Transition Town Tooting

Tag: Climate

  • People’s Climate March, London Sept 21 2014

    Why take part in the Climate March?

    With strong arms, one inspired person can achieve a lot!

    By joining Transition Town Tooting, the Tooting Community Garden, and Furzedown Low Carbon Zone, and Transition Wandsworth together all under one banner – we can share the work and achieve even more.


    Why take part…?
    Young people can express themselves, we can all be inspired…
    We can get talking to others by showing off our banner (thanks loads for making it, Alice).


    Today’s march was worthwhile for the sense of connection within a common cause, the conversations, the contacts made.

    And some extra learning? Have longer bamboo poles next time..

    All welcome to join us in Transition Tooting or the Furzedown Low Carbon Zone to get involved with practical community projects on food, growing, energy, air quality, sustainable living and more.
    Together we’re all contributing creativity and some local solutions to the global challenges we all face, whatever group we belong to.

    There’s a good new film: ‘Disruption’, reminding us why climate change is so significant: watch it here online for free.
    And you can hear Naomi Klein (details here) talk about her new book ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism against the Climate’ on October 6th in central London.

     
    Please join in!

     

  • Macro & Micro

    Trying to read today’s report from the IPCC about the effects of climate change on our planet, along with a mass of media commentary, feels like swimming through treacle, but the overall message is clear: the climate is changing like never before and with a high degree of certainty, the activities of our species are the major contributor. 

    Watch the BBC’s short animation
    Though that might be evident to some (interested in for example and in no particular order peak oil, resource depletion, unsustainable fishing, pollutative extraction, toxic waste … please go on ad nauseam to yourself), it’s always good to get a reminder of the situation we face.  Human activity is screwing up the planet for humans and countless other species on a monumental scale.
    So here in south London, TTT is one of the global network of Transition Towns trying to take actions at the micro level to turn this destructive juggernaut around.  Not easy and it can seem like a drop in the ocean, but then an ocean does actually come from many raindrops …
    https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5nR_h8Rei_2cUVRcVhuY0FaUUU/editOne “raindrop” here was our successful growing & seed swap event aiming to reconnect people to the growing cycle and the possibility of greater sustainability, and we hope that Tooting will be full of fruit, vegetables and flowers as a result.  Congratulations to Caroline Partridge, the lucky winner of one month’s worth of vegetables, generously donated by Abel and Cole.  Caroline happened across the event on her walk through Tooting on Saturday and has since planted plenty of the seeds out in pots in her garden.  We hope you enjoy your prize Caroline!
    Meanwhile, Tooting Community Garden tips for growing potatoes, runner beans and sweetcorn can be found by clicking the picture of all those lovely Foodival growers from last autumn.  Will you be joining them?  Could you grow Tooting’s biggest sunflower?

  • Zero Carbon for The Shadow Cabinet

    TTT likes to mix the global with the local where possible and in the last week, working with the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT), we have sent a copy of CAT’s Zero Carbon Britain report, via our helpful local MP Sadiq Khan, to every member of the shadow cabinet.  The parcels were tied up with colourful Tooting ribbon that Lucy picked up at Reshma’s saree shop, which closed last month after 39 years of trading at Tooting Bec.

    The report draws on CAT’s 40 years of experience to offer technically viable scenarios for a future with zero carbon while also creating employment, increasing wellbeing and having a positive impact on the economy.

    We are grateful to CAT and Sadiq for enabling us to disseminate these important ideas to potential future policy makers.  Follow the links above to read more about CAT and the report.

  • Cold water swimming, warming atmosphere, Carbon Conversations

    Saturday 26th saw the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships at Tooting Bec Lido. Over 600 swimmers raced in many different classes in sunny weather. There were no wetsuits in use…however many competitors wore excellent hats. If you have never seen the Lido, here is one swimmer’s hat representing the pool, complete with Lego shark:

    TTT had a stand all day – very many thanks to volunteers who stayed in the marquee, and missed some of the fun outdoors. We talked about TTT with local people and visitors: the Tooting Community Garden is only a few hundred metres away, and the Lido was a stopping point on two of our Wellbeing walks in 2012. The Lido is a wonderful example of Tooting’s diverse community activities to be treasured by us all!         More at: http://www.slsc.org.uk/cwsc/cwsc-gallery/

    Carbon Conversations
    The water in the Lido was +2 degrees. That’s a good segue: if you’ve been following the science of climate change, you’ll know that a long-term two degree rise in the atmosphere’s temperature may be an optimistically low prediction. Reported on the same day as the swim, Lord Nicholas Stern (author of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006) stated in Davos at the World Economic Summit: ‘I got it wrong on climate change – it’s far, far worse…’

    Strong words, and there is action we can each take in Tooting to help reduce emissions…and save energy, and reduce our bills.

    If you would like to explore exactly what you and your household can do to reduce your own carbon footprint, please join our next series of TTT Carbon Conversations meetings. Over 50 people have joined the six series of these facilitated meetings we’ve run locally in the past 18 months. During the highly participative sessions, you’ll discuss and make plans concerned with home energy, travel, food, consumption and waste…and meet others locally who are doing the same things.

    The first meeting is on Monday 25th February, in Tooting, at Graveney & Meadow, 40 Mitcham Road. Details in the flyer at this link.

    All welcome – please join us!

  • CLIMATE SAFTEY: FINAL REMINDER

    The climate safety report will be officially launched on Thurs 27th Nov’08, with debate held at 7pm at Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ. Event is free,  open to general public. Speakers include Caroline Lucas, Tim Helweg-Larsen, Jeremy Leggett and others. Report available to download free from website, on or shortly after launch date. If you are in London, come to this important event, let others know it’s happening and invite them along too!