Sustainable News 2018

June 2018 Newsletter

A huge Thank You to Midcounties Co-operative Community Fund who have just got in touch to say they will be giving a grant of £2,000 to support The Mix Community Space!

In The Mix in June:

Sat 2nd Repair Cafe
on 4th Toc H CAMEO (come and meet each other) evening - discussion on Healthy Living with experts and advisers -Free

Tues 5th Monthly Craft Night Midcounties coop

Sat 9th Pallet DIY

Mon 11th Family First Aid

Tues 12th Hypnobirthing session with Your Birth and Beyond (also Tues 19th)

Wed 20th Indigo dyeing workshop (daytime) and Mindfulness meet-up (evening)

Sat 23rd Free Machine Embroidery workshop

Tues 26th Birth preparation classes with Your Birth and Beyond

Wed 27th Cushion making (daytime) and Sustainable Wantage AGM (6.30pm) followed by Green Drinks (7.30pm): At this month's Green Drinks Eric Eisenhandler of Sustainable Blewbury will be joining us to talk about Climate change and its effects, and also renewable energy - including recent progress in dealing with intermittent energy sources (wind and solar).

Sat 30th FREE Social Media training for volunteers (morning) and learn to crochet and make yourself a reusable cotton dishcloth! (afternoon)

And coming up in early July: Sun 1st Scoop - zero waste food pop-up (details below), Sat 7th Food Hygiene training for volunteers.

For more info or to book on any of the courses or workshops at The Mix, email Jo, call 07768 767787, visit the Mix

SCOOP - zero waste Pop-Up at The Wantage Mix Scoop zero waste pop-up

Sunday 1st July 10am - 2pm

Fight plastic pollution and come and refill your own containers with a selection of dry goods and whole foods. Detergent refills also available from The Mix’s own SESI detergent refills.

All our goods are sold by weight or volume so you can buy exactly what you need in any tub or container, reducing food waste, packaging waste and saving you money.

Don’t have any spare containers? Don’t worry we’ll have a small selection for you to use on the day.

For more info visit the Facebook event here.

Tell us what you'd like to buy packaging free:

SCOOP - zero waste want to know what products you'd most like to be able to buy packaging free so we can try our best to stock them. This will also help reduce waste and ensure we're meeting the needs of the local community the best we can. Fill out our short survey to let us know what products you'd most like to see at the pop-up on the 1st July.

Plant Sale at the Market Garden

Sun 10th June, 2-4pm Plants in pots at the Market Garden

We will have a large variety of veg and flower plants for sale, all grown in the garden by our gardeners. All proceeds are used to maintain the garden. Come and see our veg and flower gardens.

Charlton Village Road, Wantage, OX12 7HG (behind the Wantage Community Support Service building).

FREE Entry. Site not suitable for dogs

Enquiries: 07527 201559 or email Olwen.

Market Garden Diary

So much needs doing in the garden at this time of year, from seed sowing, potting on, planting out, weeding and watering - the greenhouse is never big enough! We have replanted the two raised beds in the flower garden with dahlias and lilies and the new rose border is being underplanted with cornflowers and poppies (to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the ending of WW1). The roses were planted last autumn and will be flowering for the first time this year. We will shortly be planting up the large poly tunnel with tomatoes and the runner beans in the veg garden have started making their way up the bean poles.

We have just purchased a new walk-in brassica cage which will hopefully prevent our cabbages and cauliflowers getting munched by caterpillars and pigeons. The money from the cage was kindly donated by Lombard, a corporate volunteer group, who spent the day working with us in early May. The cage will be more accessible than previous netting because it's a walk-in one, with a proper door!

Do come and see how the different areas are progressing. Both Sarah and Olwen are around on Fridays. We also have a community gardening afternoon on Sundays which anyone can attend.

Sarah and Olwen, Market Garden co-ordinators.

Wantage Businesses and Plastic Waste

We're collecting details of local businesses to be listed in a new directory to help people in and around Wantage avoid unnecessary plastic waste. Any business can join the list if they are taking some kind of action on plastic (such as using reusable crockery, or phasing out plastic straws). The aim is to make it easier for people to find refills and plastic-free ways to shop. Businesses can register here.

This follows our recent survey which asked local people for their views on plastic waste. You can find full results of that survey here.

This month the Resource Bank is collecting - tools. If you have tools you no longer need we would love to have them for some upcoming woodwork sessions; we are looking for any of the following: drills and drivers, drill bits, screwdrivers, handsaws, clamps, files, punches, pliers, workmates... also happy to receive other useful bits and pieces! Contact Jo or call 07768 767787.

What is... Anaerobic Digestion

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is used as a way of processing some types of waste. It uses microorganisms to break down biodegradable material. The process is anaerobic, meaning it takes place in the absence of oxygen, and it produces biogas. This biogas contains methane and can be used as a fuel or upgraded for distribution via the national gas network.

Anaerobic activity occurs naturally in some soils. When food is dumped in landfill and biodegrades, methane is produced and released into the atmosphere where it contributes to climate change. The warming effect of this potent greenhouse gas is 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Capturing the methane turns a problem into an opportunity.

In the Vale, our food waste is taken to AD facilities near Wallingford or Witney, where it is used to produce biogas and fertiliser for farms. The company Agrivert works with 34 local authorities to recycle a quarter of a million tonnes of food waste per year. The biogas is used to generate 11 MW of electricity per year.

Reducing food waste and collecting what remains reduces landfill gas emissions, provides a fuel source and a source of fertiliser.

Please note that you can now use plastic bags when lining your food waste caddy.

In Brief

Morrisons are inviting people to take a reusable container when buying meat or fish in their stores. Tesco are ditching 'Best Before' dates on fresh fruit and veg to cut food waste. £13bn of edible food thrown away from homes every year, with fruit and veg among the most wasted foods.

The website 'Plastic Free July' has ideas about how to reduce your use of single-use plastics - from how to make personal care products and snacks, to how to avoid plastic waste when shopping. They are challenging people to make a change this July.

EU bans bee-harming pesticides. The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations on Friday, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses.The EU is also considering legislation on plastic waste which would force member states to collect 90% of plastic drinks bottles, while some other single-use plastics would be prohibited.

Tourism's carbon impact is three times larger than previous estimates, accounting for 8% of global carbon emissions. The bulk of these emissions come from plane travel, but people also tend to exert a much higher carbon footprint when abroad. A holiday may account for 30% of your annual carbon footprint. Travelling from London to Paris on the Eurostar emits around 0.9 kg CO₂ per passenger, compared to 58kg CO₂by plane. Here's a link to some more tips for lower-carbon holidays.

UK referred to European top court over air pollution, due to its long-standing failure to meet EU limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). It faces fines totalling millions of pounds, over a public health crisis 'linked to the deaths of 50,000 British citizens every year'. Environmentalists say that by taking the UK to the European Court of Justice, the EU has demonstrated what will be lost after Brexit - the proposed UK environmental watchdog would not have the automatic power to take the government to court.

Out and About in June

Fri 1st - Thurs 14th Oxford Festival of Nature. Click the link to see the full programme of events, which includes a bat walk and Thames wildlife cruises.

Wed 6th, 7 - 9 pm (Oxford). Community Energy Fund Launch Join Low Carbon Hub at Tap Social to celebrate the launch their new community share offer.

Sat 9th Oxford's Big Green Day Out 10:00 am - 5:00, Street party with a difference on Broad Street, Oxford. Celebrate the wonderful organisations working for the environment and sustainablility in Oxfordshire. Sustainable Wantage will be there with a stall. Community stalls, arts and crafts, live entertainment, workshops, local food and drinks.

Sat 9th - Sun 17th Oxford Bike Week.

Thurs 14th - 4pm. Kevin Wilkinson from HarBUG (the Harwell Bicycle Users Group) will talk at the Harwell Green Club. To book a place (as you'll need to be registered on the access system to get in) contact John Vandore.

Sat 16th Noon - 5pm 10th anniversary celebration at Westmill Wind Farm. Help celebrate 10 years of community owned renewable power. Take a site tour and see inside a 81 m wind turbine. Black smithing, kite making, pedal antics, live music, hot food, local ales, a bouncy castle and treasure trail. We especially encourage cyclists! Camp Saturday night; bring a tent and some food. The Westmill Green Burial Ground will be open for visits, talks and activities. Direct WeSET Coaches from Swindon & Oxford. Bus 66 stops 20 mins walk away. Westmill Wind & Solar Farm, on B4508, off A420, near Shrivenham, SN6 8TH.

Sat 16th - Sun 24th Oxford Green Week. This festival includes dozens of free events and activities - last year over 40,000 people took part! Do check out the website as there are too many to list here! Includes campfire cooking training, energy recovery facility tour, clothes swap, play structures training – with rope and wood, green stories, cycling festival.

Green Drinks Sustainable Wantage Social

Wed 27th June
7:30pm - 9pm in The Mix, Mill Street
Bring your own tipple. All welcome.

Sustainable Wantage

www.sustainablewantage.org.uk

Images: Market garden photo by Olwen Barlow; Poppies by Pixnio; Pantry-2 by Jules on Flickr; ocean beach, march 6, by Kai Schreiber on Flickr; question mark by Innovate Impact Media on Flickr. Still life on composter by allispossible.org.uk on Flickr; Bee by Open Clip art vectors on Pixabay; Eurostar by theo-choi on Pixabay.