12
The Wheel
Climate Emergency Focus on reducing resources used, waste created and subsequent CO2 emissions.
REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, REFUSE, RETHINK, REDESIGN, REPAIR, REPURPOSE, RESTORE, RENEWABLE ENERGY
These powerful ‘R’ words are now becoming
common place as many of us have become aware that now is the time to make positive changes to bring about a cleaner environment for people and nature by reducing carbon emissions and slowing and hopefully preventing further man-made climate change. World leaders and large corporations are also waking up to the fact that they must and can change their practices to tackle the climate emergency and often save money in the longer term; since the individuals within these organisations are not immune from the effects of the escalated warming of the planet, no matter their individual wealth, they too don’t want to suffer the catastrophic consequences and so are moving to improve their operations. It is a big ship to slow down and turn around, but positive changes are happening, and bad practice and so called ‘green washing’ (whereby marketing gives an impression of good, green practice when in fact the claims are not quite true or mask bad practice elsewhere,) is being challenged constantly. We don’t need a few people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions doing it imperfectly to make a BIG difference. You may well feel sceptical reading this, thinking “What difference will anything I do make? Everywhere I look my good practices being undone ten-fold by others’ bad ones. AND I have not got the time or knowledge to do anything much anyway.” I have complete sympathy with those thoughts, and I am far from a perfect example of sustainable living…yet
I am unable to give up trying hard to keep making small changes where I can… and in my attempt to make those changes, I have been delighted to discover that there are a lot of positive actions being taken locally, nationally, and internationally that are making measurable differences for the better, it is just that the good news is often not publicised, so we don’t usually get to hear about it. Most recently my journey towards a more sustainable lifestyle was re-invigorated by helping to found the local Midsomer Norton, Radstock Area Zero Waste Group, after a friend of mine rang me and said, “Lucy we have got to do something!” This led to a group of local people setting up a Facebook group in the first instance which has gone on to more practical actions such as the litter picking local Wombles and supporting lots of other local green initiatives including Westfield Terracycle and Peasedown Environment Group. In setting up the group, I discovered there are hundreds of local people who are taking small, manageable steps towards a greener lifestyle, they have joined the group where we share tips, ideas, and thoughts on sustainability and give encouraging support to one another. It is so inspiring and uplifting, that I now feel part of a huge push to improve our natural world, and therefore our own lives and wellbeing which is completely inseparable from the natural environment. So, what small steps can we take in our everyday lives here in Radstock? Well, the three main ‘Rs’ are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle; let’s take them one at a time.
