Transition Town Tooting

Author: Transition Town Tooting

  • Volunteering Opportunities – Join the Foodival Team

    We’re starting to plan Foodival 2015 – Transition Town Tooting’s sustainable food festival – and we’re looking for people to join the team.

    Maybe you want to meet local growers? Or you love cooking? Maybe you’re looking for publicity experience? Or maybe you’d like to get involved on the day, making the event a success.

    Whatever takes your fancy, we’ve got a role for you.  You’ll meet some wonderful people, have the chance to shape the Foodival, and of course, get to eat some delicious food!

    Foodival takes place over the weekend of 12 – 13 September.

    How can you get involved?

    There are lots of ways you can get involved, either by joining the planning team, or helping out over the weekend.

    Head over to the Tooting Foodival blog to see what we’re looking for, and get in touch at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com if you’re interested, or know someone who can help.

    Or just pop in to the next planning meeting – Tuesday, 27 May, 7pm at the Kings Head on Upper Tooting Road.

  • Restart Party Report

    Last Saturday, TTT hosted another Restart Party with the Restart Project at Mushkil Aasaan in Tooting.  As usual the brilliant volunteer repairers did their utmost to help prevent an assortment of electrical goods from laptops to kettles to cameras from going to landfill.

    It can be scary to see your beloved item taken apart (see the DAB radio and laptop above!).  However these things go wrong so readily these days due to built in obsolescence, that learning how to provide a simple fix can make you feel good and save you money, while doing your bit to lessen human impact on the planet.
    The Fixing List

    The Restart Project is a London-based social enterprise that encourages and empowers people to use their electronics longer, by sharing repair and maintenance skills. Thanks again to Ugo, Janet and all the fixers. 

    It would be great to set up a local group so if you are interested in becoming a local repairer in Tooting, contact us via transitiontowntooting@gmail.com.  The next Restart Parties in Tooting are on Saturday July 11th and Saturday September 26th.  Put the dates in your diary and keep any broken electronics out of the bin till then!

  • TTT AGM & 7th Birthday

    TTT celebrated its 7th birthday at the 2015 AGM on Monday. After a Tooting Quiz, including ICU nurses from St George’s who provided a tie-breaker, we heard a review of the last year and ideas for future vision and direction. New co-chairs were elected for the next two years, congratulations to Richard & Jenny, and also to Martin as the new Secretary.

    The one-minute updates on the myriad TTT and related projects showed us how much is going on, from Field Days to Restart, Garden events to Foodival, while we also aim to tackle big issues like pollution, heatwaves, renewable energy and carbon emissions.  Retiring co-chairs, David & Belinda, were thanked before a general retirement to Dosa ‘n Chutney for some tasty South Indian food.  Thanks to all who contributed to another uplifting and interesting evening, to Lucy for another creative cake and to Graveney & Meadow for hosting.

  • TTT AGM 2015

    The TTT AGM 2015 takes place next Monday 27th April in the back bit at Graveney & Meadow, 40 Mitcham Rd SW17 9NA.

    The night’s festivities will include a Tooting Quiz with prizes, brief updates on current TTT projects and ideas, some official business re finances and electing new officers (including co-chairs & secretary), plus one or two surprises.

    Then hopefully there will be plenty of time to chat and celebrate TTT’s 7th birthday.  It’s a good event to come and network, find out a bit about what Transition Town Tooting actually is, meet some of our active members, find out about what projects are going in and how you can get involved.  It should be fun, everyone is welcome and we look forward to seeing you there!

  • Broken electrical and electronic items? Restart are back in Tooting!

    Do you have an electrical or electronic item that needs fixing?

    Something broken you don’t want to throw away?

    Challenge the culture of built-in obsolescence and take back control of your electronic stuff….

    The Restart Project, a London-based social enterprise that encourages and empowers people to use their electrical and electronics longer, are running regular “Restart Parties” in Tooting. Sounds interesting? Then come along to one of the events below:

    Restart Parties
    at Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nandos) 2.30-5.30:

    Saturday 25th April

    Saturday 11th July

    Saturday 26th Sept

    Do note that Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please do not forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing!

    Read a great blog about one of our previous parties here.

    We hope to make Restart Parties a regular feature in Tooting and are on the lookout for skilled local fixers. If you are interested come along and say hello – or email Hilary Jennings on transitiontowntooting@gmail.com

    More info at Restart Project (http://therestartproject.org/) including details of regular skillshares.

  • ‘Looking Out For Tooting’ 11th April 2015

    Last Saturday TTT hosted Looking Out For Tooting, a workshop designed to ‘celebrate the people and groups that care for Tooting and its future’. 
    Members of over 20 local Tooting organisations and groups took part.
    See the list of participating groups here, and the invitation here.

    We aimed to focus on four areas: 
    1. to meet others and make connections
    2. to discover and celebrate Tooting’s diversity 
    3. to inspire, challenge and encourage us all 
    4. to share perspectives, and explore shared priorities for action

    What did we achieve together?
    By the end of three hours, we had explored Tooting’s positive features and also its challenges, and begun the process of seeing if and how our own priorities are aligned with others..’so the sum could add up to more than the parts’ as one participant said. So, we took an important first step together by acknowledging we can have greater impact together.

    We identified several shared objectives, and we recognised that some of these are long-term projects. TTT designed ‘LofT’ exactly for this reason, to provide the space for projects of this scale to start their development. 

    Shared ideas included:
    > Whole neighbourhood planning to encourage ‘good change’ locally
    > Community and school food growing and gardening
    > Creating shared community spaces
    > Creating a Green Way from Tooting all the way to Clapham Junction

      Stained glass light shines on the Green Way group

      What was the format of the workshop?
      We began the workshop by sharing who was in the room, over 30 individuals representing a rich diversity of neighbourhood groups.
      We talked about what makes us well and helps us thrive as humans – referencing the New Economics Foundation’s 5 Ways to Wellbeing – a set of evidence-based actions which promote people’s wellbeing. They are Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give.  
       

      Before heading out into Tooting on four different guided group walks we thought about what we would look for as individuals and as a group – we were given individual or pair ‘secret tasks’ to undertake as we walked.
      Details of the four walks we undertook are here, including reflections from each group. We did this on our return, along with much needed tea (thank you Martin!), Tooting samosas and scones bought direct from Devon by Lucy.

      Finally we moved on to think about ‘what next’.  
      Each participant identified a key priority, and then we grouped around themes emerging from our own observations of the walks, and experience of Tooting

      One theme in more detail:
      There was a particular focus around local planning and a desire to identify and encourage ‘good change’ in Tooting. The group discussed creating a Neighbourhood Plan (see notes here).

      We briefly mentioned current research, including the Royal Society for Public Health’s 2015 report, Health on the High Street.

      Participants’ feedback on the workshop
      Have a look at the summary workshop feedback here. That’s a powerful list demonstrating tremendous energy to work together for the benefit of Tooting’s people and environment.

      Take part in our next Looking out for Tooting workshop
      TTT will offer ‘LofT’ again, so we can build up further energy behind local organisations working together. 
      Please get in touch if you would like to take part...all welcome.

    • ‘The future is dappled in the present’: green sky thinking now

      This post is a round-up of eight imaginative projects and developments that are happening now, in Tooting and beyond. 
      It’s a selection of what we’ve spotted in the past month.

      My title comes from Paul Allen of Zero Carbon Britain at the Centre for Alternative Technology, one of the contributors to Playing for Time (see below). Paul’s natural-world image means that the opportunities for making a sustainable future are all around us…if we look.

      We hope there is something here to catch your interest and inspire on the Bank Holiday. 
      (Plus, in three posts from last week: there’s our plastic bottle greenhouse to build in the garden 1200-1600 this Thursday and Friday, and then Restart and the first Tooting Field Day later in April.)

      1  Playing for Time
      Lucy Neal, who founded TTT in 2008, has been spending the past two years writing Playing for Time, her book about making art as if the world mattered.
      Playing for Time joins the dots between key drivers of change in energy, finance, climate change, food and community resilience – and offers ‘recipes for action’ for readers to try.

      It’s a wonderful collection of how artists round the globe are at the same time imagining the future and working in the real world on what matters to us all.  

      The book is not only for artists, and one of the points of the book is to encourage us to look out and across our silos of specialism. 
      Dip into the 400 pages…you’ll be hooked!

      It’s Lucy’s book, and it’s also a collaboration with sixty other contributors…so it’s a great representation of the spirit of joint action, connecting with others and local solutions that we can share as ‘Transition’ values. And yes, there is quite a lot about Tooting in the book!

      Playing for Time was published last week, and TTT blog readers can order the book from the publishers now, and get £5.00 off the price.
      To order, enter this discount code: ONPFT2015 at Oberon Books.
      Offer valid until 31 Dec 2015…but no need to wait until then.

      2  Energy from the kinetic force of footsteps (or footballers) 
      “My idea was a floor tile that would convert the kinetic energy from a footstep into electricity” says engineer Robert Kemball-Cook about his invention that provides off-grid power anywhere. It’s expensive now – but “We are establishing a whole industry that never existed before.”  
      Read about Pavegen here

      3  Flexible pv panels
       Another engineer, Perry Carroll took ten years to develop a new kind of photovoltaic panel. “Solar is moving from being a hard, inflexible and one-colour product to being soft lightweight, flexible, and maybe multicoloured..” Read about The Solar Cloth Company here

      4  Strikketoget The Knitting Train

      On a four-hour train journey in Norway last week, I was invited to come to the knitting carriage: learn the skills as a beginner, or practice with new patterns; all materials provided; all ages getting together.
      The tagline: Lære noe nytt. Ta toget. Learn something new. Take the train.

      What could be offered to learn and enjoy on our trains?


      5  The Green Viking helps with composting toilets
      That train journey led to a ski trip. There were composting toilets in every cabin. Waste bark has been re-purposed and repackaged by an enterprise in Sweden, to provide that magic Green Viking extra.

      In Bangladesh, the wonderfully-named ‘Value at the End of the Sanitation Value-Chain’ project takes the process to the next step, and finds gold at the end of the compost rainbow. 

      How can we be more creative about composting in Tooting?

      6  Solspeilet The Sun Mirror
      The ski trip in Norway finished in Rjukan, where the Sun Mirror project conceived by artist Martin Andersen reflects sunlight into the town in its deep valley, which has no direct sun for half the year. Such a ‘simple’ idea.  

      What would we make in Tooting that could have an impact on social and personal wellbeing?

      7  Institutional fund divestment from coal, gas and oil
      You probably know about the global campaigns to get investors to divest from carbon-intensive industries… see 350.org’s Go Fossil Free .
      Last year the Rockefeller Brothers Fund decided to start a process of divestment from coal, gas and oil, saying “it is our moral duty to divest from fossil fuels”. (Yes, John D Rockefeller founded the oil empire that became ExxonMobil).

      Oslo City is selling the coal investments in its pension portfolio next month…which other cities will follow their lead? 
      Last week the Guardian Media group pledged to divest its £800m fund from fossil fuels. 
      And on April 1 it was reported that Jeremy Clarkson has experienced a conversion: he’s signed up with the Guardian to be a ‘poster person for the carbon-haters’.

      Three weeks ago the Governor of the Bank of England defended a Bank study which investigates the risk of an economic crash if action on climate change renders oil and gas assets worthless (because reserves will have to be kept in the ground to reduce atmospheric temperature increases). Corporate insurers might take a huge hit…will that send a signal to investors?

      Sophia McNab and ShareAction have invited anyone interested to join a meeting at BP’s AGM on April 16th, “to show investors that we want action on climate change”. Sophia led TTT’s session on personal pensions last December and you can contact her here to join in or get information about ShareAction’s ‘AGM Army’. 

      Back to Tooting, where we all have the potential to act, urgently and locally: 

      8  Re-used materials in a garden project
      Two colleagues from Tooting Outdoors are building garden raised beds with Year Four children at a local primary school.

      One child’s vision for the garden
      This outdoor learning project is partly about making an empty space fruitful and delivering a useful outcome. It’s mostly about involving the children in the whole process from imagining what a school garden could be for, to measuring the site and building the beds using tools safely. 
      Think of the carbon we are saving!
      All the materials are re-used / re-purposed, whether the topsoil in the beds or the timbers (100 year-old roof trusses from a house renovation in Tooting Broadway). There was a big time cost: de-nailing the timber took hours; but the ‘carbon cost’ was almost zero. The wood has paid its carbon dues.

      What ‘waste’ can you see in Tooting that could have a valuable second and low-carbon life. 
      How could we set up a service to support that?


      Thanks for reading
      We’re sharing these to encourage us all to imagine what’s possible, and to experiment with positive ideas and creative new ways of working – personal, social, environmental, and economic.   
      These diverse examples aren’t described in detail….all welcome to join a TTT meeting if you have some ideas you’d like to share to explore local sustainability in more depth.  – Charles

    • ‘Make Time for Making’ – Up cycling beads

      This is a reminder that Weds 8th is the April Meet & Make!

      Meet & Make is a monthly invitation to ”make time for making” in our busy lives.

      On offer this month, at no cost, is the chance to sit and relax with the restorative craft of hand sewing, using beads. You can create adornments for clothes, like a patch that can be sewn on. They are also a sweet way to personalise a thank you note or greeting card with a keepsake.

      I couldn’t resist making a bee to represent the Bees Of Streatham Cemetery as my first go:

      It’s straight forward to create a design and once you have done a row or two you will be hooked!

      Another option is to use beads to create designs straight onto clothes, something like this:

      This idea for this featured craft came from Helen who has been inspired by 70s style beading adornment.

      Tools, materials and inspiration to make something special by hand are provide free of charge.

      The following equipment will be provided but if you have extras it would be useful to bring them along.

      *Embroidery rings
      *Seed beads
      *Clothes to adorn

      April also brings a new addition to Meet & Make – the Sewing Surgery.

      You can bring any sewing project along to Sprout for advice on how to start, the next steps or even just the time and space to work on it and get it done.
      Like replacing the worn out collar on a jacket for instance:

      Meet & Make is at Sprout: 74 Moyser Road, Furzedown, SW16 6SQ, every second Wednesday from 6:30-8:30.

      All free, spare change donations for Sprout are welcomed on the night. Contact Jeni on jeniannewalker@gmail.com for info

    • Tooting Field Days – Free Family fun – Starting Sunday 19 April

      Tooting Field Days are local safaris based in and around Tooting; a chance to get outside and play, walk or make something. We can’t promise lions and zebras but you might discover something you’ve never seen before, think something new or have a mini adventure!

      Tooting Field Days will happen every month on a Sunday afternoon from April until September. The first Field Day is Sunday 19 April.

      The theme for the April Field Day is “Natural Neighbours.” Make a pine cone bird feeder, discover voices of Tooting past and do scavenger hunts in Streatham Cemetry. Drop in for part of the day or join us for the whole event.

      2pm: Meet at Tooting Library (75 Mitcham Road, SW17 9PD) to make a pine cone bird feeder that you can hang in your garden or balcony to encourage more feathered friends to visit you. Materials provided.

      3pm: Depart Tooting Library to do Tootingwalks 1, a specially-made audio walk packed full of music and the voices of local people, talking about Tooting past and present and Tooting’s love of food. MP3 players and maps provided.

      3.45 – 5.30: Treasure Trails, Scavenger Hunts and honey tasting in Streatham Cemetery (enter through gate on Broadwater Road).

      You can join us for the whole afternoon or drop in for just one section.

      All activities are suitable (and fun) for children and adults.

      Tooting Field Day is a collaboration between Transition Town Tooting and local arts organisation fanSHEN.

      To book a (free) place or for more information, click here

    • The Anti-Upgrading Exhibition – at the Lightbox

      ‘Our enormously productive economy demands we make consumption a way of life’.

      This is a quote from 1955 on the wall of an exhibition now showing at the Lightbox Gallery in Woking.

      A toilet brush is the unlikely centre-piece of the exhibition.  Its description reads ‘This is a well designed toilet brush from Addis bought in the late ‘80’s when our house was built, and still as good as new! It still performs perfectly…. it has probably been used over 30,000 times…. (This brush has been very thoroughly cleaned!)
      The exhibition ‘Waste Not…’ runs (free) until 8thApril at the gallery (30 mins on the train from Clapham Junction or Wimbledon).  It is an exhibition of old appliances and other objects that are still used – or at least have been kept in the hope of being used!  
      It shows the objects themselves and short films of their owners talking about them.  It’s all about maintaining things – it is the anti-upgrading exhibition! 

      On 28th March, the South London Makerspace and Restart Project held a fixing and mending workshop at the gallery where they showed members of the local community how to fix their electrical and electronic items, sharpen old saws and tools and mend self-assembly furniture with new parts printed on a 3-D printer!

      If you are interested in getting involved locally with mending, fixing or making – or just have something you’d like to fix – come along to our Tooting Restart Project workshops  at Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nandos)
      Sat 25th April – 2.30 – 5.30
      Sat 11th July – 2.30 – 5.30
      Sat 26th September – 2.30 – 5.30