GET INVOLVED – GO GREEN – GET READING – GET ACTIVE

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Tree planting and green spaces

Members of Transition assisted with the planting of a Holm Oak on Seckham Road, off Beacon Street. The tree was a replacement from a diseased oak that had to be cut down. Shame it was such a dull day though! 

Forest Harvest was awarded a grant from Severn Trent for a planting project in the Festival Garden - the section of open space by the stream between Queen St and the clock tower. Nick Burton, current Open Spaces officer for LCC and Forest Harvest Director explained: 
“The project is threefold: 

1. Planting plugs of yellow rattle in the meadow. When established this parasitic plant will reduce the strength of the grasses and allow wildflowers to increase. 

1. Planting some different coloured willow above where the brook tends to flood. When coppiced it will provide material for some community willow weaving. 

1. Plant 3 ‘forest garden guilds’ in the meadow behind the notice board. These are a collection of mutually supportive shrubs around a central fruiting tree. This is a novel idea for wilding up but with less “wild”. Each guild of plants is around 7m diameter so not overbearing.” 

 
A small number of socially distanced Transition members assisted with the first stage of planting and volunteers are welcome mid-April for the next stage of planting and beyond, to help with on-going maintenance. ​

Engaging with the District Council on Climate Emergency and NetZero

As you will be aware, LDC declared a Climate Emergency in October 2019 and have yet to produce a strategy for the District. We are awaiting a response on progress from Councillors and will update via Facebook and the newsletter. You may be interested to read about what the city of Nottingham are doing though as they are way ahead of the curve on their planning and reduction of carbon. They have an Action Plan and Charter which are very easy to read and understand and we are trying to encourage our own Council to create something similar. 

Learning opportunities and inspiration

We know that many people have been engaging with other groups and organisations online during lockdown and there really have been some excellent events and learning opportunities for all. Here are some more for you: 

Even emails and websites have a carbon impact!

Have you considered changing your web browser to a carbon neutral one such as Ecosia? They plant trees using profit made from web searches. They are doing an amazing job! 
We came across this interesting blog post from Bulb Energy about working out the carbon footprint of emails, and the fabulously named No Lesser Panda has some tips on reducing your footprint. Give us your feedback on changes you have made and that others can learn from. 

Have you heard of The Commitment?

No, not the film from the ‘80s but something you can sign up to show that you want people in power to know how much you care about the environment. Here is a message from them to us: 
“The Commitment works to put climate change and the natural world higher up the political agenda, by collecting Commitments from the public and taking them to politicians, giving those in power a mandate to act. The Commitment are politically neutral and always will be. They are asking the public to make a promise to vote with a healthy planet at the heart of their decisions in all elections and explain why this is important to them through a personal message and image (this may be a long or short statement, poem, video, photograph or artwork). Making your Commitment is a quick and easy way to have your voice heard and create the change you wish to see, so click here to make your Commitment today! “ ​

Spotlight slot

Each month, we want to focus on one of the community groups or enterprises. This month is the turn of:  ​

Established by Samantha Paddock in 2019 to provide a zero waste shopping option for local people. Sam said “Our aim is to offer people plastic-free alternatives to their usual products, locally sourced whenever we can. We are trying to keep the carbon footprint of our products as low as possible.”
The business has grown from a small selection of refill type products to a beautiful shop with a great range of products, a café and soon to be deli at the Plant Plot Garden Centre. Take a look at the website for details of the items they stock – fresh fruit and veg, eggs, dry loose goods, full range of household liquids for cleaning and selfcare, frozen goods and some amazing bars of chocolate too!! And that’s just a few of the items!
The team have some amazing tips and ideas to share and are open to ideas from their customers too.
A big round of applause to Sam for getting this established and continuing throughout the pandemic, with deliveries to vulnerable people to add into the mix. Please do support these valuable small local businesses whenever you can.

Get involved

Local recycling options 
Wendy Nugent has volunteered to put together a list of places where items can be recycled around Lichfield. If you know of any schemes then do get in touch so she can add to the list (eg crisp packets, coffee pods etc). We will then add the document to the Transition Facebook and website.  
Email Wendy: [email protected] 
​
We need a ‘mapping’ expert! 
We would love to develop a proper ‘asset map’ for Lichfield, connecting up all the people and groups so that there is a central, attractive resource for the community to refer to.  Other Transition groups and similar organisations across the world use them and it a fantastic way of representing all the connections and show what a vibrant community we have. 

A useful tool for mapping is Greenmap. There are bound to be others – Sum App is another we have come across but there is not much information about them out there.  
Could you help get this off the ground? Email us if you are interested in helping. 

Gardening/planting Projects 
We have come across Burton Conservation Volunteers. Although the name suggests that they are a Burton group, they do in fact work on projects in Lichfield. Do visit their website but the best contact is Lawrence Oates [email protected]  07432 608931 if you think you might want to join in.  

 Lawrence said “ You need to be happy to be included on a general email list. Post code and description of each job will be included, and any special requirements, like wellingtons. All jobs are risk assessed and a task sheet produced, kept on site when we work, in case I am on a different part of the site. Tools are provided and we do our best to give volunteers the how and why of the jobs we are carrying out.  Jobs are tailored to the volunteers requirement, so if they just want a day’s work doing good, then this is kept to a minimum, if they are studying a related subject, then they can have more in depth tuition.” 

It was useful to have a catch up with Lyn Hammant of the LDC Parks dept recently as Lyn was able to remind us of activities and groups that are ongoing and which people may want to participate in. 

The Countryside and Parks Conservation Group (CPCG) is made up of volunteers who want to help out in their district on conservation projects, working alongside Parks Dept staff. There are other ways you can get involved too, with park maintenance, helping with events or helping in the community garden. More info here. 

Contact the Parks team on [email protected]  if you would like to get involved with any of their groups or fill in their volunteering form online. 

And if you want to see more about biodiversity across the District and the sorts of projects that have taken place, take a look at the Parks & Countryside page on the District Council’s website. It is an interesting read! 
​
This Guardian article is a useful quick read if you want some ideas of planting that can help reduce air pollution. Something that we can all be doing, especially those of us who live by busy roads. ​

Dates for your diary

25th-26th March is the Global Festival of Action! A virtual festival, full of interaction and entertainment. Register to take part. 
27th March 8.30pm - Earth Hour. Join in with others across the world with your lights off and use as little power as you can.  
20th- 22nd April is the annual Earth Day event– 3 days of Climate Action. 
We have been invited to take part in the Green Gathering, being held virtually on Sat 5th June, and then in person on Sat 4th September in Stafford. Any ideas of how to contribute would be welcomed but one thought is to talk about the small things that people can do, simple changes that the whole family can adopt, as well as getting to know their community and working together. 
We welcome your suggestions for newsletter content, for Transition group projects and events, for groups that should be listed on our website and for useful connections. 
Forthcoming topics include ethical investing and support for businesses to become sustainable and reach NetZero carbon. 
Stay safe! We look forward to engaging with you. 
Thank you for reading. ​