opinion

My View - Danielle Stone

CA-WN gives a Councillor the space to speak about climate action

individual impact

From smoking to vaping: An environmental risk?

Take a step outside in any town or city across the UK and you’ll more than likely be met with plumes of fruit-scented vapour, or notice the colourful vapes littered on the streets. E-cigarettes, also known as vapes, are a relatively new concept. They were introduced to the UK

air

15 June is Clean Air Day

Air pollution causes up to 36,000 deaths in the UK every year.  The World Health Organisation and the UK Government recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental health risk we face today. 💡Local authorities must fulfil their statutory duties to make high quality, accurate air quality information available

food & farming

LEAF OPEN FARM SUNDAY at Brixworth Farms

Sunday 11 June, 10:00am to 4:00pm

meeting reports

CA-WN Monthly Meeting Notes 18 May 2023

Our guest speaker Claire O’Brien, Environmental Sustainability Manager, Grand Union Housing Group, gave an interesting and engaging presentation about retrofit, energy efficiency, and the importance of making messages about these subjects relevant to your audience. This meeting was recorded and can be watched on the CA-WN YouTube channel, and

individual impact Featured

The latest from CA-WN Exchange - May 2023

“Urgent climate action can secure a liveable future for all” was the headline of the press release around the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). At first glance, it sounds quite upbeat! But then it’s that word, ‘liveable’…and its antonym, which is the implied

food & farming

Water – Too much / Too little

Writing at the end of April, I am wrapped up well and summer seems a long way off.  But it is at this time of year that water companies and farmers look anxiously at the levels in their reservoirs as well as river flows and groundwater levels.  If we have

local matters

Hosting a sustainable celebration

As the date for the King’s Coronation was set, among the Bugbrooke Environmental Working Group excitement was mixed with concern about potential sustainability issues. So, we came up with some suggestions for organisers to help make Coronation celebrations as sustainable as possible, and worked with the village event committee

individual impact

My Three Things for Climate Change

by Paul Slater, Consultant Anaesthetist, Northampton General Hospital I have become increasingly conscious of the poor state of the environment over the last few years; as part of my contribution to the solution I have been gradually making more changes to my lifestyle.  Of course, individuals cannot tackle this crisis

individual impact

Three cheers for King Charles lll

The coronation of King Charles delivers a new age of environmental enlightenment. As our Head of State, the natural environment has never had such powerful representation. For over 50 years His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales, had been an outspoken campaigner for the environment including this, his November 2015

podcastshelf

Outrage! + Optimism

I’ve been listening to Outrage & Optimism for several years. Its credentials as a source of information and comment on global climate and environmental issues are impeccable; one of the three co-hosts is Christiana Figueres, who as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was

bookshelf

Ravenous by Henry Dimbleby with Jemima Lewis

In 2021, Henry Dimbleby published the much acclaimed ‘National Food Strategy’. This was one of the most carefully thought through and readable government documents that I have read and yet most people, including members of the government, have not read or acted upon it. In reply, in 2022 the Government

recipes

Purple Vegetable Casserole

This is, essentially, a vegetable casserole, but the ingredients were such that when cooked, it had a wonderful purple hue – fit for Royalty*, perhaps? I had a number of single vegetables in the fridge, which all needed to be used, including some amazing, really vividly purple carrots. These, together with

Fiddling in Rome - do consultations deliver?

Peter Doveston shares his thoughts on proposed revisions to the school bus service, and the council's plans for air quality monitoring. Peter, from Northants Streets Campaign, also writes his own blog . More bad news I'm afraid. A consultation is currently underway that is considering West Northamptonshire&

water

Water

In the UK we are privileged to have fresh safe water  on tap, but a complex set of natural and man-made systems is needed to deliver this.  During the 2021 and 2022 Great Big Green Weeks, CA-WN was able to put on talks from speakers who gave us expert insights

business

Stronger Together

Today's business environment is tough. Is effective collaboration the best way to navigate through it? When it came to researching this article, I couldn’t resist asking the Internet what the keys to business success are. This threw up a rabbit-warren of answers, some of them positive and

meeting reports

CA-WN Monthly Meeting notes 20 April 2023

This month we had a presentation on ‘How UK businesses can do better for Society and the environment’ from Alexina Cassidy. This meeting was recorded and can be watched on the CA-WN YouTube channel, and you can see Alexina's slides here. Present: Alexina Cassidy, Briony Askew, Clare Robertson-Marriott,

individual impact Featured

The latest from CA-WN Exchange - April 2023

Reflecting April’s temperamental weather of sunshine and showers, the climate movement has a dichotomy of approaches that are being used to try to effect change. Although we are all aiming for the same goal, the differing approaches can sometimes rile the other ‘side’: the disruption caused by civil disobedience

business

Encore Environment - working hard to reduce waste and create social value

Take, make, use, dispose, pollute. These five words represent the traditional linear industrial system. It starts with extracting Earth’s minerals, metals, biomass and fossil fuels; these are then manufactured into products which are sold to consumers who - for the most part - will use them and then chuck

nature

Watching Plants Creeping Northwards

Brian Laney, one of the Northamptonshire County Recorders of plants, talks of four species that are making their way north due to climate change. In recent years several wild plant species have appeared in the vice county of Northamptonshire which have never been seen in the county before ('vice

UoN – CA-WN collaboration

CA-WN had been invited by Zoe Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Illustration at the University of Northampton, to set a project for second year Illustration students. CA-WN outlined the practical problems of communicating the many facets of climate change and students each came up with three suggestions that were discussed before

transport

Time for a new Quarter

By Peter Doveston - Northants Streets Campaign.  Peter also writes his own blog . During the pandemic, two academics were chatting. They were mulling over the effects, both positive and negative, that the emergency was having on people's ability to exercise outdoors. Negatively, people were trapped in their homes,

food & farming

Offsetting and Carbon Trading

I am very suspicious of offsetting. An old friend was persuaded by her heating oil supplier to give money to forestry in India. She has travelled to India many times and has a soft spot for the country and its peoples, so she was easily persuaded. In theory, the trees

council

Council Watch April 2023

CA-WN watching West Northants Council for us all The very first issue of CA-WN Exchange was published exactly one year ago, on 1 April 2022.  We chose to write the first ‘Council Watch’ feature as a report card on the first year of the unitary authority’s existence.  So how

podcastshelf

Farming Today

Farming Today has been going for ever – I remember my granddad getting up to listen to it every morning in the 1970s. But it has definitely moved with the times and these days isn’t just about combine harvesters and the price of pigs. We all know that food systems