The CA-WN Exchange (Page 9)

The latest from CA-WN Exchange - May 2023

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

Water – Too much / Too little

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

Hosting a sustainable celebration

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

My Three Things for Climate Change

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

Three cheers for King Charles lll

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

Outrage! + Optimism

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

Ravenous by Henry Dimbleby with Jemima Lewis

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

Purple Vegetable Casserole

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?

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

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

Stronger Together

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

CA-WN Monthly Meeting notes 20 April 2023

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,

The latest from CA-WN Exchange - April 2023

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

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

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

Watching Plants Creeping Northwards

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

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

Time for a new Quarter

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,

Offsetting and Carbon Trading

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 Watch April 2023

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

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

The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson

The Garden Jungle by Dave Goulson

The Garden Jungle or Gardening to Save The Planet: Professor Goulson is a mine of information about the natural world and a great communicator. There’s a lot of science in this book, but it’s clearly conveyed and easy to absorb. The science sits alongside a lot of practical

My Three Things for Climate Change

individual impact

My Three Things for Climate Change

by Emmie Williamson, Clinical Psychologist; Green Party parliamentary candidate for South Northants; Co-Coordinator of West Northants Green Party; Coordinator of Flore Climate Group. I’ve really enjoyed reading the other contributions in this space, and how the actions range from large and broad to tiny and specific. So I thought

My View: Rosie Humphreys

My View: Rosie Humphreys

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

CA-WN Monthly Meeting notes 16 March 2023

meeting reports

CA-WN Monthly Meeting notes 16 March 2023

Present: Alexina Cassidy, Briony Askew, Dave Anderson, David Garlick, Dmitry Borisovich, Ella Mansfield, Eugenia Wilson, Harry Mellor, Jane Wood, John Thomason, Ken Ritchie, Leonie Beale, Orianne Neyroud, Peter Nalder, Rupert Frost, Rupert Knowles Apologies: Clare Robertson-Marriott, Clare Slater, Emmie Williamson, Jonathan Harris, Olivia Stevenson, Patsy Hollingum, Richard Hollingum This meeting

The latest from CA-WN Exchange - March 2023

individual impact Featured

The latest from CA-WN Exchange - March 2023

Do you sometimes wonder why you bother? When all around you, others seem to be merrily going about their business making high carbon choices without a care in the world? After all, it’s their planet too – their extreme weather, their rising sea levels and their food shortages. It’s