We know how terrible plastics are for the environment. Franziska Herring writes about this matter for her 'Green Tidings' magazine at Trinity Stafford.

Thanks Franzi.

Costa Rica aims to become the first country to ban all single-use plastics.

Costa Rica is taking a stand against the plastic waste flooding our oceans and clogging up our landfills: the country is poised to become the first in the world to eliminate all single-use plastics. This isn’t just a ban on plastic bags or water bottles. Using a multi-prong approach, Costa Rica will eliminate plastic forks, lids and even coffee stirrers. And as if that wasn’t a lofty enough goal, they plan to do this by 2021.
Plastic is one of the most dramatic problems that the environment is facing. There is so much plastic trash in the ocean that it is difficult to even comprehend, and we are constantly discovering more. By 2050, there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish. In Costa Rica, 4,000 tons of solid waste is produced every day, and 20 percent of that never makes it to a recycle centre or landfill, ending up in the Costa Rican rivers, beaches and forests.
Costa Rica has taken environmental protection seriously. The country plans to be carbon neutral by 2021, in part by ditching fossil fuels. They are also dedicated to restoring their forests and protecting wildlife.  In order to move away from single-use plastic, the country will utilize both public and private sectors to accomplish five actions. The country will offer incentives and issue requirements for suppliers, in addition to investing in research and development and other initiatives that will move it closer to its goals. It will also replace single-use products with innovations like cellulose acetate-based materials.

From: Costa Rica News (8/07/2017) by Kristine Lofgren
 

We were delighted to come across this new item from the church magazine "In Touch" from Cheltenham United Reformed Church, written by Carol Drummond. Let's have all your eco news so we can upload it to this blog - send to [email protected]

Eco Church
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The Bicycle Stands at St Andrew’s are now installed at the entrance on Montpellier Street and are being well used. Thanks to the property committee and Marcus in particular for organizing the installation and to Ann Lewis who originally sourced the stands.

On Saturday 29th July, I attended a 1/2 day training event on Warmer Cheltenham at St Andrew’s organized by Vision 21.

Firstly, Dan Stone from the Centre for Sustainable Energy in Bristol gave us an introduction to energy efficiency, focusing on older dwellings of the sort we have in Cheltenham. He talked about the differences between modern buildings and historic / traditional buildings. I was surprised to learn that Cheltenham has a higher than average % of fuel poverty (11.4% compared to 10% nationally). Dan told us there is a proven link between fuel poverty and older homes. He talked about the importance of taking a whole house approach and we split into groups to identify the most effective means of tackling energy efficiency vs complexity. Often it is the relatively small and simple things such as fitting an insulating jacket to a hot water tank which make a big difference. We noticed that these were often also relatively cheap.

Peter and Alison then took us through the web site. Warmer Cheltenham’ is essentially a proof of concept which empowers the homeowner by helping them to understand the opportunities available to them, what permissions may be needed and get a better understanding of what to consider.
This will enable you to have more informed conversations, for example, with builders. There are case studies available and you can compile a personalized report on items of interest.

See the Warmer.org.uk website for more information or come and talk to me.

I’m also pleased to report that the church’s spare amplifier was restored to life by a Repair Café volunteer and returned to us to use another day.

Carol Drummond 

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