With chillier days upon us it’s time to get the inner heating going..a daily walk or bike ride is a good way to do this but you could also start to get heated up by planning for your next environmental actions.
Here we tell you about new dates for Sustainable St Albans Week – now to be St Albans Festival of Sustainabilty for 2019! We also let you know about a new Environmental Action group being set up by local councillors and residents..
Optimism of the Will
It’s the close of what has been a tumultuous summer for those concerned about climate warming issues..and a challenging time to remain positive. Antonio Gramsci’s famous phrase speaks of pessimism of the intellect but optimism of the will – and that’s the environmentalist’s enduring challenge.
St Albans Festival of Sustainabilty 2019
Together with St Albans Friends of the Earth we have just set the dates for 2019 St Albans Festival of Sustainabilty – 11th May to 1st June. We have extended Sustainable St Ablans Week to #3Weeks – to include a half-term school holiday and three weekends.
We hope this gives everyone more of a chance to enjoy and be inspired by the incredible array of events all about environmental sustainabilty that are organised by your groups – across the district.
Get Your Thinking Hats on!
We are asking groups to start thinking about an event or activity that they can organise during the festival. See here for some ideas….All groups are invited – community, business, faith and schools – and each one will create their own unique activity – something that has meaning for your group and your group members. It can be a public event where you have an open invitation for people to come along, or it can be a private activity that your group does.
Registration opens on 2nd January – and we will be asking you to fill in a form to register. But until then…please get your thinking hats on!
NEWS: Environmental Action Group is formed – alongside the council
Anyone interested in environmental issues in St Albans District is welcome to come along to the first meeting of the provisionally-named Environment Action Group.
The meeting is in the Chamber at St Albans Council, St Peter’s Street, Friday 26 October 7pm to 9pm.
This group aims to bring forward ideas for environmental action from outside the Council, and to find ways to promote those ideas to the Council where possible. This first meeting will discuss:
- how meetings might work in practice
- what environmental issues we might look at in future
- any environmental aspects of the agenda for the following week’s Community Environment & Sport Scrutiny Committee.
This is not an official Council group – it has developed from discussions between local residents and two councillors. Unlike the Environment Forum that was wound up a few years ago, the idea of this group is to focus on what can actually be changed and achieved locally, with and alongside the Council. If you would like to come along, please email Cllr Simon Grover at cllr.s.grover@stalbans.gov.uk so they know rough numbers.
Turn off the Plastic Tap!
Here at Sustainable St Albans we try to stay optimistic but can also get knocked sideways faced with the reality of environmental issues – watching the BBC’s Drowing in Plastic was enough to leave anyone in tears – BUT we are committed to being practical and optimistic with a local focus on St Albans, Harpenden and the villages such as Wheathampstead, London Colney, Redbourn….
If you are a local business, group or individual and want to reduce your single-use plastic please get directly in touch with our partners Plastic Free St Albans