climate crisis – Page 16

Green Tau Issue 32

Why Recycle?

Recycling has over the years become a more topical subject, linked to a growing

awareness of concern for the environment, and in particular concerns about climate change. Over the last decade recycling rates in the Uk have been increasing. In 2010/11 42% of waste (that is waste from households) was recycled. Recycling rates reached a peak in 2019/20 of 45.5% – but last year they fell back to under 44% (a rate last recorded in 2012/13). 2020/21 also saw a small increase (1.3%) in the total volume of household waste.

Why do we seek to recycle more? How does it help the environment? How does it impact on climate change?

Reasons for recycling:

Reduces the space needed for landfill. It is better for the environment if land is kept in its natural state rather than being filled with waste. The experience of the covid pandemic has shown us the value of green spaces.
Reduces the risk of pollution. Landfill as a means of waste disposal leads to air and water pollution as obnoxious chemicals and particulates escape. Landfill creates long term pollution as toxic chemicals remain lodged in the soil. As materials rot, landfill sites become a source of methane one of the more powerful green house gases. Disposing of waste by incineration causes pollution, both from poisonous chemicals and from particulates that cause lung diseases. Incineration also produces greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change. Un-disposed or improperly disposed waste creates litter. Litter is an eye sore and detracts from people’s quality of life. Litter can harbour and spread desirable bacteria etc. Litter can blocked drains and rivers, leading to flooding. It can be consumed by animals causing injury or death. Through the food chain, micro quantities of plastic are now being found in the bodies of all living creatures, including ourselves.
Recycling conserves limited natural resources. There comes a point at which the supply of natural sources of materials – iron ore, helium gas, lithium etc -will run out. Then we will have to rely on reusing these materials.
NB Helium gas cannot be manufactured. It has to be carefully mined as once released into the atmosphere, its light weight means that it floats straight out into the outermost part of the atmosphere. Helium is an essential gas used in the operating of MRI scanners – we cannot afford to use it in party balloons.
Recycling conserves energy used in producing raw materials. Aluminium in particular requires large amounts of energy to extract the metal from the bauxite. Far less energy is needed to create fresh aluminium from pre-used aluminium.
Recycling can save or earn money. Metals such as gold and aluminium obviously have a high scrap value, but as too do other materials such as glass, plastics, paper and card although the economies of scale vary.
Recycling allows for the replenishment of natural resources. Recycling – ie composting – food waste allows the nutrients in the waste to be returned to the soil to maintain its fertility.
Recycling materials can avoid the destruction of habitats. Using recycled paper and cardboard avoids the need to cut down trees and the associated destruction of woodland habitats.
Recycling reduces pollution. Using recycled plastic to make a bottle cause far less pollution than would be involved in first extracting and transporting oil, and then in processing the oil to turn it into a plastic ready for making into a bottle.
Recycling can save water. Making clothes from recycled cotton uses less water than growing cotton to produce new cotton. Recycling paper uses less water than making paper from timber.
Recycling can reduce transport costs and emissions. If the recycling takes place locally, it avoids the costs of transporting raw materials from further away. The converse is also true. Recycling is not energy efficient of the materials to be recycled are sent far away/ overseas to be recycled before being returned as new products.
Recycling only works if people then buy the recycled product. Recycling paper, but never buying and using recycled paper does not help. Recycling plastic bottles only helps if we then buy drinks/ laundry liquids etc in recycled plastic bottles. Recycling aluminium foil only helps if we then buy recycled aluminium foil. We need to close the loop!

Recycling does benefit the environment and does limit some of our production of carbon dioxide emissions. Why then are recycling rates so low? Can we afford financially and environmentally to throw away more then 50% of our household waste?

Counting on …day 82

2nd February 2022

Investing in natural solutions to tackle climate change. Today is International Wetlands Day and the “WWT is launching a major new public campaign Wetlands Can! urging people to get behind our call for the creation of 100,000 hectares of healthy wetlands in the UK to help combat the climate, nature and wellbeing crisis. The public can do this by signing a pledge to press the UK government to prioritise and invest in more wetlands.”

https://www.wwt.org.uk/wetlands-can

Counting on …day 81

31st January 2022

When my clothes wear out – beyond repair – I bag them up and take them, labelled as rags for recycling, to the local charity shop. I then try and buy clothes made from recycled materials to square the circle/ close the loop. This is harder than you would think!

One company that does take back its own clothes so that they can be both recycled and reused, is Rapanui. (NB the recycling of the old clothes and the manufacture of new ones takes place in India).

“The fashion industry is a linear model where resources are taken and turned into waste. Lowering impact or buying less slows fast fashion down but it doesn’t change the outcome. We are fundamentally different because circular design is applied at every stage. Unlike recycled clothing, which only works to slow down the process, a circular economy is designed for products to be returned and remade again and again. Meaning they will never go to waste. Get your year off to the best start by helping us in sending back your old Rapa products. We make new products from the material we recover, and the cycle itself is renewable. With your help, we can work towards ending waste for good.”

https://rapanuiclothing.com/circular-clothing/?cgi=2&utm_medium=teemail&camp=965&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=this-is-how-we-do2022-circular-design-that-never-goes-to-waste-2022-01-22&utm_content=lets-make-this-a-waste-free-world

Candlemas

30th January 2022

Ezekiel 43:27 – 44:4

When these days are over, then from the eighth day onwards the priests shall offer upon the altar your burnt-offerings and your offerings of well-being; and I will accept you, says the Lord God.

Then he brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut. The Lord said to me: This gate shall remain shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it; for the Lord, the God of Israel, has entered by it; therefore it shall remain shut. Only the prince, because he is a prince, may sit in it to eat food before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the vestibule of the gate, and shall go out by the same way.

Then he brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; and I looked, and lo! the glory of the Lord filled the temple of the Lord; and I fell upon my face.

1 Corinthians 13

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

Luke 2:22-40

When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed– and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

Reflection

Ezekiel was both a priest and a prophet, one of those who had been exiled to Babylon. The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by his captors must have had a profound effect upon him, and this is reflected in his writings.

He writes that after 25 years of exile he has a vision. In the vision he is taken back to Israel, back to the city of Jerusalem and there he sees the restored – resurrected – Temple. The restoration of the Temple must have been such a hoped for desire for Ezekiel. It would have meant not just the restoration of the building, but of the worship of God, and of the restoration of the nation of Israel as God’s elect.

Ezekiel is met by a guide who takes him on a tour of the temple complex, showing him all its walls and gate ways, its courtyards and rooms, corridors and pavements. His guide is equipped with measuring instruments such that he can know the height and depth and width of every part of the building. Having completed the tour of the outer precincts, Ezekiel is then taken on an even more in depth tour of the Temple itself. He is shown the various rooms and vestibules, their decorations, furnishings and equipment is all notes. The guide explains the use of the different rooms – which ones are to be used for different offering, which ones for robing and unrobing, and which areas will only be entered by appropriately robed priests. The Ezekiel comes to the eastward facing gateway and afar off he sees and hears the approaching arrival of the glory of God. As the glory fills the Temple, so he is lifted by the spirit into the safety of an inner court.

Now it is not his guide, but the voice of God who addresses Ezekiel. He is instructed how he will offer sacrifices for seven days to consecrate the altar – and only them will the other priests be able to take up the routine of daily worship in the Temple. This is where our reading today comes in. Ezekiel is told by God that the east ward facing gate (the one by which God entered the Temple) has been shut and will remain so. There will be one exception: the prince may enter and leave by that gate. Earlier Ezekiel records God speaking of his servant David as being one who is a prince among the people. The Hebrew word translated as prince can also mean ruler or leader.

Ezekiel’s vision of the future that he is hoping for, is of a future where things are restored to how they should be. Where the temple is once more rebuilt in all its splendour. Where the role of the priests is clearly defined and irreversibly entwined with the return of God’s presence to the temple. Where the rule of David will be restored such that the prince shall enter by the east gate and dine within its vestibule before the presence of God. This view of salvation is one that envisages a return to the ‘good old days’.

The second Temple complex, built by Herod, comprised a series of courtyards each with differing functions. At the centre was the courtyard of the priests where sacrifices were made and within which was the building that contained the Holy of Holies. The outer courtyards where men and women could both go, were places where people could meet, talk, catch up on news, arrange business deals, debate theology, make offerings, and pray. Here people, like Simeon and Anna , could spend whole days amidst a bustle of activity that ultimately revolved around the worship of God. And it is here that both Anna and Simeon are given the insight that the child Mary and Joseph bring into the Temple, is the Messiah, that in this child is the bringer of salvation. What an amazing experience! One which few others – in Luke’s telling of the story had had. Only the shepherds who came to the stable, and Elizabeth and Zechariah, and of course Mary, had received the message that this child was special.

The outermost court of the temple was open to all, Jew and Gentile alike, but beyond that point only Jews could proceed further. Yet Simeon is prompted by the Spirit to see in Jesus one who will bring light and salvation to all people – gentiles included. This messiah in not just for those who have traditionally seen themselves as the exclusive people of God. This is a messiah for everyone. This, as Simeon goes onto prophesy, is someone who will open up new ways of thinking, new ways that will be so radical as to cause the world to be turned upside down. And so radical that people will be hurt in the process. What Simeon perceives as salvation is not a restoration of Israel as of old, but a complete transformation into something completely new.

Sometimes it can be very easy to think that restoring things back to how they used to be is the answer. It seems a safer, more reliable proposition than seeking something new – and possibly a quicker solution too needing less planning and preparation. A year ago as we dealt with the worst of the covid pandemic, we dreamed of a better future. A future in which we would build back better. A future in which the inequalities revealed by the virus would be eradicated. A future in which we would be better neighbours. A future where we would all have a better work-life balance. A future where everyone would have access to computers and a fast internet connection. A future where everyone could access green spaces to relax and recuperate. A future where key workers would be valued. A future where educational catch up support would be there for every child. A future where the air would always be clean and the song of birds would always be heard.

The salvation which Simeon saw was the same that inspired Paul to takes the good news of Jesus Christ to both Jews and gentiles. The gospel he preached was radical, turning social norms upside down, rewriting religious expectations and demanding a new approach to daily life. It is in preaching this message of what is new about the salvation that comes through Jesus, that Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth about love. This is a love that can break through ‘me first’ attitudes; that can break down the barriers of inequality, prejudice and mistrust; that is the catalyst that ends lying and deceitfulness; that embraces the protection of the environment; that puts life and well being before profit. It is a love we need to nurture everyday so that we are proof of the transforming process of salvation.

“Love that is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. A Love that never ends.”

Counting on … day 76

26th January 2022

Buying and eating local foods means different things depending what you are consuming. Local honey in East Sheen can mean honey that comes from hives in Richmond Park. Local greens and salads can mean picked fresh from your garden, allotment or even window sill. Local vegetables might be those grown in Surrey, Sussex or Kent. One day local fish might mean eels or salmon from the Thames!

What about the main stay of a plant based diet, beans and pulses? Visits to the supermarket might make you think they in’s grow in China. In fact a great variety of beans and pulses are grown here in the UK – green lentils, chick peas, Carlin peas, fave beans, blue, green and yellow peas, and even Black Badger peas. Hodmedod specialises in sourcing and selling UK grown produce especially peas, beans and lentils, but also chia seed, quinoa, and seaweed. Buying local is easier than you might think.

https://hodmedods.co.uk/

Counting on …day 73

25th January 2022

Burns Night is a time for poetry, haggis and whisky. Whisky production uses lots of energy in the distilling process much of which comes from fossil fuels. The Scotch Whisky Association is leading an industry wide campaign to address this – although their net zero target of 2040 is not inspirational. https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/insights/sustainability/

That said two distilleries have or are about to become net zero companies: Mc’Nean and Bruchladdich. The more consumers seek out net zero companies, the more companies will follow this trend.

And for a vegan haggis see https://greentau.org/2021/11/30/counting-on-day-17/

The Green Tau: issue 31

Zero Waste – why?

24th January 2022

Zero Waste is the idea that nothing should end up as land fill, in an incinerator or being washed out to sea/ caught in a tree/ blown onto a mountain top as rubbish. Whatever is left after we have consumed something should be recyclable so that nothing is wasted. Zero waste means not buying/ consuming more than you need. Zero waste means cradle-to-cradle or closed loop design of all we consume.

Why is waste an issue?

Waste that we throw away has to be disposed of. Historically waste was buried in midden heaps or burnt on the household fire or thrown onto the street or into a nearby river. The amount of waste was generally small enough that this was not impractical. As towns grew and as the amount of things people could acquire and casually discard grew, so waste became a problem. As long as amongst the waste there were things that could be recycled for financial gain, there were people who would take on the waste problem. In the 18th century urban areas had business known as ‘dust yards’ where rubbish was collected and sorted to,extract what could be resold – bones for knife handles and glue, coal ash for bricks etc. When waste became a potential health hazard, the authorities intervened. In 1846 the Nuisance Removal and Disease Prevention Act set up the first regulatory waste management system operate by municipal boards. The Public Health Act of 1875 required all householders to put their rubbish in bins for weekly collection.

Having a system for taking waste away doesn’t reduce the amount of waste produced. The amount of waste we produced has grown exponentially. Globally (circa2016) we produce 2.01 billion tonnes of municipal waste a year (ie waste from households, shops and small businesses collected by local authorities – as opposed to waste generated on an industrial scale such as in mining, farming , manufacturing). The average of 0.74 kg per per person per day masks a range from 0.11kg to 4.55kg. Typically it is the less developed countries that generate least waste whilst it is nations such as Denmark, the USA, New Zealand, the most. Here in the UK we averaged 392kg (2017) down from 425kg in 2010. As more countries become increasingly developed/ westernised, the World Bank estimates that average per capita waste will increase to 3.4kg per day by 2050 – a projected annual total of 3.4 billion tonnes.

Waste and its disposal can cause various pollution and health concerns. Uncollected waste can be a source of infection. It can attract vermin and scavengers that may further transmit infections. It can block drains and water ways causing flooding. It can produce chemicals that pollute water supplies. It can create unpleasant odours as well dangerous gases that irritate and damage lungs or that can enter the blood steam and cause further forms of ill health. It can be blown across land, lodging in trees and branches where it may injure wildlife as well domesticated animals (n Richmond Park deer die each year from eating rubbish). It can end up in the middle of oceans or on remote mountain tops. It may end up as waste polluting the seas – this is especially true of discarded marine nets.

Most waste is collected but that doesn’t eradicate the health and pollution risks. Most will either be incinerated producing noxious fumes and health debilitating small particulates as well as CO2, or goes into some form of landfill which depending upon the level of safeguards in place, will still be a cause of much pollution. Buried waste in landfill also produces methane. Globally only 13.5% of municipal waste is recycled (https://datatopics.worldbank.org/what-a-waste/trends_in_solid_waste_management.html).

The world’s stock of resources – in particular raw materials such as minerals, but also things such as water, timber, peat, helium gas – is finite. We cannot carry on manufacturing and consuming at current levels. In 2021 Earth Overshoot Day – the day when we have consumed as many resources as the world can annually regenerate – fell on 29th July (https://www.overshootday.org/). On the one hand we need to find ways of consuming less, and in the other – or at the same time – we need to ensure we extract and recycle as much as we can from what we throw away. This imperative to use less and recycle more applies as much to industry as it does to individual consumers. And much of the burden must lie within the industries, for it is here that designs can be adapted so as a) to use less resources and b) to ensure ease of recycling when the product reaches its end of life.

What is needed is cradle-to-cradle or closed-loop design, production and recycling. Whilst the onus for this lies with the industries, consumers do have a role to play. We can do our research and only buy, where possible, items that come from closed-loop system. This could be milk in glass bottles that are collected and reused by the milk company. It could be clothes that the maker takes back when they expire and use to create new clothes. It could be paper or cardboard that are collected and processed into new paper and cardboard. We can be conscientious about collecting, sorting and recycling everything we use. And on the way, we can extend the life of the things we use by reusing and repairing them. We can aim for a 100% zero waste lifestyle.

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”

Green Tau: issue 30

The challenge of rising sea levels for Pacific islands.

20th January 2022

Last week the Green Tau focused on Richmond and the likely effects of the increased risk of flooding arising from climate change. This week the focus will be on Tarawa, one of the 33 atolls that makes up the Pacific nation of Kiribati.

Tarawa is one of the largest of Kiribati atolls and is home to one 60,000 people, about 53% of the total population. Seen from above, Tarawa is a long thin strip of land that curves to form two sides of a triangle, in the middle of which is a lagoon. (Atolls are islands created by volcanic action. The former crater forms a dip in the middle). The third side of the triangle is below sea level and is home to a coral reef. It has a very long coast line in proportion to its land area. The land is flat and low lying, rising to about 2-3m above sea level. Beaches on the lagoon side tend to be wider and shallower than this on the ocean side.

Scientific research suggests that the rise in average sea levels for Tarawa, by 2100, will be between 0.5 (if the global temperature increase is kept below 1.5C) to 1.2m (if the increase in the worst case is 5-6C). Present projections suggest we are on track for a 2.7C temperature rise – and a projected sea level rise for Tarawa of 0.6m. High tide is typically 1.2m above the mean sea level, but is subject to variation. For example tide levels rise during periods when the El Niño weather system is dominant because the high pressure lifts sea levels. Because of its shape, with along coast lines and narrow low lying land mass, Tarawa – like many similar atolls and islands – is very vulnerable to rising seas levels. The people of Tarawa can see that before the end of this century they may no longer have an island on which to live!

Sea levels also rise markedly when drive by cyclones. The Republic of Kiribati used not to be affected by tropical cyclones but with increasing global temperatures and changing weather patterns, this is no longer so. Not only do cyclones produce flooding with high waves, but the strong winds are particularly destructive to low lying lands such as on Tarawa with the winds breaking sea defences, ripping up vegetation and blowing away soil. (Soil depths are already shallow because these volcanic atolls are relatively youthful in geological terms).

Tarawa is located on the Equator and it has a tropical rainforest climate. It rains on average every other day, with a high of rainfall of about 300mm a month in January and a minimum of 100mm in September. This ensures that the water table is regularly topped up. However the land above sea level at Tarawa is narrow, with saline after on both sides. Rising sea levels leads to the contamination of freshwater supplies with salt. This reduces water for drinking etc as well as damaging agricultural crops and plant life generally.

Rising global temperature affect not just the air but also ocean temperatures. Since preindustrial times, global sea surface temperatures have risen by 0.7C. The rate of increase has risen in recent decades and particularly so in the last 6 years. Temperatures rises are not uniform and have been more marked in the southern Pacific waters. The IPCC predicts sea temperatures may rise by 1.2 to 3.2C by 2100 (depending on our ability to reduce carbon emissions). Rising sea temperatures affect marine life generally and reefs in particular. Temperature rises in the region of 1C can cause the bleaching of coral reefs. This draining of colour shows that the coral is stressed, and is likely to die. Associated with heat rises accentuated by El Niño, Tarawa has had repeated incidences of coral bleaching. When coral reefs die and break down, they no longer protect local shores from erosion nor protect lagoons from destructive waves that destroy the particular ecology of those calmer waters. The loss of coral reefs also leads to losses of marine biodiversity.

Tarawa and the rest of the atolls in the Republic of Kiribati are not alone in facing these devastating effects of climate change. In 1990 they and other similarly vulnerable countries formed the Alliance of Small Island States to give themselves collectively a more voluble voice in discussion and proposals around the climate crisis. The AOSIS was a particularly strong presence at the Paris Climate Conference in 2015. Their voice was also heard at the Glasgow COP last year although because of covid fewer delegates were able to attend. One of those unable to travel was the former President of Kiribati, Anote Tong. Speaking from home, he told ITV News that beyond 2030 “our very existence might be in jeopardy”.

In 2012 Tong bought a 2700 hectare estate on the island of Vanue Levu in Fiji as a refuge for the citizens of Kiribati, plus a further 2000 hectares in 2014. Between 2003 and 2015 the Kiribati Adaptation Plan was executed using money raised by the United Nations from wealthy donors such as Australia This included projects such as planting mangrove palms to limit coastal erosion, strengthening sea wall defences, and installing rainwater butts to help safeguard fresh water supplies.

In 2020 the new President of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau, announced plans, in conjunction with China, to artificially build up parts of Tarawa, to raise them above projected sea level rises.

In the mean time other adaptations projects are on going to improve the islanders’ living standards and build up their resilience in the face of flooding. These include encouraging islanders to develop traditional food gardens to protect against sudden food shortages (much of Kiribati’s food is imported), developing fish management schemes to prevent over fishing, and increasing provision shade to protect people from adverse temperatures. Consideration is now being given to using the land bought in Fiji to provide food for Kiribati. It seems that due to poverty, the people of Kiribati are not well equipped to cope with the extra demands and risks of the climate crisis. Equally important are these projects designed to improve their living standards, health and well being.

Rainwater retention to reduce flooding

There are a number of small ways in which we as householders, and more especially those of us with gardens, can increase the amount of rainwater our domain can retains. This can reduce the risk of flooding in two ways.

By keeping water out of, or by delaying the water entering into, the storm water drains we can help prevent them from overflowing – a common cause of flooding in urban areas.
By increasing the water absorbency of our grounds, we can delay the time and speed with which rainwater enters local streams and/ or the water table. This will reduce the pressure on the capacity of local streams and rivers, so reducing the risk of flooding.

How can we do this?

Install water butts. These collect water before it enters either the ground of storm water drains. If, advance of heavy rainfall, the butts are empty, then corresponding volumes of water can be held back from entering the ground or drains. Whilst one single butt may not make difference, a 1000 water butts each with a capacity of 200litres can hold back 200,000 litres – 200 cubic meters – of water. This does require some focus by the householder on rain forecasts. A less precise solution would be to leave the water butt tap half open or it to a leaky hose. Either way it is important that you ensure the empty butt is weighted down to stop it blowing over – either leave some water in the bottom or put in some bricks or out a heavy lid on top.
The RHS suggests using rainwater from butts to wash cars and paths in the winter and plants in the summer.
Avoid areas of bare earth. Ground that is covered with plants will slow the passage of rainwater into the water table. Rainfall will be interrupted by leaves and rainwater will absorbed by roots and by any mulch covering the ground.
Compacted soil is less able to absorb rainwater – where the ground is regularly trafficked create a path that uses porous materials – eg gravel, bark, stepping stones.
Ensure a range of planting so that there are always some plants covering the ground and some plants with leaves.
Cover areas of bare earth – eg before planting begins or in the autumn after harvesting – with a mulch or with a quick growing green crop – otherwise known as green manure – such as alfalfa, clover, mustard. https://www.rhs.org.uk/soil-composts-mulches/green-manures
Avoid hard surfaces if possible. Where a hard surface is needed (as a patio, for car parking etc) you can opt for a porous hard surface such as gravel or paving stones spaced out with gaps for drainage. You could also incorporate a soak-away to catch and collect water that runs off the area.
If you have a pond, keep it filled up with rain water. Run a hosepipe from a water butt so that when it rains the pond benefits from rain gathered over a larger area.