Birmingham Friends of The Earth newsletter - Oct-Nov 2012

Birmingham

friends of the earth

newsletter

Oct / Nov 2012

Mickey Sharma

Andy White

Ben Davids

Karen Bayley

Gareth Berliner

there’s something sunny in the honey Bee numbers in Britain have fallen dramatically in recent years, but we intend to save them with a little help from a few very funny people!

Bees are essential in pollinating our favourite food and for our economy, without them it would cost UK farmers 1.8 billion a year to pollinate our crops, and for our gardens and parks. All good enough reasons for Birmingham Friends of the Earth to organise this fundraising comedy night with some of the finest comedians.

Continued on Page 14

contents 3 - campaigns digest 5 - Guy Shrubsole visit 7 - guest article - Stirchley Stores 8 - collective energy offer 10 - Birmingham - worst cycling city?

11 - host a renewable energy exhibition 14 - there’s something sunny in the honey (continued) 17 - do we need more airports?

20 - appeal for volunteers 21 - in the media 22 - volunteer spotlight 23 - contacts

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campaigns digest I found a pair of shoes recently. They were large yet inviting, left by their previous owner, clean and polished ready for their next one. They looked too big for me, but nevertheless I tried them on anyway. Not surprisingly, they didn’t particularly fit well. After getting some help tying the laces, I ran about for a bit, played some games, had a few stumbles, until a man came with quite large feet asking for his shoes. I took the shoes off, noticed they had accumulated quite a bit of dirt so gave them a quick spit shine and gave them to their new owner.

take renewable energy seriously when they write the new energy bill in the upcoming months. This is a rare opportunity for the government to create a greener, cleaner and fairer electricity market in the UK, and we all have to make sure they do it right.

We have lots of stunts coming up and it’s a good time to be a campaigner with us.

If you don’t know and are slightly confused, our Campaigns Support Worker Joe Peacock, after years of great service, has left to join the Wildlife Trust. We’re sad to see Joe go, but we are excited to have Julien Pritchard joining us and to see what ideas he has to move the group forward.

Climate Change & Energy The ‘CBE’ campaign is beginning to come into a new stage. There have been a variety of successes so far, including thousands of signatures collected both digitally and through signing of postcards, sending a message to the government to encourage them to switch to Clean British Energy thus earning the country a CBE. The next stage is for us to start pushing politicians to

Biodiversity The bee cause is still running strong and comes to a climax for the year with our comedy gig at the Glee Club ‘there’s something funny in the honey’. The money raised through this event will fund the activities and projects for when the bee cause comes back next Spring. We have already held events raising

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campaigns digest

continued

awareness of the UK’s struggling bee population, with one at Martineau gardens being a real highlight, so we can’t wait to see how far we can go with this.

Waste Lead campaigner John Newson is still going strong with his one bin bag a year quest and, due to the Council looking to start using wheelie-bins, John is starting to get some great press coverage. This is leading us into some promising avenues to get our views across. Adding to this is a new national campaign – all we can say is watch this space.

Transport Bad news for Birmingham on the transport front. Recently, it’s been announced (to no big surprise to most of us) that Birmingham is one ranked one of the worst cities in the UK to be a cyclists or a pedestrian.

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Sadly, we haven’t been able to do any big events on this topic due to the changes we are going through, but this campaign is all to do with individuals, and with the in-townwithout-a-car day coming up, this is an opportunity for more of us to get on our bikes and show the Council we want improvement in the infrastructure of our city.

Lead campaigner John Newson is still going strong with his one bin bag a year quest Planning Not much going on in the planning front. Behind the scenes in the Council, things are stirring, so we have for now got our ears very much on the ground, waiting.

Jacob Williams

Guy Shrubsole visit Campaigners were treated to a visit by National Friends of the Earth Energy Campaigner, Guy Shrubsole, on Monday 10th September. Guy was able to give a full update on the Clean British Energy Campaign, which led to an interesting discussion on the current state of energy politics.

Guy painted the picture of the scale of the challenge, that faces our organisation, as we stand up to a government that is increasingly “growth at any cost”. Influenced by a worrying number of anti-greens in the Treasury, the Department for Environment Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is now led by Owen Paterson, who has been described as a “proper right wing Tory, antiwind farm, pro-shale gas, pro-airport expansion”. However, Guy did make the point that, in reality, the power of DEFRA and also of the Department Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in policy making is limited. He revealed that the Treasury has been pushing DECC to adopt a position more sympathetic to the use of gas as an energy source by threatening to cut renewable energy subsidies if they refused. George Monbiot put it best, when he said in a recent article; “The final shred of credibility of “the greenest government ever” has been doused in petrol and ignited with a casual flick of a gold-plated lighter.”

Guy’s presentation then moved on to the importance of the Energy Bill itself as it will set the priorities for investment in Britain’s new energy infrastructure, which will have a huge impact on our carbon emissions for decades to come! Guy talked about the absence of any measures to reduce overall energy demand, the lack of targets for the percentage of electricity produced from renewable sources or, indeed, actual reform of the electricity market.

However, he stressed that there is still much to play for, it will be a long process which will provide plenty of campaigning opportunities over the next year.

We then discussed the Clean British Energy Day of Action on 13th October, when Friends of Earth groups around the country will organise photo stunts to highlight the potential for green jobs in the UK economy. After an interesting, and stimulating discussion, campaigners headed to the Anchor pub for wellearned refreshments!

Let us know if you want to get involved.

Robert Pass

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warehouse The shops and companies here The shops and companies here have have all come together because they all come together because they are dedicated to working towards a are dedicated working healthier, more to organic city.towards a healthier, more organic city.

So if you want to help make So if you want to helpgreener make place Birmingham a cleaner, Birmingham a cleaner, place to live, or you just want togreener eat some to live, or you just want to eat some good vegetarian food, then come thenwhat’s come togood The vegetarian Warehousefood, and see going on.Warehouse and see what’s to The going on.

SPROCKET Cycles

Established over 15 years ago in the Friends of the Earth Building in EstablishedThe overWarehouse 15 years ago in Birmingham Café theaFriends of the Building has reputation as Earth a quality provider Birmingham Warehouse ofinvegetarian andThe vegan food in Café has a reputation as a quality Birmingham.

Sales, Sales, service, service, repairs, repairs, accessories. built to accessories. Bikes Bikes also also built to your own specifications. your own specifications.

Open Wednesday Wednesday to Saturday, Open to Saturday, 10am-4pm 10am-4pm 0121633 633 0730 0121 0730

provider of vegetarian and vegan

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“Real serving real food with local, organic fair trade leading “Real people and serving real food with the way” Guardian local, organic and Unlimited. fair trade leading the way” Guardian Unlimited.

To see the delicious menu go to To see the delicious menu go to www.thewarehousecafe.com www.thewarehousecafe.com

For bookings and enquires

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••100% 100%vegetarian vegetarianand andvegan vegan ••AALarge Largeselection selectionofoforganic organic and and fairtrade fairtradeproducts, products,most most supplied and and delivered delivered by byaa supplied workers co-operative co-operative workers Veganowners owners--no nomeat meatorordairy ••Vegan dairy products products sold sold Open Monday Mondayto toSaturday, Saturday, Open 10am-5pm 10am-5pm

guest article Saturday 8th September saw the official opening of Stirchley Stores.

The result of many months of hard work by those involved in the project.

Stirchley Stores (formerly the South Birmingham Food Co-op) is a workers owned cooperative, which means that it is owned by the volunteers who work for the shop. Members must pay a nominal £1 annual subscription and commit to volunteering 4 hours a month . In return, members receive a discount on anything in the shop, allowing them the opportunity to buy food at cost price.

The shop is being run in partnership with Loaf, a local social enterprise bakery, with similar values to Stirchley Stores and who will also be based at the shop. Those already familiar with Loaf will be pleased to know that their bread will be on sale in the the store!

All too often it is only those who can afford it that can shop sustainably and ethically, and that’s one of the great things about Stirchley Stores, its main aim is to provide ethically sourced healthy food and household products at a more affordable price, offering an ethical alternative to the supermarkets. The members are also hoping that they can be a part of the rejuvination of Stirchley High Street, which has struggled in the past, with many local business closing down.

Stirchley Stores The cooperative look to be on the way to achieving their aim, with queues of people waiting to get into the shop for the grand opening.

According to the organisers, there was a lot of community support, with many new volunteers for the shop signed up on the day. Accompanying the opening was a pop-up bar run

by Stirchley Wines, as well as pizza baking by Loaf in their bread oven.

Stirchley Stores aim to provide ethically sourced products at a more affordable price Stirchley Stores need volunteers for shifts in the shop, as well as people for specific roles within the co-op and on the management committee. If you’re interested in getting involved then email info@stirchleystores.co.uk For more information about Stirchley Stores including opening times then check out their website www. stirchleystores.co.uk Julien Pritchard

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collective energy offer You may have read about Birmingham City Council’s proposed Collective Energy Offer recently. This is a development that we welcome here at Birmingham Friends of the Earth and would always support the idea of banding together to garner some collective bargaining power with fuel suppliers. However, the issue is to what end this power will be used. How can we really help alleviate fuel poverty and offset the rising cost of domestic heat and power?

Many of Birmingham’s residents are living in older, less well insulated homes that fall far behind the level of newer homes. They rely on fossil fuels for many things, not least to provide their electricity. The lion’s share of this electricity is supplied by the ‘big six’ energy companies.

Given the unsustainable global demand pressures which fossil fuels are subject to, we should consider solutions in order to lessen this dependence.

We feel that a Collective Energy Offer should seek to provide the public with the information and the means to lay stepping stones on the path toward the reduction of household energy consumption, whilst remaining comfortable and warm. To use less energy is to save more money and to lessen

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consumption of ever more scarce, ever more expensive, dirty and damaging fossil fuels. A bad collective scheme would distract households from energy saving, while a good scheme would help them to realise its long term benefits.

To use less energy is to save more money and to lessen consumption of ever more scarce and damaging fossil fuels We offer the following suggestions for consideration regarding the Collective Energy Offer: A Great Deal would; 1. Ensure the availability of an energy option providing clean British energy generated from renewable sources.

2. Reward energy saving by having no standing charge and no decrease for later units consumed. In fact, the first units should be charged at a lower rate, the rate increasing only for units above the average consumption for the type of house.

Use thermal imaging to show people where heat is being lost from the house. Increase awareness about insulation solutions.

possible anxiety about overuse.

4. Use thermal imaging to show people where heat is being lost from the house. Increase awareness about insulation solutions.

Experience shows that people react to visual images more than numbers.

5. Give occupants more control over their heating systems, by offering appropriate devices, such as radiator valves, programmable radiator valves, weather compensation controls.

6. Include an assessment for Green Deal to show how energy wastage in the home could be reduced.

7. Make it clear in all communications that the goal is to reduce our dependence on imported energy, not to just get temporary cheap fuel deals by switching between suppliers.

Jacob Williams

3. Aid in increasing the visibility of a household’s energy consumption and the costs they are incurring by using smart meters and In House Displays. Thus encouraging rational, economical energy use; switching off or turning down to avoid waste.

These measures will also allow for easier personal budgeting, alleviating

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Birmingham - worst cycling city?

Some of you may have seen the article in the Birmingham Post in August, which reported on Campaign for Better Transport’s findings that Birmingham was one of the worst cities for cycling and walking as an alternative to the car.

Campaign for Better Transport’s “car dependency scorecard” ranked cities on their walking and cycling provision as well as their public transport use and car dependency, and placed Birmingham 25th out of the 26 cities in the UK for walking and cycling provision ahead of only Gateshead, with Cambridge found to be the most accessible by bike and on foot.

That Birmingham has come so low in the rankings is no surprise, given the well-documented issues around walking and cycling provision in the city; lack of proper cycle routes, lack of secure back racks at many stations and interchanges, the prioritisation of the car at junctions and crossings, and the lack of safe and pleasant walking routes.

However, Birmingham came 15th out of 26 for driving and car use, showing that the city isn’t as dependent on the car as one might expect, especially as Birmingham came 9th for use of buses and trains despite the lack of an integrated public system. This shows that Brummies are willing to use forms of transport other than the car.

Campaigns for Better Transport’s report also pointed out how walking and cycling are under-represented in terms of funding. If Birmingham’s walking and cycling provision was improved, as part of an integrated public transport system, such as having safe storage for bikes at all stations and transport hubs, we would further reduce the city’s car dependency. This is especially true when we consider Campaign for Better Transport’s findings that 20% of all car journeys are less than two miles and could comfortably be made by walking or cycling.

Hopefully, Birmingham City Council can show real leadership in greatly improving provision for pedestrians and cyclists, so the city can be more like Cambridge and less like Gateshead. If you’d like to get involved with transport campaigning with Birmingham Friends of the Earth, get in touch with us via: campaigns@ birminghamfoe.org.uk Julien Pritchard

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host a renewable energy exhibition Anybody who is familiar with the national Friends of the Earth Clean British Energy campaign, to secure a low carbon future for our energy supply, may have heard that Friends of the Earth ran a photo competition for people to show how inspired they were by renewable energy. The competition closed in September and there were two overall winners, as well as six highly commended entries.

Friends of the Earth’s Energy Campaigner Guy Shrubsole said: “There were some fantastic photos people have really thought about their entries and why they find renewable energy so inspiring.”

Friends of the Earth are now turning these photographs into an exhibition

on renewable energy. The idea is to use the exhibition as part of the Clean British Energy Campaign to get the message about renewable energy to MPs at conferences and other one off events.

Friends of the Earth are also looking for people to host the exhibition in their area. If you could host the exhibition and get your MP along to see it, or would like to host an evening event to get the exhibition in front of local decision makers, or even if you could put the exhibition up at a public event, or in public space such as a library, then get in touch!

You can check out the winning entries using this link: bit.ly/cbephotos Julien Pritchard

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diary campaign meetings Our action group meetings happen every Monday and we try to make them an opportunity for anyone to come along and get involved in campaigning.

We have a short 15 minute summary of what’s been happening over the week at 7.30pm and then we work on developing either responses to issues of immediate concern or doing work on ongoing campaigns.

other events

This could be writing letters, designing and making props, updating the website, researching case studies or many other tasks.

So if you believe in what we do, please come and join us every Monday (except Bank Holidays). If you phone to let us know you are coming beforehand then we will be able to prepare an introduction pack for you.

4th October: Stirchley community Market 4th October: Green Drinks 13th October: Clean British Energy Day of Action – to get involved, email julien@birminghamfoe.org.uk 13th October: Animated Earth Concert Tour - Midlands Art Centre 23rd October: There’s Something Funny in the Honey comedy evening - book your tickets via the Glee Club website.

27th October: West Midlands Vegan Festival 24th November: Buy Nothing Day See Northfield Eco Centre for workshops www.northfieldecocentre.org

farmers’ markets

Birmingham University: 4th Wednesday of the month 9am-3pm (except November, when it’s 3rd Wednesday of the month) Harborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pm Kings Heath: 1st Saturday of the month 9am-3:30pm Kings Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pm Moseley: 4th Saturday of the month 9am-3pm New Street: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month 10am-4pm Solihull: 1st Friday of the month 9am-3pm Sutton Coldfield: 2nd Friday of the month 9am-3pm Jewellery Quarter: 3rd Saturday of the month 10am-3pm

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become a supporter We are the only organisation in Birmingham that campaigns on Climate Change, Transport, Local Shops, Planning, Waste and Recycling.

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there’s something sunny in the honey Tickets are only £10 and they are on sale from the Glee Club website.

Continued from front page

Mickey Sharma

Our comedy beekeepers for the evening will be: Joe Lycett

Joe Lycett is an award winning comedian who has appeared on various television and radio programmes. He is the BBC New Comedian of the year finalist 2011 and the Chortle Award winner for Best Newcomer 2010. On television he has appeared as a guest on 8 out of 10 cats, as the co-host of the BBC 1 show Epic Win and on shows with Chris Addison and Jack Dee. Joe’s style of anecdotal stories has received rave reviews.

Joe is very pleased to compere for the evening and enjoy a light hearted evening of comedy to help prevent bee decline in the UK.

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Mickey Sharma has been a resident Brummie since 2002, before that he lived in India, Pakistan, Beijing and Hong Kong. Mickey travels across the world as a professional comedian and has won a host of awards including; Winner “Should I stay Should I go” Funhouse comedy November & December 2009” and Winner “King Gong” January 2010 from the Comedy Store Ben Davids Ben Davids is a one liner specialist from Tamworth. His almost dead pan style will compliment the anecdotal chatter of some of the other comedians. Ben also writes for radio and has performed at the Rock with Laughter gig, which was headed by the likes of Jasper Carrot and Lenny Henry, performing in front of 20,000 people over two nights.

Andy White

Rising from the murky shadows of a Birmingham call centre, Andy White has become one of cities most dynamic comedians. His routines often contains anything from silly faces and voices, to clever topical humour, that are “undeniably entertaining” Chortle.co.uk.

As an experienced performer he has appeared on TV and radio, as well as touring around the UK and abroad. Suzanne Worthington (BBC Cumbria), described the audience reaction during Andy’s shows; “The laughs turned to applause many times for Andy”.

An excellent comedian who will get you laughing with local, topical and original material.

Karen Bayley Karen Bayley is a proud Brummie who is earning herself a respected path as a comedian on the live

circuit. She has rave reviews from comedians such as Alan Carr and Jasper Carrot. A professional since 2003 she has racked up the awards including; trailblazing as the first ever female winner of the “King Gong” award from the Comedy Store as well as appearing on the greatest 100 Cartoons Channel 4 show.

Karen is well aware of the plight of the bees and the effect the loss of them would have on our food supplies so is very happy to help us out on our campaign.

Gareth Berliner

Gareth has been professional since 2004, touring wherever people will have him including buses, planes and the London Science Museum.

Gareth has a degree in film studies and is a regular on the festival circuit including the Edinburgh Festival, the Big Chill and Cornbury festival, which Birmingham Friends of the Earth has

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there’s something sunny in the honey a presence at. On top of the British circuit Gareth is a regular on the Aussie circuit as well as his partner Kiruna Stamell (more on her in a bit) is from Australia.

Continued from page 15

before expect to see a funny, likeable, accomplished performer, with a talent for interacting with an audience.

Kiruna Stamell

James Cook

As one of Birmingham’s biggest comedians, James Cook conjures up a fantastically witty routine, mixing the classic comedians staples of jokes and sarcasm, with well timed improvisation skills. “his quick tongue and dry sense of humour kept me laughing” BBC Tees After taking a seven year break from full-time comedy, and winning several radio awards, James Cook has been successfully touring the UK getting comparisons to Frank Skinner and Dylan Moran, although he claims that how they came to these conclusions is a mystery.

If you haven’t seen James Cook

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Kiruna Stamell is an Australian comedian and dancer who is now based in the UK. Kiruna Studied dance at New South Wales University in Australia before moving to the UK. Kiruna currently works as an actress, dancer and stand-up comedian. At the moment Kiruna is performing a contemporary Dance show in Australia and her first dance professional dance performance was inBaz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

Kiruna is the partner of Gareth Berliner and they will be performing as a duo on stage at the gig.

do we need more airports?

With much discussion happening in the news regarding aviation, there might just be an opportunity to try to address the current state of aviation and its economic value. The government wants to maintain a competitive ‘hub status’ in Britain, which means they want to expand aviation capacity, preferably in the South East.

This is especially important in the context of climate change, with the aviation industry currently being responsible for a high proportion (13% in the UK) of harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and estimated to be responsible for almost 5% of man-made climate change. In the UK, aviation makes up a greater proportion of the country’s contribution to climate change than in any other major economy.

If the Lib Dems get their way, Birmingham would be the preferred route of expansion.

As you may be aware, there are many suggestions over where to expand. The London Conservatives, the government Tories and the Lib Dems are all arguing over whether Heathrow should be expanded, a new airport in the Thames Valley should be created, extra capacity at other UK airports – such as Birmingham – should be utilised, or could we even see Boris Island come into contention. The argument is becoming so intense that the recent Cabinet reshuffle (or first shuffle) saw the removal of Justine Greening as Transport Secretary – an opponent of the Heathrow third runway – and now Boris and Dave are falling out.

If the Lib Dems get their way, Birmingham would be the preferred route of expansion. And, the new HS2 would act as an artery for

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aviation businesses wanting to remain in the Thames Valley having built up around Heathrow, while foreign corporate money continues to flow into London.

The government and industry are continually harping on about the need for extra capacity, but there is no need for it.

Windsor MP Adam Afriyie is backing Boris in favouring an estuary airport.

In an article on 10 September for the Telegraph, Mr Afriyie said: “The country is in desperate need of policies that will create jobs and economic growth.

“As an island trading nation we need a bold solution for aviation that shows leadership.

“A single short runway at Heathrow would be a half-hearted and timid step. It would be temporary sticking

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plaster when we need to build 5 or 10 new runways to remain competitive over the forthcoming decades.

“With a major new coastal airport flights could operate 24/7 without disturbing anyone. A high-speed rail link would whisk passengers to central London and the national transport network within the hour.” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ aviation/9531940/Why-Im-backingBoris-Island-by-Windsor-MP-AdamAfriyie.html) Whilst Mr Afriyie’s 5 to 10 estimate appears vaguely plucked from the air, he does admit that the motivation to expand is to remain competitive – by fluttering eyelids at burgeoning Asian economies and giving corporations as much free reign as possible as long as money is spent over here.

The government and industry are continually harping on about the need for extra capacity, but there is no need for it. Heathrow may be operating near capacity but Gatwick is at 78% and Stansted only 53%.

Essentially, the government seems to be continually turning its back on any opportunities to stimulate UK growth through the use of the green economy. For example, it would be a good idea to have a significant tax on passengers which went directly into the pockets of local residents – compensating for levels of noise

disturbance (as well as being a bonus for the property market) – or was invested into developing new green technologies, or trying to tackle the environmental impacts of aviation.

In Germany, you will note that the visible differences in the state of its economy are not to be seen around its airports It would also be self-regulating, as airlines would have to increase their prices if they used environmentally un-friendly aircraft or used flight paths over highly populated residential areas. This would surely benefit people and the environment far more effectively than the current token tax on passengers (Air Passenger Duty) which goes straight into government hands to be spent according to current government policies. The Tories themselves know

that government money is spent inefficiently.

Heathrow is already the third largest airport in the world in terms of passenger numbers and, as economist Ann Pettifor explains in a recent report by the New Economics Foundation and the World Development Movement, no one has suggested that German economic growth results in any significant way from the steady growth of Frankfurt airport. If you have visited Germany, you will note that the visible differences in the state of its economy are not to be seen around its airports – but along its roads, railways, wind farms and the quality of its products.

In aviation, if the government stopped looking to compete for the quick buck from abroad, and actually started to encourage UK industry – focusing on the green economy – we could have a more sustainable economy instead of the current boom and bust which is such a favourite for big corporations. And with a second runway potentially back on the cards at Birmingham Airport, now could be the time for renewed campaigns against airport expansion and for the green economy. If you’d like to get involved in campaigning on aviation with Birmingham Friends of the Earth then get in touch at: campaigns@ birminghamfoe.org.uk Adam McCusker

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appeal for volunteers Are you a skilled graphic designer, who would like to create positive environmental change whilst demonstrating your ability to convey deep meaningful messages?

Birmingham Friends of the Earth are looking for a volunteer to help with our visual communications. From posters and flyers for events and campaigns, to stunt props and web design, Birmingham Friends of the Earth uses a wide variety of mediums to get our message across. You will have the opportunity to work in these

many different mediums and test your skills in photography, illustration, layout, film & web.

Whilst a good understanding of graphic and web design is necessary, it does not need to be a complete knowledge.

If you are interested then please get in contact with either Phil Burrows (phil@birminghamfoe. org.uk) or Julien Pritchard (julien@ birminghamfoe.org.uk) by email or by phone on 0121 632 6909.

in the media There only been one man who’s been going strongly out of us in the media recently, and that man is John Newson. As we’ve been telling everyone, he is attempting to produce just one solitary bin bag of waste for the whole of 2012. He is, I’m glad to say , doing exceptionally well going over half way - only last month!

This feat has landed him a rather large article in the Birmingham mail who visited John, and his half empty bin bag. It even managed to get the comment section, giving us all a great opportunity to send in all of our

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thoughts and ideas for the council on their waste policy. The interview in the article allowed John to make some poignant statements: “As council tax payers, we are the ones who pay for all this so we should be asking these questions.”

With the announcement of Birmingham City Council to try and overtake Sandwell in recycling statistics by introducing wheelie-bins, it is getting to the time where we all need to be asking these questions.

There will be a public consultation in the upcoming months to look out for.

As council tax payers, we are the ones who pay for all this so we should be asking these questions

From reading the interview it seems like he is enjoying the challenge he has voluntarily set himself. If he is going to be asked for his advice in the future by the council, this won’t be the last you see of John and his bin bag.

“Anything made of more than one material is trouble, things that have been welded together, like toothpaste tubes. Figuring out what to do with the things you don’t need and can’t compost challenges your inventiveness and your creativity.”

We haven’t had much else in the media lately, during the silly season, but with the return of parliament, our comedy gig, talk of expansion at Birmingham Airport, and some of our campaigns picking up steam soon, be sure to be on the lookout for us on the media front!

Jacob Williams

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volunteer spotlight Julien Pritchard interviews Shaz Rhaman

How long have you been involved with BFoE? Since January 2012.

How did you first find out about BFoE and what made you decide to get involved?

I’ve known about BFoE for a while, but not had any specific knowledge about the work BFoE did. I have done quite a bit of volunteering on other issues like poverty and mentoring but nothing about the environment. Climate change is a vital issue so BfoE seemed like a good place to start. I was also keen to join a group local to me, because I wanted to learn more about the city I have lived in all my life.

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What do you do at BFoE? I’m in charge of Fundraising for campaigns to help make Birmingham a more sustainable and environmentally friendly city. The big project that I’m currently working on is the “Funny in the Honey” comedy gig. Eight top Birmingham comedians will help us raise money to prevent the decline of bees. This event could be the biggest fundraiser in BFoE’s history. I am very excited about it.

What do you think is the most important environmental issue and why?

The recent melting of the Arctic ice is a scary demonstration of how Global Warming is happening right now. In Birmingham we have an ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions by 60% by 2026, but no idea how to get there. We could be a pioneering city but we lack the conviction of means to invest and make the required sacrifices to get there.

What’s your best green tip?

Not enough people know that things like TV’s left on standby still use a considerable amount of power. A report by DEFRA and the Energy Saving Trust found that, on average, households were wasting £86 a year on appliances on standby. Wasting less is a vital part in the battle to reduce fuel poverty.

Birmingham

friends of the earth 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 Web: www.birminghamfoe.org.uk Facebook: facebook.com/birminghamfoe Twitter: @Bham_FOE

Friends of the Earth is: - The largest international network of environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.

- One of the UK’s leading enviromental pressure groups.

- A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

- Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.

Birmingham FoE: Campaigns at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through:

contacts Chair: Benjamin Mabbett Campaigns Co-ordinators: Roxanne Green & Robert Pass Campaigns Support Worker: Julien Pritchard General Manager: Phil Burrows Treasurer: Margaret Lynch Aviation: Julien Pritchard Climate Change & Energy: Robert Pass Planning: Ben Mabbett Transport: Martin Stride Waste & Recycling: John Newson Newsletter Editors: Deborah Cox Antonio Roberts Zoe Wright Website Editor: Phil Burrows Fundraising & Membership Co-ordinator: Shaz Rahman Talks: Julien Pritchard and others All enquiries and callers welcome.

Find us on page 74 of the B’ham A-Z, grid ref: 4A

- Direct action - Lobbying - Education - Empowering others to take action - Participation and representation through public fora

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Birmingham

friends of the earth