Sustainable Tackley
Reduce. Reuse. Restore.
So how hard can it be to go plastic free?
As an individual, as a household, with the animals in our care? The easy answer is it is impossible, so we are set up for failure even if we are going to try. To have any form of success and not beat myself up about it. I go gentle, not judging and knowing each change is progress. The need in the world to be using plastic, that brilliant and useful invention once, is still overwhelming.... to spin our heads into not using it now or at least having a good attempt at reducing our mindless consumption of it. So often it seems we have little choice or that it will be complex to reduce it. Even so let’s give it a go. Humans are brilliant with their inventions but also their inventions later can be the problem. The problems they cause though can perhaps be rectified by our future inventions and our intelligence. My initial thought was let’s follow the Pareto principle the 80:20 rule. About 20% of our input (what we bring into the house causes 80% of our output of plastic). If we can cut down those 20% inputs to reduce 80% of our plastic will have a greater benefit than perhaps getting hung up on the other which will be harder to change. Once we’ve cut down on the 80% outputs, we can then look at the last 20%. Where to start? .... our inputs and most are from the packaging stuff comes in or the containers that hold the actual item we need so our starting list?
The plastic in things for cleaning .... micro beads are one area to definitely eliminate. I will write a couple of blogs to cover a couple of these each time. As I write it all seems a bit dry. Where is the humour? the habit changing? the achievement? After all our cutting down is nothing to what industry is causing. But if enough people reduce then companies will have to change. I always remember when I was younger a poster saying, ‘my one little wrapper won’t make a difference’. But multiply that by a household, a street a village etc it soon grows. The poster had basically a full picture of hundreds of bits of rubbish. So yep, it is worth it. First as I can change myself then that may influence others. Personal hygiene.... soap, shampoo, toothpaste...lots of options bar of soap and shampoo which seem lovely. Hair seems a bit wilder but then again, your hair was put on your head to show you can’t control everything ;) Billions of plastic toothbrushes are thrown away every year. A toothbrush without nylon bristles though not so easy but can get BPA free and approved by the British dental association. Love the bamboo toothbrushes and there are lots of options. So much is habit that we associate with toothpaste apparently the tingling was put in paste to make it feel like it was cleaning...it is not needed. The little chewable tablets take getting use (more down my chin and top than in my mouth!) but they do actually leave my mouth feeling clean and invigorated. So that’s soap and shampoo bottles eliminated for me. Toothbrushes have been changed and toothpaste changed. Household items...let’s look at toilet rolls. Yep, we all use them even if you are titled (as my grandfather use to say). They come wrapped so often in plastic...the amount it fills our landfill is shocking. Several eco-friendlier versions are out there. Some who give back to communities that have no sanitation facilities. Washing up liquid and dishwasher tablets...more unnecessary packaging. But you can have eco ones sent to you at just the right time they are needed and they are good. As is the fabric softener. I have not tried all the options but am really pleased with our choice. Cleaning products again loads of options and pet friendly ones to. Too much cleaning is not good for the soul or body! New habits are forming, they take time, and I will be gentle on ourselves that we can’t do it all at once and we will get it wrong, but at least we are still striving. Striving is better than static. Plastic free .. sadly not, but plastic less and yep, I do actually think 80% less is possible from just a few changes. So I leave you a poem DUST IF YOU MUST by Rose Milligan. What is important in life is how you make others feel, how you care for the world. That’s how you will be remembered, not that you had the fanciest sofa or cleanest house. Jin
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The beginning of the new year, while it is dark and stormy outside, is always a good time for reflection and thoughts on what we will do in the coming months. For a small village we have many allotment plots. Some are strictly traditional, pleasingly neat rows of vegetables, others are a little rougher around the edges with flowers for the bees and a few more caterpillar holes in the brassicas (ahem, that will be mine!). Many of us have gardens some are beautiful creations and again, some are a little rougher, but all can be good for the wildlife we share this planet with. But it’s not just our gardens and allotments we need to think of while we consider the homes of other creatures. All our actions, from eating to sleeping, playing to working, have an impact on our environment. While we may think about where our food comes from or buy environmentally friendly products, sometimes we can get a little over enthusiastic and just buy too much!
One idea I have seen on the internet is to try a spend fast. Just for a month, restrict your spending to only those things you absolutely need to survive, like rent, utilities, medicines, basic food, petrol for your car or bus fare to work. Ask yourself before you buy anything, “Do I need this to survive?” and if the answer is No, then don’t buy it. Things you will avoid buying for 30 days include movie tickets, junk food, fancy coffee drinks, clothing, music, haircuts, and such like. Doing this just for a month will help you become much more mindful of your spending habits. It will certainly make you think about what you need round your home. While discussing this on the Sustainable Tackley WhatsApp thread it was pointed out that while a spend fast is a great idea, we also need to consider the current COVID crisis. Supporting small local businesses is actually really important at the moment. Many small business owners are struggling both financially and emotionally. So, if you like the idea of a spend fast, have a go, but when you do need to buy something, really think about where it is coming from and who it is benefitting. There are several small businesses selling eco-friendly kitchen and bathroom products (e.g. The Village Refill ltd, based in Yarnton; Non Plastic Beach, based south of Wallingford). North Aston Organics do a local veg box scheme delivering to the village shop and there are (in normal times, at least) several local farmers markets. Sometimes we really are too tired to cook (or the shopping hasn’t arrived!) and there’s nothing wrong with the odd takeaway. There are several nearby as well as our very own Mariella Bliss and the highly popular chip van. And of course, our wonderful village shop has to be mentioned too! Maybe you know of someone who is having to isolate alone, is struggling and you’d like to get them a gift to cheer them up. If you are sending them something think about what you could get that they would like, has a low impact on our planet as well as supporting a local business or artist. Our school is also running a wonderful food bank for those who are struggling for many reasons due to COVD, so if you don’t know anyone personally who you could help, then the school would be grateful for donations. As a family we have already decided that we won’t buy any clothes this year unless something needs replacing due to damage or wear. In addition, over February, I will be thinking hard about everything I buy. As I’m currently going through a reading phase, maybe I can help Woodstock books (when they’re open) instead of that particular online store which sells them cheap and posts them rather swiftly. Perhaps that will make me enjoy the books even more. Whatever you decide, stay safe. Liz As we all know 2020 hasn’t been an easy year. The climate emergency was already deeply concerning, biodiversity loss a real worry and then COVID19 hit, which has been so awful for so many. But somehow, somewhere we have to find some positives. As Sir David Attenborough says in his forward to the 2019 State of Nature Report “Although this report highlights what we have lost, and what we are still losing, it also gives examples of how we – as individuals, organisations, governments – can work together to stop this loss, and bring back nature where it has been lost. These examples should give us hope and inspiration.”
So, what has this got to do with Tackley, the environment and COVID19? Well, during the lockdown when the verges and green areas were being left a little less manicured than normal (although, thank you to Green Scythe for keeping the sports field in tip top condition!) we started to see a little more life in the village than normal. Dots of colour appearing where flowers were able to bloom, the buzz of bees, the hum of insects and, particularly down Rousham Road, the singing of crickets and grasshoppers (did you know, grasshoppers make the noise with their legs and crickets with their wings?) We are lucky to live in beautiful rural Oxfordshire and so fortunate to have the heath on our doorstep, but space for other flora and fauna continues to decrease. Any extra space we can provide for our fellow inhabitants of this planet can only be a good thing. So, from next year we will be changing the way we manage our green spaces in the village. It will likely be an evolving process. While we have a plan, based on Plantlife’s Good Verge Guide and we will cut our hedges in a different way, if things aren’t quite right as we go along, we will make changes. Some areas, like the sports field, playground and village green, will remain short cut and managed as they currently are, although we will have a wide margin around the sports field only cut twice per year to provide shelter for frogs and insects alongside the stream and develop a corridor through the village. Other verges, which need to not get too out of hand, will be cut four times a year to encourage smaller flowers to grow, and other areas will only get two cuts per year to give time for the larger flowers grow, flower and set seed. All cuttings will be removed to reduce the vigour of the grass which is what allows the flowers to compete and flourish. This may take a few years to really make a difference, so if there are some sightlines blocked by some over enthusiastic grass, which makes walking on footpaths or driving, dangerous, of course we will make sure those places are sorted out. We will also make sure there is communication between the contractors and the PC so that we can be sure flowers have set seed before cutting commences and also to liaise with Tackley PALs to make sure litter is removed before cutting. It is awful to see litter shredded after the cutting as it cannot all be removed, becoming part of the soil and part of the problem. And, of course, the Sustainable Tackley Group are finalising plans to develop Jubilee Garden to not only make it a nicer place for us to be, but also for wildlife. There are other councils around country who have been following the Good Verge Guide, and/or rewilding areas, for several years (Dorset), others which have more recently switched ( e.g. Elmdon Park, Solihull and Yardley, Birmingham) and more locally Oxford City Council are reviewing cutting in parks and green spaces and will be asking the County Council to review their verge cutting regimens. So we are not alone in what we plan to do, but maybe at the start of a better way of managing our greenspaces throughout the country! We hope that you enjoy the changes and be patient with little problems while the process evolves. If you have any more ideas on ways of greening the village, please contact the Clerk if you think it is a Parish Council matter or Sustainable Tackley if it is another initiative the village could be involved with. Liz Marshall (on behalf of Tackley Parish Council) At the beginning of September a short questionnaire was distributed to every household in Tackley parish by a team of volunteers from Sustainable Tackley. This a growing group of more than 30 residents who are keen to explore and promote different ways of achieving a greener and more sustainable lifestyle.
Fifty-nine households replied and in the midst of all that is happening at the moment, this was a pleasing result. The priorities for these residents were to expand recycling in the village and to use less packaging in general (86%). Many wanted to see more wild flowers (84%) and schemes to support wildlife around us (76%), such as the hedgehog highways that Kirtlington have built and which featured in local and national media. A new idea gaining support around the U.K. is the use of a “library of things”. In Summertown, for example, people borrow equipment that is perhaps only used infrequently but is sometimes expensive to buy and difficult to find space to store (76% support in the survey). Elsewhere in the UK there are also “repair sheds” where things might be repaired rather than thrown away (73% support). We could try the same thing here. The Jubilee Garden enhancement project was very well supported (91%). If there are any garden designers who would be willing to lend their expertise or landscapers happy to help, the project team would be very grateful for that support. There were some reservations about leaving spaces in the village to grow naturally, clear visibility along roads being most often expressed, but 62% were in favour of more flowers and wildlife. There were many suggestions and positive comments. If you would like to read the full report please email [email protected]. There is also a very busy WhatsApp group to share ideas and encourage. The Toy Swap has been announced and a wildlife blog will be coming soon so that all of us can share sightings of wildlife. There used to be glow worms in Tackley thirty years ago - are there any left? Children and adults alike are fascinated by the bats, owls and grass snakes that visit our gardens and the blog would be a way to share that enthusiasm. Floods. Bushfires. Millions of young people taking to the streets to demand climate action – whatever your views on climate change, the issue is getting increasingly hard to ignore. It’s not surprising then, that people are looking for more ways to make a difference. Thankfully, there are many.
As well as the small changes we can make at home, like ditching plastic bags, eating less meat and washing our clothes at a lower temperature, there’s potential for real progress at a community level too. That’s why a bunch of us have set up Sustainable Tackley, a group focused on organising events and activities that benefit the environment – and people living in the village. It’s also why we want to get lots more people involved. Still in its infancy – we’re talking about 10 people and counting! – Sustainable Tackley will work with three key aims in mind:
We know none of this is new, but if enough of us get together, it could make a real difference. And with Sustainable Kirtlington, Sustainable Woodstock and Sustainable Steeple already in existence, there will hopefully be opportunities to share ideas too. Right now, we’re at the very early stages, discussing which projects to kickstart first. Some will be relatively simple; others will take more thought and effort. We’d love more people to get involved. No particular time commitment is necessary – just an enthusiasm for making our village that bit greener! We hope to hear from you soon. Jo, Sara, and the rest of the Sustainable Tackley team. Want to find out more? Let us know and we’ll be in touch with plans as we make them, along with opportunities to help if you’d like to. |
About our blogBlog posts are written by members of Sustainable Tackley. If you would like to submit a blog post please get in touch to discuss your idea. Archives
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