5 things I have done today to help the planet… [Day 013 – 27 May ’19]

Are we in an emergency?

When do we need to do something?

Yes and ASAP.

Make your choices. Make your changes.

Act. Now.

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1. Emergency, Emergency - it's a Climate Emergency

Declaring a Climate Emergency is becoming 'de rigeur' amongst governments and councils across Britain now.

As well as all the national governments it looks like around 100 councils of all shapes and sizes across the country have now made declarations of some sort.

It is difficult to get exact and up to date figures but these two lists get pretty close :

• Declare a Climate Emergency - List of Councils who have declared a Climate Emergency

• Campaign Against Climate Change - Councils declaring climate emergency : new hope for climate action?

My local town council made there declaration in February but isn't on either list yet.

They have pledged to make the community carbon neutral by 2030.

That is an admirable, but tough call to make.

So far they have not made any substantive progress other than set up a 6 month consultation to gather ideas from the community of what should be done.

They need to pick up the pace and get motoring. 2030 is only 11 years away.

The powers of a Welsh town council are rather limited. Most significant powers are held by the county council above them but there are some obvious areas they can start with.

In an attempt to make a positive contribution I have today sent the mayor and other leading councillors six initial suggestions...

1. Ask for a 'Climate Action Statement' from any organisations that the Town Council gives funds to.
2. Ask for a 'Climate Impact Statement' from any events that the Town Council gives funds to - and tie the amount donated to the amount of 'climate amelioration and healing' the event organisers are including in their event planning.
3. Move all, or at least a significant part, of the Town Council funds to the Triodos Bank that supports planet positive organisations.
4. Invest in subscriptions to a range of 'planet positive' magazines such as Ethical Consumer, Permaculture Magazine, Resurgence etc and donate one set to the public library and one set to the local school library.
5. Require that all refreshments (tea, coffee, milk, juice, biscuits, cake etc) at all Town Council events and meetings are organic and where possible locally sourced.
6. Ask all councillors to volunteer to produce 'Climate Action Statements' for what they and their families are doing to reduce their environmental impact. Publish and publicise these on the Town Council website, and maybe also the official notice boards.

I am eagerly awaiting their response.

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2. Moving the chickens to their summer home

Over the winter our three remaining hens and their accompanying guard goose have been living in the orchard behind the house.

The orchard is a bit more enclosed and sheltered but although it is a fair size they have almost stripped it bare now.

So today we moved them to their main summer compound in the field. This is over a quarter of an acre and fully fenced in so provides plenty of space for the hens to scratch and the goose to graze.

Although it doesn't have the fruit trees for aerial protection from the buzzards, the nettles are now high enough to give the hens pretty good cover.

They live almost entirely from grazing, scratching and some kitchen scraps now and only rarely need any external input of corn or layers pellets.

The three hens still manage to provide us more than enough eggs - particularly with our near vegan diet.

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3. Pottering in the Polytunnel

I managed to get a bit more time out in the garden today.

Always my favourite place. But today it was raining so I was confined to the polytunnel.

I potted out some tomato plants. Usually I grow them in pots but now I've got the tunnel I thought I would see how they go straight in the ground.

While I was clearing out the conservatory I discovered a couple of bags of seed potatoes that had been left chitting under the table. I had totally forgotten about them.

It is a bit late in the day to be planting potatoes but there is a bit of space left in the polytunnel so I am putting them to allow them to catch up.

I think I need more lists to remind me what's what, and what's where...

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4. Films for Action

Films for Action in the number 4 slot again today!

Today I joined up and downloaded my first film - "Living the Change: Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future".

This is a 2018 film from New Zealand exploring solutions to the problems the world is facing.

I thought this would be a good inspirational place to start.

Films for Action includes a Top 100 Documentaries list.

This caught my attention - maybe I could watch all 100 films, in ascending order, and provide a little commentary or review on each?

That should certainly get me up to speed on all that is going wobbly in the world.

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5. The Daily Donation - The Green Party

In view of their impressive showing in the European Elections I am giving today's £10 donation to the Green Party.

I have had connections with the Green Party since way back in 1978 when it was still known as the Ecology Party.

There is little Green Party activity around this part of Wales so I haven't had any direct contact for some time.

I am going to watch more carefully now to see how they progress.

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Today was a public holiday.

More time to catch up with what is going on in the world.

And to sit back and wonder... can we still do it?

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[ images from @pennsif ]