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Welcome to our new readers this month, taking our readership to over a thousand! Around 150 have signed up to the newsletter since joining up for the fabulous #FestiveStreets community initiative - the District’s streets are going to be ablaze with colour this winter!

Enjoy this month’s news - and we always love to hear from you if you’d like to get in touch. And stay up to date on our social media.

 
Newsletter Editor: Philip Nalpanis
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Sustainable St Albans Annual General Meeting

Tuesday 8 December, 7.30 - 8.30 pm


Come to our first virtual AGM!

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic we are holding our AGM much later in the year than usual and over Zoom. All are welcome to attend, to hear about our past year’s activities with a brief update on the current year. We will end with contributions from local young people about what the climate crisis means for them. See our AGM webpage for more details and an agenda. Please book here to attend.

Take action! Council launches Sustainability and Climate Crisis Strategy.

You can now read the council’s recently launched Sustainability and Climate Crisis Strategy with the first phase of actions for responding to the climate crisis.

See the key pages 22 and 23: they set out 16 priorities for action on energy use, transport, community engagement, and embedding environmental issues in council policies and projects.

It’s a plan we can all play a part in! It’s clear the Council cannot do this alone, so please read the strategy and think about what your part might be, and how you can engage the groups/ schools/ businesses you are in contact with and encourage them to start taking action now.

 

Council Sustainability Newsletters


See the latest Sustainability newsletter from the Council here (please note: the Government Green Grant scheme referred to in the newsletter has now been extended to 31 March 2022).

You can see more of them here and sign up to receive them electronically.

Festive Streets - has your street signed up?

 

We are delighted that over 150 streets across St Albans District have now signed up to be part of our new community project #FestiveStreets!

Festive Streets encourages residents in St Albans, Harpenden and the villages to decorate the windows on their streets during the winter festive season, enabling them to celebrate as a community in a contact-free way and bring cheer to their neighbourhood. It focuses on connecting with your neighbours, inviting those who live near you, especially those not on social media, to be part of something, where they live.

Has your street signed up? Visit here for your free electronic information pack today. Check out our blog for ideas on making a sustainable window display.

The Festive Streets concept works in community buildings, faith buildings, school classroom windows, or an office block or a parade of shops. And don't worry if someone in your street might have already signed up for a pack - the more the merrier!

With thanks to St Albans Community Grants Fund, Hertfordshire Community Foundation and Playing Out.

Will your Christmas be low impact?


Check out our Low Impact Christmas Blog.  Take the 12 Green Days of Christmas challenge! And enjoy more low impact festivities at Christmas and beyond.

By Susheel Rao, environmentalist, jewellery maker/ creative and volunteer at Sustainable St Albans.

Catch up with more of this month's guest blogs


(click on images to view)
Fabulous photos of Hertfordshire’s hidden wildlife treasures.

The race to community resilience.

Vegetarian feast! Free recipes from The Cobbled Kitchen


Download these vegetarian recipes: great for festive occasions!

Click on the image below to find out more about The Cobbled Kitchen!

Learning from Lockdown - Christmas edition poster


See the new #LearningfromLockdown poster from Sustainable Schools: download and discuss it here to help inspire you and your family towards sustainable celebrations.

See more about Sustainable Schools here.

Are you an educator and would like to sign up to the Sustainable Schools monthly newsletter aimed at teaching staff? Please email us.

+++ Save the dates! +++ Save the dates! +++

 

SustFest21 dates announced!


The 2021 Sustainability Festival dates are Sunday 23 May to Sunday 6 June.

Nothing is going to stop the festival organisers next year! Some events are already being organised and anything you can do with your group will be welcomed! SustFest21 will be flexible to allow you to organise in-person or online events, and to be able to change them if needed. Register your events from January; more information later or see our website.

Rising to the challenge: A life on our planet


Monday 11 January, 7.30 - 9.00 pm open online event via Zoom


Watch David’s Attenborough’s film; hear his moving witness statement (on your Netflix at home) and then join us for an evening of discussion on how we can rise to the Climate Emergency challenges set in this film:  
  • How do we put nature at the heart of our decisions?  
  • We’ll explore Energy, Food, Restoring Nature and Finance.
Click here for further information and to book.

Our Planet Our Future - Sustainable holidays


Read about the November meeting on Sustainable Holidays. Our guest speakers were James Blake, CEO of the YHA England & Wales and Vicky Smith, founder of Earth Changers. You can view their presentations and links to further information here.

Is heat leaking from your home?


Find out where by borrowing a Thermal Imaging Camera.


“They were blown away by what they could see…”


Sustainable St Albans has two thermal imaging cameras  - just like the ones the professionals use -  one based in Harpenden and one in St Albans.  The camera can help you identify where you are losing heat from your home: windows, front door, loft hatch, roof…?

As a result of COVID-19, information sessions will be held via Zoom this winter and there will be socially distanced arrangements for collecting and returning the camera. It's free for residents of St Albans district to borrow the cameras.

Book your place on an information session now - only six places per session.  There are a few December places left and January sessions are now available for booking; see website for more information and how to borrow the camera.

Care about local trees? Join Trees of St Albans on Facebook


Trees of St Albans is a vibrant community that shares notes through a Facebook group.  Our wonderful trees in the District Council area need hands on, active people to help maintain them and increase numbers, species, locations, etc,. Please have a look, share and join.

Looking for a good read ...

... over the holiday season or winter nights?


The Independent has recently reviewed 8 of the best Climate Emergency books: read one, read them all!

And finally ...

 

None of this is possible without you!


What a difficult year it’s been! Like everyone, we were shell-shocked at the beginning of #Lockdown1 but, thanks to all our volunteers, we quickly re-adjusted to the challenges - and it has turned out to be a very busy year for Sustainable St Albans. We’ve been running very successful online events with around 50 to 100 people registering for each, publishing regular guest blogs, compiling resources to help you live more sustainably, and helping families and schools with Learning from Lockdown. We hope you’ve found them useful and stimulating. Thank-you to everyone who’s supported us this year, and roll on 2021!

Editor's note: We’ve got the UN Climate Change conference COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, so we all have a lot to do.
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