Autumn 2005 Newsletter
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The following articles are reproduced from the Autumn 2005 newsletter, and so any information within this page is correct only as of September 2005. For the latest up-to-date information, please visit the relevant campaign pages using the menu on the left, or by clicking on the image alongside the title of each article. |
Climate Change
Is the Government doing enough about climate change? 93% of Mancunians think they aren't, and we challenge Greater Manchester's MPs to take action...
On 25th May, Friends of the Earth launched The Big Ask, its new national climate change campaign. Although the Government has already committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20% against 1990 levels by 2010, little action has yet been taken to deliver on this promise. In fact, emissions have actually risen in each of the last three years, and are now higher than they were in 1997.
The Big Ask calls on the Government to introduce new legislation to tackle climate change by setting legally binding targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3% per year. Passing a law that mandates annual emission cuts will ensure critical measures to address climate change are made now, rather than being left for a future government to deal with, and will ensure that the UK meets its long-term target of a 60% reduction by 2050.
We took advantage of a stall at the Manchester Bike Week event in St. Ann's Square on Saturday 11th June to officially launch The Big Ask campaign locally. We asked passers-by one simple question: "Is the Government doing enough about climate change?" The results of the survey were overwhelming - of the 547 respondents, 93% answered "no", 4% said "don't know" and only 3% answered "yes".
As well as conducting a survey, we also encouraged people to sign Big Ask postcards urging their MPs to pledge support for the climate change bill. Over 400 people signed cards on the day, and we have collected around a thousand more at various stalls across the city since then.
We are now using these cards to lobby local MPs to support The Big Ask. So far we have obtained signatures from: David Chaytor (Bury North), Michael Meacher (Oldham West & Royton), John Leech (Manchester Withington), Gerald Kaufman (Manchester Gorton) and Andrew Gwynne (Denton & Reddish). Tony Lloyd (Manchester Central) has signed an Early Day Motion in support of the bill but has so far not signed our pledge.
Climate change is one of the biggest threats facing our generation and it's not a problem that's going to disappear by doing nothing. We are encouraging supporters to call for Tony Blair to show international leadership on this issue through delivery at home.
If your local MP hasn't yet pledged to support The Big Ask and you want to help with lobbying, please contact our lead climate campaigner, Dave Coleman, by sending an email to dave@manchesterfoe.org.uk. You can find out more about The Big Ask campaign by visiting www.thebigask.com.
Real Food
Help Manchester Friends of the Earth find out how local is local...
A study published recently by DEFRA reveals that the direct environmental, social and economic cost of "food miles" has risen to £9 billion a year in the UK. The same report showed that the contribution of the agricultural sector to our GDP amounts to only about 2/3 of that figure leaving us over £2.5 billion pounds in the red on the deal. (1)
It's not just about the cost to the taxpayer but the loss from our communities as well. The New Economics Foundation worked with Northumberland County Council to source as locally as possible and found that £1 spent in a local business was worth £1.78 to the local economy but that the same pound was worth only 34p to the local economy when spent outside of it. (2)
This isn't about giving up on Fairtrade either. Most Fairtrade goods can't be grown sustainably or economically in the UK (you'll do well to find a Lancashire banana farmer that turns a profit). It is about accepting that choosing a permanent global summertime over seasonality has far reaching impacts on our lives, health, communities and environment.
Shopping locally can make a massive contribution to the sustainability of our lives and communities (our eco-footprint) so let's start visiting our local shops and using them. If the corner shop doesn't stock fruit and vegetables then ask them to, order from a box scheme or grow your own. Check out our Real Food Guide website at http://www.realfoodguide.org.uk if you don't know where to start.
But how local is our local food? If you want to help but only have a few minutes then the next time you buy fruit and vegetables ask where it was grown and send the results (what food you asked about, where you asked, whether they could answer and what the answer was) to paul@manchesterfoe.org.uk with the subject "How local is local".
And if you've got more time then why not come along to a meeting of Manchester Friends of the Earth and join our food campaign?
References
1. The validity of food miles as an indicator of Sustainable Development, DEFRA http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/reports/foodmiles/default.asp
2. Stewart Wallis, Executive Director of the New Economics Foundation, Society Guardian, Wednesday 30th March, 2005. http://society.guardian.co.uk/societyguardian/story/0,,1447416,00.html
Get Yourself Down the Market
If you're walking through Piccadilly Gardens this autumn, you might notice something slightly different. Starting from 3rd September, on the first Saturday of each month, there will be a new Fairly Traded market, featuring stalls from Oxfam, Traidcraft, and your local Friends of the Earth group! As well as this, the Farmers Market is now being run twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Friday and Saturday of each month. So now there's no excuse for not shopping ethically this autumn...
Manchester Real Food Guide
For more info and recommendations of great places to find locally produced, organic and Fairtrade food, go to: www.realfoodguide.org.uk
Transport
The Government ignores the results of a public consultation on the M6 Expressway, the biggest road-building project since 1991. Have we learnt nothing since then?
Try this for a series of events. In July 2004, the Government reassuringly states that "we will not address the long term risk of higher congestion just by adding new capacity, even if it is tolled". In the same month, out pops a consultation with the fantastically New Labour title "M6: Giving Motorists a Choice". A choice for what? To choose a decent train or bus service instead of their cars? No. To choose which type of M6 they would like. And the proposed new M6 will be a toll road. Anyone who cannot see the contradiction in this paragraph should stand for parliament immediately.
But, I hear you cry, at least they did a consultation on it. Well, yes, kind of. But even though 98 per cent of those consulted did not want the road to be built, the Government announced this July that there is "no consensus" on this issue. So they have requested further work to test the feasibility of the road. The road capacity that Department for Transport feels is necessary along the road will be provided "without delay". And the development work will, of course, be "consistent with addressing environmental concerns".
Environmental organisations have reacted with horror to this abuse of power and are keen to point out that the best way to address environmental concerns is to stop building more motorways. Friends of the Earth called for the scheme to be scrapped and for real transport solutions to be developed instead. CPRE agree: "While toll roads give an appearance of choice," they argue, "in truth they make money from the perception of delay and concentrate congestion at key locations elsewhere on the road network, over time exacerbating the fundamental problem of car dependency and making our local urban and rural roads less and less pleasant."
Ultimately, if motorists were given a real choice then perhaps we could finally move towards modern, reliable and cost-effective public transport systems instead of the predict and provide policies in road transport and aviation which are making a joke out of national commitments to tackle climate change. So the answer to the original question is "Yes, we have learnt since then". Well, 98 per cent of us have. Unfortunately, I guess the other 2 per cent are making the decisions.
4x4 Mudwash
On Saturday 16th July, the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s, armed with sponges and buckets of mud, approached 4x4 drivers as they stopped at the traffic lights outside Kendals to ask if they'd like a mudwash to give their vehicles that genuine off-road look. Not surprisingly, no-one took us up on the offer, but lots of passers-by enjoyed the joke at their expense!
With few 4x4s ever seeing the countryside, the mudwash was intended to make the vehicles look as though they had been used for the purpose for which they were designed - namely going off-road. The campaign aimed to drive home the point that urban 4x4 use is dirty, unsafe, unsustainable and irresponsible.
As well as providing a mudwash, we asked passers-by to sign our petition to Secretary of State for Transport, Alistair Darling, urging him to: reform road tax so big 4x4s pay more; create exclusion zones for 4x4s in urban areas; and ban 4x4 advertising in and around town. More than 350 people signed our petition - proof, if any was needed, of just how ridiculous and unnecessary people think that 4x4s are in an urban environment.
Saving the world doesn't have to cost the earth!
Helen Rimmer gives us her opinion of Friends of the Earth's new book, Save Cash and Save the Planet, by Andrea Smith & Nicola Baird...
Is it really possible to save cash and save the planet? Doesn't choosing to be green always mean spending that little bit more? Not so, according to this new book from Friends of the Earth.
Save Cash, Save the Planet is a guide to being green whilst not harming the bank balance, appealing to that common lowest denominator - cash - to spur people to re-examine their lifestyles. It takes you through ways to green your lifestyle through the filter of six key principles: buy less stuff, cut your fossil-fuel use, take out the toxins, choose local food, do what you can, and spread the word.
Tips from the general public give the book a friendly feel, and well-selected photographs brighten up the pages. It tackles every aspect of life - from home to work, including food, finance, leisure, DIY, travel and energy choices. Practical and common sense advice - such as insulating roofs to stop heat escaping from homes and driving slower to reduce fuel use - aims to make small differences to our modern lifestyles. But the book also gives old-fashioned tips for a more environmental existence - ditch the toxic cleaning stuff, all you need is some lemon juice, white vinegar and bicarbonate of soda!
Many of the facts and figures are not referenced in the book, but for those keen on verifying the claims, the references can be found on the accompanying website. There are also clear website links for those who want to follow something up in depth or get advice from specialist consumer groups.
The book doesn't just look at ways individuals can make a difference through their own lifestyles, but also encourages them to use their voices against the powers that be. Executive Director of Friends of the Earth, Tony Juniper, makes a rallying call in his foreword to put pressure on elected representatives and companies to make it easier for people to live within ecological limits, and to raise the bar of their own performance.
It's a neat little book produced on de-inked 100% post consumer waste - and though it's some 450 pages long, its stylish design and easily accessible information would tempt even the most eco-sceptical of consumers to take a look. Whilst the purists may feel that appealing to peoples' penny-pinching side may be the wrong way to encourage them to re-think their lifestyles, the authors also unashamedly appeal to readers' ethical side and sense of justice. Its mantra of doing more with less also has resonance with people's wish for a life less cluttered.
A great addition to the bookshelf, for the both the hardened eco-consumer and the shopper with an insatiable appetite, let's hope this guide to sustainable living encourages citizens to take responsibility for our resource-rich lifestyles in a way that governments and corporations have largely so far failed to do.
Manchester Is My Planet
Save your planet. Start with Manchester.
According to a survey of greenhouse gas emissions for the region, Greater Manchester is responsible for the 36% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the North West of England, with the largest single source of emissions, 23%, coming from domestic households.
The 'Manchester is my Planet' campaign was launched on 25th August, to encourage the three million people who live or work in Greater Manchester to take the 'Manchester is my Planet' climate pledge before a G8 climate change event to be staged in early November.
Each individual will be pledging to make some changes to their lifestyle to help the city region reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% before 2010, and in turn to help the UK meet its international commitment on climate change.
The partnership intends to use the closing G8 climate event, and also the UK's presidency of the EU, to show that there is mass support for climate change action in Manchester and that with the right campaign, it is possible to achieve widespread public commitment to change.
Individuals from each of Greater Manchester's ten local authority boroughs - and those who work in the city but live elsewhere - can take the climate change pledge by sending in the enclosed freepost pledge postcard, by texting the word 'pledge' and their postcode to 80010, or by visiting the campaign website: www.manchesterismyplanet.com.
Take Action!
If you have...
...5 minutes
Switch off all those appliances that are left on standby all day and night, like TVs, DVD players, hi-fis, microwaves and phone chargers, which use up to 95% as much energy as when they're in use.
...30 minutes
The next time you drive on the motorway, try driving at 60 mph instead of 75 mph (if you're not stuck in a jam!) - a 2 hour journey will only take half an hour longer, and save you up to a third in fuel costs.
...1 day
Participate in the global day of climate protest on Saturday 3rd December, which includes a mass demo in London. For more details, check out the Campaign against Climate Change website at: www.campaigncc.org.
For more money- & planet-saving tips, visit www.savecashsaveplanet.org.