Welcome...
 to our November issue
- or should it be our David Attenborough issue? (See how many mentions of the great Sir David you can spot in the items below.)
Besides reading or watching David Attenborough, you should find something interesting to do below, live or on-line, whatever the weather or Covid-19 regulations. But remember to check websites and social media before setting out for an event - there will have been some cancellations and postponements recently because of the new London-wide Covid-19 status - and whatever you choose to do, stay safe and well.
Next issue: we look forward to hearing about more environmental activities, on-line or in the real world of Kingston, as and when possible - we try to give local news and campaigns top billing, so do please keep them coming in. In any case, please send us your environmental news and updates in good time to feature in the next newsletter which will go out on or just before December 1. According to Mailchimp, 58% of our 700+ readers frequently click the links in this newsletter and 23% do so sometimes, a good number of engaged readers worth reaching.
If you normally contribute items to this newsletter, or would like to, and haven’t heard from us recently, please subscribe to our contributors’ list via this sign-up form to get our requests and reminders - and make sure they are not disappearing into your spam folder! You can update your own contact details in this list or unsubscribe at any time.
If you have problems viewing this newsletter, please click the link at the very top of this page to see it in your browser.
|
|
Campaigning  together
Covid-19 needn't stop you campaigning - and there are always green issues to campaign on. At the 2019 Great Green New Year Gathering, hosted by TTK and Kingston Environment Centre, campaigning came top of the suggested joint activities, and so, until there is nothing left to campaign about (we wish!) this section will remain at the top of every issue of this newsletter.
Take your pick from the issues highlighted below, have a look at the Kingston Council and Have Your Say items for more opportunities - and please take action.
|
|
Our friends at Biofuelwatch are asking MPs to call for existing Renewable Obligation Subsidies to be redirected from tree burning in UK power stations towards renewable and low-carbon solar, wave and wind power. Voters can help by emailing your MPs to ask them to sign the Biofuelwatch pledge to help transfer over £1 billion in UK renewable subsidies from tree burning to genuinely renewable energy. Please visit the UK End Biomass Subsidies Page which has all the information needed on how to take action.
 From The Climate Coalition (TCC)
TCC remind us that the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) is coming our way next year, hosted by the UK in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November (more on COP 26 in the Climate Crisis updates below). TCC is planning ahead, thinking how to explain the issues and engage the public in the build-up to this important conference. One idea is a Climate Festival of events around the country and a lobby of MPs next summer. TCC will be providing ideas for events big or small – watch this space and get ready to participate and organise in Kingston.
|
|
Contacting politicians when you need to
Find contact details for your councillors, MP, MEPs, and LA members at WriteToThem.com Rather than repeating our advice on writing every month, we have saved it here on the TTK website.
Please tell us about other local green campaigns we should highlight in this section; air pollution; trees and local biodiversity; getting shops to close their doors in winter; supporting active travel, making cycling (and cycles) safer; divesting pensions etc from fossil fuels; recycling bins in public spaces; reducing waste plastic, other...? Please tell us what you’d like us to take up, and help others to join in by providing useful evidence and web-links.
|
|
|
News
Despite the wind and rain, Kingston Environment Centre gardening volunteers have been able to tackle a few jobs, planting out wallflowers, foxgloves and gooseberry cuttings from the Tooting Community Garden and tidying up the containers. More Saturday volunteers are welcome - and see notice below about our plant sale on Saturday 7th November (the same day as New Malden Farmers Market).
|
|
|
Volunteers still wanted:
Social Media person - to put newsworthy items on Twitter, Facebook, etc, update content on our website (Wordpress) and contribute items to this newsletter. All can be done from home! About two hours per week.
Administration (Trainee) - to update records of members and volunteers, online calendar, prepare for meetings etc. All can be done online at the moment.
Gardeners - to look after plants, keeping the area around Kingston Environment Centre beautiful. Can be done with distancing. Training given.
Book-keeper - to keep up- to-date entries on our spreadsheet, File paperwork, Initially can be done from home, probably changing as the lockdown eases One or two hours a week, occasionally more.
If you are interested in any of these volunteer roles please let Jean or Pat know..
What's on at KEC
|
|
Regular events at KEC and on-line
Socially distanced gardening on Saturdays
Usually from 1.00pm
Times can vary so check the Kingston Environment Centre Facebook page.
Stitch and Chat on Wednesday evenings
Returning to KEC but restricted to 6 people, with contact details taken in line with Covid-19 regulations. Email Pat if you would like to be included.
Listen or catch up with previous shows on Mixcloud..
See the KEC website calendar › for info and updates on events and activities at Kingston Environment Centre, 1 Kingston Road, New Malden, KT3 3PE.
|
|
|
News
TTK and other green friends participate in Chamber of Commerce Chessington Expo
In October, a panel of six local representatives from Kingston were invited to discuss questions relating to the Green Agenda and how businesses might respond. Hilary Gander (Councillor), Elliot Newton (Kingston Biodiversity Officer), Michelle Peters (Panel facilitator, Paragon Cleaning), Jeanine Martin (Sunray Recycle), Kirsten Henly (Love Kingston) and Alison Whybrow (Transition Town Kingston) participated in a lively discussion with lots of input from the audience. What was striking was that so many people are already dedicated and taking action – what if we all had a space where we could come together to share our learning and ideas, inspiring each other to go further and build a truly green and resilient Kingston together? In the words of Des Kay, “What if we all got on the sustainable-future bus?”
TTK continues…..
- to finalise its green community mapping project to connect Kingston people and projects; to encourage Transition Streets, and to work more closely with Kingston Council. Watch this space for updates.
TTK Energy Group is thinking about organising an Open Eco-House weekend when it is safe to do so – if you’ve made energy-efficiency changes to your home and would be happy to open it up to visitors for a day and talk about the pros and cons of your home improvements, do please get in touch with the Energy Group. Kingston Council has contacted the Energy group to see how they could work better together.
The TEDx Countdown - a postscript
TTK may host an event later in the year to bring people around Kingston together to explore the issues raised in the Tedx event that launched in October with the aim of accelerating action in cities and communities around the globe. Interested in co-creating our local TEDx-inspired event? Please do join us to support facilitation and creation of ideas ahead of and following this event - if you`re interested in getting involved, please email Alison.
Transition News
The London & SE Transition Hub held another useful on-line meet-up in October, with a few of us from Kingston attending (spot us in the screenshot above!) and sharing ideas and experiences with participants from all over London and beyond. The next one is likely to be in November - keep an eye on TTK Facebook page for updates.
Transition: Bounce Forward – What If · What Next?
 Transition Network has secured funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver a six-month project in England in response to the Covid-19 pandemic; it will support groups to provide more on the ground activity through a small grants scheme, and will be combined with a series of online events exploring how communities can respond to crises, including a visioning process inspired by Rob Hopkins’ book ‘From What is to What If’: Unleashing the power of imagination to create the future we want’.
Find out more - and see below for the upcoming Bounce Forward event.
Coming soon
Another chance to see Life on Our Planet
Sunday 1 November at 4pm, on-line, free
(Also available on Netflix )
TTK hosts a community screening of David Attenborough`s new film on environmental themes, focusing on agriculture, deforestation, energy and marine conservation, and how these are contributing to the climate crisis. It also offers solutions that could support a safe and sustainable future for our planet and its people, and an opportunity to respond and create change where we live for future generations. We would love you to join us to do just that.
Transition: Bounce Forward
Wednesday 11 November, 7.00pm – 10.00pm, online
Transition Network introduces the 'What If' components of the Transition: Bounce Forward project in Great Britain. A short overview of the Transition: Bounce Forward programme and introduction to the 'What If' visioning exercise - a tool to help Transitioners develop a way forward for the future of their communities, followed by an introduction to the seedfunding programme for Transition groups in England.
Register here and keep an eye on the Transition: Bounce Forward website for updates and more information.
|
|
Regular events
 TTK management team meeting and Green Drinks
Last Tuesdays of the month, from 6.00pm
Management team meetings at 6.00pm, followed by Green Drinks. Details will be posted on the TTK Facebook page.
We hope to see you at other TTK meet-ups or events as and when things return to normal - click an icon below to find updates on events and ongoing TTK projects, as well as new sources of funding, fascinating news snippets, encouraging ideas and discussions of Transition themes such as resilience, energy-efficiency, sustainable living… on our Facebook page. Do have a look and join in.
Find out more about the wider Transition Network.
Find more Transition activities and events in London and the S E on Facebook
|
|
|
News
Des and Tariq win a well-deserved award.
Tariq Shabbeer (Secretary) and Des Kay (Chair) of Save the World Club (pictured on the left), were awarded the Frances Moseley Community Award in honour of “outstanding contributions to the borough's tenants and leaseholders.” More on the STWC Facebook page.
|
|
|
What's on at The Circulatory
 Stitch in Time postponed yet again - due to circumstances beyond our control
Despite poor turn-out for our October session, we were hoping to continue and build up numbers at our monthly sociable sewing sessions, but the latest Covid-19 rules for London, announced on 15/11/20 include a ban on households mixing indoors - and that, sadly, includes our sewing workshops. See TTK Events for new dates if and when permitted, confirmation of details and updates on Covid-19 restrictions, e g on numbers. You may need to reserve your place when we restart.
|
|
Regular events
 If you’d like visit the Circulatory or borrow Stitch in Time sewing resources, please contact Des to make an appointment to ensure that physical spacing is maintained, and bring hand sanitiser to use before and after using any kit.
The Circulatory, Unit 5, Chiltern Way, (at the bottom of Chiltern Drive), adjacent to Berrylands Railway Station
|
|
|
|
KBN exists to highlight and promote local conservation work in Kingston.
News
October Zoom presentation on hedgehogs – and what you can do
After a dodgy start, we had an enlightening presentation from Jo, project manager of Hedgehog Friendly Campus, focussing on hedgehog behaviour and ecology, how to recognise signs of hedgehogs in your garden and, most importantly, how you can help this sadly declining species at home, followed by the usual biodiversity updates from around the borough. You can catch up with the presentation on KBN’s Facebook page and with the Hedgehog Close video, You can also register hedgehog sightings and support the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and their petition to give greater protection to hedgehogs.
Sign up to KBN newsletter or click on an icon below for news of more conservation activities around Kingston - get involved or set up a project of your own.
|
|
Regular events
See the website or Facebook page for other KBN activities
|
|
|
 Berrylands Nature Reserve
|
|
News
Read our blog: after every event or when there is some exciting news about our nature reserve or local green space, we try to write a quick blog post to let everyone know. We love feedback and ideas so please do keep in contact by emailing us or via social media.
What's on
|
|
Regular events
See website and Facebook page.
|
|
|
News
We are delighted to announce that Habitats & Heritage - the new charity created from the merger between Environment Trust and South West London Environment Network - will launch in November. In combining the two charities, Habitats & Heritage will lead the way in protecting and creating a better and more sustainable environment for everyone, so that our work benefits not just the people who live and work in the area today, but future generations too. Read more about the new organisation and our plans for the future here.
What's on
Marble Hill Remembers: Feeding Richmond and Twickenham, Wartime and Now
Monday 9 November, 6.00 pm, Zoom, free
Environment Trust and English Heritage explore the role Marble Hill allotments played in the wartime effort, the growth of food locally, and the allotments and heritage veg grown on site today. Environment Trust and Head Gardener Kate Slack discuss allotments and their importance throughout Marble Hill's history.
Get your FREE ticket.
Saving Waste and Water
Monday 30 November 30th November 6.00 pm, Zoom, free
Learn about the sustainable use of resources in conserving local heritage and how we can contribute to a sustainable future. How can we reduce waste - save water - conserve energy - and protect the future of our local heritage as well as the future of the planet?
Get your FREE ticket.
|
|
|
Click on the website icon below for news and information about Green Hubs, the Green Infrastructure Project and much more...
|
|
|
A network of local environmental organisations covering a wide range of green issues in Kingston
News
KEF talks bikes, buses and feet...
In October KEF participated in a very positive discussion on transport and active travel with our friends over the border in Richmond, hosted by Richmond and Kingston Greenpeace. The discussion ranged over: whether some good would come out of the pandemic if we learnt to travel less and travel more actively; whether our neighbouring boroughs could cooperate more effectively; how to persuade more people to accept, even like, cycle lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods...
RBK Communities Covid-19 Recovery Task Force
KEF has joined the Mental Health and Wellbeing working group, where we have much to offer – as active travel and contact with green spaces and nature can have very positive imp acts on wellbeing (see, for example, Thriving with Nature from the Mental Health Foundation). KEF's other significant contribution will be to remind the various working groups of Kingston's Climate Emergency Declaration. If your organisation would like to represent KEF on other/specialist work groups as they are formed, please email Marilyn.
We have been asked the following questions: Strengths: What has gone well?; Development: What are you worried about?; Planning: What needs to be sustained, changed, delivered differently or started? Ideas welcome, particularly from local environmental groups: Please copy the questions, paste them into an email and send your answers. suggestions, ideas... to Marilyn, so that she can integrate them into a KEF response.
|
|
Local green organisations, please make sure you are still members of the KEF website and that someone interested will pick up our messages, so that you can contribute and be consulted as and when relevant. New organisations and/or new group representatives are welcome to join too, by clicking the Join Website button at the top of the KEF Home page. And have a look at the website and Facebook page occasionally - there may be a question or issue for you to take up.
Individuals, there is almost certain to be an organisation or person in the group who can answer your eco-questions or take up local environmental issues or send you in the right direction, so do use the Facebook page to share these. If KEF (or one of the organisations that feature in this newsletter, many of which are KEF members) can’t help, we almost certainly know someone who can. And you don't need to join KEF’s website to access its useful information and resources.
If you’d like to write something on a green theme that is too long for this newsletter or too broad for more specialist green groups, please send it to us for possible publication in KEF’s blog.
|
|
|
Local sowing and growing
News
|
|
Hogsmill Community Garden
 We will remain open three days a week with a maximum of six people on site, maintaining social distancing and hand washing rules too. See total guidelines on our Facebook page. Pruning, plant division, clearing, compost turning, leaf collection and bulb planting will be the jobs in hand.
On Swan Path, Vineyard Close
|
|
Canbury Community Garden
 Our small-scale open day for planning and volunteers proved very useful as we don’t often meet these days; our raised beds are now allocated for next year’s planting, and we have one or two promising new volunteers. We continue to limit numbers in the Garden at any one time, mainly via our volunteers' WhatsApp group, which has worked well for maintaining the garden as well as for H&S (see our Facebook page for details). Earlier in the month an excellent group from GoodGym came along for a bit of weight training by dragging tyre planters around to widen our main path (pictured on the left) for wheelchairs and wheelbarrows; work on smoothing the path will be an autumn task, along with spreading compost, finding the leak in our pond, and re-roofing one of the sheds.
|
|
|
RIP Henny
The last of Canbury Community Chicken Collective’s rescue chickens, Henny (pictured on the left in happier days), slowed down rapidly this month and then died. The CCCC comfort themselves with the fact that she had a good two years with us and seemed happy and healthy till very near her end. Our rescue chickens, though not very old in years, had had a hard life before they got to us and always seemed quite frail.
Between Canbury Gardens, Kingston Riverside [tennis] Club and Kings’ Passage
|
|
|
Kingston Permaculture Reserve/ Edible Forest Garden
Kingston Edible Forest meets most Sundays, and on a weekday evening when there's light, to cultivate a food forest planted for the long term with perennial edible flowers, veg and fruit, details on out website. Contact us to check when we are there and for us to plan numbers while Covid rules are in place.
Knollmead Allotments, Tolworth KT5 9QP
|
|
|
What's on
London Friends of Greenspaces Network meeting
Monday 7 December, 6.00pm - 8.00pm, via Zoom
Always a useful source of info for Friends groups and Friends Forums from across London - see LFGN's Facebook page and website.
|
|
Regular community gardening sessions
Contact gardens via Facebook pages for times or to make an appointment.to help. It can be difficult to keep regular sessions going with Covid rules changing so frequently and organisers taking holiday breaks, so do check websites before turning up.
Useful resources
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
XR Kingston 
News
 Extinction Rebellion Podcast Episode 15 – Economics for the Planet with Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics.
News from global Extinction Rebellion here. Read the latest London XR news and sign up for the e-newsletter here.
Coming soon
For XR Kingston meetings, actions, film shows coming up check Events on the Facebook page.
|
|
Kingston Council news
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
Readers who appreciated the lack of traffic, safer streets, cleaner air and quiet during lock-down, who care about the environment, and/or who cycle or walk or scoot... might like to support the Council's Low Traffic Neighbourho ods being trialled in several areas around the borough over the next 6 months For more info and to comment visit the Council website.
 The Councillor Ward Funding Scheme, aimed at providing local Councillors with the ability to support the award of flexible, small and timely funds for local initiatives within their ward, is open for applications. If you are interested in applying for Councillor Ward Funding then you should contact your ward councillor. You can find your local Councillors here.
|
|
Nature notes
Fifth of countries at risk of ecosystem collapse
Trillions of dollars of GDP depend on biodiversity: ”One-fifth of the world’s countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing because of the destruction of wildlife and their habitats, according to an analysis by the insurance firm Swiss Re. Natural “services” such as food, clean water and air, and flood protection have already been damaged by human activity. More than half of global GDP – $42tn (£32tn) – depends on high-functioning biodiversity, according to the report, but the risk of tipping points is growing.”
Stuck at home? Kept indoors by the weather? Missing autumn wildlife?
You can catch up with autumn changes all over the UK on BBC TV's Autumnwatch, including live wildlife cameras running daily from 11.00am to 11.00pm.
Useful apps for nature-lovers
- The Seek app uses your smart phone to identify the plants and animals all around us, and can make the daily walk much more interesting.
- BirdNET can identify 984 of the most common bird species of North America and Europe. from song recorded on your phone.
- UK Bird Sounds
|
|
Have your say -
 On the Royal Parks’ Movement Strategy
The Royal Parks is developing a Movement Strategy to help shape how park visitors can access, experience and move within the parks. We have two Royal Parks nearby, Bushy and Richmond – and you may remember how lovely they were in the early days of lockdown when there was no traffic at all in the parks The consultation takes place from November to December 2020. Find out more.
|
|
Money, money, money...
Sustainable Funding for Community Projects
Watch Corinna Hartwig (aka The Funding Dr) on how to identify the relationship between your project and funders’ strategies plus top tips on how to speak their language. Learn your outputs from your outcomes and what you and the funder have in common. Watch her workshop or read all about it here.
Many funding providers are offering funding to help facilitate responses to the COVID-19 outbreak. Sustain has compiled a list of funding and grants available to a range of groups, including community groups, food charities and those wanting distribute surplus food to those in need.
Kingston £
A reminder of how to keep money circulating within Kingston while helping people in our community who have got into difficulty with debt as your K£s are held in Boom Credit Union: you can set up a small standing order or deposit a sum in Kingston Pound’s account.
Find out more at https://kingstonpound.org/.
See also Kingston Council section above.
|
|
Waste matters
Greenpeace calls on UK supermarkets to go plastic-free
From turtles entangled in six-pack rings to whales with stomachs full of plastic bags, the effects of plastic pollution can be devastating. By ditching plastic packaging, supermarkets have the power to lead the way in dramatically reducing the amount of single-use plastic produced. Please call on UK supermarkets to ditch throwaway plastic packaging here.
Plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds banned in England
Read all about it.
Ban wet wipes
KEC’s Jean Vidler has started a petition to Parliament: “ Ban wet wipes from sale in the UK (and similar products) unless they are eco-friendly and degradable to Water UK certification.”– sign it here.
 SunrayRecycle featured on the cover of the Autumn Salmon magazine. Along with Salmon magazine, Janine from SunrayRecycle and Michelle from Paragon Green Cleaning continue their bottle top campaign. The CEO of Delphis Eco visited SunrayRecycle HQ recently (pictured on the left) and subsequently called them Kingston's eco warriors in their latest newsletter. Find out more.
|
|
Energy updates
Solar power will be the new energy choice of the 2020s, because it now offers “some of the lowest electricity costs ever seen”. That was the verdict of the International Energy Agency, which predicted 80 per cent of growth in electricity demand to 2030 could be met by renewables.
A major new electricity cable between the UK and France, the interconnector IFA2, was completed in October, boosting existing capacity between the two countries’ grids. That’s good news for balancing out the variable nature of renewable electricity generation. Looking further ahead, analyst Cornwall Insight said it thinks such interconnectors and growth in wind farms could see the UK become a net exporter of power by 2040 – a dramatic reversal after a decade of being a net importer.
Wind turbines back in favour - Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged that the UK would install 40 gigawatts of offshore wind power capacity by 2030, up from 10.4 GW today. It’s largely a repeat of what he promised in November 2019, but with an added promise of £160 million for upgraded ports and factories. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c008ql151g1t/wind-power
A study in Nature Energy last month found that countries that embraced renewables were successful at cutting their CO2 emissions, but ones that pursued nuclear were not. “If you’re focusing on what we can do to mitigate emissions in the next 15 years, pursue renewables and not nuclear,” says Benjamin Sovacool at the University of Sussex, UK.
Good news/bad news
£5,000 Green Homes Grants are on offer from the government to cover energy efficiency measures such as installing cavity wall, loft or floor insulation. But householders trying to apply for Green Homes Grants to make energy improvements are finding that it is nearly impossible to find an accredited installer to do the work. Job opportunities for enterprising people?
Carbon dioxide emissions plummet - but for how long?
The coronavirus pandemic led global carbon dioxide emissions to plummet 8.8 per cent in the first half of 2020 – an incredible amount, greater than during the second world war or any recession. Much of the drop was the result of less road traffic, with emissions from vehicles down by nearly a fifth, scientists reported in the journal Nature Communications.
|
|
Climate crisis updates
The alternative COP26: What next for the climate emergency?
Thursday 12 November, 7.00pm, on-line
A Guardian Live event with a distinguished panel discussing the climate crisis amid the decision to postpone COP26, and against the backdrop of the pandemic.
Find out more and book.
On-line conference: The Climate & Ecological Emergency: Taking Action Together
Friday 13 November, 10.00 am – 5.00pm, Zoom
“Has your organisation declared a Climate (and Ecological) Emergency, committing to radically reduce its emissions and improve biodiversity by 2030? Are you a concerned activist or organisation focussed on ensuring the necessary climate action is taken in your locality? This online conference will explore how councils, other public organisations, businesses, charities and communities can all work together to develop radical Action Plans to deliver on these commitments.”
Find out more and register.
What is COP26, How does it work, Why is it important?
A short explanatory video on YouTube
A live, interactive, on-line 4-part course to give you the confidence to talk about the climate crisis to anyone, supported by the Eden Project, takes place on various dates, November - December.
Find out more and book.
See also Climate Outreach’s resource: How to have a climate change conversation – Talking climate
|
|
Food, glorious food...
New Scientist one-day virtual event: Future of Food and Agriculture
Saturday 28 November, 10.00am – 5.00pm
What we eat and how we grow it are changing. The need to feed a growing population, tackle hunger and obesity, and avoid trashing the planet is driving the next food and agricultural revolution. New Scientist Live’s online event for everyone who cares what’s on their plate, featuring inspiring talks, shows, demos and interactive sessions...
Find out more and register here.
 On-line lecture: Food and social resilience
Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, discusses the additional challenges now facing Brexit Britain over food security - with tons of interesting data. Excellent, wide-ranging and very concerning - and it even includes a picture of David Attenborough!
Watch the lecture on YouTube.
|
|
Reviews
We read the reviews so you don’t have to... (We haven’t read or watched everything in this section, but we think they all sound interesting.)
Listen
Rob Newman's Half-Full Philosophy Hour - What Is A City For? Philosopher-comedian Rob Newman dices with death on the school run, sets up a Slow Travel rail franchise, and offers a bonanza of future-proofing pollution solutions. Written by Rob Newman
The Elephant! - a podcast investigating solutions to one of the greatest problems of our time, with each episode exploring a different story, solution, or facet of climate change through illuminating on-the-ground stories, or conversations with leading thinkers, journalists, and scientists. From pipelines and politics, to new and evolving technological solutions, the Elephant is a unique exploration of climate change.
BBC podcast: What Planet Are We On? with Liz Bonnin explores the impacts of climate change and offers solutions and practical tips, with input from experts, campaigners and well-known names (including the ubiquitous Attenborough).
Watch
David Attenborough’s A Life on Our Planet 
During his lifetime, Sir David Attenborough has seen first-hand the monumental scale of environmental change caused by human actions. Now for the first time, he reflects on the devastating changes he’s witnessed and reveals how together we can address the biggest challenges facing life on our planet. “ Watch it on-line with TTK on Sunday 1st November at 4pm (free), or if you have Netflix you can watch this important new film at your leisure (search for “David Attenborough”).
It would also be great to get the film, with its important message about biodiversity loss and the climate crisis, out beyond the already committed, so WWF is offering community groups free digital screenings, an opportunity to reach a wide audience (safely on-line). Community groups will find everything they need – Ts and Cs, guidance through the process, discussion and publicity resources – here. Do have a look and consider hosting a screening.
I am Greta
A film about acting to stop climate change before it's too late, released in October, and possibly showing in a cinema near you. See a trailer here.
Extinction: the Facts, on BBC i-player
“With a million species at risk of extinction, Sir David Attenborough explores how this crisis of biodiversity has consequences for us all, threatening food and water security, undermining our ability to control our climate and even putting us at greater risk of pandemic diseases...
Some short videos to watch
 A Message From the Future II: The Years of Repair
Can we imagine a better future? If we stop talking about what winning actually looks like, isn’t that the same as giving up? A new video from Naomi Klein’s The Intercept.
Are vegans and vegetarians destroying the planet?
Forests are being slashed and burned to make room for giant soya plantations. But where is all this soya going, and are vegetarian soya burgers to blame for the destruction? You can probably guess the answer - and if you want to take action here's how you can help.
Read
In case you can't get enough of David Attenborough -
 A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future by Sir David Attenborough
Sir David Attenborough says “...I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake - and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right. We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited. All we need is the will to do so.”
"There is no planet B": the best books to help us navigate the next 50 years
Understanding animals, capitalism, the science of cloudseeding... sci-fi author Kim Stanley Robinson shares his top picks in The Guardian.
|
|
Regular updates on all things environmental
– and most of them will send environmental news direct to your inbox:
The Independent environment news
The Guardian environment news
The BBC environment news
The Ecologist, currently celebrating its 50th year; its impressive archive includes the landmark A Blueprint for Survival (1972) outlining the need for a serious economic and environmental overhaul
Fix the Planet - New Scientist’s monthly dose of climate optimism
|
|
|
More things we like this month 
|
|
- Feedback - a campaign group working to regenerate nature by transforming our food system, challenging power, catalysing action and empowering people to achieve positive change.
- Autumn online Salmon magazine, with tips on ethical shopping, recycling, how to reduce clothing waste and how to save hedgehogs from imminent extinction.
- The Guardian’s weekly Green Light - sign up to to get the planet's most important stories, good and bad, by email.
- Hubbub’s Greenprint, “a manifesto laying out practical and tested policy proposals to respond to the priorities of the British public, businesses and local authorities. ..”
- Past issues of Kingston Environment News, in case you've missed other good things.
|
|
What else is happening soon?
|
|
Conference: The Climate & Ecological Emergency: Taking Action Together
Friday 13 November, 10.00am - 5.00pm
How councils and other organisations can go beyond their own activities and involve, inspire and enthuse others in their locality to act. Collaboration is key. Even if all councils cut their own emissions to zero by 2030, that represents only 0.5-3% of emissions. Every council needs its residents to step up and help - even if they don't know it yet. Find out more & Register for our conference on 13 November whoever you are. You may be a councillor, council officer, resident, activist, environmentalist or from another interested organisation - there are sessions for everyone.
5x15's The Earth Convention 3: Consumers – Fast Fashion, Manufacturing and Plastics
Wednesday 18 November, 6:00pm, online via Zoom
Free to register
Eden Project Festival of Discovery
 Friday 20 & Saturday 21 November, on-line, free
Including workshops, cook-alongs, top tips on green living and gardening, topical talks, guest speakers and ideas for boosting health and wellbeing.
Find out more.
Surviving the Future: Conversations for Our Time
4th Jan - 28 Feb 2021
Sterling College's interactive on-line course, led by TTK co-founder Shaun Chamberlin, with teachers last time including Rob Hopkins and Vandana Shiva. The first run had 250 participants - this run will be limited to 100. Details here.
Give Earth a Rest Day
Saturday 5 June 2021
A new anti-waste campaign has started in Kingston and could go global if everyone helped. Find out more here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
