We campaign for an affordable, reliable and sustainable public transport service for all. Investing in good public transport brings wide benefits for social inclusion, air quality and congestion.
In autumn 2019 we backed the Better Buses for Greater Manchester campaign.
Auto Draft
Taste Before Beauty
Taste Before Beauty was a 2012 campaign on food waste, targetting the wholesale end of supply chains.
Double UK Tree Cover
Trees have the potential to play an incredible role in combating climate chaos by removing planet-wrecking emissions from the air around us. They are also invaluable because they:
Protect against flooding by taking up water via their roots and stabilising soils
Support other forms of life from fungi through insects to birds and even other plants such as ferns and mistletoe
Remove airborne pollutants and help to cool the air in overheated urban areas
Act as a windbreak to prevent soil erosion and protect crops
Provide a canopy under which lower-growing crops can be cultivated in a forest garden
As well as all these advantages, trees have immense amenity value by improving the appearance of rural landscapes and city streets and squares.
However, despite the importance of trees, just 13% of the UK’s total land area is wooded. In contrast, the EU average is 35%.
We believe one of the best solutions to protect our environment is to double UK tree cover by 2045, but government targets currently fall well short of this goal.
The Real Food Guide has been created to provide information on what ‘Real Food’ is, why to buy and eat it, and how to find it in Manchester and the locality.
After the first experience of our Plastic Free Takeaways campaign in Levenshulme, we took time to decide on a more feasible and realistic plan of action for reducing plastic in Manchester and teamed up with several interested individuals and groups to work with councils on their Plastic Free Greater Manchester campaign and encourage them to enforce tighter regulations of waste in the hospitality industry.
We researched the best eco-friendly materials, in relation to the ones with the lowest carbon-emissions at different price points, so the businesses could be fully informed and in a better position to change their packaging.
Our plans were then to visit businesses, encouraging them to make the switch. An online questionnaire was developped to engage with them and collect feedback. After an initial run of visits, the campaign was put on hold due to a lack of human resources to expand further.
The aim of this campaign, in collaboration with councils, was to reduce plastic waste in the hospitality industry across Greater Manchester, not just one concentrated area. This is one step of the many changes that we need to make as a society to reduce the catastrophic impacts of climate change and reduce our impact on the environment.
Plastic Free Takeaways
Recognising the problems of littering and ocean plastic pollution are urgent problems, our campaign Plastic-Free Takeaways was asking take-away businesses in Levenshulme to stop using plastic food and drinks containers and cutlery, and instead offer compostable eco-friendly alternatives.
As a start, we created a leaflet and spent time at Levenshulme market to raise awareness of plastic as a global and local problem. We gathered consumer support encouraging local takeaways to switch to more eco-friendly packaging. Despite the overall high number of signatures, we had only a few of them for each takeaway and encouraging change was difficult.
We took time to decide on a more feasible and realistic plan of action for reducing plastic in Manchester and teamed up with several interested individuals and groups to work with councils on their Plastic Free Greater Manchester campaign.
Feeding the 5000
Feeding the 5000 is a campaign to raise awareness of the amount of edible food wasted in a city. This event was held in June 2013 in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens with a public feast of a delicious vegan curry made from ingredients that would have otherwise gone to waste, and more often than not gone in landfill! Along with participatory cooking sessions, educational and campaign stalls and more, this day brought more than 5000 people together to enjoy good food and learn simple ways they could reduce their own food waste and petition food businesses and the government to do the same.
Quarterly Food Socials
Our quarterly food socials are generally held on the third Thursday of March, June, September and December. The idea is to learn about sustainable food, eat, drink and generally be merry. In 2016 we look forward to arranging these on a whole group basis.
In the past our food socials have included activities like bring and share dinners and picnics, trips to farms and orchards, and talks and discussions about sustainable food issues including local, organic, seasonal, vegan, food waste, packaging, food miles and lots of other topics. At the heart of it all is a desire to meet new people, share food and recipes, and have a jolly good time.
Year of Pulses
The United Nations declared 2016 as the International Year of Pulses. ..but why celebrate our love of baked beans, houmous and mushy peas!?
Pulses are the ultimate superfood and play a central role in achieving a sustainable food system. Not only are they an excellent source of protein, and a low carbon food source, but they also have a positive impact on soil quality through their ability to fix nitrogen in the soil.
Throughout the year we invited people to share with us their beloved bean and lentil recipes- with a small but valuable prize each month!
We will also be highlighting local food outlets which celebrate the pulse on their menus and encouraging others to do so. Please send us your favourite..
Any more ideas ? please get in touch cat@manchesterfoe.org.uk
For more information on the UN’s International Year of the Pulse see IYP 2016 and see a summary below of the reasons why the UN celebrated the pulse.
This campaign is all about what’s in our food, using our favourite staple – bread. Our recipes and links will help you buy and cook healthy, seasonal, ‘proper’ food.
Good shop bought bread contains anything from 3-5 ingredients… cheaper bread 10-20 + ingredients… So why the difference and what are all those ingredients doing in your bread and doing to you once you eat it?
Here’s a couple of links to source local real bread . . .
Use Your Loaf campaigner Chris has been busy baking . . .
Once upon a time, Chris’s home made bread was so heavy it could have been mistaken for a house brick, albeit without the frog and the letters L.B.C.!
With perseverance, practice, some good tips and learning from the occasional mistake, Chris’s bread making is much improved, so if Chris can do it . . . no excuses . . . have a go yourself !
Chris has adapted a series of bread recipes for you to try, with step by step instructions and pictures of his efforts . . .
SourdoughBread The sourdough method uses a combination of wild yeast and an acid-generating bacteria in place of baker’s yeast. You will need to create or obtain a sourdough starter first . . .
Did you know that if you open a tin of pulses and drain it, you’re throwing away a completely animal-free alternative to eggs (look up ‘aquafaba’ online). Next time you open a tin of chickpeas or butter beans, try keeping …
A tasty seasonal recipe from Cat. Seaweed is a great way for us to ensure we get enough iodine, especially if we are vegan. Be careful, though, as overindulging can be too much of a good thing! Serves 2. Ingredients …
A recipe with seasonal ingredients Cat recommends, courtesy of the Guardian. Celery and apples are both in season in winter and partner each other very well. Cashews, with their high protein content, make this soup a nutritionally balanced meal. Serves …
If you have bananas that have gone soft and are almost black, this will use them up! With bananas often ending up in our bins at the end of the week, this recipe (adapted from the BBC’s website) will help …
What’s in it? 1 can white beans, rinsed and drained 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil Juice of half a lemon 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced ½ cucumber, thinly sliced 2 avocados, pitted and thinly sliced 150g sprouted beans …
What’s in it? 150-200g pasta shells 300g green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1/3 cup red-wine vinegar 2 tablespoons honey 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained 1 can chickpeas, …
What’s in it? 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 cup celery, sliced 1/2 cup carrots, diced 1/4 cup spring onion, sliced 1/4 cup or so hummus or tahini 1 – 2 tablespoons mustard (stoneground or dijon) dash of garlic …
This is an energy-saving recipe for the microwave contributed by Ian Cummings, finalist in the Great British Bake Off 2015, to celebrate Earth Hour in 2017. These cakes take less than 10 minutes to prepare. Ingredients: For the cakes: 60 …
Ingredients 250g plain white flour 250g plain wholemeal flour 100g oats 1 tsp salt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 50g margarine 250ml soy milk 250ml rapeseed oil Method Preheat oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Mix the flour, oats, salt and …
Add 1 cup of risotto rice (short grain) and 1/2 tsp of dried thyme - stir in and then add 1/2 cup of white wine or beer. Stir this in until evaporated and then start adding hot vegetable stock a cup at a time, stirring constantly and adding the next cup of stock when the liquid has evaporated.
Have you already bought some high-quality bee-friendly British rapeseed oil produced while avoiding the use of harmful pesticides? If you’d like more information about the issues, you can find out more here. But if you’ve already got a bottle of …
Sourdough September is when the Real Bread Campaign goes on a mission to help everyone discover that: life’s sweeter with sourdough! Have a go at making your own sourdough bread . . .
We can’t all star in the Great British Bake Off like eco-friendly baker Ian Cummings (pictured right) – but we can all help to save energy when we cook. Ian is celebrating Earth Hour 2017 (25 March) by sharing his energy-saving favourite recipe – delicious …
Sourdough September is when the Real Bread Campaign goes on a mission to help everyone discover that: life’s sweeter with sourdough! The Campaign is encouraging Real Bread bakers everywhere to organise their own local events and activities from 1-30 September, …
Gift ideas for the festive season
It can be tempting at Christmas to buy lots of stuff that is frankly not good for the planet. Gifts, packaging, decorations, food and drink are often poorly made, not really needed and thrown away. But it doesn’t have to be like that.
We have collected members’ ideas for festive gifts, decorations and food to share. There are, of course, many more. So please share yours too!
Gifts – all types of ideas here, from sustainable local food, items fashioned from recycled goods and experiences and activities rather than more stuff.
Tim’s Christmas ideas
Not as eco friendly as making them all but better than a lot of stuff. I’m trying win my family over with greener alternatives to the things they already use.
I’ve bought a few people bottles of ketchup from ‘Rubies in the Rubble’. They’re great, they make condiments from food that was going to go to waste, and it’s really good!
Cadbury’s new vegan chocolate is really good. My personal favourite. Only available at Sainsburys at the moment
A close second my vegan choc chart though is Like No Udder from Montezuma
Cat’s Christmas ideas
Pots, plants and Christmas gifts from Bud Garden centre in Burnage – peat-free, bee-friendly, organic, and local!
Toilet twinning – By donating you help fund a project in a poor community that will enable families to build a basic toilet, have access to clean water and learn about hygiene – a vital combination that saves lives.
Solar aid shop– solar lights that help fund solar lights for citizens in Malawi and Zambia
As a group, we submitted a detailed answer to the online survey. We particularly focused on points like the implementation target which we argued should be 2023 as initially planned, and not 2024 as it would be under the current plans, and the fact all types of packaging materials should be covered. You can download our response with full details (pdf).
In addition to the detailed answer, we also encouraged individuals to submit their contribution through an online action which resulted in around 90 answers being submitted. The proposed email read as below:
“I’ve considered the consultation on the Deposit Return Scheme and am delighted to see the progress with the plans. This is the opportunity to increase our recycling rates in the ‘UK’ but It’s critical the scheme goes far enough, so I ask the government to ensure the final plan includes:
1. All recyclable containers irrespective of size
2. All types of recyclable packaging
3. A commitment to increase recycling capacity and end the incineration and export of waste
4. Assurance that it will not detract from the priority to reduce single use plastic. For this reason, the Deposit Return Scheme should not mean producers are exempt from measures taken in relation with the “Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging” consultation.
Finally, change isn’t happening fast enough and plans need to be accelerated so the scheme is in place by the end of 2023 as originally promised. We need to stop plastic pollution now and move towards a true circular economy. This is the time for the government to be bold and act to protect our natural environment before it’s too late.”
At the beginning of the summer, we organised an online community screening of “The Story of Plastic“. Links were provided for participants to watch the film and it was followed by a video-call conversation / debate.
The film is a stark – and sometimes dark – reminder of a number of unsettling facts about the plastic industry.
To start with, the idea that recycling alone can be the solution is largely debunked for a number of reasons. As it is pointed out, the shear amount of plastic being produced is simply unmanageable (from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to 322 million generated in just 2015). One of the byproducts of this situation is western countries dumping their waste into someone else’s backyard to be sorted out while calling it recycling. This has obvious health implications for people in the countries receiving this waste stream, both through generalised plastic pollution in the environment, but also for workers being asked to recycle all this waste using equipment or techniques that are exposing them to dangerous substances and gases.
Some of the most striking points the film makes are in relation to the hypocrisy of key players of the plastic sector. Whilst running PR campaigns in western countries about their investments to tackle plastic waste and improve recyclability of their products and packaging, some of these companies shamelessly continue to sell the same products in single-use plastic packaging in countries where social pressure to address this issue is not perceived as such a direct threat.
Similarly, the manipulation of the masses by petrochemical companies is laid bare, as enhanced recycling or cleanup projects are shown to constitute a diversion from the actual problem which is the overproduction of plastic in the first place. Blaming the end user or even local authorities that are expected to clean up the mess is a very effective tactic to take the actual root cause out of the limelight. As one interviewee points out, only when the petrochemical companies creating the issue are asked to properly deal with the consequence and pay for end-of-life management of their products will we start seeing improvements. At the moment, central and local governments are paying their bills and communities all over the world – as well as wildlife – are carrying their burden.
A most striking metaphor in the film is showing a bathtub that we are trying to empty with a spoon while the tap is still fully open. The spoon is for localised actions like cleanups and the film is in no way advocating against these. It is merely pointing out that it will remain a drop in the ocean as long as we don’t close the tap by making the plastic industry accountable and thus drastically reducing platic production.
As demoralising as it can be to hear this as grassroot campaigners, one can’t help seeing the truth in that assessment and it is yet another great reminder that there is no opposing the different types of environmental actions. From volunteers organising local actions in their communities and raising awareness, to campaigners working full time to influence government policies or activists calling for change through non violent direct action, all are needed if we are to collectively make a difference.
If you would like to see the film and share it with others, visit the website’s community screening page for more details: .
Recycle for GM: Manchester Education Centre Open Day
See your recycling in action!!
Ever wondered what happens to your recycling after it has been collected? (more…)
Mass Unwrap (Plastic Free Communities – Surfers Against Sewage)
Mass Unwrap is an awesome action that highlights the level of plastic packaging in supermarkets and puts people-pressure on them to change. Individuals, families, friends and communities can all take part.
The idea is that customers simply shop and pay as normal and then unwrap food to put it straight into their bags, boxes or re-useable containers. The plastic is collected up by volunteers and put in empty trollies, to show how much waste is generated in a short space of time.
Mass Unwrap is friendly, non-confrontational and tons of fun – so please join us to unwrap where we live from single-use!
Please Note: Mass Unwrap is for members of the public and community groups to lead and we give them the tools and resources to do so. Unfortunately, we are unable to support corporate or company Mass Unwraps.
Thank you for your interest in leading a Mass Unwrap! Here is the STEP BY STEP guide on organising and holding an event in your community.
Compostable packaging in Greater Manchester
There is often a lot of confusion when it comes to compostable packaging, the way to dispose of it and the actual meaning of the word. This post will hopefully help clarify slightly.
Definitions
Degradable: Used for a product
that decomposes into smaller bits. In a vast majority of cases, products
branded as degradable plastic will not be recommended at all in so far as they
decompose into micro plastic, polluting air and water.
Biodegradable: The term means
that the product will biodegrade and therefore leave no trace of plastic or
micro-plastic in the environment. However, it is a loose concept as timeframes
and conditions to achieve this are not defined. In effect, seeing
“biodegradable” labelled on a product does not guarantee whether it
is or not a good choice for the environment until the exact type of material is
known. Some companies will genuinely use materials that biodegrade over short
periods of time in usual conditions while others will use the loophole to
greenwash an unsustainable product.
Compostable: As opposed to
biodegradable, the term compostable is subject to more precise standards (EN
13432). It still needs to be checked that the product follows this standard.
This certification means the product will turn to compost in an industrial
composting facility. To ensure it can be composted at home, the product must be
deemed “home compostable”.
Types of compostable packaging
There are a number of available
packaging materials that can follow the EN 13432 compostable standard:
Paper
Cardboard
Some bioplastics like PLA (Poly Lactic Acid)
Bagasse
NB: The above does not mean that
all packaging items made of these materials are compostable but that they can
be if the manufacturers have included this in their product’s specifications and
had it certified accordingly as per EN 13432.
Issues around compostable packaging
Waste
collected in the green bins over Greater Manchester does not go through a long
enough process to tackle all EN 13432 compostable waste so there is no
guarantee it can be composted here in Manchester.
If
not disposed of properly, compostable waste is not guaranteed to biodegrade
quickly in a marine environment for example. A compostable bioplastic straw
would take years to decompose and would pose a threat to wildlife in the same
way as a regular plastic straw.
What’s the answer then?
In a large majority of cases, the most sustainable option will be to simply avoid disposable items and choose reusable options. When not possible, paper or cardboard can definitely be composted, even at home if you have access to a composter.
Manchester FOE waste campaign meeting
Join us to discuss progress made so far and plan future actions for our Plastic Free Greater Manchester campaign.
All welcome, but if possible please let us know if you’re planning to come as it helps to plan the meeting!
When: 7pm – 8.30pm, Thursday 15th November Where: Green Fish Resource Centre, 46-50 Oldham St, Manchester, M4 1LE More info: Contact seb_at_manchesterfoe.org.uk
Plastic Free GM Petition
Sign our petition for a future free of single-use plastics in Greater Manchester! (more…)
Plastic Free GM petition
Here is our online petition that you can sign to support a future free of single-use plastics in the Greater Manchester area:
Thanks for your support!
Manchester Friends of the Earth – Plastic-Free Takeaways campaign stall @ Levy Market
On Saturday 24th of March, Manchester Friends of the Earth will be promoting its waste campaign Plastic-Free Takeaways at Levenshulme Market.
We will be raising awareness about the problem of non-recyclable plastic food and drinks containers and cutlery used at takeaways, talking about alternatives and encouraging local businesses in Levenshulme to switch to biodegradable eco-friendly packaging.
We will also ask people to sign postcards asking their favourite takeaways to go plastic free.
Join us at the stall to help out or come by to say hello and talk waste!
For more details please contact Mirjam mirjam@manchestefoe,org.uk
Everyone deserves healthy green spaces, clean air and safe waters.
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