Towards a Sustainable Girton

Recap (Recycling in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough) who supported our Girton bags have another great offer for us. You can buy a compost bin for only £7 including delivery; but this offer will close at the end of March. You can buy on-line at http://www.recyclenow.com/compost or by old-fashioned post from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme). We have a number of leaflets with information and an order-form (though there is a £1 surcharge for orders by post). Please contact Douglas de Lacey (565219) for one.

We cannot continue to live as we have in the past. The rate at which the western world is consuming resources and choking itself with waste is increasing while the resources themselves are steadily diminishing. Try estimating your own "ecological footprint" at http://www.bestfootforward.com/ or have a go at the Act on CO₂ Carbon Footprint Calculator and you may be shocked at the result. We would need three planets like our earth to sustain the current lifestyle of the average Briton.

Governments are slowly waking up to the problems, and we have seen re-cycling collections and a clamp-down on landfill sites, as well as various other projects to attempt to control the problems. But many aspects of the problems are outside the range of Government activity. Action is needed at the individual and local level.

Ideally, every local community should be exploring sustainability, and to this end the Sustainable Girton Project was formed in 2004. You can use this website to find out what the Project is doing, how we can help you reduce your own consumption and waste, our plans for the future, and how you can get involved.

• An introduction to Sustainable Girton.
• Upcoming Events organised by or with Sustainable Girton.
• News and articles about Sustainable Girton.
• Existing schemes run by Sustainable Girton.
• Our plans and ideas for the future.
• A leaflet about the project which gives a little more background and information.
• Suggestions for a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle, which can make a significant difference. The Fenhurst Society also have a well thought out and easy to read article describing practical ways to reduce your impact.

29th March 2008: Add details of the new season of garden waste shredding and added links to other people's suggestions for reducing your impact.

29th February 2008: Details of the Plastic Bag campaign and an offer on compost bins.

27th January 2008: News of the tree shredding and plastic bag campaign, together with an article on keeping chickens.