present, they are collecting whiskas wet food pouches, flexible plastic treat and other food bags and similar products in the wellbeloved range for dogs.

You don’t raise a huge amount of money per unit, but there’s a lot of pet owners out there who could contribute to your charity as well as reducing waste to incineration and landfill.

Warning: wash out food pouches in your general washing up/ dishwasher load. if you run hot water separately to do this then you have negated any environmental benefit from recycling. this material currently goes to incineration with energy recovery in this area.

 

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RCCP Chair – 1 year on

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It’s Spring again, and I can’t believe I’m half-way through my term as chair of the RCCP. The board met this morning, which was great. There is a busyness and anticipation about the Partnership at the moment…not surprising given all that is going on this year.

These last few months I have been focused on building capacity in the Partnership. Developing this website is one part – it has been labour of love for me so I hope you like it! And it going to play an important role as the container for our climate change strategy, and all of the information and events that come out of that.

The other thing has been working out how we hope to shape the Reading Climate Action Network, which will hopefully continue to grow and grow, as more people and businesses get involved with getting Reading ready to face the challenges of climate change. The development of our 3rd Strategy is going to be important in helping to build up the network. It will give everyone a really important thing to focus on.

In a couple of months we will have the public launch event, which is going to be really exciting. Groups will then start gathering people and ideas together, and crafting action plans that we make a real difference over the next 5 years. It’s something I hope lots of people get involved with. And by Christmas I look forward to seeing a really powerful strategy for our town.

Meanwhile, I am going to be busy helping to guide the development of Reading’s first Adaptation Plan. I’ll share more about this over the coming months. This Plan will paint an important picture of some of the challenges we face and what we can do about them. And this will mirror the work that Ben is doing, in the RBC, which will guide us on how we can cut our carbon emissions. Both plans will stand alone as important resources for the town but they will also be ready to feed ideas into the new strategy.

So yes, there is a lot going on, which is great! And the declaration of the Climate Emergency will hopefully add even more fuel to the fire.  It is interesting (for me at least!) to look back at the Vision I set for us last year. We had just picked ourselves up from a very low point (and many thanks to my predecessor, Dan for guiding us through that!). So my vision was very much about growth. There is still much to do but – at this half-way point – I think we are doing really well.

Our timeline is certainly nice and busy right now…

With many thanks to my RCCP partners, and everyone else who is supporting us in making this happen.

 

Chris Beales
RCCP Chair

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Will you switch off this Earth Hour?

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.

How Earth Hour helps?

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:

  • Influence climate policy in Russia, Argentina, Ecuador and Wales.
  • Successfully push for planet-friendly laws, such as a ban on plastic in the Galapagos Islands.
  • Inspire the world’s first Earth Hour protected forest in Uganda.

And 90% of people who take part in Earth Hour say it inspires them to do more to protect the planet

What you can do?

  • It would be great if everyone can kindly turn off their lights, Computers and any electronic items they use on Saturday the 30th of March from 8:30 to 9:30 PM.
  • WWF have partnered with Ariel to donate £1 for just pledging to make a change. So please go ahead and Make a Pledge for this amazing cause.
  • Here are also some ideas from WWF about things you can do in the dark.

 

 

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Invest in renewable energy with Reading Community Energy Society

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

 

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Make fashion circular – Say no to Fast Fashion

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. ”

Say no to fast fashion

Here are some points to highlight the impact of fast fashion which is surely not Ethical 

  • 100 billion garments are produced every year globally
  • The average number of ‘wears’ per garment a person owns is just 4
  • The fashion industry is the fifth most polluting in the world
  • 100 million tonnes of non-renewables are used every year in the fashion industry globally
  • 65% of clothes use polyester – and this contains micro plastics, which are shed when clothes are washed
  • Half a million tonnes – equivalent to 50 billion plastic bottles – of plastic microfibers from washing garments ends up in the ocean every year on average, which in turn enters the food chain
  • Extending the life of a garment by 3 months can reduce its carbon footprint by 5-10%
  • Charity shops reduce the UK carbon footprint by 3.7 million tonnes a year
Impact of clothing industry

Lot of companies and charities are working to try and combat this

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

  • How much are the workers along the supply chain paid?
  • Was this produced in a work environment free from all forms of abuse, unhealthy and unsanitary conditions?
  • Do their work hours allow for a good work/life balance?
  • Are the workers there of their own free will?
  • Which type and quality material is being used?
  • Does the dye pollute water?
  • What are the other effects of producing this piece of clothing on the environment?
  • How far has this item travelled along its’ supply chain?
  • Where have each of these materials been sourced from?

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

 

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January 2019 Reading Climate Change Partnership Board meeting

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The quarterly RCCP Board meeting took place on Jan 25th.  The board spent time discussing the process for developing Reading’s 3rd Climate Change Strategy to run 2020-2025.  It was agreed there was a need to develop RCAN to enhance outreach into Reading community, through engagement events each strategy theme.  There will be a public engagement event in June to support this.   New grant submissions were reviewed for the annual £10k Reading Climate Action Project Support Fund, and more detail was requested. Chris Beales – Chair,  updated all on board and staff changes: Poppy Harris, Environmental and Community coordinator at The Oracle Shopping Centre was welcomed as a business representative.  Dan Fernbank from Reading University is stepping down after 5 years but will continue to be involved as a Director of Reading Community Energy.   Prof. Tim Dixon will now represent the University going forward.  Katie Brett has been recruited as the Support Officer to RCCP. Ideas were shared on completing gaps in the board – with representatives from the health and community sector.

Please see minutes below

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