Vale of Evesham WEN

The End!...

2009-10-30T20:07:00.004Z

With Samhain tomorrow it seems like a good time to be saying that on our 2nd birthday we have come to an end! We've had a lot of fun, learnt loads and inspired each other but the time has come to say farewell to Evesham WEN. Thank you to everyone who has supported the group at any time over the 2 years! There simply isn't enough interest in the area to sustain the group any longer. But it is not as sad as that! We are all moving on to exciting pastures new...good luck to us all in our new ventures...may they be happy and green and beautifully fruitful!

Brightest Blessings and Happy (Celtic) New Year,
Deborah x

Big Green Bus and Save the Bees!

2009-10-19T20:51:00.004+01:00

A huge thank you to Becky for organising a wonderful visit from Brigit Strawbridge and her Big Green Bus. We learnt so much about green issues and sustainability throughout the day I can't possibly cover it all here! But, we will be discussing some of the ideas at our meeting in October.

For the meantime please do check out Brigit's site: http://www.thebiggreenidea.org/
And in particular her lovely blog about the day: http://www.thebiggreenidea.org/blog/a-day-full-of-workshops/

Sign a petition to save the bees at the Soil Association too: SAVE THE BEES

Liv Photographic Exhibition - Fairtrade in the Frame

2009-08-29T20:50:00.003+01:00

I went along to this lovely exhibition at The Art House Cafe in Worcester, which is there unti Sep 9th I think, if you fancy it! Photographs show workers in India in the organic cotton industry with little snippets about them under the photos. Personally I would have liked a bit more of that written info but the photos are fun and the ethical point behind it all is grand. Let's all go organic fairtrade! It's to promote the new organic clothes/homeware range from Liv. Never mind a particular brand, I'm just glad organic cotton is getting some attention! Check it out x

PS - we had to cancel the August meet but fear not we are all jumping aboard the eco bus in September (yey!) and joining Brigit Strawbridge and her Big Green Idea but we'll be back at our old haunt in October... hope to see you then x

More money off codes

2009-08-09T09:31:00.003+01:00

Ok shoppers....just for you

www.amarya.co.uk (beauty stuff), £15 off when you spend over £35 (code GP6A15), offer ends 30.9.09

www.pinkrobin.co.uk (eco menstrual stuff), 5%, code Green

www.celtic-herbal.co.uk (soaps), free sample soap quote code GPJ08

www.e-nat.co.uk (soy candles, soap, skincare), 10% off "Parent"

ok ok, I know, but...

2009-08-09T09:28:00.001+01:00

If only all eco men were as lovely as this man.....

sorry, just had to find this just for you, Deborah :)

Mr James Strawbridge

Oh My Goth!

2009-08-07T12:38:00.002+01:00

It works! It's eco non-toxic happy juju! And it's black!!

www.toxicfreeboutique.com

Say no more :)

Earn money for WEN

2009-07-31T04:21:00.002+01:00

WEN is desperately short of funds currently. You can raise some cash ifyou are shopping online by clicking through (or referencing WEN) when you purchase from selected retailers (including John Lewis, natural collection, )visionary soap, lovelula etc)

See link below
http://www.wen.org.uk/general_pages/links_prods.htm

donations can also be made direct to WEN using their secure link :)

July Meeting!

2009-07-29T19:55:00.003+01:00

Thanks to Becky and Hannah for a lovely meeting! We discussed some fund raising ideas, including a possible eco-fair and eco-newsletter as well as our progress with getting donation tins out into a cafe and hairdressers. We had a read of our Vale mag article - out to the public in August - look out for it!

After getting very excited about the eco information and goodies on offer at Brigit Strawbridge's Big Green Bus this September (email for details, places still available on 26th Sep in Pebworth) we went over our next move on the war against excess packaging. Becky is going to have a go at being an eco warrior pain in the butt in M&S offloading her excess packaging at the till - depending on how it goes we may follow up with a letter and/or a larger protest.

The latest energy saving tips from our 3 Tonne Club are:
Change your print margins and get more on a page!
Cook Pasta without the gas! (boil the water then leave it to cook in the saucepan with the lid on)

That's all for now....x

Eco Kettle

2009-07-29T07:25:00.004+01:00

Eco Kettle - can be found at www.ecokettle.com, priced usually from £29.99 (can be found at all good eco shopping sites).

Rating: 3.5/5

Likes: You boil no more than the required cups of tea; fast boiling; clean design where the kettle is fully portable from the base.

Dislikes: If you want to make a large pot of tea, you need to fill it through the spout to get a "full kettle"; can "splash back" when finished pouring a just boiling cuppa.

We bought this as a replacement for our old kettle. It is great for everyday use, as you really only do make the number of cups of boiled water that you need. It falls down a bit if wanting to make more than 4/5 cups though.

The kettle works on a two chamber system, you fill up the main chamber with water from the tap and then allow water to be transfered into the boiling chamber by pressing the blue pump at the top. Water boils very quickly, so your single cup of boiled water is quickly made.

Worth a look if you want a simple, everyday kettle. Not recommended for offices where lots of cups of tea are made at each sitting.

Fabulous cafe for vegans, coelics etc

2009-07-21T07:39:00.003+01:00

Found this through a bookcrossing link....looks really cool. Cafe & shop.

http://www.foodallergyshop.co.uk

Am going to try it soon

Becks

Not in June but in July!

2009-07-17T12:50:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately we had to cancel June's meet but fear not we will be back! Look out for us in the August Vale Mag (it is going in this time)! And see us on July 28th at the Fleece at 7.30pm....we'll be talking packaging, tampon ads, big green bus and more! xx

May Meeting

2009-05-28T23:06:00.002+01:00

I reported back on the eco fayre - we've made a connection with Transition Vale - since we have some ideas in common. From our stall we got 5 people interested in coming along.

We played the energy game - putting appliances in order of energy used - and getting it all wrong! Did you know 6 100w light bulbs on for 4 hours would use 2.4Kwh whereas 6 low energy bulbs on for 5 hours would use just 0.3Kwh?!

WEN had sent us three campaign leaflets - careful beauty, which I've already blogged on, Tescopoly (if you want a postcard to send to your MP let me know - it's about supermarket trading rules) and the Climate March in London, which I hope to attend.

We agreed that we would liek to do some work on waste and packaging - we are considering this for next time.

Thanks to Becky's Mum for coming along and for pledging to switch to low energy light bulbs!

Sorry that's all a bit brief! Email me for any further info! Next meeting June 30th! See you then xx

Brigit Strawbridge's Big Green Idea - BUS

2009-05-25T21:19:00.004+01:00

Brigit Strawbridge will be bringing her Big Green Bus to the Evesham area in September. The bus will be parked in Pebworth (10 mins outside of Evesham) to host a Sustainability Day on Saturday 26th September. Tickets will be £45 and must be booked in advance.

If anyone wants more information or wishes to buy a ticket please contact me (Rebecca) by emailing me here or calling me on 01789 721815. The bus can host about 15 people and the event will be 10-5 on the day.

Tampons & The Ecologist

2009-05-25T21:16:00.002+01:00

Found something about tampons on the Ecologist website, it is a couple of years old, but relevant all the same, and I didn't see this article first time around.
Visit the link here http://www.theecologist.org/pages/archive_detail.asp?content_id=1137

Interviews and Eco Fairs!

2009-05-19T08:53:00.006+01:00

I've now been interviewed by the Vale Magazine about our group so fingers crossed we'll have a little feature in the June edition....watch this space...

The Eco Fair went reasonably well - it started off very busy but numbers dwindled after lunch. We've had some people sign up for more information so hopefully we'll see some new faces at the next meeting. Above is a picture of myself, Paula and little Meg at the stall.

Bye for now,
Debs x

April Meeting - Preparing for the Eco Fair

2009-05-02T17:14:00.002+01:00

Happy May!

We spent Tuesday's meeting preparing for the Eco Fair stall we are holding in May. Thanks to WEN we have some wonderful literature on each of the campaigns, which is laminated and ready to display. The generic WEN leaflets have no information about our local group, so we decided to create a flyer to insert into each one. See below! We've also created a couple of posters that have a bit more detail than the standard WEN logo one we already had.

The Fair is on May 16 at Evesham Methodist Church form 10.30am-3.00pm. I will be there all day. Cindy is coming to help out over lunch and Rich, P and Meg are coming early afternoon. If anyone else can help out please do get in touch! Thanks.

Our Flyer:
Vale of Evesham WEN

A friendly, local, environmental group affiliated to WEN.

www.eveshamwen.blogspot.com
Our blog is open to all, so you can join in even if you can’t attend the meetings.

We usually meet at The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, on the last Tuesday of each month for a relaxed and informal discussion.

Everyone is welcome - if you’re interested in environmental issues or just want to find out more.

We cover a variety of topics including:

Climate Change
Eco Cleaning
Deforestation
Real Nappies
Healthy Food
Cosmetics
Environmenstruation
And many more!

Next meeting:
Tue May 24th @ The Fleece Inn, Bretforton 7.30pm
Topics: Energy saving and Packaging!

Contact deborahmay@hotmail.co.uk
for further details.

Visit www.wen.org.uk for general information about WEN or see above for our local group blog.

March Meeting - The Weigh In! And Good News for Getting "Out There!"

2009-03-31T20:59:00.006+01:00

Hey Folks,

We weighed in tonight and so far we weigh 20.6 tonnes! If that were for 7 of us we'd be sustainable, as it's for just 2 we've some work to do! Those that haven't weighed yet can do so next time by bringing along gas/electric/oil use in KWh per year, car miles per year, hours flying per year and answering some simple questions about food and consumer goods.

Springing into Life:
Fabulous news alert! There is going to be an ECO FAIR at Evesham Methodist Church on Saturday May 16th at which we have a stall! Yey! We'll be discussing the stall and how to promote ourselves at the April meeting. But there's more! Oh, yes! The Cotswold and Vale Magazine have agreed to run a feature on us in their June issue! Whipppeee!
New Monthly Activity! Thanks to Paula's lovely idea we are now running a monthly "Marks out of Ten"! Each group member will trial and rate something eco. This month Becky will be testing an eco home made microwave cleaner, I'll be inspecting an "ecoletric" kettle and the rest of you are yet to choose...watch this space as everyone will report back on the blog. This is a neat little way of keeping everyone involved even when they can't attend. If you would like to be assigned a 'Marks out of Ten' topic then just drop me an email - I have suggestions a plenty thanks to an article P spotted.

WWF Earth Hour - Three of us took part and we hope those in 'power' paid attention to the international statement that was made, in darkness!

G20 - We're sceptical anything useful regarding the environment will actually be achieved but hope the weight of protests will convey further messages about what we folks want!

We decided to decline WEN's kind offer of sending Tina up to chat about The Three Tonne Club due to our uncertain and limited size! We look forward to the WEN group newsletter which will feature our group!

Overall everything's looking positive! Lot's of opportunities to get "out there" and potentially expand our group and our activities.

See you next month...
Deborah x

Cunt Conscious!

2009-03-22T20:33:00.001Z

Just a quickie - I've finished my website at last (again) - it's back to a small but powerful collection of ideas to get the message of positive menstrual experience and eco feminism out there. Any thoughts you have are most welcome! www.cuntconscious.co.uk

Thanks! x

Friends of the Earth Launch Food Chain Campaign

2009-03-14T17:53:00.003Z

Friends of the Earth are launching a new "food chain" campaign focusing on the meat and dairy farming industry. They are raising issues such as the vast amount of deforestation brought about by the huge amounts of crops like soy needed to feed the animals involved. As well as asking for donations to kick start the campaign they are calling on people to contact their MPs requesting they sign an Early Day Motion about the problems. Visit http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/news/food_chain_appeal_19284.html to take part! x

Age of Stupid Film and Not Stupid Campaign

2009-03-08T14:30:00.003Z

Here'a a note from WEN re. this very exciting project:

Live on the Internet. Free, live webstream at
www.ageofstupid.net/premiere_webstream
or in Second Life at www.oneclimate.net/stupid_premiere
Not Stupid and Copenhagen. All profits from the premiere will go to the new
Not Stupid climate action campaign, which Pete Postlethwaite will launch by
starting a giant countdown
marking the remaining days, hours & minutes till the Copenhagen Climate
Summit in December. Copenhagen is being called “The most important meeting
in human history” as it is where the successor to the Kyoto Treaty will be
finalised. Not Stupid is supported by all the key climate NGOs, including
Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Stop Climate Chaos. The ambitious aim
is to turn 250 million viewers of the film into climate activists, all
focused on Copenhagen.
Donations are most welcome and can be made at www.ageofstupid.net/donate

WEN's New Careful Beauty List and Raw Gaia

2009-03-08T14:25:00.003Z

Good Afternoon!

WEN have got their updated list of beauty product suppliers that they have checked out on their website. It shows who sells the goodies free from the baddies so it's well worth a look!

Also, my lovely brother and family got me a yummy bath melt and Fairtrade bracelet from Raw Gaia for my birthday. Not on WEN's list yet but as far as I can see infallible in terms of ingredients and ethics I'd recommend them for a visit!

Three Tonne Handbook - Feb Meeting

2009-02-25T14:01:00.003Z

We're all going to get our carbon footprints, add them together and then try to reduce our group print. So please visit Act on CO2 and calculate your print for next time.

Each month we are going to try to do one small thing. This month Paula is going to start using the cold tap to swill her pans instead of the hot. I am going to try to make less trips in the car. What are you going to try?

Next month we'll look in more detail at the handbook and how we can get more people involved.

Eco Gadgets - Free Loader - Feb Meeting

2009-02-25T13:52:00.006Z

Richard has very kindly volunteered to do an eco-gadget slot for us and this month he talked about the Free Loader, a solar powered charging device. With multiple adaptors for mobile phones, MP3 players, PDAs, cameras, sat navs and PSPs, it is a highly portable universal charger. It even comes in pink!

After demonstrating the product on his phone Rich shared his sums with us. There are 550 million mobile phone users worldwide and assuming everyone charges their phone for 16 hours a week, if we all swapped to solar charging we would cut our carbon emissions globally by 715,000 tonnes a year!

And for a funky fact - solar power was discovered by a 19 year old lad in 1839! Rich is going to keep us posted with the latest developments...

Sisters on the Planet - Feb Meeting

2009-02-25T13:43:00.004Z

We watched the Oxfam Sisters on the Planet DVD, which tells the stories of four women fighting for positive change in relation to climate change. We would recommend it to anyone and everyone!

The DVD brought home the idea of climate change as a gendered issue. Why? Because women are affected differently, and often more acutely, by climate change due to existing inequalities and ways of life. For example, in many poor countries it is the women who have to collect water and fuel. In drought their journeys can be increased to extreme distances. In floods it is the women who have to care for the children and the sick. As women are more likely than men to be in poverty they are more vulnerable to natural disasters and have less resources to recover quickly.

Like so many environmental issues, climate change affects the genders differently and therefore it requires an approach that considers this. We'd like to spread the word. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 - Feb meeting

2009-02-25T13:28:00.009Z

I'm doing a few separate posts for last night's meeting as we covered a variety of topics and it makes it easier for archiving the posts if they are divided by topic!

As you can see we enjoyed a range of fairtrade goodies, the shortbread being certified yummy by food expert Meg and the wine commended by a nurse who'd had a very hard day!

Because buying fairtrade isn't always an option for those on low incomes we also looked at actions that can be taken to improve trade generally. Friends of the Earth have a number of trade related actions of their site. Click here to take part.

February Meeting Arranged!

2009-02-17T20:05:00.003Z

Please email me at deborahmay@hotmail.co.uk for the address of the February meeting; the Three Tonne Handbook Launch for us - it's at Rich and P's house (and I don't want to put their address on the world wide web!) at 7.30pm on Tues Feb 24th. Hope to see you all there - it's going to be a good one! :)

Fantastic February!

2009-02-16T13:28:00.002Z

Hi Everyone!

We had just a little meet in January, in which we decided to go ahead with joining WEN's Three Tonne Club and lowering our carbon footprint. Our launch will be at the end of this month, on Tuesday 24th February 2009. We will watch Oxfam's Sister's of the Planet DVD and since it is also Fairtrade Fortnight we will do a Fairtrade Quiz. In our March meeting we will get stuck into the details of the Three Tonne Club Handbook.

Please invite anyone you think my be interested in the DVD, they don't have to become regulars! I hope to confirm the venue later this week. Stay tuned!

Deborah

Fairtrade Fortnight Dates

2009-01-25T12:48:00.004Z

Note sure if anything is happening around here, but thought it was worth a mention

23 Feb - 8 March Fairtrade Fortnight (visit www.fairtrade.org.uk for details of events)

Brigit Strawbridge's Big Green Idea

2009-01-23T10:29:00.002Z

Hi, I met Brigit a couple of years ago in Evesham when she supported the local real nappy campaign (and the rather gross pile of black bags with "used" disposable nappies on them). She is an absolutely lovely lady and very passionate about the environment.

Take a look at her latest venture at www.biggreenidea.org, which is a bus run on biofuel trying to give out info on "being green". It is an environmental charity, but she is based in Malvern and Worcestershire CC is being supportive.

I have asked her to let me know if and when they do events and if they need volunteers to let me know. If anyone else fancies helping out (and Brigit needs us!), I can let you know.

See you all next week

NEWS & Did Anyone Else Get Mad?

2008-12-03T17:28:00.008Z

NEWS - Our top 5 Eco Winter Festivities Tips have been published on the main WEN local groups blog.

Hey Folks,

Did anyone else read the 'Health and Beauty' article in last week's Evesham and Cotswold Observer (Week 48)? Did it make anyone else mad?

I wrote to the Editor (see below) and he replied (see below) but evidently chose not to publish my complaint in the letter's section this week! Bah! Anyway, let me know what you thought of what was for me, a rage inducing piece of craziness....honestly re-read it, it was quite brutal!

Letter to the Editor:

What on earth were you thinking with your so-called ‘Winter Health and Beauty’ article? It was not signposted as an advertisement feature yet it was clearly aimed at getting women to spend more on “beauty”. It should have been called ‘Target Women! – you are ugly and fat and must spend money to conform to unrealistic media driven standards of physical appearance.’ Or perhaps that would not be catchy enough.

What angers me the most is that in your section on ‘weight’ in which you refrained from picturing a (slim and white) woman, as you had in the other articles, you still targeted a strictly female audience. I quote, ‘consider a female-only exercise environment.’ Now, the last time I looked there were plenty of overweight men out there. Why do you think it is acceptable to assume that women should worry about their physical appearance to this extent while men do not?

For your information, I, a woman, do not look ‘tired, dull and bloated’, nor do I wish to look, ‘fresh, vibrant and glowing.’ Should I choose to use anything on my skin or hair I'll use homemade or carefully selected paraben and phthalate free products rather than toxin loaded junk. If I want ‘that second helping of treacle pudding and custard’ I’ll have it.

Last weekend I joined 2,000 other women marching through London to Reclaim the Night. It was a protest about violence against women and the appalling rape conviction rate in the UK of just 5.29% of reported cases. I carried a banner that read, ‘Object – women not sex objects.’ Think about that. Please.

Deborah May

Evesham Women's Environmental Network Co-ordinator

And the response:

Hi Deborah

I cannot comment too much because that particular article was part of our Christmas times supplement put together by our sales team, and the journalists had no involvement in writing the edit you refer to.

Clearly as you indicate it was a sales driven feature, and as regards it not having advertising feature or something similar on it to make that clear, then I will take your suggestion and the other comments you have made and pass them onto my superiors to consider in future.

Many thanks for getting in touch.

Kind Regards

Ian

Ian Dipple

Editor

Evesham and Cotswolds Observer

Eco/Ethical Winter Festivities (November Meeting)

2008-11-25T22:03:00.009Z

Here's our top five tips from tonight's meeting:

Buy Local and Organic Food where possible; concentrate on quality rather than quantity (it seems a very common problem to buy too much food at this time of year)! Plus it is much healthier and cheaper if you bake your own mince pies etc., than to buy the pre-pack stuff.

Make Your Own Gifts that are eco, personal and fun. For example, making herbal oat bath sachets out of muslin and ribbon, which can be washed after use and remade. Most importantly when gift buying make sure your gift is tailored to the person and won't end up in landfill by January! If in doubt go for a charity gift or voucher.

Go Natural with Decorations like holly, ivy, mistletoe and evergreen boughs on picture frames. Use icing sugar coated pinecones, dried leaves and berries for table decoration. Try making your own vegetable wax candles. Use oranges with cloves or dried orange segments for the tree. Get the kids involved with old cereal boxes, egg boxes and recycled foil!

Save Energy with LED Lights, which also last a long time, and remember to turn off the lights when you go out and when you go to bed.

Recycle Wrapping Paper and Cards year after year. For example, buy recycled brown paper and pretty ribbon, avoiding the need for tape altogether and then use the same stuff year after year! Use last year's cards to make this year's gift tags or even as part of your own home-made cards. Try gift bags that can be used time and again.

Here's some more ideas and some useful links:

FOOD: Everyone is used to eating xmas left-overs, why not take the opportunity to make these thrifty meals a year round habit?

Try an easy nut and vegetable roast from the Vegetarian Society or a vegan gluten free one from the Vegan Society.

Right: House rabbits Brussel and Sprout enjoy the benefits of a tasty vegetarian xmas dinner.

Think about packaging, if you must by sweets go for tins you can use for cakes, but unpackaged fruit and nuts is better!

If you want napkins at the dinner table get some washable ones rather than the paper disposables.

Make your own beer, wine or lemonade!

DECORATIONS: As well as the suggestions above, try gingerbread for hanging on the tree, cinnamon sticks in bunches, decorated teasels and seed pods, stars made from birch or willow twigs, miniature knitted stockings or upside down egg carton pods made into bells!

Buy a local Xmas Tree or even grow your own.

Recycle your tree after Xmas - this is a link to Wychavon's schemes.

If you want to make your own veg wax candles the soap kitchen have the supplies! Instruction books are available second hand online from as little as 1p and in Worcestershire libraries.

GIFTS AND CARDS: E-cards are an easy eco option. For example WEN ecards and FOE ecards.

Charity recycled cards are also a good option. Try WWF cards or Amnesty International cards.

Recycled and eco paper is available with the Natural Collection. If you buy standard paper consider how well it will recycle (cheap thin paper does not recycle well and metallic paper is a no go).

When purchasing gifts consider the packaging, the quality and how long it will last. Consider buying second hand.

It's a great opportunity to convert people to green thinking - buy a green gift and plant a green seed in someone's mind! Here are just a few eco/ethical/fairtrade/recycled/charity gift ideas:
Natural Collection, Amnesty International Shop, Oxfam Unwrapped, Visionary Soap Company.

Traidcraft have loads of fair trade gifts, decorations, cards, paper etc.

Forget gifts and throw a party instead if you fancy it!

If you receive gifts you don't want then charity shop them, ebay them or Freecycle them but don't chuck them!

NOVEMBER NEWS - Natural Collection have launched an 'exciting eco space where it's free to swap, sell, give away, recycle and share ideas with like-minded people.' Check it out at www.ooffoo.com and tell us what you think!

For next time...we might be trying to get on board with WEN's Three Tonne Club. For more information or to order a handbook visit the WEN Three Tonne Club Order Form.

That's it for meetings until the end of January now but there'll be more on the blog before then, including pictures of my attempts at eco decorations...

We Reclaimed the (Cold) Night...

2008-11-23T17:51:00.020Z

Freya and I embraced the cold night air and joined the 'Reclaim the Night' protest march through London yesterday. We had a lot of fun despite the serious reasons behind the demonstration - violence against women and the appalling statistic that less than 6% of rapes reported to the police in the UK result in a conviction. But what's that got to do with WEN? Everything, in my opinion....

Okay, so WEN London have no official links to the march but I sure do. Men accused of rape have an almost 95% chance of not being convicted. To me, that's like we're saying, as a society, it's okay guys, go ahead. Violence against women is so commonplace it's not deemed newsworthy (I haven't even been able to find any articles about the march in mainstream media except for a traffic warning on channel four because of the roads that were closed for us).

We see things in terms of dualisms and so we set up a hierarchy that denies the reliance of those things that are dominant on those things that are oppressed. Men are supposedly opposite and above women in the same way that culture/reason/humanity are placed above non-human nature. This patriarchal hierarchy imposes the same oppressive dualism on issues such as race, sexuality and class.

Women are viewed as sex objects to be used by men for pleasure or procreation in the same way that the natural world is viewed as a passive resource to be consumed in any way we like. It is no coincidence that we speak of 'raping' the earth - sexual violence against women and the plundering and despoiling of the earth come from the same patriarchal hierarchical system.

So, as we reclaim the night for women we must also reclaim life for the earth and for oppressed peoples around the world.

Special thanks to Bob for meeting us in London and supporting the march as long as he could! Let's not fall into the trap of dualistic thinking - men are not the enemy and they need to reclaim their proper roles as equals and friends to women as much as women need to reclaim their bodies and rights to safety.

Deborah

PS - Don't forget we meet this Tuesday to discuss eco and ethcial Winter celebrations!

Happy Birthday To Us!!! Yey!!

2008-10-28T22:26:00.009Z

No one made it to the pub tonight so undeterred I went in search of new recruits to boost our numbers and I found one young lady who was very happy to join and to celebrate our 1st birthday! Say hello to Megan everyone! And her Mum, Paula, and me with cakes!

Below is a sort of hand-out for tonight, on what we've covered in our first year and some ideas for what to do next. I know it's difficult to make it every month folks but the main thing is we're still going one year on and that's cause to celebrate! Yey!

Please let me know what you think of my suggestions. Paula, Meg and Rich have already kindly offered to host a meeting at their house next year, maybe with wine and a recipe exchange! I can host film nights too once WEN set that up so there are lots of possibilities for growth over the coming year!

Happy 1^st Birthday,

Evesham WEN!

Yey! We did it!

A big thank-you to everyone who has come along, to WEN for their support and resources and to Nigel and Jenny at the Fleece Inn!

I first started Evesham WEN in October 2007 with two other women who were interested in the environment. After that first get-together we made arrangements with The Fleece for a venue and put ads in the local papers.

Our first meeting open to the public in November was a total non-starter with no one showing up at all! A little disheartened but not discouraged we waited for the Christmas craziness to pass and tried again in January, with success! Since then our membership has waxed and waned, we have covered a range of topics, campaigned on some key issues and mostly importantly we’ve kept going!

Here’s a re-cap and a celebration of our first year:

Topics Covered

Environmenstruation

(I’m always banging on about it, see www.cuntconscious.co.uk )

Real Nappies (Feb) - Contact Becky for more information or visit www.cottoncherub.com

Veganism (Feb)

Chemicals in Make-up and Toiletries (Mar)

Low-carbon Technology (Apr)

Ethical Fashion and Cotton Production (May)

Eco Cleaning and EMFs (July)

Waste and Recycling (Sep)

Campaigns:

Tescopoly Letter Campaign – we got a thank you for taking part and we should hear more about these food production campaigns in the future.

I Count Climate Change Bill Campaign – wrote to and met with Peter Luff MP and got his signature – SUCCESS!

Greenpeace Unilever Sustainable Palm Oil Email Campaign – Unilever agreed to start sustainable sourcing - SUCCESS!

Re-usable Sanpro EDM – wrote to Peter Luff MP – he will not sign it. Fear not, I shall continue to shout about eco options until all the cows come home with washable pads on.

Our Blog:

www.eveshamwen.blogspot.com is up and running with our very own Green Directory and coming soon an archive of our old meetings and all the topics covered. Anyone can post on the blog on any topic they like!

So, what next?

There are four things all regular attendees put top of the list (on the original questionnaires) – Climate Change, Waste/Recycling, Chemicals in Cosmetics/Toiletries and Organic/Local Food. I have some suggestions but I hope you will tell me what you want to do!

Climate: Biofuels seem to be getting pushed as a solution to carbon emissions – they’re not as green as they first appear – perhaps we should look in detail at all the issues involved and then think about a letter writing campaign if applicable.

Green Energy will be the next hot topic I think, once the Climate Bill goes through. Nuclear power is going to be creeping onto certain agendas; I know I don’t like that but how about you?

Waste: We’ve looked at waste from our point of view but what about looking at what we can do to pressure the producers to cut waste at their end?

Chemicals in Cosmetics: WEN should be providing more information on homemade cosmetics soon – I feel a messy workshop coming on!

Food: Perhaps we could extend our Green Directory to include a Local Directory, especially focused on where to source good quality ingredients. Perhaps a recipe exchange would be good to set up. WEN are doing a lot of work in inner cities to grow organic veg, we’re lucky to have easy access to fresh veggies here, but that’s my opinion, what do you think? And if someone can tell me how to get those creepies off my purple sprouting without killing them please do!!

WEN will be providing us with films soon too, so perhaps we could have a couple of film nights…bring on the pop corn!

Please let me know what you like and what you don’t like about the group, what you want to do going forward etc.

Obviously we are only a small group with many other commitments that limit the time we can spend on campaigns but I believe we can still make a difference.

For now, I thought we could celebrate by taking away Hugh’s lovely Beetroot Brownie recipe and sharing some of our eco enthusiasm with everyone at home. Our next meeting is on Tuesday November 25^th and our topic for discussion is ‘Ethical/Eco Christmas/Winter Solstice’. It’s a free for all so bring along any and all ideas! There won’t be a meeting in December for obvious reasons!

In the meantime,

Happy Birthday WEN Evesham

Happy Halloween/Samhain

and Happy Brownies!

Mmm, brownies….. (I’ve tried this with spelt flour and soya spread for my own wheat-free dairy-free requirements and it works but I don’t know if it works with an egg substitute for the vegans…let me know!)

BROWNIES LINK HERE!!

September's Meeting - Waste and Recycling

2008-10-02T17:25:00.004+01:00

Hi Everyone,

Sadly we were only two on Tuesday night, but we got through a fair bit on waste and recycling so I'm going to put some useful links up here shortly with addresses for recycling odd bits like PCs, batteries and bicycles. We looked at some very convincing stats on why recycling needs to be done and why it is so much better than producing stuff from scratch. Again, I'll get the info up here soon.

I've still not got all the info from older meetings up but I'm in the process of sticking it on my own website so I may just link to that when it's all done - I'll let you know. On to next time - which is our first anniversary! There's not been enough interest in the poetry, so maybe we'll do that at a later stage. For now we're going to celebrate with goodies at our anniversary meeting! Please bring something to (discretely) share! Cake or choccies perhaps? - I'll hopefully get my peanut butter vegan flapjacks ready! I'll take some pics and send them off to WEN's group newsletter, 'Women's Eye' with a write up about what we've done this year. As for our topic next month will be a free for all and a re-cap on the issues most important to us and why women and the environment need a voice.

Hoping to see everyone on October 28th!
Debs xx

Less Meat?

2008-09-07T11:05:00.004+01:00

This news story may be of interest, since we have often discussed the implications of the high consumption of meat in the UK.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7600005.stm
I'm a bit freaked out by the part about genetically engineered cows that fart less. Is it just me or is the obvious solution to eat less meat (or no meat, depending on your preference) rather than spend money and time playing with poor cows? It's not just about emissions after all, there are issues of land usage, deforestation, health etc.
What do you think?

Let's Celebrate!

2008-09-01T18:37:00.004+01:00

Hi Everyone,

Did you know the group actually started in October 2007 with 3 of us in a house?! Well, it did! So I thought it would be a good idea to celebrate our first anniversary this coming October. What do you think?

If we could do something fun and raise some money for WEN at the same time that would be great. We couldn't have got started without their support and resources and it would be ace to be able to give something back. Here's my suggestion - A celebration of women's poetry to celebrate our anniversary, at the Fleece Inn (I could ask for use of the Barn - I think I can get it for free). I thought we could have women read their own poetry and that of their favourite published female authors. I could get it in the paper, spread the word, charge a couple of quid on the door. What are your thoughts? Do you have other suggestions?

Freya and I are part of a writers' group so we should be able to get people to do the reading.
And Nigel runs other poetry and literature events at the Fleece so I think there are people interested in that kind of thing. Let me know your thoughts, folks.... x

Reclaim the Night! And other events...

2008-08-26T13:26:00.003+01:00

Hi!

First off, I am writing to say sorry for any of you who got a email from Blogger Support subject 'Blogger Account Information' that was my fault. I forgot my password, and it then said it was sending a email to everyone on the Blog! Sorry, please ignore it! Anyway, the real reason I am posting is to see if any of you are interest in going to two events in London, though there are more about feminist than green issues - but I thought I would put the info up and see you interested in coming?

The first is called 'Reclaim the Night' which takes place on the 22 Novmeber is about protesting violence against women (a fantastic cause) - here a link with more info http://www.ldnfeministnetwork.ik.com/p_RTN2008.ikml.
The other is a one-day conference in London on the 11 October - only £3 and has workshops, speakers and even a comedy night - http://www.fil.btik.com/p_Home.ikml

Hope it is of some interest...

Discounts

2008-08-06T19:50:00.003+01:00

everyone needs to save money, here are some "green" money off/discount codes I have found in my various magazines...
www.lovecow.co.uk (clothing, organic, 10% discount "lovecow"). Seemingly no end date
www.howonearth.co.uk (ethical skincare, 10% discount "HEALTHY", ends 30/9/08)
www.goodnessdirect.co.uk (groceries, lots of stuff, 20% off first order "32233LL5" ends 30/10/08)
www.100percentnature.co.uk (natural & organic pharmacy, 10%, "LIV02")

Hope that helps, will post again soon

WEN Evesham Online Video Collection

2008-08-02T12:11:00.001+01:00

Back in December, I set up this video account on Vodpod. I have added a few video up there mostly to do the deforestation and the ice storms in Montreal (as I was writing about them both at the time.) Do feel free to login and add videos...

Link - http://vodpod.com/site/login

Account Name - WEN Evesham Online Video Collection

Email - freya_howard@hotmail.com

Password - environmental

POD Name - helewise's vidoes

I think you can also login as a new member, and then search for WEN Evesham and it will get you the same site. Enjoy!!

PS. Well Done Deborah, this blog is a great idea!

Twist Sponges

2008-08-02T07:38:00.000+01:00

Found the twist sponges available in the UK....

http://www.guardianecostore.co.uk/guardian/group.aspx?topGroup=137&subCat=94

Hope this helps

Books from Worcestershire Library

2008-08-01T22:33:00.003+01:00

Some of the recommended books I have found in the Worcestershire library system.....

Recycling; The Essential Guide, intro by Lucy Siegle (very good book detailing energy saved, the importance of sorting out, where it all goes, the recycling processes etc).

A Life Stripped Bare: My year tring to live ethically, by Leo Hickman, amusing, fluffy book on reducing our consumer impact on the world. Easy to read at night or in the bath!

Eco Chic by Matilda Lee, organic, fairtrade, recycling etc of clothes - gets a bit lost in the middle but great for some key points and new websites to peruse!

Jamie at Home, by jamie Oliver, yes really, excellent beginners guide to gardening, simple enough to inspire, esp with recipes and he even lists good types of seeds to go for (well, all of mine grew this year, last year, very little happened!!)

Climate Change Begins at Home by Dave Reay. A must! Ignore the dodgy photo on the front this is a positive book!

Tescopoly by Andrew Simms (oohmy, you will never buy a thing from Tesco ever again! Well, you do eventually, but it is a real shock to the system. Great read, I loved it).

Currently reading Easy Eco Auditing by D McCarthy and How to Reduce your carbon footprint by J Yarrow, also from the library.

Loads of stuff in the system! Great library in evesham

Eco Cleaning and Healthy Homes

2008-08-01T15:27:00.003+01:00

All the links and information from Tuesday 29th July 2008:

www.stopforbreath.co.uk - this is the wash nuts site that Chava told us about, and it has other eco goodies on it too
http://www.wen.org.uk/health/reports/household_cleaning_factsheet.pdf - WEN's own list of household ingredients to use for cleaning and a useful 'what to use where' section.
http://www.channel4.com/4homes/diy-self-build/diy-build-advice/a-z-of-diy-building-guides/eco-cleaning-08/05/20_p_1.html - More on 'essential ingredients' and the next page is a 'what and how' list
www.wwf.org.uk/chemicals and http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/n_0000003300.asp - information on the WWF 5 year campaign against chemicals finished in 2006 and related to Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'
http://greenlivingideas.com/eco-home-living/abc-your-way-to-a-healthier-home.html and http://greenlivingideas.com/housecleaning/green-cleaning-for-a-healthy-home.html - both from the greenlivingideas webiste which has loads of info and links on all things eco
www.ecolabels.org - very informative and useful site about what ingredients really are etc.
http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=689 - AMAZING!!! How to grow your own loofah for the shower!! :)

And also on the subject of hippos again, I found a leaflet attached to my ecover washing powder with the offer of a free hippo, water saving leaflet with info about the work ecover do with 'wateraid' and £3 money off vouchers. Its free and you can get it from http://www.ecoverwateraid.com/get-involved/water-info-request,3,CON.html

We briefly discussed EMFs, there's loads of stuff on the net ranging from the conservative official line to the plain wacky but here's the World Health Organisation's blurb, which reading between the lines, seems quite useful http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs322/en/index.html and the list of plants that always crop up as good EMF absorbers: Spider plants, Peace Lillies and Palms.

http://www.twistclean.com/ is the site for the sponges we were talking about!

Next meeting is Tuesday August 26th! See you then! x

Welcome to the Blog!

2008-08-01T15:12:00.004+01:00

Hi Everyone!

I've finally got around to sorting out a web presence. I'm going to use this blog to put up all the links and information we discuss at the sessions so that everyone can easily access, and add to, the growing amount of stuff we're chatting about! I hope this works ok, please let me know what you think!

To start off I'm going to put up a few posts from our old meetings, to begin to get some of our information up here....wish me luck!

Deborah x