Category: Environment

h.Energy 2018: Let’s Do This!

Climate change, Community, Energy, Environment, Events Leave a comment

h.Energy is an event in Herefordshire that has been running since 2010.

Would you like to be involved this year? Please tell us how!

Crowdfunder link is also live – please support us here!

This year the event will take place over the weekend of October 13/14, have two main hubs (Hereford and Queenswood Country Park and Arboretum) and other pop-ups around the county according to interest.

Its aim: Promoting sustainable lifestyles, encouraging action to reduce carbon and providing practical support for carbon reduction initiatives.

Your interest and enthusiasm at this stage is what will shape the event – this year once again we currently have very little secured budget to spend on this event, so we are looking to partner with as many of you in our great network as possible.

Previously we have seen films, fun runs, workshops and puppetry all in the name of sustainable energy for life – what will you make happen this year?!

Please let us know how you could be involved in this form by FRIDAY 29th June 2018.

If you have an idea, but you’re not sure if you have the resources – come to our funding workshop with Herefordshire Community Trust on 2nd July. We’ll have a bid written in a morning – promise! 🙂

 

 

TAWAI – voices from the forest

Environment, HGN Events Leave a comment

Hunter-gatherers stalk their prey in a rainforest, acutely attuned to their surroundings, perceiving every sight, every sound. The film TAWAI contrasts the intense interconnectedness of tribal cultures with our own experience of living in urban environments. Here our sensory input is on overload, and we are forced to limit the amount we take in, habitually deadening ourselves to what is happening around us.

The question of interconnectedness is at the heart of this stunningly beautiful documentary from well-known BBC TV presenter and explorer Bruce Parry, who revisits tribes in Borneo and the Amazon to describe the changing lives of the people there.

After the film join Herefordshire Green Network for a discussion. Drawing in expert voices from rural Herefordshire whilst also hearing ‘the voices from the forest’, we will be considering our own quests for reconnection in the context of such a rapidly changing world.

 

Film showing at Monday 9thJuly, 8pm at The Courtyard, Hereford. Followed by a discussion in the bar. More information or booking here: https://www.courtyard.org.uk/events/tawai-voice-from-the-forest-u/

Kenyan Charity Craft Project

Environment, Events Leave a comment

At 10am at De Koffie Pot on Sunday 22nd April Julie Fry will be talking about her work in Kenya, educating girls in sexual health. She will also be demonstrating how to make reusable cloth pads which she supplies to the girls she works with.

Last year in Devon Julie managed to make 500 pads with her stitching group which they took out to Kenya in February. This year we hope to get the people of Hereford involved in the Project and make even more.

… and on which note we’re very happy to have Pussy Pads (eco-friendly reusable cloth menstrual pads) joining us in the h.Energy Village on the 5th May!

More info on all of that sooooooon…

Three from HWT!

Environment, Events, Local Groups Leave a comment

Here are details of 3 fabulous looking events coming up from the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust:

The Big Wildlife Quiz:                                                                                                                     Wed 21 March                     7pm-10.30pm

Join Herefordshire Wildlife Trust for a Wildlife Quiz Night and test your knowledge about wildlife with friends and enjoy some warming food and a glass of wine.

Venue: Millennium Hall, Upton Bishop, Ross-on-Wye, HR9 7TU

Cost: £9.50 per ticket, £42.50 for a table of five people.  The ticket price includes food and there will be a paying bar.

Booking:  Book online at www.herefordshirewt.co.uk or call 01432 356872.

This is a fundraising evening specifically to support Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserves Appeal.

                               

Talk: A worm’s eye view of Bringing a Garden Life:                                                                       Tues 20 March                      Doors opening 7pm, talk starts 7:30pm

A talk by Richard Fishbourne for the Hereford City branch of Herefordshire Wildlife Trust.  Richard Fishbourne ofBugs and Beasties will give one of his humorous and fascinating talks about how best to let your garden thrive and enjoy the detail and changes that nature offers.  Richard’s varied past has seen him recreate a miniature ancient apple orchard at the RHS Spring festival for the attention of HRH Princess Anne and interview gardening enthusiasts including the late Sir John Hurt and fellow actor Sir Michael Cain at the Chelsea flower show.

Venue: The Barrels (in the Brewery Room), 69 St. Owen Street, Hereford HR1 2JQ.

Cost: £2 members, £3 non members

No booking required

 

An Evening of Words and Music in aid of HWT’s nature reserves appeal:                                Fri 30 March                         7.30pm-11pm

An Evening of words and music, in association with the Wild Hare Club, featuring author and broadcaster Rob Penn (The man who made things out of trees) and prize winning poet and author Miriam Darlington (Otter Country: in search of the Wild Otter) followed with live music by Herefordshire’s popular world – folk band Slippery Slope.  

Doors will open at 7.30pm with the first half of the evening starting at 8pm.  There will be a paying bar throughout the evening.

Venue: Tomkins Theatre, 148 Whitecross Road, Hereford HR4 0DH

Cost: £12.50

Book your ticket online at www.herefordshirewt.org or call 01432 356872.

Further details about the event will be available on the Trust’s website shortly.

Compost Corner!

Environment, Events Leave a comment

On the 24th March join a free New Leaf workshop at Queenswood to learn all about composting from master of the art Sarah Blenkinsop (Moorswood). This hands on session will appeal to the beginner and expert alike and all your questions will be answered! From 10am – 12 noon and 1pm – 3pm. For more details contact Tim Kaye or 01981 550043 or email tim@clan-cic.org (blooking is essential: www.queenswoodandbodenhamdlake.org)

Politics, Ethics, Environment

Community, Environment, Events, Politics Leave a comment

Every Wednesday there is a discussion to be had at De Koffie Pot between 7.30 –- 9.00 pm.

Here is the lineup for March:

Wednesday March 7 : Talk Shop presented by Perry Walker :-

Health and Social Care local initiatives : following on from last months’ discussion at the national level what is happening locally? There are around 30 local initiatives – what are they? Do they join up? How can we make the most of them? What more can be done?

Wednesday March 14 : DKP Presentation :- 

Henry David Thoreau – Philosopher, transcendentalist, first environmentalist. Rugged individualist, critic of government and materialism. Lived self sufficiently in woods, Walden Pond, Concord, Massachusettes, 1850 for two years two months. Contrast to today’s megacities and destruction of our forests.

Wednesday March 21 : Herefordshire Green Network :-

“Personal, Planetary, Political” Join Pete Linnell who will be introducing ecological foot printing tools to help us understand what effect our lifestyle choices are having on the environment.

Wednesday March 28 : Hereford Green Party :-

What can a Green Councillor do for Herefordshire?

With three guest councillors.

 

With food and drinks available in the bar.

Plastic Detox

Environment, Events, Plastics Leave a comment

We’re disappointed to let you know that the Marine Conservation Society are double booked and unable to attend our Gathering on plastic pollution, this Wednesday 21st February at 7.30pm.

However… we still have input from the fabulous Plastic Free Powys! and representatives of Herefordshire Wildlife Trust City Branch will come along, plus representatives from Herefordshire’s local Stop the Drop campaign.

This means our evening discussions will be less focused on plastic in our waterways, and more focussed on what we can all do locally, each time we shop / wash / write .. etc etc.

On the HGN website we are developing a list of local resources and ideas. Have a look at the list by clicking here, and come along on Wednesday with your own thoughts and ideas…

And we’ll talk about how we put our Herefordshire plastic detox aspirations into action!

http://hgnetwork.org/themes/plastic-free-here/

https://www.facebook.com/events/1448342518608670/

Feed the World?

Environment, Land Use Leave a comment

If you have 15 minutes to spare, click here for an inspirational TED talk from Gabe Brown:

“Yes we can feed the world – and we can do it in a way that regenerates our resources, thus healing our farms, families and communities… ”

Learning from nature and applying this learning in a way that resonates with Permaculture practice, Gabe Brown is one of the pioneers of the current soil health movement that focuses on regenerating resources. His family own and operate a diversified 5,000-acre farm and ranch near Bismarck in the USA, but provide plenty of food for thought for farmers and growers around the world.

With thanks to Frank Hemming for the link.

 

And you have a bit longer to spare, here is a link to a talk give by local expert Richard Priestley to Transition Leominster: ‘Can We Feed 9 Billion People Sustainably?’

 

Compost Toilets for Rural Churches

Built environment, Climate change, Community, Environment Leave a comment

An innovative way of providing accessible toilets for churches without mains drainage… and a wonderful way of helping people experience the reality of water free toilet systems.

Click here to be inspired: www.natsol.co.uk

Woodlands for All

Community, Environment Leave a comment

People from across south-west Shropshire have been out and about in local woods over the last four months, taking part in a joint project run by local charity, Light Foot Enterprises and the Community College, Bishop’s Castle.

During the autumn a group of 11 college students went out into local woodlands to experience the richness and diversity of the woodland environment, finding out how to conserve the landscape and how to manage and utilise woodlands sustainably. The project was part of the college’s enrichment programme.

Project coordinator, Gary Cowell, said “The students were very enthusiastic. They learnt about different ways to measure the height of trees and how important it is to get accurate measurements. They looked for signs of wildlife and found deer tracks and droppings as well as lots of evidence of squirrels. We even found some out-of-season tadpoles. The students had a fantastic time”. In other sessions, the students visited Ransfords saw mill in Bishop’s Castle and the Clun Log Company.

In January the project switched to its second phase, for adults wanting to learn about woodland management. Eleven participants have been learning the theory of woodland management as well as taking part in practical sessions at the Hurst, Clun, learning how to cut down trees, clear brash and identify trees and plants. All participants, including a forester with decades of experience, have been learning new things.

Participant Rebecca Burrell, said, “What an excellent few days of learning and meeting likeminded people.  I feel so grateful for the experience”.

The course has been so successful that Lightfoot Enterprises are tempted to repeat it. Anyone interested is invited to contact Dave Thomlinson on 01588 640550 or Alison Weeks on 01588 640095. Gary Cowell who works for both Lightfoot and Knighton Tree Allotments Trust coordinated the project, which was part funded by the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Conservation Fund.

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