Halloween is fast approaching, so why not keep it green and keep it cheap? Give the ghouls and ghosts an energy saving, healthy treat by:
Making your own sweets
Grape lollies – take a bunch of loose grapes, rinse them (dip them in sugar, if you must) and put them in the freezer for an hour or so.
Choc fruits – dip strawberries, raspberries and satsuma segments in melted chocolate and set in the fridge.
Ensuring you have no-waste pumpkins
Separate the flesh and seeds as you go and use the flesh to make a warming winter soup or pumpkin pie.
The pumpkin seeds can either be roasted or eaten raw as a light snack. -After Halloween, put your hollowed out pumpkin lanterns on the compost heap so they can be later used to fertilize your garden.
Creating your own costumes
Collect old rags, rip them up into strips, dye them black if desired and pin onto conventional clothes.
Make witches/wizards dresses and capes out of black bin liners
Make monster masks from papier-mâché.
Make scary ‘hands’ by padding out latex gloves.
Use old pillowcases to collect ‘treats’ – dye it with the rags or decorate with felt-tips.
Creating a Gloomy Glow
Switch off the lights and fill the house with candles.
Torches – when out and about use ones with rechargeable batteries or the wind-up versions.
Car Sharing
Share the fuel, hassle and expense by all bundling into one car on way to your trick or treat venue.
Recycling Take a bin liner with you to collect up all the ‘treat’ wrappers. Recycle what you can on your return.
Closing Doors
When Trick or Treaters appear, close the front door behind you to conserve energy
Spurred on by the recent success of the Great Climate swoopers? Then next stop Copenhagen…
From 7th to 18th December, a climate summit will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. This event is billed as the ‘largest ever to be held’ and ‘our last best hope’. Frustrated by the lack of progress Plane Stupid and their cohorts intend to make an appearance and their feelings known!
The intention is to take over the summit on December 16th and have their say, transforming the conference into a ‘Peoples Summit for Climate Justice’.
Since talks began 15 years ago there has been no evidence of a reduction in greenhouse gasses and emissions continue to steadily rise. So more of the same type of promises regurgitating out of Copenhagen simply aren’t going to have any credence – seen and heard it all before and more to the point, they just don’t work!
Environmentalists believe alternative changes should be made, such as:
• No fossil fuels
• Community control of resources
• relocalising food production
• reducing over consumption
• recognising and dealing with ecological and climate debt
• respecting indigenous and forest peoples’ rights
Why are these alternatives so impossible for the summit to consider, when they appear so potentially achievable? It’s time to change the system not the climate!
Further to the posting on 24th September 2009, we can report that the Great Climate Swoop protest at Ratcliffe went ahead on 19th October as planned and has been hailed as a ‘massive success’!
The Ratcliffe coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire was the target for the environmental activists. The protesters gathered at various points on Saturday morning, broke through a perimeter fence within 5 minutes and swooped into the power plant in separate groups, thus achieving their aim.
About 300 protesters were present and police have confirmed reports that there were 3 people injured and that 50 arrests were made.
Demonstrators who were involved in the The Great Climate Swoop included supporters from; Climate Rush, Plane Stupid and Camp for Action. Their overall mission is to show that coal has no future and to take action, when and where possible, on issues climate change.
The council’s plans are detailed in a 12 page ‘Climate Change Strategy’ document, which explains the lengths they are prepared to go to, to achieve their aim. Their proposals to reduce emissions include looking not only at the councils own use, but that of the community as a whole. Areas of concern are as follows; domestic/workplace energy consumption, use of fuel, public transport issues, sustainable procurement principles, energy conscious building development and environmental awareness education, to name but a few.
If Harrogate Council are prepared to adopt these strategies, shouldn’t other councils now follow suit?
Green Thing is a not-for-profit charity established to encourage people to lead greener lives. All profits go to the Green Thing Trust.
In their mission to cut down on waste they have come up with the intriguing idea of Glove Love. This requires lost, lonely, single gloves that have lost their partners, but are still looking for companionship. Gloves are sent in, washed, named and matched up with a new mate.
These ‘new couples’ are then sold for £5 (plus VAT and postage), sent to their owners with new identities and a love letter, hopefully to live happily ever after. Green Thing then ask the new owner to upload a picture of themselves wearing the gloves so that they can prove to the original owners that their gloves did indeed find true love.
The Ambassadors Theatre, First Group, The Natural History Museum and an increasing number of super models such as Lauren Budd support and donate to the charity, but obviously gloves are welcome from everywhere and anywhere.
A 15ft Northern Bottlenose Whale was spotted in Poole Bay, Bournemouth last month.
Named Gilbert after the RNLI lifeguard who first spotted him, he turned out, in fact to be a female. It is thought that Gilbert took a wrong turn off her migratory path, on the way to the Atlantic and ended up in the exclusive seaside resort.
For a few days Gilbert seemed in good spirits and was seen frolicking between the piers at Bournemouth and Boscombe. But sadly, after 2 weeks in the area, the whale was spotted in distress by a jet skier. The alarm was raised but she was eventually found dead in the shallows at Alum Chine and hauled onto the beach by tractor
There were rope burns found around her beak and it is believed that she may have been caught up in fishing nets, but the main speculation for her demise was the lack of suitable food. Northern Bottlenoses are deep divers who feed predominately on squid, which provide their main source of water and without this supply it is probable that Gilbert died of dehydration.
Following the posting on Greenmomentum on 26, July 2009 outlining the usage of speed cameras in the exclusive area of Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset, it now appears that Islington Council have jumped on the bandwagon.
Following complaints about the volume and speed of cyclists, the council in their wisdom have laid 14 speed bumps in the alleyway of a residential area in North London. The move came in fear, that one day a pedestrian would be injured by a careless cyclist.
As expected the cyclists are absolutely outraged and there is the added dimension of the implication these obstacles will have on the disabled, elderly and mothers with buggies and prams.
Who’s at Fault…?
A move has been made by Government advisors to make motorists legally responsible by default, should they be involved in an accident with a cyclists, even if the motorist is not a fault.
The idea stems from regulations in place in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. It seems a little extreme that a motorist should pay for an accident caused by the dangerous manoeuvre of a cyclist, however if a realistic compromise could be reached, as cyclist groups point out, it would encourage more people to get out of their cars and make more journeys by bike, on foot or by public transport.
On a lighter note…
A German brothel is offering cyclists a 5 euro discount, if they travel to the establishment by bike. The owner said, ‘it’s good for business, it’s good for the environment and it’s good for the girls!’
Team Green Britain is an online organisation which encourages people to join and participate in making Britain greener.
Currently their focus is on the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. They intend to show the world that Britain is winning the war against climate change.
Team Green Britain is supported by EDF Energy, The Eden Project, London 2012 and Global Action Plan.
The general idea is for everyone to get involved, even if it is only in a very small way, for example; being more aware of carbon footprints, switching off lights, appliances etc… and understanding that with a very small, but continual effort, a difference can be made. Then and very importantly, passing this message on to friends, relatives, neighbours and colleagues. Small steps maybe, but slowly spreading this message will hopefully educate people and social groups, bringing with it a sense of ‘community’ and the joint desire to improve the environment.
This approach may initially appear naïve, but imagine the impact if thousands upon thousands joined in, purely by word of mouth! Click Here to find out more
