Join Transition Town Hastings and Energise Sussex Coast for an exciting evening featuring two writers with their eyes firmly fixed on climate change, the Anthropocene and, of course, language. Nicholas Royle and Alex Lockwood will be reading from their recently published books and will take questions around the topics discussed. The Beacon will also open their kitchen for a special vegan dinner that can be bought after when the conversation can continue.
See the event page for more details and a link to book tickets.
Gardening is a favorite pastime for many people, but it’s not just a hobby that yields pretty results; it’s also a great way to get in shape and improve your mental health at the same time.
Working in the sunshine, creating something beautiful that also has tangible rewards, and doing something physical after working in an office or other fairly inactive environment can have many benefits for your health, not the least of which is the fact that you get in a workout every time you go into the garden. Bending, kneeling, stretching, weeding, watering, planting, and reaping all take a measure of physical strength and endurance and allow you to work several muscle groups at once, which makes it a great activity for those living with arthritis or joint pain because you can customize your movements and only do as much as your body will let you.
Of course, having a garden also benefits the planet in many ways, so you really can’t go wrong. If you’ve never thought of yourself as someone with a green thumb, now may be the time to reconsider and get to planting. Here are some of the best benefits of having a garden and tending it.
Working outside in the sunshine gives you a boost of vitamin D, which has been shown in studies to help with stress, depression and other mood disorders. Gardening allows for plenty of fresh air while giving you the option to work only as hard as you want, so it can be done by just about anyone, regardless of their abilities or mobility concerns.
If you choose to plant edibles in your garden, pick things you know you’ll eat so that nothing goes to waste. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and peppers are all great options that are relatively easy to grow depending on your climate, and you can harvest quite a few of them. Think about foods that you can grow nearly year-round, as well; beans, broccoli, turnips, and squash are great choices for a fall harvest.
If you’re interested in year-round crops, you might also consider building a solar greenhouse that will help you keep your plants healthy and abundant during all kinds of weather. Make sure you have the space in your yard and check with the city to see if you need a permit to build.
Many people who garden report a positive boost in their mental health, especially people who spend a lot of time in an office setting or don’t get to work with their hands much. There’s something relaxing about working in the dirt and knowing which move comes next, spending time choosing the right plants and watching them grow under your care, and it can help boost your self-esteem, as well.
Seniors who garden are more likely to battle the risk of Alzheimer’s and other cognitive function disorders because the act of working outdoors and planting helps the brain stay active and vital. Not only that, but many studies have shown that people who work in the garden have a reduced risk of stroke.
Remember that gardening can include heavy lifting and other physical work, so ask for help if you need it. Always wear sunblock and wear light-colored layers of clothing in the summer to stay cool. Being prepared and careful will help you get the most benefits out of working in the dirt.
Maria Cannon © 2017
Projects
Garden:
Energy Group:
Chris connected with someone from Wave Energy – talked about wave machine on pier.
Possibility of a feasibility study for a scheme across Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. Approx cost of study is £10,000. Chris going to look into it more – connect with Richard and ESC! Think Chris will be attending the next Energy group meeting.
ACTION: Karen – add Chris to mailing list (DONE)
Packaging:
Karen explained the project we had in mind, starting with survey to assess the current situation with local food takeaway businesses
Possibility of affinity scheme to get a discount from eco packing companies with a mass order
Problems we came across were needing more people and support but also, what would happen to the packaging when disposed of? Compostable materials cannot go in landfill waste or recycling.
This lead to a discussion about food waste collection in Hastings and the petition to ESCC by the Green Party.
Should TTH partner with GP to help push this forward before pursuing the packaging project?
ACTION: Chris to send Karen info from Judy Scott (GP Secretary) about food waste petition and Karen to mail out to members
Ken mentioned the new sports complex proposed for Filsham Valley area – could this be a good place for an anaerobic digester?
ESCC contract with Kier has come to an end – good opportunity to push for alternative waste disposal?
Janice: unsure about what should happen to all the recycling – not always clear. Info from Veolia trip would be useful – FORGOT TO MENTION THERE IS SOME INFO ON THE TTH WEBSITE!
Events
AGM:
Energy Day:
Film Nights:
Other:
ACTION: Sherry to send info to core group
A.O.B
Ken – Ore CLT & Heart of Hastings CLT, Old Power Station Site in Ore Valley. Bill Dunster (eco housing guy) involved
Feasibility study to connect greenway from hastings station to Ore Valley (is this correct I can’t read Chris’ writing!?)
Old bathing pool site (west St Leonards) up for sale – perfect for a CLT – do we know anyone in that area? Encourage community in that area to set up a CLT. HBC have £200,000 sitting in the bank to be spent on CLT’s – already given money to HoH CLT and Ore CLT
ACTION: Karen speak to Mat and Tom and contact HBC to ask for an info pack on the site and send to Ken.
Discussion about Eco Pods for the homeless. Empty properties in Hastings
Sherry: Well-Being event this weekend. Looking for case studies of people being brought together in a positive way – HSR picnic? Felicity?
Summary of Actions
CHRIS P: send Karen info from Judy Scott about food waste campaign
KAREN: add Chris R to mailing list (done), mail out food waste petition info to members of this meeting & a Mailchimp to gather support, send out Hastings Debates promo to mailing list, speak to Mat & Tom about bathing pool site and contact HBC to request info pack
FELICITY: email Hastings Debates poster to Karen
SHERRY: send info about Quakers event to core team
Meeting Adjourned.
Next Meeting tbc.
Join us for our Big Happy Sun-day on Sunday 10th September 10am–4pm, outside the Stade Hall in Hastings Old Town. A day of family fun and celebration as we launch the 1066 Energy Campaign for Local Energy.
The jam packed day will include free interactive games for children such as solar boat making, cycle powered smoothies, toy car racing and our solar cinema! This will run alongside fun for all the family such as a morning salute to the sun yoga session, music, singing, massage, giveaways and more.
Transition Town Hastings is part of the group launching the 1066 Energy campaign for local energy to power the local economy.
Contact kate@energisesussexcoast.co.uk for more details or visit www.energisesussexcoast.co.uk
TTH Meeting July 26th 2017
Thanks to all the hard work of our volunteers the community garden at the station is flourishing. The sunflowers are starting to appear as well as Cosmos, Cornflowers, Honeysuckle and Lavender and much more. We’ve lost a few things to the wildlife but we’re more than happy to share! In fact we encourage the local residents to help themselves. Get down to the garden and see if there’s anything ready – courgettes are looking good…
A truly fascinating and educational morning was spent by 14 Transition Town Hastings folk at the Hollingdean Materials Recovery Facility in Brighton last week.
We found out they don’t actually recycle Hastings and Rother recycling waste – it goes to Crayford in Kent!
Before the sorting begins
We did get to see how they process all of Brighton’s recycling, as well as fly tipping and commercial waste and learn about what they do and don’t recycle.
They employ a team of people to sort waste as well as relying on machinery to filter out paper, steel and aluminium. Machines suck up paper and steel cans get pulled away by magnets. They mostly sell on paper, steel and aluminium made into large bails and sometimes shipped to China!
Seems we need more industries in the UK prepared to buy recycled materials to manufacture products. At present, more than 50% of materials recycled in the UK are exported and often manufactured into down-graded products – instead of becoming raw materials for UK industry.
According to our guide at Hollingdean many food companies are reluctant to use recycled plastics because of fears that people will not buy their products (like plastic milk bottles that look slightly grey).
Non recyclables collected at Hollingdean end up in the Newhaven Incinerator down the road where energy is generated and fed into the National Grid.
Also at Hollingdean and other Veolia sites they are working with a new (and secret) technology to recycle coffee cups.
We think every school pupil in the country should visit these sites to find out what really happens to our waste.
more “Transition Community Energy Group Meeting – 6th July 2017 minutes”
Following the Community Energy Fortnight speaker event, the relaunched transition community energy group met on 6th July at the White Rock Hotel. The meeting was on an appropriately beautiful sunny day in the White Rock hotel which overlooks the sea and generates some of its power with solar panels on the roof. In this spot, we couldn’t help but be inspired by the potential we have locally to use the energy of the sun, sea and wind to power our town.
The group concentrated on visioning what we would love to see in our local area, with ideas ranging from becoming ‘Silicon Seaside’ and encourage cutting edge renewable energy tech innovation to the local area, to becoming the first seaside town with a pier powered on renewable energy. Please take a look at the minutes to read the full list of ideas. We would love to hear your thoughts, feedback or any useful contacts. Even better we’d love to hear them in person at the next meeting!
The next meeting will be held on Thursday 10th August, 7:30pm – 9pm at the White Rock Hotel where we will be voting on our ideas and selecting a few to start progressing. The meeting is open to anyone that would like to get involved in community energy, or just learn a bit more. More ideas can be added to the list so please get in contact if you’d like to add anything and come along to the meeting. If you are thinking about getting involved then please do! This is an exciting time in the world of community energy and there’s so much potential in Hastings and St Leonards for interesting projects which really make a difference.
For more information please email kate@energisesussexcoast.co.uk