Sustainable Woodstock
Welcome to Sustainable
Woodstock's
Home and News Page
To learn more about Sustainable Woodstock go
to "About Us" page
To read Hilary's monthly news digest read on:-
or for more and older
information go to the
Sustainable Woodstock Noticeboard
STOP PRESS: AT ITS MEETING ON 4TH OCTOBER SUSTAINABLE WOODSTOCK EXPRESSED ITS SUPPORT IN PRINCIPLE TO THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF EXTINCTION REBELLION. For further details of activities, demonstrations and protests by Extinction Rebellion go to https://rebellion.earth/
Woodstock town council acknowledges the climate emergency, falling in line with most of the principle authorities within Oxfordshire and beyond.
"If world leaders choose to fail us, my generation will never forgive
them" - Greta Thornberg
Read Greta's electrifying speech to the UN in New York in full here
"Fossil fuels subsidised by $10m a minute",
says IMF.
UK has biggest fossil fuel
subsidies in the EU, finds commission.
Read more here on our Climate Change page
How much waste do we generate worldwide every year?
- a million tonnes?
- a billion tonnes?
- 10 billion tonnes?
and how much do we recycle? 5%?, 10%?, 25%? FIND THE ANSWERS HERE.
Woodstock's Local Plan. Can we make Woodstock's future development sustainable? Read Sustainable Woodstock's submission to Community First Oxfordshire here.
Woodstock Safe Routes Project: Sustainable travel by bike and on foot: Go to the Sustainable Travel and Transport page
Interested in Sustainable Travel by
bike?
Please take
part in Oxfordshire County Council's Cycling survey that aims to inform
future sustainable infrastructure development in the County.
Closing date is 6th September 2019. So not much time. DO IT
NOW! Go to
https://news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/help-us-create-a-cycling-network-oxfordshire--can-be-proud-of/
Then go to our
Sustainable Transport pages ....
Tom Sinclair, Associate Professor in
philosophy
at Oxford University, presents
devastating forecast for the planet without urgent action on climate
change. Well worth listening to, but not for the faint hearted.
Watch on YouTube at https://www.tinyurl.com/xrscience .
If schools fail to address the global emergency, students will see education as increasingly irrelevant, says Fiona Carnie of TES, an education business supporting teachers, school staff and schools. https://www.tes.com/news/8-things-schools-can-do-tackle-climate-crisis
October 2019
We celebrate our local primary school during National Recycling Week. We say thanks to Owen Mumford (OM) for their efforts in keeping parts of Woodstock litter-free and who also report on some of the issues when litter picking. We celebrate our wonderful Woodstock gate-makers and we mention again why wildflowers, and not so perfect lawns, are important. We'd like you to join a WhatsApp Group to help out on the odd occasion in our developing Community Woodland and Orchard. By the way, if you'd like to sponsor a tree in the Community Orchard they are going fast .... 74% are now sponsored so if you are interested please get in touch.
With the Climate Emergency in mind Sustainable Woodstock will be attending the public participation session to ask or acknowledge Woodstock Town Council declaring a climate emergency and we will be urging them to lead by presenting a XR talk to the town. Sustainable Woodstock would be happy to help them organise this event.
Think about what small or big part you think you can play to make a positive change for the futures of our children/grandchildren/nieces and nephews.
If you have ideas to share .... then let's do just that.... please get in touch. Hilary Brown Chair
Sitting in Woodstock we are hardly at the sharp end of climate change right now but millions, around the globe, are. On 20th September, from Cornwall to Scotland, including Oxford, schoolchildren and students engaged with climate strike events and they were supported by parents, grandparents, campaigners and workers. And why..... to demand urgent action on tackling greenhouse gases that are driving up global temperatures. You may already know why it's a good idea to support these strikes and are wondering why Greta Thunberg, when she's simply asking governments to "listen to the scientists", has generated some disturbing enemies...... especially in the US. Spend just a few minutes reading Stephen Buranyi's Guardian article on Greta and think upon why these political and economical giants, like the US, are so enraged.
National Recycling Week & Beyond
Making a Difference
Inspired pupils at Woodstock Primary are making a difference. Last week, during National Recycle Week, year 3 pupils presented their project to the whole school, parents and visitors on how they were going to reduce waste at their school. They had already visited the Viridor recycling centre at Ardley and are now embarking on reducing their lunch waste to zero..... ably supported by their parents and all the teachers at the school.
Please Note: permission was given for the photo to be shown.
Wondering What You Can Recycle in West Oxfordshire?
Wonder no more ...Click HERE
There are ongoing presentations in Oxfordshire (see poster
below) and we think it would be good idea if Woodstock Town
Council hosted a presentation
in the very near future. A collective audience is best so you
can listen and exchange views but if you really can’t make a
talk then view the
presentation by Tom
Sinclair on YouTube
at (Please Note: It's NOT suitable for young children).
New Gate
for the Community Woodland and Orchard
(PICTURES OF GATE MAKING ON THE NOTICEBOARD PAGE)
Following the demise of
our first gate into the community woodland we decided this
summer to make a new one. Local ash wood was sourced and David
Rees of Sustainable Woodstock very kindly showed us how to split
large sections of timber – certainly a lot quicker than using a
hand saw! We then removed the bark with a draw knife and shaped
the ends to fit into the upright sections. After some linseed
treatment, the new gate was hung on the weekend of 21st September
with the use of a clever ‘Chinese Wallet’ rope arrangement to
make the hinge. Our first customer arrived shortly after! Many
thanks to David Rees for his expertise and time and Blenheim
Charity and Community Bursary for funding. We hope you all enjoy
using the gate and it lasts for many years to come.
Graham Brown Sustainable Woodstock
Thanks to those who have shared seeds with us. Soon we'll be preparing a section of the Community Orchard and OWL for seeding wildflowers. If you'd like to come and join us for spreading some good news for bees and other bugs then please get in touch by email. If you'd like to be part of a Whats App group to share some time with us when doing "jobs" please send your mobile. If you'd like to just come along for a chat about what we're doing and why...feel free.
Why flowers? The farmed fields surrounding Woodstock are "silenced" by the use of chemicals used throughout the year ..... pesticides, herbicides, etc. A habitat rich in flowers with no chemical use will enrich bug life that will enrich birdlife and other plants...... biodiversity in action. Please email us sustainablewoodstockuk@gmail.com
Thanks Owen Mumford
Sadly they report illegal fly-tipping (see the mattress below) which is unsightly and a health hazard, attracting rats that pass diseases on to other dogs and humans. Dog walkers too are persistently leaving poo bags at the side of the road that are being squashed by cars.
Please everyone remind your dog walkers to be kind to all in the town and bin the poo properly and safely. There are plenty of bins and if you have any thoughts on where extra bins could be sited then let us know and we'll pass on to the council .....or you can have a go yourself.
No-one in the Woodstock can be
unaware of the work presently being undertaken by Community
First Oxfordshire (CFO) on behalf of the Town Council and
Blenheim.
Their task is
to determine the future needs of the town, given its imminent
expansion.
The feedback
from CFO is impressive, but we all know that the “big ticket”
costs of providing affordable homes, school buildings and
perhaps a new medical centre, may mean that not all the town’s
aspirations will be met.
Sustainable Woodstock believes
that the town’s expansion provides a once in a generation
opportunity to secure the best possible environment for the town
and that this should not fail simply through lack of funds from
S 106.
So we are
setting up a “Woodstock Safe Routes” group within Sustainable
Woodstock to provide a platform for all with an interest in
encouraging walking and cycling and to think about how we can
improve people’s ability to safely move about the town (and
beyond) on foot or by bike.
Walking and
cycling reduces pressure on town centre parking and improves
people’s health and well being.
We would
like to involve as many organisations as possible in our
“conversation.”
We want to
find out what is needed, where and how it might be provided,
and, of course, how it can be funded.
It is possible
that some grant funding may be available and Sustainable
Woodstock is looking further to develop these and other funding
streams.
If you, or a group you represent, would like to support this campaign do please let us know by email. We don’t want this to just be a “talking shop” and we don’t expect to call multiple meetings. After an initial meeting, much can be done by email and this would be our preferred way to progress ideas at least until firm decisions need to be taken. We will have a page on this website on which we will display ideas and plans, and on which comments from group representatives can be aired.
"Buy
a Long Life Fairtrade Bag"
Sustainable
Woodstock bags available from Mary & Martin's newsagent, our Post Office, Hampers
and mnay other outlets.
AND AT THE FAIRTRADE COFFEE MORNING!
If you'd like some for your business email us at
Sustainable
Woodstock.
Thanks
Oxfordshire Museum, King's Arms & The Woodstock Bookshop
for Offering Water Refills.
Helping us kick the plastic
Join the Refill Revolution!
If you are a Woodstock business and wish to offer refills go online https://refill.org.uk . If you're feeling inspired, download the Refill app and make refilling the new normal!
Producing bottled water creates 500
times more CO2 than tap water. That’s why Refill Oxford has created a
network of Refill stations where you can fill up your water bottle for
free to reduce plastic pollution. Look out for a business with Refill
stickers. There are now over 14 thousand Refill stations all over the UK
and if Woodstock restaurants, schools, cafes or pubs would like to
sign up to be a Refill station and help reduce plastic pollution just
email refill.oxford@gmail.com and
they'll do the rest.
Refill Oxford is part of City to Sea’s national campaign to
promote the use of free tap water to reduce plastic waste. In Oxford,
there is a network of nearly 150 Refill stations in places such as cafes,
bars, pubs, restaurants, bus stations, hospitals, community centres and
hairdressers all over the city. So now you can refill your water bottles
whenever you need to, rather than buying a new plastic bottle.
Save money, stay hydrated and prevent plastic pollution at
source by using the free Refill
App on
the go, OR look for the Refill droplet in shop windows. This will
dramatically reduce the use of the billions of single-use plastic water
bottles bought in the UK every year.
Sustainability is often defined as meeting the needs of present
generations without risking the ability of futures generations to meet
their own needs and should lead to a better quality of life for
everyone, now and for generations to come.
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