On the road (cycling) to the Sustainability Centre
Hyden Farm organic free range chickens and ducks
Conference members ready for a tour
The eco toilet, Yurt and Shower block at the Sustainability Centre
The eco toilet
Tipi's
The Yurt stove
Having booked a place at the conference to be held at the Sustainability Centre near Clanfield in Hampshire, I decided to cycle to the place if the weather proved good on the day. So as the 20th July drew near it was clear that the day would be good for cycling.
Setting off early in the morning, I made my way cross country, probably taking the most scenic route although quite hilly. On the way I stopped off at the famous Hambledon Cricket club grounds and the Bat & Ball pub across the road. Further down the road was Hyden Organic Farm where they had some organic free range chickens and ducks out living a healthy life.
Eventually I made it to the conference with a few minutes to spare to gather my thoughts and find a seat. There were some 30 people attending the conference with at least one representative from each Hampshire based NGO. Hampshire County Council also had a representative attending.
First to speak was a member of the Winchester Action on Climate Change group who made one of the most inspirational talks i have ever heard. He certainly has the personality and knowledge to carry the message forward. He explained how WinACC is leading the way to reduce Winchesters carbon footprint by a third in 99 months.
Next to speak were the Allotments Association at Petersfield and FOE New Forest group who were concerned about flooding at Lymington and larger ferries that would damage the local environment.
Maddy then followed up and explained Peak Oil and how the Permaculture magazine with over 100,000 readers was published as sustainably as possible. After a coffee break Chris did his talk about PCAN, which was quite impressive
and showed how effective PCAN has been since it started in 2006. Terena then explained the Greening Campaign which is growing with new groups very quickly.
Next came Greening Clanfield which is a young group and is
looking for advice and a direction to go in. There were certainly many
people willing to help!
Just before lunch we had a tour of the Sustainabilty Centre, the most interest focused on the eco toilet and the Yurt. The eco toilet was surprisingly high tech looking, with toilet paper and a proper plastic seat. The Yurt had a stove inside and was probably better constructed than a mobile Mongol Yurt.
After lunch The Buriton Local Food Group explained how they were getting the local community to purchase local farm produce. They were followed by the Andover Christian Ecology group which is another young group and joins the existing nationwide network of Christian groups.
I decided to leave before the final talks and big discussion and decided to take the flatter easier route back home. But the day was very interesting and it is amazing just how many groups and organisations there are out there apart from the big ones such as FOE and Greenpeace.
The event was sponsored by The Co-operative and The Wildlife Trusts.
The first British designed tidal turbine located at Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough has produced its first electricity for the grid. Marine Current Turbines have been working on the technology for a number of years now and this commercial scale turbine is the first in the world. When the turbine is fully commissioned it is expected to generate some 1.2MW of power. 'Tidal Farms' using these turbines are already planned for the UK and Canada.
David Cameron has failed to convince many of his MPs that man-made global warming is a serious problem, according to a poll that finds widespread sceptisicm across parliament about the issue.
A third of Tory MPs who responded to the survey questioned the existence of climate change and its link to human activity. Two-thirds said tackling climate change should not be a priority for local councils.
A significant number of MPs from other parties also told the survey they had doubts on the issue. Overall, the results suggest that up to a fifth of the MPs who have been debating the UK's climate change bill do not understand, or choose to ignore, the science on which it is based.
The White House buried a report prepared by US government scientists which detailed a rising death toll from heat waves, fires, disease and smog they predicted would be caused by global warming.
Environmental advocates accused President George W Bush's administration of delaying the release of the 149-page report so that it could avoid regulating greenhouse gases.
Channel 4 misrepresented some of the world's leading climate scientists in a controversial documentary that claimed global warming was a conspiracy and a fraud, the UK's media regulator will rule next week.
A report from the environmental audit committee (EAC) (a committee of MPs) claims that the government is "lagging far behind" in its efforts to curb carbon emissions from its buildings and activities,
The report claims that emissions from government departments have dropped by just 0.7% over the period 1999-2000 to 2006-07, much less than the 8% necessary to hit its target of a 12.5% reduction by 2010/11.
