The latest Council Climate Scorecards are out from the Climate Emergency UK.  This assesses all UK councils on the actions they have taken towards reaching net zero; based on actions between Jan 2019 and March 2023. 

The results show, as we might expect, that no council is doing it perfectly.  This isn’t a surprise as there’s a lot of pressure on local councils to deliver improved services while their budgets are cut year on year. Reaching net zero is also not an easy ask and council structures can be complex.  Although operational footprints of councils are generally low they do have a large sphere of influence in their local area and so are important to be leading the way on net zero plans and actions.   

The average score across all UK Councils came out as 35%.  This ranges from Westminster City council at the top of the table with a score of 62% to Thurrock Council only scoring 9%.  

Cheshire West & Chester (CW&C) declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and has set a target to reach net zero target by 2045 so is committed to reducing its impact.  They scored a (just over) average total score of 36%, from the 7 score card areas (see table below).   

The highest scoring of the 7 areas for CW&C was collaboration and engagement with 76% against a UK average of 53%.  They are doing well in this area by lobbying government on climate action, providing behavioural change information for residents and partnering to influence governments on climate action. 

Their lowest scoring area was Transport at 14%, where they received penalty points which brought them below the UK average of 22%.  Penalty marks are given where the action the council has taken is contributing to higher carbon emissions.  These were received for the questions:

• Has the council approved, expanded or build a high carbon transport project since 2019
• Do the nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Fine Particle Matter (PM 2.5) levels in a significant proportion of neighbourhoods in the council area exceed the safe WHO Air quality guidelines.

You can check the pollution levels in your area at addresspollution.org

The Waste section scored 42%, which is above the 37% UK average.  This is an area close to our hearts at Eco Communities and we hope we have been able to influence a little here.  Whilst CW&C scored well for its commitment to sustainable food initiatives and its kerb side food recycling it received no points for the 3 questions around reducing single use plastic in its buildings and at external events on council land, property or public space whether they have taken steps to support a circular economy locally. 

Let us know your thoughts on single use plastics at outdoor events in CW&C – join our Sustainable & Plastic Free Cheshire Facebook Page and complete our poll – JOIN HERE

Eco Communities have been supported with funding by the CW&C council over recent years for Cheshire Cup club and more recently to help introduce reusable half pint glasses to our plastic free event package. 

This latest data shows that there are still lots more that we can hopefully work with the council on to reduce waste at local events and to increase the support for a local economy.  Supporting Hoole lights and Ho Ho Helsby this festive season with our returnable hot and cold drinks cups, running a deposit scheme stall to help reduce single use plastics. Do you think CW&C should only agree a licence for outdoor events where returnable cups are used for hot and cold drinks?

To support these score cards Climate Emergency UK have also created a 15 ways to improve your councils climate action.  Assessing this against what CWaC is doing it looks like they are doing well or making progress in over half of these 15 areas so there are 7 main areas of focus for the council:

1. Extend Carbon Literacy training to all senior staff and councillors.
2. Transition the council’s vehicle fleet to electric.
3. Sets a requirement that all new build homes must be operationally (regulated) net zero.
4. Require developers to carry out a whole life cycle carbon assessment of new build developments.
5. Reduce single use plastic at external events on council land, property or public spaces such as roads and parks.
6. Ensure schools have one complete vegetarian meal each week.
7. Stop the use of pesticides on all council owned and managed land.

You can read more about the scorecards and how to encourage your local council to act here Council Climate Action Scorecards | Climate Emergency UK.

Helen Tandy, Founder and Director, Eco Communities

In the same month that COP28 starts, Chester is hosting the Green Expo Awards for the North West. Having supported the Green Exposition in June, we are pleased to attend the Green Expo Awards on the 9^th November, as last year’s Community Engagement Award Winner.

We won Green Expo Cheshire West & Chester Council Community Engagement Award (that’s a mouth full) for our provision of accurate information regarding the environment and sustainable practice; through our website, magazine and online events.

I attended the 2022 event to accept the award, as founder and director of Eco Communities, it was fantastic to be recognized for the hard work we have put in. As I said at the time “Cheshire is an excellent place to live and do business in and it’s a privilege to provide environment insight and initiatives to the businesses and people of our county to make us all a bit greener. I’m very thankful for everyone who’s worked with our campaigns, whether it be someone who’s come along to one our monthly litter picks or a business which has committed to our plastic free Cheshire campaign. Events like Green Expo are a great source of inspiration and it’s been wonderful to hear the progress being made by other organisations.”

_{^{Photo: The Green Expo 2022 Award winners and presenters LtoR; Phillip Cox Chief Executive of Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, Jonathan Bretherton managing director of the Urban Growth Company, Jane Gaston development director at Protos for Peel NRE, Helen Tandy who won the award for community engagement, Cllr Quentin Abel Environment and Climate Change Champion at Cheshire East and Barry Johnston founder of Jamebi.}}

Green Expo is the North West and North Wales’ regional event to celebrate and show progress on fighting climate change and achieving carbon reduction towards Net Zero, sustainability and all things Green.

The Green Expo Awards Dinner will be held on Thursday, November 9^th and organisers are seeking entries from innovators and organisations across the region.

There are nine award categories including a new award for ‘Learning initiative of the Year’

Last year’s award for ‘Startup of the Year’ was won by Chester based Jamebi.

Jamebi’s Sun Life Water technology brings clean water to people in hotter climates via a device called a solar water pasteuriser.  It uses the sun’s heat to kill microbes that can make people ill. According to the UN, approximately 3.5 million people die each year due to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene. Clean water and sanitation are one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and so this innovation could be used to save many many lives and a deserving winner we say at Eco Communities.

Jane Harrad-Roberts, Project Director for Green Expo said; “Great things are going on in the region and we need to shout about them to an international audience and learn quickly from the skills we are developing here. There is still time to enter the awards and a few opportunities left to sponsor or take a table.”

See the full list of award categories here – Awards Categories – GreenExpo

The evening will commence with a sparkling reception, a prestigious welcome address and sit-down three-course dinner for 150 guests from the world of business, industry and academia. It provides an ideal opportunity to network with like-minded business figures, inward investors, leaders and VIPs all focused on the green agenda.

Book to attend – Buy tickets – Green Expo Awards Event – 2023 – Eaton Park, Thu 9 Nov 2023 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM (tickettailor.com)

A few sponsorship and table opportunities remain.

We hope those of your working in the sector will encourage your business or organisation to enter an award, although the deadline is looming as 30th October is now only days away. I promise it is not too late, I think ours just got in for the deadline last year. Good luck!

Recycle Week is annual event held in October, it aims to raise awareness and promote the importance of recycling in our daily lives. As we continue to face environmental challenges, it is crucial for individuals and communities to take action and do our part in reducing waste and conserving resources. But recycling isn’t just something to do for one week in October. We all put our recycling outside our door each fornight, but what about those items the council don’t take.

Recycling electricals and blister packs plays a crucial role in reducing landfill waste or incineration, and conserves valuable resources. These items can be recycled to create new products, reducing the need for raw materials and minimizing the environmental impact of manufacturing. Additionally, recycling these items helps prevent hazardous materials from entering the environment and reduces energy consumption.

Blister Packs Recycling Scheme

These can’t be recycled in your home recycling and are an item we get asked about most. The once successful scheme at Superdrug changed from TerraCycle and now local stores don’t seem happy accepting items.

Aldi in the UK have come to the rescue, taking up the mantel working with TerraCycle. The Aldi Blister Pack Recycling Programme launched as a trail on the 9^th October and runs nationwide. It is expected to help Aldi assess customer demand for the recycling solution. Unfortunately it isn’t as straightforward as the old Superdrug scheme, where you could drop them in store.

How do I take part?

1. If you don’t have one you will need to create a TerraCycle account and join the Aldi Blister Pack Envelope Recycling Programme. You need to join as an Individual on this programme. – LINK
2. You can then request a freepost label.
3. You can use this label to return empty blister packs via any Royal Mail Post Office or post box in an envelope with the freepost shipping label
4. You can send a maximum of 30 medicine blister packs per pack. You can register for up to 2 freepost labels and so can send up to 60 empty medicine blister packs to TerraCycle per month.
5. Once collected, the blister packs are cleaned and separated by material type. TerraCycle contracts third-party facilities to recycle the material.

If we want Aldi to develop the scheme into stores, we need to show them we have the demand and so start by getting involved and sharing the information with your friends and family. We will look at whether we can arrange any merged household collections if people are interested please let us know.

Recycling your Electricals

Discarded electricals are one of the fastest-growing sources of waste in the world and the UK. We discard 155,000 tonnes of electricals every year, instead of repairing or recycling them. That creates e-waste which poses a major threat to the environment and to human health.

It’s important to understand the guidelines for recycling electrical items to ensure that they can be disposed of correctly.

1. Remove any batteries from electrical devices before recycling them. Batteries should be recycled separately due to their potential environmental impact.
2. Don’t attempt to dismantle electrical items yourself, especially if you’re not familiar with the process. This can be dangerous and it’s best to leave it to professionals who know how to handle these items safely.
3. Lastly, don’t dispose of electrical items in regular waste bins or landfill. This can have detrimental effects on the environment and pose potential risks.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your electrical items are being properly recycled and reducing their impact on the environment.

Is ‘FastTech’ the new Fast Fashion?

‘FastTech’ describes cheap, everyday electricals that often have a short lifespan – meaning they may be seen as disposable even when they’re not. Almost half a billion FastTech items were thrown away last year, and a shocking 90% of them were discarded soon after being bought. From fairy lights and fans, to handheld vacuums and single-use vapes – inside every one of those products are valuable materials that could have been recovered and reused. Like anything else with a plug, battery or cable, FastTech can be recycled. More and more people are discovering how easy it is to donate or recycle theirs. Use the link above to find your nearest drop-off point.

Why do we need a new phone each year

Each year, a staggering 5.3 billion mobile phones are discarded globally, with the UK set to become the largest producer per capita of electrical waste by 2024. And yet, despite the vast amount of tech at our disposal, the UK has a deep digital divide: while ‘the average’ person has two unused phones at home, one in twenty UK households lack internet access. Mobile phones contain a lot of valuable materials (including bronze, silver and gold) that can be used again and again. Recycling means that new materials don’t need to be dug up; saving energy, carbon emissions and reduces the destruction caused by mining.

Our friends at Hubbub have worked with Virgin Media O2 on a new report.

What ever you might think, Gen Z is the most likely generation to take positive actions on electrical waste. In the last two years Gen Z were also most likely to get their phones fixed at a repair shop or café (46%), receive a second-hand phone from a family member or friend (44%) and have bought a refurbished phone (45%). However, our research also shows that 45% of young people have never recycled a phone, and 38% have disposed of theirs in general waste.  Read the Report

You can send certain phones on via the Hubbub scheme which will wipe your phone /tablet and sent it onto people without digital access. See more info – LINK

Summary

• There is a new retail option to recycle our blister packs. We need to use it or lose it, so use if you can and share with family and friends.
• E-waste is a growing problem. We first need to repair then when we can’t use the website provided to find out where you can take your end of life recycling.
• Most of us have an old mobile phone in the draw, these precious metals can be reused again and again, you can often save some money by trading it in or donate to those who need it.
  
  
  
  
  

I set up Lizzie’s Real Nappies way back in 2003 after becoming conscious of how many disposable nappies I was throwing away. Babies tend to go through around 5000-6000 disposable nappies before they’re potty trained, while a set of around 20 washable nappies will do the same job. Things have moved on a long way since the old terry squares; modern nappies are now shaped like disposables with gentle elasticaion at the waist and legs, while the soft, built-in waterproofing makes them as easy to use as disposables. They come in some pretty cool designs too!

www.lizziesrealnappies.co.uk

This years FREE TO ENTER Sustainable Cheshire Festival on Saturday 23rd September at Grosvenor Park. We have a whole range of stalls and workshops running until around 4pm. Then we move to our evening entertainment. See below.

We’ve broken up with single-use plastic and we want you to do so too.

Help us cut down on waste and plastic pollution by joining our revolution. 

TIPS

• Bring your own reusables or pay a deposit to use ours.
• Join Cup Club before Saturday and have use of the reusable returnable cup in over 15 locations in Chester after the event – LINK
• If you are bringing food, please make sure it’s single use plastic free.
• Book onto our Silent Disco session (see below 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm)
• Book onto People Planet Pint at 6pm (see below)

You can get your Coffee from Fika, single use plastic free. Then sit down and have a read of our new issue Tellus Magazine. Then thanks to CWAC Waste Team for linking us in with Biffa, who have provided funding for our Reusable Pint Glasses. You can pay a deposit and order a pint in one of our new reusables from the That Bear Place Team who are with us until 8pm.

Everyone involved in organising the event also works full time, we have minimal funds and no huge marketing budget and so we need you to spread the word for us. Not booked yet, use the Eventbrite below.

We have loads going on:

Workshops/ Have a Go

• Scrapadoo, bring an item that needs repair. Learn some simple decorative hand sewing techniques.
• Molly Brown’s Emporium, Indigo, Have a Go stall. You can drop by and try out dyeing with indigo.
• RAW I Studios, art focused on sustainable buildings and reusable materials.
• Sticky Exibits, Climate Change Escape Room.
• Wild Three Forest School, a great time for the little ones. Mud kitchen play, make a snow globe using autumn leaves.
• We have Fika and That Beer Place to keep you fed and watered during the day. What’s not to like..!

• Chester Zoo as always will have some great activities.
• Bring your windfall apples as Transition Chester will have their apple press ready to make some delicious apple juice.

We tested out the Silent Disco equipment ready for the Festival with our first Silent Disco Litter Pick in Grosvenor Park last week. Everyone had a great time, litter picking and having a boogie. The headsets will be back at the Festival on the 23rd,

Silent Disco, Silent Disco Litter Pick is at 1, 3, 5 and 7pm

People Planet Pint at 6pm.

Who’s joining us

Stalls

Cheshire Market Gardens, Hand crafted by Samantha Locke, Lunatree, Muala, Suki and Suli, The End of the Avenue, Cheryl G Cupcakes, Chester Fair Trading Limited, Genfit, Vivocare, Heart N Soul Knots, The Jolly Upcycler, Lief, Lizzies Real Nappies.

Stalls and activities

Cheshire Wild Life Trust, National Park City, CW&C – Climate Emergency Team, CW&C – Waste Team, CW&C Libraries and its Electric Bus, The RSPB, Chester Zoo, Chester Cycling Campaign, Sustainable Cheshire, Eco Communities, Friends of the Earth, Record, The Welsh Dee Trust, Plastic Free School Stall, Co-operative Retail, Heart & Soul Community Singers, Chester Hydro, Cheshire West Voluntary Action – Sustainable Food Cities

We need your help

Whether you already have a stall or not, could you spare some time on Saturday. We need people to arrive at 8am to set up the site and into the evening sessions and pack up.  
We need people to help with the: Silent Disco equipment hand out and collection.
Walking vehicles on and off site.
Collecting surveys from attendees.
Helping with our own plastic free, carbon footprint and Cheshire cup stalls
Handing out our new Tellus Magazine  

We are also going to build our Steering Group which will oversea our projects like Plastic Free Cheshire.    email helentandy@sustainablecheshire.uk to enquire about either.   Thanks Helen

Helen Tandy, Founding Director

According to the UN by 2050, the world’s population may reach a whopping 10 billion and with more people comes more demand for – food, fashion, travel, housing and related aspirations.

But how can the planet manage with that demand and not cause even resource deficiency, damage biodiversity even more.

As the new consumer uses social media to inform them of buying decisions, the need to consume more electronics, fashion and just general stuff reaches unmanageable levels. Shopping no longer takes any energy, no need to leave the sofa and is available 24/7 delivered to your doorstep. People feel they can’t be seen wearing the same item twice online and so the demand for fashion passes well beyond seasons.

Sustainable living means understanding how our lifestyle choices impact the world around us and finding ways for everyone to live better and lighter.

These are some of the themes covered at our next event on the 23^rd our Sustainable Cheshire Festival.

The UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) has come up with a great way of thinking and explaining this to people using your hands. They have called this the Anatomy of Action.

Such a simple and easy way to make and think about change.

Food

In our first Sustainable Survey by far the greatest scorer are those of us that are consciously eating less meat and fish and relying on more plants in out diet at 48%. Then 27% of us are vegan/vegetarian. Sadly the credit crisis/ inflation which has impacted on many local businesses and increased cost of food has resulted in many of us buying less organic and moving back to supermarkets are local indepenants close. If you haven’t yet completed our survey please please do – LINK

I am going to be looking at the Anatomy of Action:

• Food
• Stuff
• Move
• Money
• Stuff

over the next few weeks follow me on social media – Instagram @plasticfreenotherner and these will be shared onto Sustainable Cheshire on Facebook. Check them out, like and share…

Then of course come along to the Sustainable Cheshire Festival on the 23rd September, Grosvenor Park, Chester.

Eco Communities are the local representative for Surfers Against Sewage who certify schools as Plastic Free. We have provided talks and workshops in schools around the region including Northwich, Chester and Tattenhall. And also supported the first Plastic Free School in the region Grosvenor Park Academy, Chester. 

We are able to provide some great updates on more schools in the region.

We met Emily from St Bernards at a People Planet Pint and from that we visited the school. It has since be interviewed by Granada Reports News. See Emily along with pupils from the school talking about single use plastic. We hope they get the Plastic Free Schools award soon.  See the School’s video on what they have been doing so far – LINK and the Granada Reports video here.

Neston High School though have achived its awards recently. Here they are with the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free School Award. Well done Neston High. 

In the words of Greta Thunburgh, an environmental activist who started campaigning age 15.

‘you are never too small to make a difference’

 

So, What Is Plastic Free Schools?

Plastic Free Schools is a system shaking, change making, pupil-led education programme 

This ground-breaking programme equips and empowers young activists with the tools to create positive, lasting environmental change! 

Plastic Free Schools is a positive, investigative, action-packed programme for stopping plastic pollution at source. Empowering pupils to not only tackle unnecessary single-use plastics in their school, but inspires Industry and Government to make positive strategic steps in the same direction!

 

 Plastic Pollution Facts – Knowledge Is Power!

From plastic pollution to habitat degradation and overfishing to climate change, the health of our oceans is extraordinarily fragile.

There’s a time and a place for stats and this is it! 

“People protect what they love. But they only love what they know” – Jacques Cousteau

PLASTIC POLLUTION IS EVERYWHERE

• Plastic pollution can now be found on every beach in the world, from busy tourist beaches to uninhabited, tropical islands nowhere is safe.

• Scientists have recently discovered microplastics embedded deep in the Arctic ice.

• Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.

• There may now be around 5.25 trillion macro and microplastic pieces floating in the open ocean. Weighing up to 269,000 tonnes.

• Plastics consistently make up 60 to 90% of all marine debris studied.

• Approximately 5,000 items of marine plastic pollution have been found per mile of beach in the UK.

• Over 150 plastic bottles litter each mile of UK beaches.

• In the UK we use approximately 35 million single use bottles each day – 12 Billion per year

Unfortunately, marine wildlife are hugely affected by the plastic pollution entering our oceans:

• Recent studies have revealed marine plastic pollution in 100% of marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species examined. 

• Marine litter kills over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds each year through ingestion and entanglement. 

• 640,000 tonnes of lost or discarded fishing gear (known as ghost gear) enter the world’s oceans each year. Ghost gear kills at least 136,000 seals, sea lions and large whales every year worldwide!

 

The vast majority of this plastic pollution consists of single-use, throwaway items. A lot of the problem is created by billions of careless actions of people littering single use plastics. We need you to help us stem the flow, together we can make a HUGE positive impact to our communities and the places we love.

When it comes to protecting our oceans, knowledge is power, the more we know and the more people who know it, the better equipped we are. As of January 2021, there are 2,477 schools, and counting, signed up to be plastic free – that’s almost 1 millions pupils across the UK!!

To achieve Plastic Free Schools status, schools will have to work towards five objectives.

• OBJECTIVE 1: UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM – It is time to resist this plastic flood. If you don’t act who on earth will? 

STEP 1: Form a Plastic Free Action Group

STEP 2: Gather evidence that avoidable single-use plastics are a problem in your school

STEP 3: Conduct an investigation on your school campus

• OBJECTIVE 2: CAMPAIGN LAUNCH  – Officially launch your Plastic Free Schools campaign by presenting a school assembly and publishing a news article on your school website or in your school newsletter!

• OBJECTIVE 3: STEMMING THE FLOW  – Time to get stuck in! Identify at least three single-use plastic items found in your school investigation and come up with necessary steps in how to remove them from your school, forever!

• OBJECTIVE 4: CHALLENGING GOVERNMENT– Never underestimate the power of your voice. Using everything you have learnt so far, write a letter to your local MP.  Your local MP has been chosen to represent YOU and the community you live in. Let’s put them to work and ask for their support!

• OBJECTIVE 5: CHALLENGING INDUSTRY – Industry spends a lot of time and money making themselves and their products look good. More often than not it is the branded products that we find littering our playgrounds, streets, woodlands, and beaches. It’s time they stepped up and took their share of the responsibility.

Eco Communities would love to support any school in the Cheshire area looking to achieve plastic free status, so please get in touch office@sustainablecheshire.uk