Category: Counting On …

Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on

Counting on …day 68

21st January 2022

Today I am posting a message from The Two Minute Action Team: about reducing air craft traffic  – and the pollution that causes – by ending ‘ghost flights’.

“All you have to do is to sign a petition on “ghost flights”. These are empty aircraft flown by airlines to preserve what is often their most valuable asset: permission to land at and take off from, high-demand airports such as Heathrow. These are real flights creating carbon dioxide, air pollution and noise. A good example of how commercial considerations are prioritised over the environment by both government and airlines.

The petition is here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/605749

Please share this with anyone who cares about health or the environment.

Once again thanks for taking action – your support can really make a difference.

Thank you,

The Two Minute Actions Team

The 2 Minute Action group is a coalition of groups campaigning locally on environmental issues, including Richmond and Twickenham Friends of the Earth, Richmond Cycling Campaign, Richmond and Twickenham Green Party, Teddington Action Group, West London Friends of the Earth, Richmond Extinction Rebellion, the Friends of Heathfield Rec and Make Air Safe and Clean (MASC).

If you want to join please sign up here: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/join-2-minute-actions”

Counting on … day 67

20th January 2022

Coffee but not cake? I am surprised how often cafés have oat milk but no vegan cakes. I hope that by asking for a vegan cake I may prompt them to consider expanding their offerings. Sometimes people think that making vegan cakes is tricky or that the results will be unpalatable – but this is not so. 

This recipe is adapted from a childhood favourite, Quaker Oats’ Melting Moments 

250g margarine 175g sugar

300g self raising flour (or plain and add baking powder)

1 tsp egg replacement powder Oat milk to bind

A bowl of porridge oats Dried cranberries/ glacé cherries 

Cream the sugar and margarine till soft. Stir in the flour and egg replacement powder. Mix to firm dough using a little milk as necessary.

Take teaspoons of the mixture and gently squeeze into a round ball and roll in the porridge oats. Place onto a greased baking tray. Flatten slightly and press a cranberry/ cherry into the middle. 

Bake at 175C until lightly golden – about 15 minutes.

Counting on day 66

19th January 2022

This is the time of year when I start to empty and reshape my compost heaps. I hope to find  inside the compost bins well rotted vegetable matter, with red worms and wood lice wriggling around the edges where the material is not so well decomposed. I scoop out what is ready for use, placing it around the base of fruit trees, under the raspberry canes, around currant bushes and on top of the rhubarb patch. I make sure it is not piled up against the trunks of the trees. Then I leave it for the worms in the soil to  pull the compost down into the soil where it will nourish the plants for the coming season. 

Last year we put in the compost bins the compostable ‘plastic’ bags and compostable ‘plastic’ food bowls. Whilst I can see that they are breaking down, the decay process is much slower than it is for plant materials. What hasn’t decayed has gone back into the bin for a second season. 

If you haven’t the space for a compost bin, you might like to try a worm bin. See the Urban Worm’s website for instructions on making a worm bin and for the offer of free tiger worms to live in it – 

1000 Worm Farmers

Counting on …day 63

17th January 2022

Recently Londoners we’re given health warnings about air pollution: the elderly and those with breathing difficulties were advised to listen strenuous exercise and to stay inside. A spell of high pressure weather mean that the air over London had remained static for several days: no winds had been moving the air on and bringing in fresh. As the air wasn’t moving nor were the noxious chemicals and small particulates moving. Instead concentration levels of these pollutants were rising. 

Where do these pollutants come from in the first place? Exhausts  from vehicles, dust from brake blocks and tyres, smoke from wood burning fires, exhausts from gas and oil boilers, dust from construction sites, exhausts from waste incinerators and from industrial plants. Of all the sources of pollution generated in London, over 50% comes from vehicles!  It would seem that we Londoners are the cause of much of the problem. Can we drive less? Can we become less reliant on polluting vehicles to deliver goods and services? Can we encourage active travel –  walking and cycling? 

 Counting on …. Day 62

16th January 2022

Jerusalem artichokes are in season. These are tubers that in the summer produce tall plants with sunflower like flowers. They are easy to grow. Simply take an existing tuber, even one you have bought from the vegetable shop or supermarket, and plant it in the soil at a depth of about 5cm. The plant may need staking as it grows to stop it blowing over. 

Jerusalem Artichoke Pasta Sauce

Jerusalem artichokes  about 150g per person Cashew nuts about 25g per person Oil Garlic and sage to taste 

Scrub the tubers clean and chop.

Heat the oil and sautée the garlic. 

Add the artichokes and sage. Stir well. Add the cashew nuts. 

Cover the pan and cook gently til soft and golden.

Blitz the mixture adding a little hot water as necessary to achieve a creamy sauce.

Serve with pasta. 

 Counting on …day 61

15th January 2022

We count on the recycling crews to take away our recyclable waste and our landfill waste. To ease their workload we can help by ensuring that what we place in the recycling bin is clean, compacted (squashed, flatten, stacked) to prevent stuff overflowing, and in the correct bin. 

Is there a ‘Maria Kondo’ tidy recycling bin award?

Counting on …day 60 

14th January 2022

January is the month for planting raspberry plants – usually known as ‘raspberry canes’. There are two main types, those that produce fruit in the summer and those that fruit in the autumn. They are easy to grow and are suitable for growing in pots – one cane per pot.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/raspberries/grow-your-own

Counting on …day 59

13th January 2022

It is widely acknowledged that the peaceful protests made by environmental and justice groups, including Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future school strikes, the Climate Action Coalition, the RSPB, Green Peace, Christian Aid etc, have raised public and government awareness of the climate crisis from being a very minor issue to one of the most pressing of the decade. Would we be where we are without such protests? The Government’s new policing bill currently being reviewed by the House of Lords before returning to the House of Commons is designed to severely restrict the right to peaceful protest. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/13/green-activists-urge-labour-to-vote-against-policing-bill-climate-catastrophe

Take time to email your MP and urge them to do all they can to prevent this bill becoming law. https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/why-you-should-be-worried-about-the-new-policing-bill/

Why you should be worried about the new Policing Bill

Counting on …day 58

11th January 2022

Monday and Tuesday are our local recycling days when the lorries and crew collect paper, & card, food waste, metal, glass and some plastics – as well as unrecycled waste that goes to landfill. It is a job the  crew do in all weathers, pulling and lifting boxes and bins into the back of the lorry, and in summer the food waste can be pretty smelly. It is a pretty thankless job: we would all be lost without it, but we are seldom out and about when the crew comes by to say thanks. We used to call them dustbin men, then refuse collectors, but neither of those describe their current role nor the important that role has in tackling climate change and ensuring scarce materials are recycled for future use. 

Perhaps we should call them “recyclists”.