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April 2019 minutes

Brentford Recycling Action Group
Minutes of Meeting held at
The Toll House, Brentford Lock
on Tuesday 2nd April 2019
 

Attending:   Hugh Picton,  Patti Horsnell, Douglas Benford, Virginia Fassnidge, Wendy Mackenzie, Malcolm Crofts,  Rukmini West

No Topics Action
1 Minutes of last meeting agreed.
2 Apologies for Absence: Paul Richens, Andrew Dakers, Catharine  Browne, Kath Richardson, Sam Thomas, Canal and River Trust, Sheila Churchill, Cllr. Guy Lambert
3 Noticeboard:  The plan to install a noticeboard in the selected site has been agreed and the result may be seen soon. HP
4 Restart Project: These events have proved popular and successful and will continue to be arranged.  The next one in Brentford will be later in the spring. Venue and information will be passed on in due course. Further details on this subject and other restart parties may be found at: https://therestartproject.org/RestartParty/ VF PH
5 Street Care Team, Litter bins:  Guy responded to our recent discussion (about the possibility of a pilot programme to segregate recyclable cans and PET bottles from street bins and maybe street cleaning.  If it were cost neutral, perhaps, at least there would be a reduction in plastic going out to sea, CO2 and pollution.) reminding us that currently LBH don’t attempt to recycle from street bins at all because they have always been too contaminated. They’re trying to change that in conjunction with West London Waste but it may take a while. All the street bin stuff is currently incinerated for energy: not ideal but at least nothing ends up in landfill or the sea. However, we still agree that BRAG should make every effort to find a way to recover as much metal from littered cans and reduce the amount of plastic (increasingly more bottles) which litter our streets and cause so much damage to the environment. MC PH
6 General recycling: TerraCycle, an excellent initiative, collect and recycle many forms of recyclable  waste.   Please look at the very comprehensive, inspiring website:  https://www.terracycle.co.uk/en-GB/ ALL
7 Ealing Repair Café: Ealing Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Support Group are a local group run through Facebook to support Ealing residents in living more sustainable lifestyles. They have already held a Make Do and Mend/Repair Cafe for clothing and textiles, and would like to expand to a full, regular repair cafe for all kinds of household items. Their next clothes repair and making events is on Monday 29 April, 7.30 pm at Northfields Community Centre, Northcroft Road, West Ealing. ALL
8 Green Goblet: This is a UK environmentally friendly company that is committed to see disposable cups being replaced with reusable goblets. http://www.green-goblet.com ALL
9 Brentford Together: London Sustainability Exchange, Friends of Cathja and Salopian Garden – Cultivate London have won a collaborative Big Lottery grant, starting in April and running for three years. Planned activities include Dr Bike sessions in Brentford Market 10-1 on the first Sunday of the month and sewing sessions on Cathja’s Barge. Please support. ALL
10 Festival of Waste: Last year Rin (Cathja) organised this event in Brentford and would like to do it again, getting together with other local groups trying to make this world a little less carbon toxic and more environmentally aware and inclusive and improving the environment in various ways, by increasing walking or cycling, litter picking, planting, awareness raising, outdoor skills etc. getting the community together to improve the area. This will be held in Public (Market) Square from 11:00 – 16:00 on Saturday 17th or Saturday 24th August (n.b. Bank Holiday weekend). BRAG have agreed to take part and will share a stall, as last year, with Friends of the Earth. Any other groups interested in taking part should contact Rin direct for further information:  Rin Roche, M: 07904 406507 E: rinny_r02@yahoo.co.uk
11 Great British Spring Clean: this initiative runs from 22nd  March to 23rd April and aims to inspire people to join forces to clear litter from our streets, parks and beaches, recycling as much as possible. Please check the LBH website for full details of what is happening near you: https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/news/article/722/the_great_british_spring_clean_in_hounslow_-_join_us_for_the_country_s_biggest_ever_clean-up
12 Marie Curie Coffee Mornings: These continue to be held every month in the Brentford Dock club room to raise funds for Marie Curie. The next one will be on Monday 15th April from 10:30 to 12:30. The Brentford Dock Residents Association have also started producing brunches on the first Wednesday in the month from 11:00 am. Next one will be Wednesday 1st May, all are welcome! ALL
13 Soup Lunches: These are held at Brentford Dock club room on the 4th Thursday of every month  1:00 to 2:30, next one Thursday 25th April. Tasty, healthy, homemade soup, bread and cake! ALL

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, 7th May 2019
7pm at the Toll House, Brentford Lock.

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March 2019 minutes

Brentford Recycling Action Group
Minutes of Meeting held at
The Toll House, Brentford Lock
on Tuesday 5th March 2019

Attending:   Hugh Picton,  Patti Horsnell, Catharine  Browne, Virginia Fassnidge, Wendy Mackenzie, Malcolm Crofts,  Rukmini West

No Topics Action
1 Minutes of last meeting agreed.
2 Apologies for Absence: Paul Richens, Andrew Dakers, Douglas Benford, Kath Richardson, Sam Thomas, Canal and River Trust, Sheila Churchill, Cllr. Guy Lambert
3 Noticeboard:  The plan to install a noticeboard in the selected site has been agreed and the result may be seen soon. HP
4 Restart Project: These events have proved popular and successful and will continue to be arranged.  The next one in Brentford will not now be until later in the spring. We have negotiated an alternative venue and information will be passed on in due course. Further details on this subject and other restart parties may be found at: https://therestartproject.org/RestartParty/ VF PH
5 Street Care Team, Litter bins:  There is no more news on this (reminder: Guy let us know a little while ago, that LBH have recently established that aluminium cans are worth about 1.7p if they are sold to recyclers and, of course, aluminium extraction is highly energy intensive so this is an important eco goal as well. There are  so many initiatives ongoing with the recycling and waste team and with Hounslow Highways that he’s not sure we can realistically prioritise this at present unless we get retailers or other volunteers to play. Retailers will most likely want the 1.7p if they participate, but that doesn’t really matter if it saves the cans from incineration.  LBH are working on options to start general recycling from street bins again and this would be a better option if we can get it going. Guy will keep us up to date with developments.  In the meantime, spreading the word about the value of recycling cans will be valuable.) We will continue to follow. PH GL
6 General recycling: TerraCycle collect and recycle many forms of waste. Please look at the very comprehensive, inspiring website: https://www.terracycle.co.uk/en-GB/ ALL
7 London Borough of Hounslow, Food Waste Prevention Campaign: BRAG were contacted by LBH who are currently carrying a EU Campaign focusing on food waste prevention in the Borough. They been selected as one of 8 London Boroughs to take part in the TRiFOCAL (Transforming City Food habits for Life) campaign. Funded by LIFE of the European Commission the initiative is being led by Resource London – the partnership between WRAP and LWARB – together with Groundwork London. The €3.2 million initiative will pilot in London, as a test bed for other European cities. The three key aims are to encourage sustainable eating, reduce food waste and increase food recycling. For more information on the campaign and for the Council’s part please see the following links:

http://trifocal.eu.com/

https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20002/recycling_and_rubbish/ 1940/small_change_big_difference

http://smallchangebigdifference.london/hounslow-small-change/

There will be some roadshows, Brentford’s  at Morrison’s on 7th and 12th March from 11am – 4pm.

The main event: Saturday 30th March from 11am – 4pm called ‘food for thought’ on Turnham Green (Chiswick High Road).  They are looking to have between 15 to 20 stalls including food retailers, companies such as Oddbox, Riverford, Olio and education stalls (including a council stall offering caddies, food caddy liners and tote bags as well as a having a smoothie bike). Our aim is to have a professional chef doing a demonstration of commonly wasted food and making a dish from this and some talks from people on the above key aims. BRAG will not take a stall at this event but we do hope as many braggers as possible will attend and support this very worthy initiative.
8 East London Textiles: This organisation asked BRAG if we could tell them how to tender for Hounslow Council’s clothing bank contract.  We passed on the address of Hounslow Council.
9 Ealing Repair Café: Ealing Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Support Group are a local group run through Facebook to support Ealing residents in living more sustainable lifestyles. They have already held a Make Do and Mend/Repair Cafe for clothing and textiles, and would like to expand to a full, regular repair cafe for all kinds of household items. Their next clothes repair and making events are on Thursday 14 March and Monday 29 April, 7.30 pm at Northfields Community Centre, Northcroft Road, West Ealing. ALL
10 Plastic Free Communities: Surfers Against Sewage has information on how to get councils to remove single-use plastics from their premises:

https://www.sas.org.uk/objective-1-local-governance/

 ALL
11 Green Goblet: This is a UK environmentally friendly company that is committed to see disposable cups being replaced with reusable goblets. http://www.green-goblet.com ALL
12 Brentford Together: London Sustainability Exchange, Friends of Cathja and Salopian Garden – Cultivate London have won a collaborative Big Lottery grant, starting in April and running for three years. Planned activities include Dr Bike sessions in Brentford Market 10-1 on the first Sunday of the month and sewing sessions on Cathja’s Barge. ALL
13 Marie Curie Coffee Mornings: These continue to be held every month in the Brentford Dock club room to raise funds for Marie Curie. The next one will be on Monday 18th March from 10:30 to 12:30.   The Brentford Dock Residents Association have also started producing brunches on the first Wednesday in the month from 11:00 am. Next one will be Wednesday 3rd April, all are welcome! ALL
14 Soup Lunches: These are held at Brentford Dock club room on the 4th Thursday of every month  1:00 to 2:30, next one Thursday 28th March. Tasty, healthy, homemade soup, bread and cake! ALL

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday 2nd April 2019
7pm at the Toll House, Brentford Lock.

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Small Change, Big Difference campaign aims to reduce food waste, help people lead healthier lives

Since January, the London Borough of Hounslow has been running the Small Change Big Difference campaign, to help borough residents make small food changes to lead healthier and more sustainable lives, whilst being mindful of food waste.

London households throw away approximately 910,000 tonnes of food each year, of which 640,000 tonnes could have been eaten. This means that each London household could save up to £70 a month by changing the way we shop, prepare, store, eat and dispose of our food.

The Small Change, Big Difference campaign aims to:

  • Encourage sustainable eating
  • Reduce food waste
  • Increase food recycling

The campaign will run until the end of March. Keep an eye out for campaign posters displayed across the borough and follow social media channels where LBH will be sharing more information on the event and roadshows it is carrying out, as well as tips and small changes YOU can make.

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Ham Green Screen: Living the Change. Inspiring Stories for a Sustainable Future

Ham Green Screen will show the film Living the Change on Sunday, 10 March, at 5:30pm at Ham Library (details below).

The film explores solutions to the global crises we face through inspiring stories of people pioneering change in their own lives and in their communities in order to live in a sustainable and regenerative way.

Directors Jordan Osmond and Antoinette Wilson have brought together stories from their travels around New Zealand, along with interviews with experts able to explain how we come to be where we are today. From forest gardens to composting toilets, community supported agriculture to timebanking, Living the Change offers ways we can rethink our approach to how we live.

Each and every one of us has the power to create change. Living the Change sets out to inspire us to do just that by showing some of the ideas and initiatives out there. The film aims to generate discussion about how each of us views the future and our part in it.

Click to watch the trailer.

Run-time is 85 minutes, and the film will be followed by a discussion. Tea and coffee are provided.

Details

 When: 10 March 2019. Doors open at 5:15pm, film starts at 5:30pm.

Where: Ham Library Annexe (Community Space), Ham Street, Ham, Richmond upon Thames (west London), TW10 7HR.

Cost: Free entry, but suggested donations of £3 are welcome to cover costs.

How to get there: Bus 371 from Kingston or Richmond to Ashburnham Rd, or bus 65 to Ham Common and walk down Ham Street towards Ham Library for 5-10 minutes.

See also the Green Screen Facebook page.

 

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Ealing reduce, reuse, recycle cafe: Clothes repair and making event this Monday

Ealing Reduce, Reuse and Recycle Support Group is holding its first event this coming Monday, 4 February, a clothes repair and making evening at the Northfields Community Centre in Ealing (details at end of post).

Share a cuppa with organisers Lucy and Mary, and bring any projects and clothes or fabric for inspiration and advice.

Please also bring along some small change (suggested donation of up to £2.50) to cover hire of room and tea and coffee.

Details
Date: Monday, 4 February 2019
Time: 7.30pm to 10pm
Northfields Community Centre, 71a Northcroft Road, Ealing, London W13 9SS
Travel:
Underground: Northfields (Piccadilly line)
Rail: West Ealing
Bus: E3

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Know Your Plastic aims to raise awareness of which types of plastic can be recycled

Recycle for London (RfL), as part of its London Recycles campaign, has launched Know Your Plastic, an initiative to help people understand which plastic items can be recycled at home. It features short, quirky videos on social media supported by detailed information on a dedicated web page.

The campaign is being shared by Hounslow Council, which wants to help residents understand what can and cannot be accepted for recycling. Continue reading →