Tag: environment

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Green Living – Food and Volunteering

Green Living – Food and Volunteering

Amongst other topics Food and Volunteering feature in Colchester Borough Council’s latest Green Living newsletter:

Save big on tasty food this summer

Are you planning tasty garden BBQs and picnics out?  Make your money go further – get the most from the food you buy, store and cook.  Find easy tips, recipes and more to help you Love Food and hate waste. Over the year it could save you £hundreds – perhaps enough to enjoy a family holiday!  Visit the Love Food hate waste website to find out more.

Share your Green Home experiences

If you’ve already started greening your home through heating, lighting or power initiatives, big or small, why not show it off to others wanting to save £££ on energy bills?  Register as a Green Open Home host for the forthcoming September event. A great way to share tips, techniques and experiences of green technologies, and discover new sustainable living ideas.  You can see homes in the Colchester have already registered on the Green Open Homes website which also gives you the opportunity to register your own home.

Fresh air, new friends, feel great

This summer and year-round there are lots of ways to enjoy Colchester’s great outdoors, while giving a little back too. Whether you’re a budding gardener, enjoy walking or want to get stuck in to something practical there’s a volunteering opportunity for you!  From the town to the countryside and however long you’d like to be involved including:

  • Volunteering as a Countryside Volunteer Ranger,
  • Health walk leader,
  • The Big Garden – organic community garden (pictured right),
  • Castle Park volunteers,
  • Conservation volunteers.

Find out more on the CBC website.

Go green – go online

Did you know? Going online for services is better for the environment and can save you money on travel, postage and through online discounts! Switch to take up core Council services online – whether you need to find information, make a payment or provide us with your details, its easy and secure with an online account. Plus if you need to, enjoy free friendly help at events borough-wide to brush-up your internet skills for shopping, finding local events, services and more.

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Marine Conservation Meeting

Blackwater Marine Conservation Zone
The impact of challenges facing the Blackwater and Colne estuaries now and in the future.

Graham Underwood, Professor of Marine and Freshwater Biology at the University of Essex, is speaking in West Mersea on 20th January on the subject of ‘The ecology and future challenges to the Blackwater and Colne estuaries’.

The estuaries, which are a significant feature of the Essex coastline, have been extensively studied over the past 40 years. The talk will summarise the current state of the ecology of these important coastal habitats, and consider the impact of ongoing environmental changes such as climate change on their future functioning.

Professor Underwood has himself been researching this part of our coast for the past 23 years.  He is an expert on coastal and shallow marine systems and has undertaken research on rivers, seas and lakes from the tropics to the frozen oceans. He has been a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Panel for Marine Conservation Zones which recommended the designation of the Blackwater-Colne estuaries as a MCZ. He also sits on various boards of the Natural Environment Research Council and is currently a member of the Environment Agency’s Regional Flood and Coastal Committee. Professor Underwood is Executive Dean of Science and Health at Essex University.

Chair of the Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG), Professor Andy Blowers, who will chair the meeting, said:  ‘We are delighted to bring Graham Underwood to Mersea to enlighten us on the present and future state of our rivers and the challenges they face. One of our major concerns has been to protect the marine environment from the threats posed by nuclear reactors and radioactive waste especially in an era of sea level rise and warming inevitably resulting from climate change’.

The meeting will be held at the Museum, High Street, West Mersea at 7.30pm.  (Entry £3 including refreshments.)

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Green Open Homes

green open homesSave £££ and win – visit Green Open Homes during May

On Saturdays and Sundays / weekends from 3 – 15 May, 20 local householders will be opening their homes to the public as part of Colchester’s Green Open Homes.  Find out how easy it is to cut hundreds of pounds from your energy bills by installing energy saving measures, from low cost to bigger investments. Plus win shopping vouchers just by visiting one of the Green Open Homes. The event will be a great opportunity for visitors to see first-hand how various environmental and renewable technologies work, such as solar panels and air source heat pumps.  See the technologies in use in real homes discuss with the householders the practicalities and benefits for them.

  • How much did the installation cost and how simple was it?
  • What effect has it had on their fuel bills?
  • Are the sales claims realistic?

Visit www.colchester.greenopenhomes.net or contact the organizers, en-form, on 01206 367776 or [email protected] for locations and opening details.

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