Time for action: towards a strong climate change law At the end of 2006, we announced that we had achieved the aim of our Big Ask Climate Change campaign: the Queen announced that her Government will produce a climate change bill in the coming legislative year. This happened because of the work of Friends of the Earth. With local groups’ activism, we motivated 170,000 members of the public to contact their MPs, calling for a climate change bill in the Queen’s speech. Focussing our efforts on the Big Ask campaign demonstrated what an immense force Friends of the Earth local groups can be when we all work together. Grass roots action, of course, was crucial to the success. Continued on Page 12
Editorial
10 - Organic Food & Farming
This issue I decided to try and squeeze everything from the BFOE newsletter into one real life event. My attempt was a family cycle to the city centre to buy our local and organic veg at the market. No packaging involved thank you very much. Then on to the warehouse café for more lovely local and organic food (does it count if you have no packaging because someone else is cooking?!). Not bad, but we should have also filmed it to send to our MP for the Big Ask.
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So onwards to some breaking news that’s close to my own heart. Billesley
3 - Editorial 4 - Warehouse News 6
- Campaigns Digest
8 - Christianity & the Environment - Time for Action - Towards a Strong Climate Law
Lane Allotments have won a small victory as the neighbouring Moseley Golf Club who has cleared many of the allotments have had their planning application refused (yes, refused!) to turn the former allotments into a golf practice course. Hopefully this is good news for other allotments that are hanging in the balance. Watch this space for more developments... Finally a special mention to Karen Leach, Liane Elkin and Sue Elkin and all the volunteers involved for a phenomenal near £10,000 raised by this year’s festival lock ups. Many thanks to you all.
15 - Volunteer Spotlight 16
- Guest Article - My Thoughts on Transport
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- Festivals
18 - If you do one thing 20 - National Conference 21 - Diary 22
- Membership Form
23 - Contacts
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A Fond Farewell, a Succesful Clean and an Exhibition! The cleaning party mentioned in the last newsletter went ahead and was a huge success, thanks to all those who came to lend a hand. We covered a lot of ground and got rid of a lot of grime. Margaret, our Treasurer, provided some delicious home-made cakes which were greatly appreciated and kept us all going throughout the day. I imagine there are a lot of people out there cursing that they missed such an opportunity but, don’t worry, we plan to have similar parties in the future! Other news at the Warehouse is of a sadder nature – Ian Moore, who works as our Maintenance Coordinator, is leaving at the end of September for pastures new – Edinburgh, in fact, to do an MSc in Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation. We wish him well and will miss his extensive knowledge and expertise. Looking ahead the Warehouse hopes to celebrate Apple Day on the 21st October so watch out for more details about this nearer the time. Also the Warehouse Café will be breaking into the arts world from the 25th September running a programme of exhibitions. Two local artists, Ian Burch and Chris Barlow launch proceedings with a joint show of small works on wood. Thus, as well as having a spot of lunch or dinner, there will now be something new and interesting to muse over. Happy viewing. Tamsin Mosse
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• 100% vegetarian and vegan • A Large selection of organic and fairtrade products, most supplied and delivered by a workers co-operative • Vegan owners - no meat or dairy products sold Upcoming events..........
Open Monday to Saturday, 10am-5pm
Apple Day on the 21st October - watch out for more details about this nearer the time.
SPROCKET Cycles
I can’t believe it’s vegan! A vegan feast held on 1st November as part of World Vegan Day The Warehouse Café will be breaking into the arts world from the 25th September, running a programme of exhibitions. Two local artists, Ian Burch and Chris Barlow, launch proceedings with a joint show of small works on wood. Thus, as well as having a spot of lunch or dinner, there will now be something new and interesting to muse over. A brand new menu is coming soon with lots of different dishes to try, including...... Mexican Platter for two, Thai Curry and, back by popular demand, Sun Dried Tomato and Lentil Sausage and Lime and Ginger Cheesecake. The Christmas menu will be available from 1st December. 0121 633 0261 info@thewarehousecafe.com www.thewarehousecafe.com
Sales, service, repairs, accessories. Bikes also built to your own specifications. Open Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-4pm 0121 633 0730
Appeal for Volunteers at BFOE STALL HOLDERS WANTED. No experience necessary and the selling skills of Del Boy not essential. Desirably, you have listening skills too. We are looking for volunteers who enjoy running stalls to promote our campaigns – stalls on streets, at events and at club nights. Equally, if you are willing to knock doors, we would welcome you too – plenty a petition has grown that way. It’s all about
community engagement. Want to spread the word on climate change? Get in touch. Full training provided. Please contact Chris Williams (contact details on page 23). FUNDRAISING HELP REQUIRED. Have you got a fundraising idea? Could you help put this into action to raise money for campaigns and the upkeep of the Warehouse? Please contact Tamsin Mosse (contact details on page 23).
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Campaigns Digest Local rail, climate change and aviation have taken a lead in the past two months. Our campaign to reopen local rail stations in Moseley, Kings Heath and Stirchley has taken a prominent role. Joanne Leach and other volunteers have held several stalls at Moseley and Kings Heath farmers’ markets; the campaign has been a permanent feature at the Kitchen Garden Cafe (in Kings Heath); and some residents have forwarded our campaign by taking the petition out to the community on our behalf. We will be handing over our campaign petition to local councillors and intend to have a publicity stunt to attract attention to the need for speeding up the reopening of the line. Momentum is building in the media.
Change Campaign. In order to get a stronger bill, our campaign has taken different turns. We have filmed Lorely Burt MP (Solihull), along with parliamentary candidates Jerry Evans (Hall Green) and Richard Burt (West Worcestershire), for the Big Ask Virtual March. They all backed our three campaign aims. Shahien Khan braved the rain for us at the Birmingham Eid Mela while Janet Browne and Ayman Ahwal went to the Birbery Brickworks in Sparkbrook to get postcards signed to lobby MPs. Many more turned out for the Christian Aid and Islamic Relief Climate Change March, Cycle Relief and Moseley Folk Festival. We were lucky to have Tori Ray as our guest. Tori is Friends of the Earth’s new press officer whose job is to support local groups in gaining local press coverage during the Big Ask Climate Change Campaign. Tori is mainly advising via regional staff but we were lucky to have her all to ourselves for a short time.
Midlands Today; and on Smooth Radio and Radio WM. Andy Pryke did some filming in Moseley for “Heart of the Country”, and we gained coverage in Birmingham Forward, The Muslim Weekly and the Quaker publication, The Friend (the latter two for the multi-faith climate change project). August also saw the famous climate camp next to Heathrow Airport. A contingent from the West Midlands went down, made many media waves, got Birmingham Friends of the Earth coverage too and subsequently has led to people getting together from various groups to begin to collaborate more closely on Birmingham Airport’s planned runway extension. With the Airport’s master plan due to be published any moment, we are
preparing for a big campaign. For foodies, we held an organic food speaker event in the popular Warehouse Café with excellent speakers from the Soil Association, Garden Organic and Flights Orchard Organics who run a box scheme in the Birmingham area. To continue the food theme, Maud Grainger is working with Ulfah Arts, UNITY FM and the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences to organise a women’s only organic food iftar (breaking of the fast). Maud is also planning a tree planting event on 28 November in Small Heath Park, to which local councillors, Roger Godsiff MP and the local community will be invited. Chris Williams
Recently, we have had some decent press coverage. Lorely Burt MP (Solihull) and Cllr Jerry Evans, Parliamentary Candidate for Hall Green are supporting Friends of the Earth’s calls for a strong climate change bill.
Late summer has also seen us ramp up our activities on the Big Ask Climate
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Recently, we have had some decent press coverage. The Super Prix debacle brought us a load of headlines in the Birmingham Post, Birmingham Mail and Birmingham News; on BBC
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Christianity
and the Environment
In a concerned conversation over the future of our planet, someone said to me recently, “Human beings are parasites and the earth would be much better off without us. The best thing we can do is stop breeding!” While I agree that the majority of humans do behave in a destructive fashion towards the earth, I don’t believe population control would solve the problem. As a Christian, I take issue with the underlying belief that man is the worst thing that ever happened to this planet.
plan, how then did we come to a place of destroying the earth we were supposed to preserve? Perhaps it started in the mistaken belief that the earth belongs to us rather than God. Although not a popular concept today, it seems to me that the selfish and destructive nature of sin lies at the root of most environmental problems e.g. greed, profit over people, and materialism.
What then can the Christian faith offer the environmental challenges facing us?
Faith and Climate Change Ambassador Steve Lyne with Bishop of Cape Town, Geoff Davies, at the Christian Aid/ Islamic Relief Climate Change March in Birmingham 27th August.
Christians believe God created the earth and the book of Genesis describes how humans, created beings as well, were given the special responsibility of ‘serving and protecting’ or ‘stewarding’ the created order: ‘Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.’ Genesis 2.15 NASB. Humans were part of God’s wonderful creation
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What then can the Christian faith offer the environmental challenges facing us? It’s a sad fact that the Church has been apathetic to the environmental question. Some extreme cases have even quoted biblical texts of ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ suggesting we let this one burn as we get a new one anyway! This argument goes against the instruction from Genesis to ‘serve and protect’. The hope for the environment the Christian faith can offer is the miraculous power of redemption. As
Jesus, through his death, came to bring about peace between men and women and the God who created them, he effectively gave them life instead of death, relationship and wholeness instead of brokenness. As Christians experience this offering of peace from God through his son Jesus, we should extend this redemptive experience in our approach and attitude to creation. My heart longs to see abused and neglected areas of Birmingham brought back into a state where wildlife and people can flourish, the wonder of creation admired, and worship of the Creator inspired. While this may sound naïve and impossible with the challenges facing the environment, with God’s vision and power I believe it is possible. The other week while on a train in the Rhondda Valleys, I saw a heron sitting on a burnt- out car wreck in a river. This made me very sad as I witnessed how nature struggles to exist alongside us as the vulnerable and abused victims of our materialistic and uncaring culture. I do believe that the earth can flourish when cared for and cultivated by man, but at the moment our lifestyles and attitudes are dominant and destructive. In Romans 12.2, Christians are encouraged not to conform to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of their minds. Christians therefore need to make a conscious shift away from our culture’s materialistic and self-centred lifestyles, towards a redemptive and
nurturing approach to our environment and communities that reflects God’s love for us and his wonderful creation. Perhaps the words (with actions to back it up!) of the pioneering A Rocha organization are a good place to finish:
Christians therefore need to make a conscious shift away from our culture’s materialistic and selfcentred lifestyles,
“Our Christian faith is the foundation and motivation for all we seek to be and do. In caring for creation we are responding to the Biblical revelation of one living God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is present and active in his world as creator, sustainer and redeemer, and calls people to act as responsible stewards of the earth. Our relationship with God enables us to integrate concern for sustainable human and non-human communities in practical expressions of Christian faith, hope and love in a fragmented world.” (See: arocha.org) Genevieve Jordan
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This month’s speaker event was on organic food and farming, a subject close to my heart. Recently, farming has had bad UK press due to health scares like BSE and the foot and mouth epidemics, and also due to the floods that have threatened crops, predicting a difficult winter with regards to the supply of food. With all the discussions about carbon and ecological footprints, we really need to start thinking about what cost the food on our plates has to the environment.
Why is organic food more expensive?
John Davenport, from Flight Orchard Organics, spoke about the West Midlands organic box scheme that he set up with local growers. John’s talk illustrated that there are many benefits of a box scheme. The box scheme irons out any surplus in the food supply chain because the stock supplied by farmers is distributed among the boxes, minimising wastage. Another benefit is that it educates people to the variety and availability of vegetables around the year. Too many of us have become used to having conventional salad all
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and Farming Speaker Event
year round, but at what real cost is it to the environment?
to ensure that we are comparing like with like.
A question frequently asked is: “Why is organic food more expensive?”. In organic farming the crops are spread out more than in intensive modern farming to stop the spread of disease and insect infestation. Also, they use a four crop rotation system, which means that the land lays fallow for a year so that the soil can get back nutrition; this means that, at any one time, organic land will be only 75% utilised. All this adds to an increased cost of organic food.
“Is organic farming part of the solution to climate change and peak oil?” So, how does organic food fare? In production, they use no artificial fertiliser, fewer pesticides but have slightly reduced yields. When you compare footprints, organic does
Gareth Davies, from the HDRA (Henry Doubleday Research Association), posed the question: “Is organic farming part of the solution to climate change and peak oil?”. With considerable pressure on the world’s resources, food production is having a huge impact on biodiversity. So, what are the problems we face with food production? We all have to eat, but there are 6.5 billion of us and we are rapidly running out of options due to resource depletion. To measure these impacts of food production on the environment there is no agreed consensus but there are many perspectives. A widespread environmental measurement is the ecological footprint (measure of the overall impact on the environment, including land and water use), generally considered as superior to talking only of the carbon footprint (measure of CO2 emissions alone). However, the big problem with these is that there are so many different ways of measuring them that we need
Photographer: Tristanf
Organic Food
well in ecological footprints but not always so well in carbon footprints. In processing and transport, organic again does well as it focuses on local and seasonal. In packaging and marketing, organic puts an emphasis on minimal and environmentallyfriendly packaging. Innovative schemes like the box schemes are better, but
only if you don’t go to the supermarket as well! In consumption, waste is a large factor. In some studies as much as 50% of food is wasted in the food chain. So, in conclusion, organic food offers advantages in the production stage, but many further gains depend on personal choices and other factors, such as whether the food is local and seasonal and how much is wasted. Gareth’s conclusion was: “Be radical, buy local, fresh food and buy organic where you can or even grow your own organically.” Gundula Azeez, from the Soil Association, talked about the nutritional merits of organic farming. Organic farming promotes the soil and plant processes that generate and supply a whole range of minerals while non-organic farming uses fertilisers to maintain the soils minerals. Furthermore, organic food contains a higher amount of vitamins. The theory is that organic crops rely on their natural biochemical defences, so need more vitamins and other metabolites. This is backed up by scientific evidence – for example, organic milk has an average of 68% more omega-3 fatty acids and organic tomatoes have more vitamin C, B-carotene and flavanoids than the non-organic equivalent. Action: Order a box scheme: www.vegboxschemes.co.uk/ Growing your own organic food: www.gardenorganic.org.uk Join the Soil Association: www.soilassociation.org/ Mary Horesh
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Time for Action Continued from front page.... In the Spring this year, the Government unveiled its draft climate change bill, which includes an end target of cutting CO2 emissions by 60% by 2050; fiveyear interim carbon budgets and an independent commission to set the interim targets. Crucially, the five-year targets are binding. The Government will be legally bound to meet the targets. If they fail to do so, the courts could force their hand to act. No other country in the world has such a law that legally obliges it to meet emissions reduction targets. So we have a law in the pipeline that Friends of the Earth got on to the legislative books and is regarded as world-leading. Clearly, Friends of the Earth is a powerful leader within the world’s environmental movement. We can almost certainly state the claim that within Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we have the largest membership base and we are definitely one of the most active and hard-hitting. OK, enough back-patting! The bad news is that the climate change bill is not as strong as we would like it to be. The Bill’s weaknesses: • The 60% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050 is too timid, so say the scientific community. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the Joint Committee on the Draft Climate Change Bill all agree with us.
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Towards a Strong Climate Change Law
• International aviation and shipping emissions are not included in the Bill. Can you imagine going on a diet and not counting the calories from chocolate? Aviation is the fastest growing source of carbon emissions and they must be counted. The three Commons Committees that looked at the draft bill have questioned the omission of CO2 from international aviation and shipping. Two Committees said that the internationally agreed method agreed at Kyoto of attributing emissions to individual countries be included in the Bill. The third Committee suggested that the emissions should be reported every year so that they are taken into account when setting targets for other emissions.
The 60% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050 is too timid, so say the scientific community.
• The Bill includes proposals for fiveyear carbon dioxide budgets but several of these five year periods between now and 2050 will span more than one Government. In this
case, Governments can easily blame the previous administration for going over the limits in carbon dioxide emissions. As the Bill currently stands, the five-year budgets are an in-built get-out. Annual milestones must be introduced so that there is a real check on whether or not policies were on track to deliver as planned and shortfalls could be tackled in a timely way. Can you
imagine companies with five-year targets for profits? This would not be unusual but it would be strange if they failed to measure their profits on an annual basis as well in order to analyse if their policies are delivering the changes expected. The three Parliamentary committees were unanimous in agreement that annual milestones must be introduced. Friends of the Earth knows how to give the Bill some strong teeth but how do we convince MPs of this?
With a lot on their plates and many people competing for their time, this is not a simple task but we do know that this is achievable. The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and smaller parties are already on board in supporting what we are calling for but Labour has the majority and we need some Labour MPs to back our calls as well if we are to force change at the Parliamentary level. We are communicating with Labour MPs to seek their opinions and encouraging those MPs who agree with us to make a public statement of their support for our key aims for the campaign. A statement can be via a joint press release, a You Tubestyle video to make a statement for the Big Ask online virtual march, writing a piece for the Birmingham Friends of the Earth blog, the MP’s own blog or website and anything else imaginative.
As the Bill currently stands, the five-year budgets are an in-built get-out.. With eight Labour MPs in Birmingham, one Independent Labour, one Conservative and one Liberal Democrat, we have a lot of
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Volunteer Spotlight persuading to do. Thankfully, some Labour MPs are already on board but we still have the rest to convince. Every MP has received a whole lot of campaign postcards signed by members of the public who support our campaign and many MPs have also received personal letters, You Tube video clips emailed to them from constituents, been to talks that we have organised and had community groups contact them.
If you have 10 minutes and are technically minded, film yourself or a friend for a 20 second clip and upload it to the campaign’s own You Tube-style website: www.thebigask.com
A whole host of other organisations are also supporting our campaign, including the RSPB, Oxfam, Christian Aid and the World Development Movement. In Birmingham, we have made links through this campaign with Islamic Relief, Practical Action and the Birmingham TUC.
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But we need your help… MPs want to hear from their constituents, not just Friends of the Earth. What can you do?
Sarah Gee interviewed Khedidja Sahih
• Easiest: Send a postcard (you may have one within this newsletter)to your MP .
Do you enjoy your work? Yes! A lot! I love the friendly atmosphere that there is here - everyone is so welcoming and approachable. I am able to learn from others that work here and develop my English further on a practical level.
• If you have 10 minutes: write a letter to your MP based on the three points mentioned in the bullets above. • If you have 10 minutes and are technically minded, film yourself or a friend for a 20 second clip and upload it to the campaign’s own You Tube-style website: http://www. thebigask.com • If you have 1 hour, visit your MP at their surgery for a 10 minute discussion about the climate change bill. Get in touch with us if you need help and advice with this or would like to know if there is anyone else you can go with. With all of this encouragement, our Birmingham MPs are far more likely to be going to the votes on the climate change bill in Parliament in the coming weeks and voting the right way. Remember, it is the voters that put our MPs in power and it is our task to demand that they do a decent job. Get in touch with us at Birmingham Friends of the Earth if you would like advice on how you can campaign on this issue. Whether you need help or not, if you do one thing this month, get in touch with your MP! Chris Williams
me to travel here because, living in Moseley, the bus to get here is fairly frequent – it comes about every five minutes.
I wanted to be able to do some volunteer work so that I could develop my English. It can be hard to communicate effectively with people at times because of my accent, but I’m becoming more confident the more I talk to and meet different and new people here. I am also starting an English Level One ESOL course at college in September which will develop my English even further. How long have you worked for Birmingham Friends of the Earth? I’ve been working here for nearly a month now. I came to the UK from Paris and lived in Lichfield before moving to Birmingham. What do you do here? I mainly work on reception, but I also help Tamsin and Chris with administrative tasks, if they have any that need doing. How did you get involved with Friends of the Earth? Through the BVSC Volunteer Centre, that is not far from here. It is easy for
What environmental issues are the most important to you at the moment? Climate change has always been important to me. When I was in France in 2003, a heat-wave swept across Europe and it had a devastating effect. Many elderly people were victims and many lost their lives as temperatures got to about 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Around 15, 000 people died in France in the heat-wave and it was a terrible time not only in France but across Europe. I worry that climate change could bring more of these heat-waves and we all need to do something before it is too late. Once a natural disaster happens there’s no going back.
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My Thoughts on Transport Seasoned campaigner, Tim Weller, writes about his personal views on transport improvements needed for Birmingham. We must give the City Council an encouraging boot up the brum! Humaninduced climate change is a fact. “The argument in the scientific community is over”, said Al Gore on the Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme in June 2006. Worldwide peak oil production, when demand exceeds supply, is inevitable and impending. Birmingham City Council is the biggest local authority in Europe and the biggest employer in Birmingham, the UK’s second city. Therefore, its leadership trio of Leader, Deputy Leader and Chief Executive are extremely important people in the UK. I think we must lobby the City Council for the following transport measures: 1.Agree restrictions on the car mileage claimed by employees, like social workers. 2.Bring in carbon rationing for officers and members. 3.Give a free monthly bus pass to all employees who use their cars on official Council business but who agree to park and ride from home. 4.Introduce a total and immediate ban on all air travel by officers and members of the Council and instruct train travel and video conferencing, instead. 5.Given that electricity generation is extremely wasteful, inefficient and carbon intensive, stop further development of Midland Metro electric trams that are replacing buses - and trains. Metro extensions would mean that 77% of the first three metro lines
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would go on rail lines that should never have had the trains removed from them. Diesel trains have much lower carbon emissions than electric trams, so put back passenger trains onto the remnant 38 miles of double track rail lines. 6.Lobby the Government and the other six councils of the West Midlands to introduce congestion charging, road pricing and motorway tolls. The money raised should be used to extend the concessionary fares scheme, the fareless bus for retired workers and the fareless rush hour bus. 7.Discourage all commuters from bringing a car into central Birmingham.
“The argument in the scientific community is over” 8.Consider, in tandem, policies for greenhouse gas reductions and carbon offsetting, not concentrating solely on the latter. 9.Urge the police that they strictly enforce the 70 mph speed limit on the motorways and dual carriageways of the West Midlands. 10.Give funds to British Waterways to make their towpaths all-weather paths that are fit for the shared use of walkers, runners, cyclists and wheelchair users. Tim Weller
Festivals Birmingham Friends of the Earth had the interesting task of running property lockups at TWO festivals for the first time ever this year. As well as the four lockups we run at Glastonbury each year we also ran the two that were trialled last year at the Big Chill, Eastnor, while Glastonbury’s Pilton Farm was having its four-yearly rest. Thousands of items were safely stored for satisfied punters, campaigns postcards were signed and a good, if muddy, time was had by – well – nearly all.
jokes, entertained passers-by with a kazoo in the small hours of the morning – all the little jobs that make our festival work so rewarding! We raised nearly £10,000, which will be put towards our campaigns and our new greener, warmer heating system which will be an enormous help.
Many thanks to all those who manned the lockups, helped organise our crew, persuaded punters to make donations, traded toilet roll for bad
We raised nearly £10,000, which will be put towards our campaigns
Looking ahead, there is even talk of being offered a third, small, family-
orientated festival in 2008 – watch this space for a call for volunteers which should appear around Jan/ Feb 2008. Karen Leach [Eds would like to give extra thanks to Karen Leach, Liane Elkin and Sue Elkin for all of their work in making these fundraising events happen. And of course, they couldn’t be run without the work of the very many volunteers who help at the lockups. True team work!]
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If You Do One Thing Everyone here at Friends of the Earth is pleased to see the roll-out of the recycling scheme across Birmingham (fuelled by Friends of the Earth campaigning) which, although far from perfect, is a step in the right direction.
Photographer: Johnson Cameraface
However, I think everyone is over-focusing on recycling as the way to get green and I do think that, when it comes to waste, going green involves a lot more than just recycling. I recently attended Birmingham City Council’s Sustainability Forum which focused on recycling and I noticed that a lot of the discussion was on how to reduce the waste in the first place. What we need to think about when it comes to waste is Reduce, Reuse and THEN Recycle.
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REDUCE 1. Reduce what food we put in the bin. A shocking 20% of the food we buy is fed to the bin, either as leftovers or because it’s no longer fresh. This waste costs an average of £424 per person per year and results in considerable emissions of methane (The Rough Guide to Ethical Living). Ways to reduce this waste include planning more carefully when shopping and cooking, using the freezer and making use of leftovers. If food really has to go, invest in a composting bin, usually offered at very good rates by your local council or water providers.
What we need to think about when it comes to waste is Reduce, Reuse and THEN Recycle.
2. Always choose a Bag for Life or one of the various re-usable bags available. Eight billion plastic bags are handed out to us every year, so try to carry a re-usable bag with you when shopping. 3. Choose products which have
less packaging. Buy loose fruit and vegetables and put them together in one bag. Many fruit and vegetables (eg bananas, onions) have their natural packaging anyway so don’t even need a bag!
but are enough people demanding the recycled products? If there is a demand surely producers will change?
REUSE 4. Milk bottles, which on average are re-used 20 times, are a great institution. It would be good if there were more schemes like this, as it makes sense to re-use the bottle rather than having to make a whole new bottle each time. 5. Rather than use plastic bags for lunches, use plastic boxes, which can be used again and again rather than bags that are often used only once. 6. Donate it - much of what we send to the tip is in perfect working order but no longer useful to us. There are many ways to pass on these unwanted items; eg. give to your local charity shop or put a listing on the local freecycle forum. RECYCLE 7. Of course, make full use of the Birmingham recycling scheme and the recycling banks which, depending on the area, take bottles, paper, plastics, clothes and shoes. 8. Choose products which are made from recycled material. There are quite a few things appearing on the market, but we need to demand more as we are not completing the circle. Everyone is recycling diligently
9. Remember WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) - with the new WEEE legislation, producers will be responsible for financing collection, treatment and recovery of waste electrical equipment and consumers will be able to return their waste equipment free of charge. REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE 10. Finally, always act on REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE. See if there are any ways of reducing what waste you produce, then if it can’t be reduced check if it can be reused? Finally, recycle. Just don’t ignore it as this isn’t going to go away. Landfill is running out and something needs to be done…. Mary Baxter
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National Conference Birmingham Friends of the Earth had its largest ever contingent at FoE Conference this year - 11 people in total! The weekend consisted of workshops, seminars, talks, presentations and debates, as well as a few socials of course! Tony Jupiter (Executive Director of FoE) spoke a couple of times, giving an overview of the last year. I found him to be a particularly engaging speaker. He talked about our success over the past year with the Big Ask campaign, which has resulted in the Draft Climate Change Bill from the Government. This should be transformed into law by early next year. He also pointed out that whilst it’s great news we’ve come so far, so quickly, we still need to keep up the pressure on MPs to ensure that the final legislation is strong and meaningful.
A first this year was a guest visit from Hilary Benn (the current serving Environment Minister), who gave a speech to the conference. He
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encouraged us (and the environmental campaign movement as a whole) to keep asking questions and putting pressure on the Government, because it does help drive awareness and policy forward. Despite this encouragement, he did dodge a few issues in the question and answer session. Most notable was the exclusion of international aviation emissions from the Draft Climate Change Bill, although he did raise a chuckle at the question; “isn’t not counting aviation emissions a bit like going on a diet, and not counting the chocolate bars?”
OCT
NOV
15th October, City Council Sustainability Forum on Climate Change, 6pm, Council House
1st – 3rd November, Gigbeth Festival (working with Birmingham Friends of the Earth)
Late October, Climate Change Bill Speaker Event with Oxfam, Practical Action, Islamic Relief and Birmingham TUC, details tbc
28th November, Tree Planting Event, Small Heath Park
21st October, Apple Day, Warehouse Café 27th October, Road Block Conference with George Monbiot and George Marshall, 11am-5pm, BVSC 29th October, Stop Climate Chaos West Midlands Meeting, 6.15pm, Co-op Midlands, Birmingham and Midland Institute
To round off, there was also the annual Earthmovers awards, where we heard all about the fantastic local groups, campaigns and people that are part of the Friends of the Earth network. BFoE was even nominated for Group of the Year (many thanks to Louise Hazan the Midlands Network Developer for nominating us), but alas, we were beaten to it by Leicester FoE - maybe next year ehh! But nevertheless, it was great to see some well deserved awards handed out, by none other than FoE’s Hugh Ellis, who always manages to raise a few laughs with the audience.
Farmers’ Markets New St: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month King’s Heath: 1st Saturday of the month Sutton Coldfield: 2nd Friday of the month King’s Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month Harborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9-2pm Moseley: 4th Saturday of the month Solihull: 1st Friday of the month
We all had a great time, learnt new things, and although feeling a little tired by the end of it, we’re positive and ready for another year of worthwhile campaigning!
Shirley: 3rd Thursday of the month except Jan and Feb Bearwood: 3rd Saturday of the month Visit this site for more info: http://thefoody.com/regions/centralfm. html#westmidlands
Ben Mabbett
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We are the only organisation in Birmingham that campaigns on Climate Change, Transport, Local Shops, Planning, Waste and Recycling. You can help us do this in a number of ways; 1.) By taking part in or our campaigns
Golden Supporter scheme
2.) By joining us 3.) Both Which ever route you decide, you are helping to change your environment for the better. Making sure that that those who pollute, monopolise or despoil locally, nationally or internationally are accountable.
Standing Order
I am a yearly supporter and wish to become a Golden supporter (£2 monthly minimum).
Sort Code (if known): .........................
I am already a Golden supporter and wish to increase my monthly payments.
Your account number: ........................ Bank Name/Address: .........................
I am not currently a subscriber and wish to become a Golden supporter.
Please pay the sum of £
Yearly Subscription I enclose a cheque for...
Your name/ Account name: .................
....................................................... starting:
now When my current subscription expires (existing yearly members only)
£16 (waged)
To: Friends of the Earth Birmingham Ltd.,
£10 (unwaged)
Account no: 50 72 58 30
£20 (joint/family)
Sort Code: 08-60-01
Full name: ......................................... Address: ...........................................
Unity Trust Bank, 9 Brindley Place, 4 Oozells square, Birmingham B1 2HE
Town: ................. Postcode: ...............
This replaces any previous standing order in favour of Frinde of the Earth Birmingham.
Telephone: ........................................
Signature: ...................... Date: .........
E-mail: .............................................
(FOE use only -
........................................................
Please
return to secretary, Friends of the Earth, 54-57 Allison Street, Digbeth, Birmingham B5 5TH.
/ /
(date of first payment)
Contact us: Friends of the Earth (Birmingham) The Warehouse 54-57 Allison Street Birmingham B5 5TH Tel: (0121) 632 6909 Fax: (0121) 643 3122 E-mail: info@birminghamfoe.org.uk
Chair: Benjamin Mabbett Campaigns Co-ordinator: Andy Pryke Campaigns Support Worker: Chris Williams General Manager: Tamsin Mosse Treasurer:
Web: www.birminghamfoe.org.uk
Margaret Lynch
Friends of the Earth is:
Aviation:
- The largest international network of environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.
James Botham Climate Change & Energy: Nigel Baker Multi-faith and Climate Change Project:
- One of the UK’s leading enviromental pressure groups.
Rianne ten Veen & Maud Grainger
- A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Kate Nancarrow & Andy Pryke
- Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.
John Hall
Birmingham FoE: Campaigns at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through: - Direct action - Lobbying - Education
Waste and Resources: Local Food and Trade: Karen Leach Planning: Transport: Libby Hayward Newsletter Editors: Katy Barry & Deborah Woolaston-Kovar Website Editors: Amanda Baker & Jean-Francois Mouhot Talks: Paul Webb and others
- Empowering others to take action
All enquiries and callers welcome.
- Participation and representation through public fora
Find us on page 74 of the B’ham A-Z, grid ref: 4A
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Printed on 100% Recycled Paper Using Vegetable Based Inks