Much of the wild land in Scotland is under threat from large scale developments to meet our future energy needs. In contrast to this approach to the future, we have a vision of a more sustainable future where communities in remote areas meet their energy needs without ‘costing the earth’.

I work for the John Muir Trust within the Climate Change and Sustainable Communities project. The Trust protects some of the most beautiful, remote and wild land in Scotland, both directly and in partnership with local communities.

Many of the rural communities we have a relationship with have already started investing in a more sustainable future. You can see what these communities are doing by checking out my blog.

One example we are keen to see replicated comes from the Isle of Eigg – with whom we have been sharing experiences. This remote island community leads the way in Scotland as a model of what is possible. Two women, Lucy Conway and Maggie Fyffe, along with Project Officer Tasha Lancaster have spearheaded the exciting work here. They have developed a two pronged approach which aims to make the community self-sufficient in energy terms within three years.

The first strand of their plan focuses on the ‘software’ through an education and outreach program called Islands Going Green which recognises the permanent changes needed to bring about a more sustainable future will only come about when there is major buy-in from the whole community.

Islands Going Green encourage people to take action in small communities of around 100 people as that is a human scale. This could be a street, a social club, a workplace where you commit to having your own ‘green island’. They have had lots of fun social events on their journey and have gained huge community support.

The second strand is focused on the ‘hardware’ elements – looking to energy efficiency and conservation measures along with a cocktail of micro renewables to decrease their use of fossil fuels. They wisely are not relying on one source alone for renewable energy but have invested in a mix of wind, solar, biomass and hydro schemes. Already they seem further advanced in their thinking than the government.

Article by Fran Loots
Energy without costing the Earth – http://jmtcommunities.blogspot.com

Mtv Networks and the European Commission have joined forces to raise young people’s awareness on the issue of climate change, in view of the United Nations’ Copenhagen Conference, during which the world’s leaders will decide the future of our planet.

The campaign includes three live events, a dedicated website on which young people can upload videos and post comments, and a series of Make Me Green stories, short videos featuring young Europeans and their sustainable lifestyles. The campaign is supported by international celebrities who act as ambassadors in their own countries. Following concerts by Moby in Stockholm and Editors in Budapest, the next event being planned is a live gig with Backstreet Boys, who will play Copenhagen on 7 December 2009, the first day of COP15, the UN’s conference on climate change.

The ‘Play to Stop: Europe for Climate‘ campaign is focusing on young people as they are the ones will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change. In fact, according to a Eurobarometer survey, 65% of young people aged 15-24 years do not believe that climate change is an unstoppable process and that nothing can be done about it. Their voices are thus important and can act as a catalyst for real change.

The competition to win two tickets to the Backstreet Boys concert (travel and accommodation expenses covered) is now closed. However, for those who are already in Copenhagen, there is the possibility of claiming a free pass by registering on the Play to Stop: Europe for Climate website: www.mtvplay4climate.eu

Article by Sara Maestro

If I could say one thing to the world’s Governments about climate change, I would repeat the words of Elvis:

“A little less conversation, a little more action please”.

The world leaders talk and talk about tackling climate change, yet few seem to be taking positive action.

Across the world, there are hundreds probably thousands of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and charities which are encouraging people to live greener lives, yet a high number of the public still choose to ignore their messages as they feel they are ‘being dictated too’ by left-wing hippies.

In order to tackle climate chaos, I believe we must engage as many members of the public as possible at a grassroot level. We must work together as communities not solely as individuals or niche online tribes. It is important that we show people that their neighbours are being green and that they should too. Perhaps rather than keeping up with Mr and Mrs Jones for material possessions, we could encourage them to keep up with Mr and Mrs Green instead.

Changing attitudes and behaviour is the way forward and we can achieve this by leading by example through visible actions . However we must be careful not be classed as eco-fascists, a derogative term used in an attempt to insult those who verbally encourage others to be greener.

As an advocate of grassroots’ action, I am proud to be involved in a brand new campaign that is sweeping across the UK – ‘The Greening Campaign’. The campaign is an innovative idea to help motivate people to reduce their energy consumption and lower their personal and community carbon footprint.

The campaign is the brainchild of Terena Plowright, an environmentalist from Petersfield in Hampshire who saw the need for change and wanted to make a real difference. Her idea has been a great success and over 50 communities are now participating, including the town of Littlehampton where I live.

The campaigns success is down to it being inclusive and community focussed. Everyone is encouraged to get involved including individuals, groups, councils, schools, businesses, youth clubs, societies, religious groups – basically EVERYONE!

In Littlehampton, the campaign is still in its early stages, however I will write about its progress in the near future.

If you live in the UK, and would like to set up the campaign in your community, then please click here to contact the Greening team.

Do you know what’s going to happen tomorrow? How about in 10 years time? Or even 100 years? Do you know what kind of houses we’ll be living in, how we’ll travel to work or school, what kind of food we will eat, or what will the landscape will look like? The uncertainty of the future can be exciting for some and worrying for others, but what’s certain is that we all have a significant part to play in what lies ahead. So how do we encourage people engage people with their future now? This week at The first Norfolk + Norwich Sustainable Living Festival The Butterfly Effect installation invites visitors to find their own points of view on the future of the Norfolk Broads.

In collaboration with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research my sustainable design consultancy Elio Studio has created an enormous map of the Norfolk Broads as part of a project called CreativeData.

Each day of the festival we have been asking people to stick icon stickers on the ‘future map’ of the Norfolk Broads. We’re asking everyone to think about what the landscape will be used for in the future and what they can do to look after this ecologically sensitive environment that is vunerable to the potential effects of climate change. With each individual contribution the map changes and develops, becoming more that the sum of its parts over time.

It has been an amazing week so far, with participants of every age, from 1 to 80 years old. Everyone has found it challenging to imagine their future, but they have loved interacting with the map, sticking their stickers down and giving us their opinions. The kids workshops have been particularly rewarding, with local children thinking about what their lives will be like in Norfolk in 2050. ‘The Butterfly Effect’ has attracted lots of interest from local newspapers, BBC East and the good people of Norfolk. We’ve had about 4000 people a day walking across our ‘future map’ and there is still one day left to participate, so if you find yourselves near by do come and join us to add your contribution to the future.

The Butterfly Effect is the culmination of CreativeData, an innovative collaborative project between social and climate scientists from the Tyndall Centre at the University of East Anglia (www.cru.uea.ac.uk/projects/creativedata/index.htm) and sustainable design consultancy Elio Studio (www.eliostudio.com).

The Butterfly Effect at The Forum in Norwich 22-28 May.

Written by Leonora Oppenheim

Changing for the sake of the planet may require falling off of it. It may require a break from that grounded feeling. People may wonder what happened to you or if all is ok.  All is fine with me now, even though at some points I thought I had ruined my life.

I haven’t written in awhile because I have been busy changing.  It has been a drawn-out process; one where I messed my life up in order to put it back together. What accelerated my change was an artwork and I write today to present it as an exercise.

In December 2007, I was asked to participate in an art exhibit called “Heating up,” a show about global warming at the Evanston Art Center north of Chicago. I was given an entire room to work with and created an installation of a once flooded room and filled it with my journals, journals from my future. The Installation was called “Found” and the discovered journals were tattered and once waterlogged, make most of the pages illegible.  I worked on these journals for 8 months, writing about how my life would be and how the world was to be. I considered global warming (and climate change) but didn’t sugar-coat things, nor did I go down the gloom and doom road.  I plunged into this fantasy with my New England work ethic and absorbed the future challenges of life with bravado. I inserted myself into a distant world and discovered a place that I actually could be.  Yes, it was a world where the polar bears were sadly no longer, yet a world filled with ingenuity and resiliency. So, the most urgent question became why wait?  Why was I keeping the life I could live as some future occurrence?  Had I learned to cherish the present and live in the moment too successfully? Why not speed up that process and begin to create that life now?

In this imaginary future I was not the person I expected to be, but did discover that this new person was quite content. I found a direction that led me closer to a natural disposition when I projected myself realistically into the future.  I gained a secure footing to break free and truly look beyond the things cast upon me; to ignore what isn’t working and replace it with an image of what will. The mind is a powerful tool.

I write to encourage you to loosen your footing for a brief moment in life.  Go ahead and stick your head in the clouds, dream on and imagine a different world.  So many people are letting go, so you are not alone.  We are accepting what isn’t and putting days of global silliness behind us. We all have great stories to tell as we redefine convenience, conscientious and comfort.

I look forward to writing more. : )

So how could there be ANYTHING positive about climate change? I hear you cry.

Destruction of natural habitats, extinction of species and displacement of millions of people are all events that we fear from climate change. However, Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and chairman of global conservation group IUCN’s Species Survival Commission’s Primate Specialist Group, tells us not to despair completely.

Now that there is more attention being paid to the environment than ever before, more and more is being learned about how tropical rainforests balance the earth’s climate and that gives us a better chance of tackling this serious problem.

Since the rainforests help the planet to ‘breathe’ by soaking up carbon dioxide and emitting oxygen then the more we can understand the better. According to Russell’s article on the BBC website at least 20% of greenhouse gases come from deforestation and that is much more than cars, trucks, trains and airplanes combined.

This story is much more motivating that the usual fatalistic news we hear every day. Don’t misunderstand though, climate change is happening and it has already caused an unbelievable amount of damage. The fight isn’t over yet.

Read the whole article by Russell Mittermeier ‘Climate focus good news for species’ on the BBC website

The other day Jez said to me “Do you know how much water it takes to make a pair of jeans?”…

Actually I didn’t, I hadn’t really given it much thought to be honest. I had thought about the pesticides and fertilisers used for growing the cotton and the conditions for workers in maufacturers’ factories but I hadn’t considered the water. The number that Jez told me was absolutely astonishing – was that right? I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Doing a bit of research online I found that the figures quoted on different websites varied between 2000 and 6000 litres of water for just one pair of jeans. I also read that to stonewash a pair of jeans takes an additional 20 – 750 litres! Just to put this in perspective the UN recommends that people need a minimum of 50 litres of water per day for the most basic needs such as drinking, cooking and sanitation. Millions don’t even have that.

I don’t think I know anyone who hasn’t, at some point, owned at least one pair of jeans. So of course I’m thinking ‘by how many billions are we multiplying this water use to see the REAL figure?’. A gargantuan figure and growing of course.

Water conservation is an issue for every country in the world and with Climate Change this will only get worse. But for two of the main cotton producing countries, China and India and increasingly more countries in Africa, water shortage is a big problem. On top of this water supplies are poisoned by toxins from the cotton growing itself and, later, other chemical processes such as ‘distressing’ the jeans.

Aside from the obvious effects of drought, lack of water has also lead in some areas to conflict over this precious resource. Do we really need to make the problems worse?

So, what’s the solution?

As we all know by now, there are pros and cons in all your eco decision-making but first things first; Stop and think. Our Jeans are the staple of our wardrobe, I know, but consider your buying carefully. Jeans are great because they’re tough and long lasting so why rush this decision? Here are some things to consider:

• Organic cotton still needs a lot of water and so this is one of the times that organic isn’t necessarily the answer – although organic and Fairtrade cotton is definitely better than not!
• Check out where your cotton is grown and how the water is managed there. Some cotton farmers in Australia are not able to access water for the cotton crops until the needs of the local towns and environment have been met first.
• Hemp crops require much less water (as well as being higher yield and more pest resistant than cotton) so how about Hemp Jeans? It’s illegal to grow Hemp in the UK and US though so there may be air miles involved.
• Don’t shy away from pre-loved and recycled jeans. I’m a big fan of vintage and second hand though to some the thought of this is horrifying. But, really, think about the water! Jeeez!

References
Protected Water Fund, Fixing the Planet, The Panelist, Cotton Australia, All Africa, BBC,

“Normal people can change the world”. What is more inspiring than that? This is the first sentence on the Climate Rush website for a very positive event happening soon.

Following in the footsteps of the suffragettes and remembering their bravery and determination of a hundred years ago, women and men will be gathering at Parliament on 13th October to demand a better future.

So, if you want the government to…

• stop airport expansion
• stop the build of new coal-fire power stations
• create policies in line with recent climate science

…go to Parliament and tell them!

This is a peaceful rally with serious concerns. To find out the plan for the day visit the Climate Rush website at www.climaterush.co.uk. See the Climate Rush blog too for the build up and background info.

I haven’t seen this before – but it’s scaring me that this video is 16 years old and still as relevant as it was back then, if not more. I think the message in this video is so strong that it gives me goosebumps – and I am ashamed that we still ain’t fixin it. I would say it’s a must-see. Enjoy.

Severn Suzuki speaking at UN Earth Summit 1992

I’ve just read an item of news on the New Consumer website which is something we may already be aware of but is such an important issue to raise again and again. That is the additional effects that climate change has on women and girls in developing countries like Kenya.

The news item ‘Climate Change Devastating Women’s Lives‘ reiterates the harsh reality that whilst climate change affects all members of such poor communities, there are added, knock-on social issues for the women and girls in these communities. Some of the issues are:

• Women and girls (some as young as seven) who are tasked with fetching water are now having to walk triple the distance than they previously did to find it.
• Women are having to turn to prostitution because they are struggling to feed their families.
• Girls spending more time walking for water are missing out on vital education, women have less time to care for their families.
• Women and girls, exhausted from walking long distances, are vulnerable to rape and risk of HIV infection.

How could anyone read these facts and ignore the devastation that climate change causes? For the sake of making a few changes to our lifestyles it doesn’t seem much of a sacrifice knowing what these women have to go through every day does it?

The full New Consumer report comes from information via Esther Musili, Kenyan Aid worker, who is speaking alongside Foreign Secretary David Miliband on September 23 at a meeting at the Labour Party Conference. Let’s hope the politicians sit up and listen to her.