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Waste Meeting Minutes 24/9/15

As many more new people attended we introduced ourselves and what our interests are:

SM- Too much packaging on food! Discussed the over use of plastic bags and so HEN campaign was mentioned. Hastings Environmental Network wants to start a Takeaway Packaging Campaign. Also, legislation will be passed on Oct 5th to have supermarkets charge for plastic bags. Food compost-where to put it? (Presently keeps it in freezer and a friend takes it away in bulk!) Would like to lobby HBC for food waste collection.

GH- Interested in everything TT/waste. Part of the problem is we’ve been brought up thinking a throw- away society was good, it created jobs etc.

FL- Just moved here as a HBC (Hastings By Choice), used to live in Germany where they had 9 bins outside for various recycling bits! Then lived in Manchester centre where there was no recycling at all…Interested in food waste collection too and in the sense of utilising left over but perfectly good food. Would like to form a partnership with COOP maybe, to use their food waste? (Rose Ratcliffe?)

KD- As an architect, interest in energy waste in buildings. Would be up for giving energy saving advice on old buildings.

David Almer- Interested in solar panels and other forms of renewable energy.

Tom- aerobic digester, small ones cost approx. £5,000, the problem is where to put them? Discussed how Government subsidies for renewables are being cut by about 90%. This will effect people’s investment in it in terms of buying into renewable energy and will impact the industry as many envisage their businesses ‘going under’.

AC- Heard on radio was saying Gov. subsidies too expensive as renewables have been so popular and proving efficient so too many people want the subsidies. (Wasn’t that the point!!).

William- Impressed by the book Waste by Tristram Stuart, William knows him and I thought we should connect him and Chris Coverdale together? Discussed how people are using old cooking oil to re-use and generate energy. Some guy from Rye is selling oil to takeaways, paying them back a bit to take away the used oil and then selling it on again as bio-deisel!!!

KD- talked about how to get oil tanks around Hastings for people to put their used cooking oil in, but it wouldn’t be enough for just residents it would need to be on a larger scale or not viable. And how would you police it? Someone will chuck something else in it. Talked about asking Southern Water to donate as they have problems with people putting oil down the sink-but it has to benefit people’s pockets for them to bother doing it?

Campaigns
Discussed Food compost campaign and talking to HBC
Discussed No Plastic Bags Campaign/helping HEN with theirs?
Discussed using food waste from supermarkets

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1st October 2015
Eco schools in Hastings

Did you know that there are ‘Eco schools’ in Hastings and St Leonards? In a recent transition town energy group meeting Linda Jeal lead a discussion around the subject.

Eco-Schools is an international award programme that guides schools on their sustainable journey, providing a framework to help embed these principles into the heart of school life.

Generally the concept is working better in primary schools. Castledown school now has an ‘Eco-School green flag’ and other local schools are moving in the same direction.

Schools typically will do such things as energy audits that link up with science subject teaching.

Find out more by contacting the team.

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25th September 2015
September highlighted campaign: solar feed in tariff changes

In August this year DECC (Department for Energy and Climate Change) announced a proposed cut of the Solar Feed In Tariff by 87% by January 2016.

This and other recent cuts by government to support solar and renewable energy will cause a loss of affordable clean energy choices, taking away power from people and handing it back to big energy firms.

Local community energy groups depend on these feed in tariffs to make their projects viable and sustainable.

Please add your signature to the following petition to show DECC you don’t want cuts to the Solar Feed In Tariff.

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/106791

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23rd September 2015
Energy Group Meeting Minutes August 2015

Energy Group Hastings TT 13.08.2015 PDF DOWNLOAD

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21st September 2015
Waste Group Meeting Minutes – 27th Aug 2015

What are our interests?

Chris C- brought along some info on his take on waste which is very much about delving into the systemic issues around why and how we create so much waste and how we can change our processes in the first place to prevent waste. Life Cycle Analysis (L.C.A.); How do we alter the system process? Barr has stopped doing bottle returns (why?); Put pressure on businesses to use re-usable/refillable containers; Proposal: set up working group to propose laws to bring in re-useable packaging; Green Growth.
ACTION-Wants to research this more and create TT think-tank to lobby HBC, laws, policies etc.

Chris P- Composting (kitchen waste); Rubbish as a metaphor for the way we treat our environment in general; Mindfulness towards refuse and how we can help support this in wider community; HBC inaction on stated policy (pressure required). ACTION- Research packaging-free shops. Share shop (Frome) -research. The People’s Supermarket – check it out and share with others.

Tom R- Companies reducing their waste by doing things more online ie banks sending multiple statements. Was working with Richard Watson on getting funding for an Anaerobic digester (turns compost into methane gas)in Hastings area, many complications and needs £50-70,000 to set up. ACTION- Research community composting clubs

Alison- Community composting, getting HBC to let people use spaces in parks to grow food, saving them money, businesses could maintain ‘plot’ too and put ad up to explain. HEN (Hastings Environmental Network) is initiating a waste campaign focusing on Takeaway packaging. I think it would be good to ask to meet HBC to discuss how we can work together on waste issues, get community involved and save them money ie. growing food anywhere we can, letting people use spaces in parks to save HBC money, community compost bins, Share Shop (Sue Dawson/McManus?)- having a shop to share and borrow tools etc (with no rates or rent from HBC), etc more ideas please! ACTION-to research what Germany are doing. Contact Adam Clamp re packaging campaign- how can we help?

Ended with a sense that we wanted this to be quite a politically pushing group?
Next Meeting- Thursday 24th Sept 6.30-7.30pm at WRH

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28th August 2015
Visit to Crowhurst Community Agriculture Project

On Saturday Aug 16th several members visited Crowhurst Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

The project is located on a working farm: Upper Wilting Farm in Crowhurst, tenants of Hastings Borough Council.

(more…)

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19th August 2015
Transition Town first housing meeting
We held our first housing meeting after Ken Davis’s talk on eco-refurbishing homes.

12 people attended and the conversation was really lively.

Here are some abridged notes from the meeting:

One member gave some background information about Neighbourhood Plans. She is Chair of the Tulse Hill Neighbourhood Plan in South London.
Some funding was made available via Locality for some initial consultation within the area (they set up a stall in Brockwell Park). They asked one question: “If you could change anything in your neighbourhood what would it be?”.

Map out an area for your plan – Tulse Hill asked all those who came ot the Brockwell Park stand and then put a pin in a map for each person to create their boundary.

Once the group has 21 people committed to the plan it’s possible to apply to be a Neighbourhood Planning Forum. A Neighbourhood Plan must relate to the established local plan but the forum writes it’s own. The plan produced is then statutory.

One attendee shared his ideas about appropriate language. He does not like the word ‘housing’ as it is not a noun. He prefers to talk about ‘making places’. He said that there are three essentials for people: Food, Community and Place.

All present in the meeting shared what things they’d like to change in the town:
- Better design of the local environs
- Use of meanwhile spaces
- Use of empty/derelict spaces
- Better quality affordable, rented accommodation
- Joined up thinking (eg how waste water is managed within developments)
- A greater sense of community
- Improved awareness of planning activity
- More spaces for people to interact – many live in isolation
What should we call this group? Making places, environment, neighbourhood, community… Ideas?

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17th August 2015
Talk on energy conservation in houses, August 1st 2015
Thanks to Ken Davis for making our first talk a great success. Ken gave a very informative talk, discussing how best to approach improving the energy efficiency of our homes.

Here are the key ‘take homes’:
- Building need to adapt, conservation can’t continue to keep things the same as before.
- We need to establish some new building techniques and methods and find new ways to understand buildings.
- Breathability is important in older buildings, use materials that maintain air flow
- Leave a year after moving into a property to understand how it breathes and how moisture moves around it.
- Maintenance is the first step – review and fix gutters, etc
- Insulate with natural materials such as wool, don’t use fibreglass.
- If considering alternative energy sources and you can’t do anything else, start with a condensing boiler.
- Do basics first- draught proofing and insulation.
- Water recycling is expensive – start with a water butt.
- We need better education about buildings, policy changes.
- Use radiator thermostats
- Use fans in kitchen and bathrooms to reduce moisture.
Ken’s presentation can be downloaded here.

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1st August 2015
This month’s highlighted campaign

Listen Up!

Right now renewable energy co-ops are unable to sell clean power directly to their neighbours. They have to sell their energy to a big power company for 4.5p, then buy it back for 15p or even 20p* – we at http://1010uk.org/ourpower want to change that.

We are collecting signatures to ask Amber Rudd to bring in a ‘right to supply’ for community energy groups. We are planning to put this petition on Amber Rudd’s desk in mid-July.

We believe that winning a ‘right to supply’ for community energy is the single best thing we can do right now to boost clean energy* and give more people a chance to benefit from it.

So if you want to buy your power direct from local wind and solar and stop the Big Six from buying your local wind and solar energy, and selling it back at 3 times the price-
Sign the petition to help make it possible!
http://www.1010uk.org/ourpower

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12th July 2015
Update July 2015
Since the vision’s event at the White Rock Hotel we’ve been very busy and wanted to update you on our progress so far:
- We’ve started a Guerrilla Gardening group to look at which area/s in the town we could grow vegetables and flowers. This is partly ‘guerrilla’ and partly organized planting with the fundamental element of encouraging the targeted community to join in.
- We’re organising some Foraging Walks led by Ben Fairlight to learn what we can use around our countryside for food and good health. We hope to be walking, talking and enjoying a picnic partly made up of foraged food!
- We’ve arranged a visit to the Crowhurst Community Supported Agricultural (CSA) project (run by some of the original TT group) and usually there between 10-12 on Saturdays.
- We’re looking at visiting the Real Junk Food Café in Brighton soon. This is a project using left over food from shops etc, cooking it and giving it away! For everyone to enjoy and donate what they can….or nothing if they can’t.
- We’ve organised a talk on Energy Conservation & Alternative Energy Sources in Building by Ken Davis on 1st Aug at The White Rock Hotel at 11am-12.15pm, on a first come first served entry basis.
- Our Energy Group has met several times and has its next meeting on 30/7/15 at 7pm at Hastings Trust office at Silchester Mews, 17a Silchester Rd, St Leonards, TN38 0JB. All welcome.
- Next Core Group meeting is Monday 20/7/15 from 7-8pm at White Rock Hotel, and then from 8-9pm there will also be the first Local Economy Group meeting. Anyone welcome.
- Warrior Square Station Community Garden project. We have asked about the possibility of using the north side platform of St Leonards Warrior Square station for growing veg and flowers for the community.
Please get in touch if you want to get involved in any of the projects and activities.

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12th July 2015