There’s a new bottom-up force for tackling climate change and preparing for Peak Oil. It’s called, the Transition Towns initiative. Starting from the town of Totnes in Devon, over 100 towns, and villages, and even a Forest and a City, have already signed up. They all help one another through the Transition Network, but Transition is about communities on the ground bringing together their existing projects and skills to prepare for life after cheap oil.

World demand for oil is relentlessly climbing, driven by the booming new economies such as China. The people in these countries quite legitimately aspire to the same standard of living as people in the rich West enjoy. But world population is also rising, and will reach at least 9 billion before it possibly stabilises around 2050. Quite literally, the Earth is full. We have already used half the fossil fuel oil available - the planet is not going to be able to meet the growing demands for consumption from its human population.

Of course, burning all this oil is going to wreak havoc on our climate, and the poorest will suffer the most.

Transition is a hugely positive response to these crises. By re-building resiliant, vibrant local communities, we can greatly improve our quality of life without having to increase our consumption - our ’standard of living’ - to do so.

The first Transition City is Bristol. Now a diverse and loose coalition of people in Birmingham want to make a positive start on Transition for their city. If you want to find out more, please contact me - treaclemine [at] intranet [dot] org - Transition is about whole communities working together, and every single individual has something to offer, whether their memories of coping with rationing, their skills at setting up online communications, or their enthusiasm for bringing in future generations.

A draft flyer for this project is now available.

From The Independent…

New evidence has emerged showing that organic food does contain nutrients that deliver health benefits, contrary to the view put forward earlier this year by David Miliband, who said it was only a “lifestyle choice”.

Scientists in Britain, France and Poland examined organic carrots, apples, peaches and potatoes and discovered that they have greater concentrations of vitamin C and chemicals that protect against heart attacks and cancer than non-organic produce. The research could challenge official government guidelines which suggest there is no evidence of organic food being healthier than conventional produce. That led to the assertion by Mr Miliband, the Environment Secretary, which he later qualified by saying that he ate organic food both because of its taste and the environmental benefits.

The new studies found that organic tomatoes had more vitamin C, beta-carotene and flavonoids, which are known to help against cancer and heart disease, though they also had less lycopene, which is thought to help prevent skin ageing, diabetes and osteoporosis. Organic apple puree was found to contain more phenols, flavonoids and vitamin C than non-organic versions.

Full story here 

Describing themselves as “Europe’s leading eco-centre”, CAT aim to: “… offer solutions to some of the most serious challenges facing our planet and the human race, such as climate change, pollution and the waste of precious resources. … demonstrate practical ways of addressing these problems. … show that living more sustainably is not only easy to attain but can provide a better quality of life.”

They go on to say, “Averting a massive environmental disaster is not out of our reach, although if we continue to treat the early signs with apathy, it soon will be. We address every aspect of the average lifestyle - the key areas we work in are renewable energy, environmental building, energy efficiency, organic growing and alternative sewage systems.”

CAT has recently expanded their online presence. As well as their main Information Web site, and Green Shop they now have a Discussion Forum site, and are part of the new UK Earth Centre Network site. There are a huge range of ’solutions’ out there - what’s lacking is the will to put them into action across the country and the world. Read, learn and act?

From NFU Online.

In the same week the Carbon Reduction Label is launched to help supermarkets reduce the distance their products travel, Somerfield highlights how consumers themselves can reduce their carbon footprint.

Local Life, a report conducted by the Future Foundation, reveals the average shopper with a car travels 2.4 miles each week more than they need to in order to buy the basics such as bread and milk.

According to the report, the extra ‘shopping miles’ emit 972.3 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide which is the equivalent of over half a million transatlantic flights.

The report highlights the fact that 50% of shoppers pass a local grocer or supermarket in their daily routine and could do their ‘top up’ shopping on any of these days, rather than making the extra journeys.

It also reports that 67% of shoppers have a grocer within walking distance of their homes meaning the car could be left at home.

Pete Williams, head of press and PR at Somerfield said: “We are constantly looking at ways to reduce the distance from ‘farm to fork’ and shrink our carbon footprint. However, to reach our goals, we really need our customers to contribute. Be it leaving the car at home from time to time or remembering to bring back their plastic carrier bags, even the most occasional of shoppers can make a positive difference.”

UK retailer Marks and Spencer are upping the ante and promoting their green agenda by labelling foods that have been air freighted into the UK.

The new scheme which comes into effect from today has been brought in due to customer concerns as to the origins and transport methods of ‘fresh’ foods. The new symbol will appear on over 20 different foods, but as the programme rolls out, over 150 will eventually be covered.

Marks and Spencer plans to be ‘carbon neutral’ in 5 years and is investing £200 million in their ‘eco-plan’.

Source: TreeHugger & New Consumer.

Nigel sent in this article which appeared on Yahoo! news today - what do people think of this article? Is it really fair?

Supermarkets are scrambling to capture the millions of “green” pounds spent by increasingly environmentally aware shoppers.

Farmers’ markets across the country are buzzing with conscientious customers buying locally grown knobbly carrots and leeks pulled straight from the soil.

With the threat of climate change racing up the global political agenda, people are going green when they shop. And their sights are set on food miles.

“The concept of food miles has absolutely rightly entered into people’s consciousness in Britain,” says Bill Vorley, head of the sustainable markets group at the British International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) think-tank.

The idea of reducing food miles seems straightforward — simply buy produce which has travelled the shortest possible distance from farm to plate. Continue Reading »

This article (which I have Anglicised slightly) was posted in an email list by ‘InfoNature.org’ - thought it might be in interesting read. Continue Reading »

“Spiralseed and OrganicLea cordially invite you to the launch of ‘EARTH WRITINGS’ by Graham Burnett,

Sat 13 Jan 2007
4pm onwards

The Hornbeam Centre, 458 Hoe Street, Walthamstow London E17
(near the Bakers Arms - 5 minutes walk from Walthamstow Central BR)

This event will be preceded at 2pm by a talk ‘Introduction to Permaculture’ by Mark Warner of ‘Naturewise’ All welcome! Please feel free to pass this message onto anybody who might be interested.

www.spiralseed.co.uk/earthwritings

–
Graham Burnett: Integrated Design for Local Environmental Resources”

Meat and milk from cloned animals is safe for human consumption, the US food regulator said in a draft ruling.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled that cloned cattle, pigs and goats produced food “as safe as the food we eat every day”.

The recommendation, coming after a five-year study, is a major step towards allowing food from animals onto US supermarket shelves.

A public consultation period will take place before final approval is given. Opponents say a majority of US consumers are against animal cloning. Continue Reading »

Last year went to a talk on greener giving. One new thing I learned was that we need to be very careful buying cut flowers. Many are cultivated in places like Kenya and these industries compete with local people and animals for water and scarce resources. Also health and safety and worker protection are poor. Buying from Animal Aid and Dr. Hadwen Trust etc. not only provides ethical purchasing but also helps animals and alternative testing.

Links:
Animal Aid online shop
Dr Hadwen Trust online shop

Editors note: UK company ‘Wiggly Wigglers’ sells bouquets that are hand-picked each day from their own gardens and the local area. As Ann has said, most cut flowers come to the UK via Holland, often from far-away places which isn’t very environmentally friendly. If you really want to buy flowers, try Wiggly Wigglers.