This Blog is resting

Due to other commitments we are currently resting this blog, so there won’t be any new posts here for a while.

The usual BPEC services & information can still be found on our regular website www.bpec.org, or you can take a look at our Facebook page here

As well as all this we are still happy for you to give us a call or drop into the centre in Brighton. Contact details on our website as usual.

SIMPOL – Global People Power Through Open-Source Politics

All the way up the evolutionary ladder, unsustainable levels of competition challenge life forms to either adapt to reach species maturity, or die off as a failed experiment. Adaption means the creation of new, increasingly complex forms of co-operation. The most profound and topical example of this is that social and environmental problems are now global, requiring a global response, integrating the national and local response. For the first time ever, nature, human nature, is being forced to accept collective responsibility across borders and to organise and act for mutual benefit and for the good of the planet. We certainly have the means and technology to do so.

Presently, national politics isn’t functioning because all governments are threatened by global big business stating that tough regulation will mean jobs and money moving to other, more business-friendly countries. Therefore, demanding change, especially at the national level, is no longer enough on its own. We recognise that ‘international economic competition’ is the underlying problem restricting all governments from acting in the best interest of their citizens and the environment. On moral grounds, ‘international economic competition’ should no longer be accepted as the way things are. How else can or should international competition be overcome, other than by co-operative people power? Therefore global grassroots co-operation is the logical, moral and holistic response.

Close the door

Close the door against energy waste. A new national campaign gaining momentum.

A wealth of scientific evidence points to the link between our carbon dioxide emissions and rapid global climate change. To tackle this as a matter of urgency we are all urged to keep our CO2 output as low as possible and conserve energy within the home. Meanwhile, many stores and restaurants are wasting energy by keeping doors open at all times. Why should retail outlets get away with squandering large amounts of energy by heating the street in the winter and letting out air conditioning in the summer?

Close the Door, and this energy waste is ended immediately. By joining the Close the Door campaign, retailers can make a significant contribution to reducing their overall environmental footprint while lowering their own business costs.

Find out more here on the closethedoor website

Plastic bottles needed to make a GreenHouse

Elm Grove First School are planning to build a green house out of plastic drinks bottles. They need a few thousand 2-litre clear plastic drinks bottles before they can start, and so have asked us for help rounding them up. Can you donate some bottles to the cause (once they’ve been emptied of the sugary fizzy contents of course)?

Greenpeace article on Nuclear power

The following wise words come from an article published in the latest Greenpeace newsletter.

Some see nuclear power as an important ‘tool in the box’ to limit carbon emissions and stop climate change. It’s more like a spanner in the works. Nuclear power is inadequate, unnecessary as well as dangerous. It’s also a hugely expensive distraction from work to limit the impacts of climate change.

Can nuclear power stop climate change?
Much is made of nuclear power being essential for tacking climate change because it is CO2 free, but even at the most optimistic build rate, 10 new reactors by 2025, the UK’s carbon emissions would be cut by just four per cent. The UK has a binding target of a 34 per cent cut by 2020, meaning that new nuclear’s ability to help meet our obligations is tiny.

The Sustainable Christmas Guide

As the nights draw in, the fairy lights go up and the kids start scribbling their letters to Santa – it’s impossible to ignore that Christmas is a coming.

It’s easy to get caught up in the whirl of parties, presents, mulled wine and food. But many people end the holiday season questioning why it hasn’t quite measured up to their expectations. Where was the festive cheer and good will to all men? What happened to enjoying quality time with family or friends? Did we really spend that much? And where can we recycle the tree this year?

It’s definitely got us thinking at BPEC – so we’ve come up with our own Advent Calender, a check-list of 25 easy, practical things to do for a merry, peaceful and sustainable Christmas. Try a few of these and we reckon your Christmas will be a cracker!

How to have a more sustainable Christmas

Those folks at Life2 really do come up with some good ideas. Not content with offering us all a range of helpful practical leaflets on everything from ‘Surviving Modern Life’ to ‘How to Make the World Better’, they’re now running workshops too. After the amazing popularity of their ‘How to have a better Xmas’ book last year – they’re now offering a special one day workshop on how to do just that.

Richard Docwra, from Life2 said, “Xmas can be a special time, but many people think it has become too commercialised and has lost some of its meaning – a bit like life in the modern world generally.”

And the workshop?

“Will help people get in the Xmas spirit,” said Richard. “People will have a chance to explore some of the things that really add meaning and fun to our experience of Xmas – from spending time with people and getting some rest, to trying to waste less and value what we have more. We want people to come away with a range of practical ideas and tips to enable you to have a happy, wise and meaningful festive period!”

And why do we like the sound of all this? Because anything that helps people to have a more sustainable Christmas – for themselves, their families and the planet – sounds like a good thing to us.

The ‘How to have a better Xmas’ Workshop is running in Lewes, East Sussex, on Saturday November 27th from 11-5pm. You can find out more here.
Or download one of their ‘How to have better Xmas‘ books for FREE!

Are you doing your bit to slow Climate Change?

We know you are – so please tell us all about it. Our Climate Connections team – want to hear your stories. We’d love to sing the praises of local families, individuals and community groups, and tell everyone what you are doing on the ‘All we are missing is you…’ page of our website.

If you have a story to tell, why don’t you share it with us? Perhaps you’re growing your own food, either on an allotment or on your garden or balcony. Maybe you have decided to travel less by car and use more public transport or even cycle around town. It could be that you are more careful when using energy in your home or just worried about extreme weather conditions. Are you involved with a campaign?

We want to hear from you. Send your story and a photo to climateconnections@bpec.org or call us on 01273 766610, we’d love to hear more.

How would you like to exhibit your Environmental photography?

How would you like to exhibit your photographs in an international platform of world-class documentary photography?

FotoDocument is a new arts and education, not-for-profit social enterprise, and it wants your photos for its Fringe Documentary Project. They’re creating an online gallery of photographs highlighting environmental projects from around the world. So if you have photographs showing green initiatives which you feel are inspiring and would like people to know about, send them up to three photographs and they’ll be considered for the FotoDocument’s on-line picture grid.

FotoDocument have already selected nine photographers from seven different countries to produce photo essays which show working solutions to the problems associated with climate change and environmental degradation. Your photos could stand alongside theirs and promote a local project you think is worth shouting about. Find out more by visiting the FotoDocument website.

WIN A COACH TICKET AND TRAVEL THE ECO WAY TO GLASTONBURY 2011

Glastonbury festival tickets went on sale at the weekend and to mark the occasion Brighton Peace and Environment Centre are giving away a free coach ticket worth £40 from Brighton to Glastonbury festival 2011. For your chance to win go to http://www.bpec.org/glastonbury

With all that mud we can’t rely on the fields staying green, so make your festival experience a little greener by taking the eco-friendly coach to Glastonbury festival. Brighton Peace and Environment Centre will once again be running coaches direct from Brighton to the Festival. We’re teaming up with The Big Lemon who run their coaches on 100% locally sourced, recycled vegetable oil. It’s the greenest way to get to the festival by coach and it takes away the stress of driving, arriving and parking, so the festival can start in Brighton!

For more information please look at our website (www.bpec.org/glastonbury), phone 01273 766611 or email bpec.coaches@gmail.com