The Plastic Free Week organised by Jenny Lanham was a great success with from 67 people from transition Shipston and all around the world participating including Roz Savage (solo ocean rower and environmental campaigner) and her team signed up for the challenge as well. Jenny says:
Overall everyone found the challenge difficult, but fun and thought provoking. It opened our eyes to just how much of what were consume is wrapped in plastic - and were inspired by each others creative solutions to getting around it! I used the butcher and, (funny look aside) enjoyed the experience of getting my meat wrapped in paper and then put in my own container for transport home. Plastic wrapped ready made meals and convenience foods were OUT, meals using fresh produce were IN. Every morning was started with porridge instead of cold cereal. I don't think I was alone in eating healthier meals. Oddly enough it seems that the more packaging, the more preservatives, e numbers, etc.
The challenge made us reflect on our purchasing habits. We rarely consider that the plastic products we use to transport our food is used for a matter of minutes, but will be in the environment for hundreds of years. Most of this wrap is not currently recyclable, but even that which is uses considerable resources to re-invent for other uses. I was shocked to read this week that disposable nappies take 400-500 years to breakdown (releasing noxious methane gas in the process) and that there are an estimated 9 million nappies disposed of EACH DAY in the UK alone. In our desire for speed and convenience we are creating a HUGE problem for our children and grandchildren. Why not make a lifestyle change to eliminate plastic in the first place?
Sadly, not one person reported back having been successful at not buying any plastic. Personally I got caught when buying a set of cake and biscuit tins - the one inside was wrapped in plastic, and also a Sunday paper which had mags inside wrapped in plastic. However, I certainly have learned a lot - I'm sticking with my new milk man and shopping smart to reduce my plastic consumption.
Comments from others:
So I have been thinking about plastic consumption for the past few days and realized that most of what we consume is encased in plastic. I have to provide refreshments for a large event tomorrow and just bought a number of things in plastic. Agh. So basically I am incapable of buying plastic free. I honestly had never realized before just how much everything around here is packaged in that shiny stuff. Thanks for making me more aware. I will definitely look at my shopping a little differently now. I will continue to try to purchase plastic free this week.
Keri Utah, USA
We dont have plastic water bottles in the house anymore and only use metal refillable ones. We recycle our plastic bags, usually they are biodegradable ones. Always use the reusable bags for other stuff and cardboard for wine and beer etc. But so difficult to buy certain things such as cleaning stuff and cordial unless it is in plastic although I get the eco friendly stuff when I can. Kids lunches are in brown paper bags or foil. If there were more options in the shops we would buy without plastic. Also tends to be difficult when you are trying to spend less as the cheaper items are packaged appart from vegies. Teenage kids don't help as shiny plastic seems to cover everything they want. Also it was back to school last week so had to buy all their school stuff which is of course half in plastic and the other half cardboard. Also shampoo etc non of it comes eco friendly. Hope this helps. Sorry I couldn't do any better. When you think about it it stinks really. In WA all things should be solar with so much sun but alas its not.
Sarah
Australia
Major fail here. The first week of the month is when I do my big supermarket shop for the whole of the month, could have put it off I guess till the next week (though I will fess-up that I was distracted by a sick kid and forgot about plastic-free). It's made me focus my mind on plastic consumption but, even as a Mom who doesn't work outside the home, I would struggle to get my shopping needs without plastic in terms of time, availability and money, I reckon
.Deb
Chipping Norton
It was fun - and educational! I decided I really wanted cheese, and bought some even though it was plastic-wrapped. And chips - but I bought the bag with the least amount of plastic. I do want to replenish my frozen veggie supply now though.
Julie
Buses to Oxford.
I travel to Oxford most weeks, which would be about 50X 60 miles a year = 3000 car miles- so I try to go by bus, specially since getting my bus pass. I chill out happily on the front seat of the top deck. There used to be a direct Stratford-Shipston-Oxford bus, but now you have to catch the 50 bus and change in Chippy onto the S3- except on Sundays, when the bus goes straight through. Theoretically there are connections in Chippy 4 times each weekday, and I often catch the 9.32 from Shipston, change and arrive in Oxford at 11. Coming back you can connect on the !3.55 or 17. 15 from Oxford.
Oxford-Stratford seems an ideal route to attract tourists, who could effectively subsidise the service for us locals. But at present these changes in Chipping Norton are very confusing. Sometimes you cross the road, sometimes you stay the same side. The service is not well publicised, there is no information on the bus either on screens or from the driver to let you know where you are. I have met very baffled Japanese tourists bravely trying to get from Oxford to Woodstock to visit Blenheim, which the bus service does try to promote.. If you look on line for information on buses from Oxford to Stratford, or ask in the Oxford Tourist Information office, the existence of the route through Shipston is a well-kept secret. I’ve been trying to encourage Stagecoach to see the potential from an improved, well-publicised, well-marketed regular service and shall continue to battle for that.
If you want to travel on to London by bus, you can catch the Oxford Tube or the X90 from Gloucester Green, both costing £16 for a day return or £8 over 60. But whatever your age, you can reduce the cost further by going to www.megabus.com , booking a nominated Oxford Tube bus in advance and paying only £1 each way.
Happy bus journeys!
Helen Winnifrith
Oxford-Stratford seems an ideal route to attract tourists, who could effectively subsidise the service for us locals. But at present these changes in Chipping Norton are very confusing. Sometimes you cross the road, sometimes you stay the same side. The service is not well publicised, there is no information on the bus either on screens or from the driver to let you know where you are. I have met very baffled Japanese tourists bravely trying to get from Oxford to Woodstock to visit Blenheim, which the bus service does try to promote.. If you look on line for information on buses from Oxford to Stratford, or ask in the Oxford Tourist Information office, the existence of the route through Shipston is a well-kept secret. I’ve been trying to encourage Stagecoach to see the potential from an improved, well-publicised, well-marketed regular service and shall continue to battle for that.
If you want to travel on to London by bus, you can catch the Oxford Tube or the X90 from Gloucester Green, both costing £16 for a day return or £8 over 60. But whatever your age, you can reduce the cost further by going to www.megabus.com , booking a nominated Oxford Tube bus in advance and paying only £1 each way.
Happy bus journeys!
Helen Winnifrith
Victorian Evening
Thanks to everyone who helped make the stall at the Victorian Evening such a success. £300 was collected
for Transition Shipston funds! The stall at the Victorian evening Future stalls are planned at the Wool Fair and the Harvest Fair which Transition Shipston has been granted £500 by the Town Council to run in September. Anyone interested in helping contact: Pam Bennett or Geri Hunting.
Plastic Free 2011 Challenge - Jan 31st to 6th Feb
Plastic products are deeply intertwined with our everyday life. Plastic wrapped cheese, bottled milk, even the insides of soda cans is sprayed with a plastic lining to prevent the metal from corroding. Many of these plastics are not recyclable and go directly into landfill or are incinerated. From Jan 31st - 6th Feb Transition
Shipston would like to challenge it's supporters to explore the difficulty of avoiding plastic for an entire week.
The exercise is simple. From Jan 31st- 6th Feb do not buy anything with plastic on it or in it. The point is to make us stop and think about our purchases. A couple tips, :
Bring in your own bags to shops
Buy milk from the local milkman
Bring in washable containers to the butcher.
These websites have more useful tips suggestions, and interesting articles:
Life Less Plastic http://lifelessplastic.blogspot.com/
My Plastic-free Lifehttp://myplasticfreelife.com/plasticfreeguide/
Month Without Plastic http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/monthwithoutplastic/
Is it Possible to Go Plasticfree?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/23/plastic.free.climate.change
Let us know for the next newsletter how our challenge goes - email David. We'd love to know if anyone is successful and how local shops respond to our plastic free requests. Maybe the challenge will change the way you shop for 2011. Best of Luck!
Jenny Lanham
photojourno2003@yahoo.co.uk
Shipston would like to challenge it's supporters to explore the difficulty of avoiding plastic for an entire week.
The exercise is simple. From Jan 31st- 6th Feb do not buy anything with plastic on it or in it. The point is to make us stop and think about our purchases. A couple tips, :
Bring in your own bags to shops
Buy milk from the local milkman
Bring in washable containers to the butcher.
These websites have more useful tips suggestions, and interesting articles:
Life Less Plastic http://lifelessplastic.blogspot.com/
My Plastic-free Lifehttp://myplasticfreelife.com/plasticfreeguide/
Month Without Plastic http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/monthwithoutplastic/
Is it Possible to Go Plasticfree?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/23/plastic.free.climate.change
Let us know for the next newsletter how our challenge goes - email David. We'd love to know if anyone is successful and how local shops respond to our plastic free requests. Maybe the challenge will change the way you shop for 2011. Best of Luck!
Jenny Lanham
photojourno2003@yahoo.co.uk
Heritage for the Future
Transition Shipston supporters have been working with Transition Stratford on a district wide initia-tive for ―Sustainable Energy for Historic Buildings‖.
The aim of the initiative is to re-duce the energy use and carbon emissions of older buildings. The scope of the initiative will be older buildings - those which were con-structed before the Second World War – recognising the special challenges faced for buildings of historic character which are listed or within conservation areas. The initiative will seek to preserve older buildings so that they can continue to be used in a low car-bon, low energy future affected by climate change and avoid the waste of the energy already used in their construction. Plus learn from older building techniques how to maintain them in a sustain-able way.
The group aims to produce a checklist to help people get started with case studies showing how buildings have been sustain-ably refurbished with links to the wide range of technical informa-tion already available and a direc-tory of local businesses.
The initiative will be promoted through a variety of means includ-ing:
recruiting a range of local busi-nesses to support the initiative: for example, estate agents, ar-chitects, organising bespoke training for different groups of professionals
Arranging for simple advice and checklists to be made available to property owners: for example, through planning officers, estate agents etc
Promoting the initiative through local and other media.
It will be important to consult rele-vant businesses and other organi-sations about proposals in order to secure their support for the ini-tiative.
Contact Pam Bennett pam@pambennett.com
The aim of the initiative is to re-duce the energy use and carbon emissions of older buildings. The scope of the initiative will be older buildings - those which were con-structed before the Second World War – recognising the special challenges faced for buildings of historic character which are listed or within conservation areas. The initiative will seek to preserve older buildings so that they can continue to be used in a low car-bon, low energy future affected by climate change and avoid the waste of the energy already used in their construction. Plus learn from older building techniques how to maintain them in a sustain-able way.
The group aims to produce a checklist to help people get started with case studies showing how buildings have been sustain-ably refurbished with links to the wide range of technical informa-tion already available and a direc-tory of local businesses.
The initiative will be promoted through a variety of means includ-ing:
recruiting a range of local busi-nesses to support the initiative: for example, estate agents, ar-chitects, organising bespoke training for different groups of professionals
Arranging for simple advice and checklists to be made available to property owners: for example, through planning officers, estate agents etc
Promoting the initiative through local and other media.
It will be important to consult rele-vant businesses and other organi-sations about proposals in order to secure their support for the ini-tiative.
Contact Pam Bennett pam@pambennett.com
The Big Society
On Friday 5th November, Voluntary Action Stratford on Avon (VASA) hosted an event at the Shakespeare Hotel attended by well over a hundred people and at which various speakers gave their reaction to, and assessment of, David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’. Of particular note were inspiring talks by Chris Grimes on the setting up of the community run Blockley Village Shop and by Priscilla Groenveld on The Parenting Project that provides an all encompassing, largely voluntary, service for parents and children.
The guest speaker was Nadhim Zahawi MP who expounded on the Government’s ambitions and plans to bring about a fundamental shift from control by Whitehall at every level in order to create more vibrant and sustainable communities. The key was to be local action and accountability – giving people more control over their lives.
It is now very apparent that society’s ills cannot be cured by the application of yet more public money through the State; neither should people be treated by big business as economic assets in a game of seeking profit and avoiding loss. Britain was once known for the vibrancy of its charitable institutions which gave us the highest standard of living in the world, the highest levels of literacy in the world and the lowest levels of poverty. What charities can do to support and mobilise people is at the heart of the Prime Minister’s vision. It is likely in future that very local institutions, many of them run by volunteers, will be at the centre of our lives and have the potential to make a real difference in every community. The challenge today is to help them flourish and succeed. Could Transition Towns with their green credentials and ethos of caring and sharing and local resilience be a foundation upon which to build the Big Society?
Douglas Nethercleft
The guest speaker was Nadhim Zahawi MP who expounded on the Government’s ambitions and plans to bring about a fundamental shift from control by Whitehall at every level in order to create more vibrant and sustainable communities. The key was to be local action and accountability – giving people more control over their lives.
It is now very apparent that society’s ills cannot be cured by the application of yet more public money through the State; neither should people be treated by big business as economic assets in a game of seeking profit and avoiding loss. Britain was once known for the vibrancy of its charitable institutions which gave us the highest standard of living in the world, the highest levels of literacy in the world and the lowest levels of poverty. What charities can do to support and mobilise people is at the heart of the Prime Minister’s vision. It is likely in future that very local institutions, many of them run by volunteers, will be at the centre of our lives and have the potential to make a real difference in every community. The challenge today is to help them flourish and succeed. Could Transition Towns with their green credentials and ethos of caring and sharing and local resilience be a foundation upon which to build the Big Society?
Douglas Nethercleft
Special Shipston
With another developer about to make proposals to develop land at the Campden Rd including a supermarket that threatens the existence of our unique shops Helen and Tom Winnifrith remind us what makes it so special:
“Do we give Shipston enough credit as a fantastic place for shopping of all sorts? Here are some of the things we buy in Shipston, always with friendly, helpful service and often with happy encounters with friends :
Practically all our food and drink, including fish, meat, fresh local veg, groceries, a dressed salmon for special events, pheasants, free range turkey and chicken, champagne, grand sherry and wine, cheap plonk, Fairtrade tea and coffee, good cheese, special bread (or flour and yeast to make our own), organic groceries, coriander, root ginger, Seville oranges, too much chocolate. Perhaps too many pints of beer, mainly Horseshoe, White Bear, Black Horse). Clothes, often thanks to all four charity shops, also new large men‟s clothes and larger shoes, shoes for toddlers expertly fitted. Three separate sets of grandchildren regularly have their shoes bought in Shipston because their harassed mums find it such a pleasant experience compared with elsewhere- and not more expensive. Meals out and Indian and Chinese takeaways. Petrol, oil, a new bulb for the car‟s headlight (bought in the car parts shop, which we failed to fit but were rescued by the garage which services the car) Printer cartridges. Masses of haberdashery, cut to measure, for knitting and sewing projects- and wool from both wool shops. A clock radio (same price as online with much friendlier service). A vacuum cleaner which works, (unlike the disastrous Argos purchase). New bags for the vacuum cleaner. A walking stick. A WC, with far more help about the complicated choices than we would have got in a huge retail warehouse. A replacement contact lens. Stamps and stationery. A lovely soft doll from the toy shop. 2 rocking horses- both from the dump. Euros, dollars, dinars, kruna, shekels (bank). A hat. Babyclothes and toys. A beautiful old watering- can from the antique shop. A fireguard for a daughter (charity shop). Flowers. Seeds. A suitcase (charity shop again). Dowelling, paint, picture hooks and nails- with lots of help about what was needed. Haircuts. A new watch strap, fitted free. Photos developed, a gold chain mended, photocopying. Free Internet access (library) when our computer was unwell. Books (charity shops). A daily paper delivered. Prescriptions, pills and potions. Christmas and birthday cards (often recycled ones from St Edmund‟s)”
Tom and Helen Winnifrith
“Do we give Shipston enough credit as a fantastic place for shopping of all sorts? Here are some of the things we buy in Shipston, always with friendly, helpful service and often with happy encounters with friends :
Practically all our food and drink, including fish, meat, fresh local veg, groceries, a dressed salmon for special events, pheasants, free range turkey and chicken, champagne, grand sherry and wine, cheap plonk, Fairtrade tea and coffee, good cheese, special bread (or flour and yeast to make our own), organic groceries, coriander, root ginger, Seville oranges, too much chocolate. Perhaps too many pints of beer, mainly Horseshoe, White Bear, Black Horse). Clothes, often thanks to all four charity shops, also new large men‟s clothes and larger shoes, shoes for toddlers expertly fitted. Three separate sets of grandchildren regularly have their shoes bought in Shipston because their harassed mums find it such a pleasant experience compared with elsewhere- and not more expensive. Meals out and Indian and Chinese takeaways. Petrol, oil, a new bulb for the car‟s headlight (bought in the car parts shop, which we failed to fit but were rescued by the garage which services the car) Printer cartridges. Masses of haberdashery, cut to measure, for knitting and sewing projects- and wool from both wool shops. A clock radio (same price as online with much friendlier service). A vacuum cleaner which works, (unlike the disastrous Argos purchase). New bags for the vacuum cleaner. A walking stick. A WC, with far more help about the complicated choices than we would have got in a huge retail warehouse. A replacement contact lens. Stamps and stationery. A lovely soft doll from the toy shop. 2 rocking horses- both from the dump. Euros, dollars, dinars, kruna, shekels (bank). A hat. Babyclothes and toys. A beautiful old watering- can from the antique shop. A fireguard for a daughter (charity shop). Flowers. Seeds. A suitcase (charity shop again). Dowelling, paint, picture hooks and nails- with lots of help about what was needed. Haircuts. A new watch strap, fitted free. Photos developed, a gold chain mended, photocopying. Free Internet access (library) when our computer was unwell. Books (charity shops). A daily paper delivered. Prescriptions, pills and potions. Christmas and birthday cards (often recycled ones from St Edmund‟s)”
Tom and Helen Winnifrith
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