Weekly News Articles

It is estimated that 60% of the material in the average bin can be recycled so there is plenty of scope to greatly increase our recycling rate with minimal effort. The Borough Council provides receptacles to recycle cans, glass and garden waste and also collects PET and HDPE plastic, paper including newspaper, cards, envelopes-including those with windows, foil and textiles. Textiles and shoes (tied into matching pairs) are sent abroad for use in developing countries, and shabby clothing can be shredded into fibres for individual cloths, mattress and upholstery filling and carpet underlay.

If you have space in  your garden for a composting bin, please consider having one. These are available at highly subsidised prices to Essex residents. Call  0845 077 0759 for details. Buying composts is expensive and you can save money and benefit your garden by putting your grass cuttings, weeds, fruit and vegetable scraps, tea bags, crushed eggshells, leaves and other plant products in it.  

For any other leftover food products, both cooked and raw, including pizza, dairy, meat, fish and even bones, a Bokashi Bin is the answer. Any food added is sprinkled with a bran mix which reduces the contents to a 'compost'  that can be dug directly into the garden. These bins can be purchased at a special price through the Recycle Now website www.recyclenow.com at the moment.  

Don't forget that many items not collected at the kerbside can be recycled at Civic Amenity Sites including timber, engine oil, metal, household appliances and paint.   

If your not currently recycling let us know why, don't forget we only have a few more years left to dump our waste in a hole in the ground.

As organisers of Colchester and Wivenhoe Farmers’ Markets, we are concerned with this debate and await the results of the consultation with interest.  

Many of our customers question why we do not make it a condition that all stallholders are organic rather than just local.  

The main reason is that Farmers’ Markets are set up for the benefit of local producers and all specify that producers must come from within a certain radius, in most cases within 30 miles of the market.  

Unfortunately, in this area the few organic producers there are rarely have enough produce available to attend regular Farmers’ Markets.  

Also, to ensure that the markets are viable we have to offer what the customers want and the majority want a range of products (including organic) and prices.  

The main environmental advantages of organic products are that only certain pesticide and fertilizer use is allowed. Thus the land on which organic produce is produced is normally rich in wildlife. In addition, there are health benefits particularly to those intolerant of various chemicals.  

The disadvantages are that the produce is more expensive and yields are lower.  

In an ideal world we would all be able to buy locally produced organic food but this is not the case in the UK.  

So the big debate in environmental terms is should we eat organic food flown in from thousands of miles away or food produced locally?  

To find out about these issues and have your say take a look at the consultation on http://www.soilassociation.org/airfreight

As usual you can take part in the litter pick whether you are an individual, group, school or church and tidy up your own local environment.

Equipment is provided by Colchester Borough Council, including litter picks, high visibility jackets, gloves and sacks and you can of course do a sponsored litter pick for your favourite charity or Red Nose Day.

The litter pick weekend is from Friday, 23rd March to Monday 26th March, although you can arrange a litter pick at anytime.

To take part in the Great Colchester Litter Pick contact Eleanor Macdonald on 01206 282727.

After a few years of educating the public with a softly, softly approach, the council will also be taking tougher action on litter bugs in future. Drop litter and you will receive a £75 fine.

We are probably also approaching a time when you will have to recycle your waste, so if you dont already recycle, start now. In Colchester you can recycle glass, cans, paper, green garden waste and some plastics direct from your kerbside. So don’t put these items in with your normal waste. Technically, the council could issue you with a £100 fixed penalty fine for not putting your waste out correctly for collection. I’m sure this will be more rigourously enforced as the waste problem gets worse.

It’s also a good time for a spot of spring cleaning. So have a big sort out and give away all the items you don’t want on www.giveortake.org or Freecycle. More importantly dont buy so much clutter in future and it wont be such a big job next year.

One thing we can all do is reduce our waste. Don’t buy so much in the first place. Contrary to popular opinion it actually improves your life.

For example, this Christmas I visited friends and gave them the obligatory Christmas card. Only one person bothered to put up cards this year. Most didn’t want them cluttering up the place. Next year most will be receiving an e-card.

Secondly, nobody seemed to want the gifts they were given. Giving unwanted gifts actually makes people unhappy. Next year my gift giving strategy will be changing and I will have a much less stressful Christmas.

Thirdly, don’t buy so much food. The shops are only closed for a couple of days, yet tables were groaning under the weight of food fit for a Henry the Eighth banquet. You can eat the food and feel fat and ill - we even stock up with indigestion tablets, or we chuck it out. Next year spend your money on making Christmas special. Buy quality, not quantity of food.

Finally Christmas is responsible for over 30% of all the waste we produce each year, so at least recycle it. In the week after Christmas I passed bin bags full of bottles and cans, which are very easy to recycle.

While it’s fresh in your mind, put it in your diary for next Christmas, I will save the world and have a happier Christmas by reducing cards, reviewing gifts, cutting down on food and recycling all the easy things.

There cannot be many people who do not know the environmental challenges that face us all in the years ahead. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and question whether your individual contribution can really make a difference.

Well the simple answer to that is , yes it can and it is.

Professor Jules Pretty of the University of Essex who has just received an O.B.E for services to Sustainable Agriculture in the UK and Overseas and is patron of en-form was recently asked what is the one thing we can all do that would make the most difference. His suggestion was that we should all buy locally produced food.

Local food has certainly become popular over the last few years. This year we have started a new market in Wivenhoe and Colchester Farmers’ Market has had its most successful year ever, with more producers, averaging over 20 stalls per market and more customers than any previous year.

In fact, due to popular demand we will be holding an extra Christmas market this year on the 22nd December - this Friday. Most of our usual stall holders will be there - 26 stalls in all.

So you will have the opportunity to top up your Christmas table and put professor Pretty’s suggestion into practice.

Christmas takes a heavy toll on the environment but it is possible to reduce it’s impact and still have plenty of fun. Check out our Green Christmas suggestions on our web site at www.en-form.supanet.com/xmas.htm

If we don’t see you at our Christmas market at the Arts Centre on Friday, we would like to wish you all a great Christmas and an environmentally friendly New Year.

Whenever you switch on a TV or open a newspaper these days you can't avoid the environment.

This surge of interest has meant that we at en-form have been stretched to our limits with the number and breadth of enquiries received.

The good news is we have met hundreds of people who are interested in the environment and who have a wealth of knowledge.

Our big challenge is to bring these groups and individuals together in a network where all this knowledge can be shared easily, quickly and cheaply.

Initially we have decided to promote our e-mail group heavily, as this is the most effective way of achieving all these objectives.

The group will be used to notify members of events, volunteer and job opportunities, asking and answering environmental questions using the knowledge of all members.

It will also help to keep our visitors up to date. We are often asked to update people on a whole range of matters, which has proven far too difficult to do.

Don't worry about getting swamped with e-mails as you can opt for a daily digest, which means you, will only receive one e-mail per day.

So if you are interested in the environment please join our e-mail group by sending a blank e-mail to enform-subscribe@ yahoogroups. com or contact us at en-form and help us make a real difference.

Educational campaigns backed up by the issue of £75 fixed penalty notices have been running since the beginning of the year.

So far, the campaigns have highlighted that litter includes cigarettes, chewing gum and fast food, which has resulted in reductions of 60%, 52% and 75% respectively.  

Although this is good news there is still much to do. The figures relate to the Town Centre only. Our estates, villages and roadsides are still blighted by litter. The council will never be able to remove it all.

Discouragingly, all this litter is caused by 25% of the population, according to the latest figures.

This costs you, the people of Colchester over £1 million per year to clear up. Just to remove chewing gum from the town centre streets costs over £30,000 per year. Money that could be much better spent.

As someone who finds the sight of litter, let alone having to walk through it quite disgusting, I’m all for the councils hard stance on litter louts.

Apart from looking unsightly, litter is responsible for killing pets and local wildlife, pollution and encouraging the population of rats to increase in the town.

I am also not keen for my hard earned money paid through the council tax being spent on this entirely avoidable service.  

Litter is unfortunately down to us all as individuals. Although the council have been doing well this year in keeping the Town Centre clean what more can they do.

Let us know your views and if you have time complete our survey on our website at www.en-form.org.uk

We all by now know about climate change and the fact that the UK’s energy supplies are dwindling fast.

However, it has taken substantial and seemingly never ending fuel price rises to get the majority of us thinking about reducing our energy consumption.

It is a sad but unfortunate fact that hitting people in their pocket is one of the most effective ways of getting us to change our behaviour.

One advantage of high energy prices is that it makes installing energy saving measures even more cost effective.

We at en-form have had a big increase in the number of enquiries about solar power and wind turbines this year. Whilst this is very encouraging, the most effective ways of saving energy in the first instance are the old familiar ones.

Every home that could have, but has not yet got cavity wall insulation, at least 270mm (11 inches) of loft insulation or an insulating jacket on their hot water tank should get these done as soon as possible. Contact the Essex Energy Advice Centre on 0800 096 6356 (www.est.org.uk) to find out if you are eligible for any grants, particularly if you are on benefits.

The UK Energy Review, which was produced by the government in July, shows just how much energy, we are currently wasting.

For instance, the amount of electricity used by appliances on standby in our homes accounts for 8% of all residential electricity in 2004 and the figure is rising.

We at en-form will be doing our bit by giving away two free light bulbs to everyone while stocks last. 

The new service is called The Essex Materials Exchange and can be found at www.eastex.org.uk .  

Both sites enable users to give away items they no longer want, or ask for items that they do.  

Whilst www.giveortake.org caters mainly for the general public and items posted are generally normal domestic items such as electrical appliances, furniture and the like the Materials Exchange is very much designed for businesses.  

The type of items you are likely to find posted on this site could be wooden pallets, plastic storage containers, vegetable oils from the catering trade, building waste or items to be disposed of in bulk.  

Apart from reducing the amount of waste we have to send to landfill, these sites also provide others with items they need and can even save the users money on disposal costs.  

Both services are free to use but need plenty of users if they are to have a real impact.  

So if you work for a business that produces waste that can be reused or recycled by another organisation please take a look at this new site.

It's been a hectic few weeks for en-form with three new projects being launched. If like me you still need to do a spot of spring cleaning our new give or take website could be just what you need.

This service has been developed to prevent the thousands of items that are being dumped in Essex each year, that can still be used, but which the original owner no longer wants.

Very simply, if you have items you no longer want, need or will use and you want to clear the clutter just post the details on the site and hopefully, someone will take them off your hands free of charge.

Similarly, if you want an item post your request on the site and someone may have just what you are looking for.

To give a simple example, there is probably no need for anyone to buy the CRT type computer monitors at the moment, as there are so many available free as everyone upgrades to the new flat screen type.

The site also contains a comprehensive directory of just about every community group in Essex that collects items for charitable use.

It works in a similar way to ebay, and hopefully we can get the people of Essex to use it just as much. Its certainly a lot less hassle and everything is free. We need the site to be well used so take a look at www.giveortake.org and let us know what you think.

We also helped launch the new Wivenhoe Farmers' Market last month which was a roaring success with many stalls running out well before closing time at 1pm. It operates from the William Loveless Hall on the third Saturday of the month.

And finally, our Re>Paint scheme will shortly be accepting paint from local businesses. Unfortunately, at the moment we are being offered so much paint that we can't take it all in. We need you're help. So, if your local group, charity, school or church needs some free paint to decorate their premises or help in a project from painting a mural to doing up a carnival float please contact us. Also, if you know anybody on benefits who could do with some free paint, give them our details.

Items in blue were edited from the printed version.

Put simply, whether we like it or not we all have a major impact on our environment, and we can all do something to make it better.

It doesn’t matter if the environment is not high on your list of priorities. Some changes you make will make your life more enjoyable or healthier and some will even save you money.

Very briefly, Ecoteams are groups of 4 to 6 people who commit themselves to meeting for 1 ½ hours per month for 4 months.

We have trained up a few facilitators who will get the teams up and running.

The good thing about this project is it actually gives you the chance to change your own environment.

To all of you who are not into the environment it may sound a bit boring, but its actually good fun and it feels good to control the world around you, instead of complaining about all the things that should be done.

So, if you want to be part of a team or even to start one with your neighbours, workmates or local groups, give us a call now.

We want as many people as possible to come forward, but it would be great to welcome those of you who think you are not interested in the environment. Every one is but they don’t all know it.

All being well we hope to get our first team up and running by the end of April.

They are quite challenging and we will need your help to achieve them. So here are a few of them.

1. We want to give out a lot more free paint from our Re>Paint scheme. If you know of any groups, schools, community groups or individuals on benefit send them onto our scheme.

2. After the January lull, the Colchester Farmers’ Market will be back to full strength from February with around 20 stalls. Please continue to support it by shopping there on the first Friday of the month, and let us know how you would like us to improve it.

3. Do you want to improve your own environment, or see how well you are doing? Need some help in a fun way? We want to hear from you for our new eco-teams project. If you want to enter a team from work, school, your local pub or any group or even as an individual, give us a call.

4. Do you have things you no longer want but which still have plenty of life left in them - look out for our new re-use website to be launched later this year.

5. Are you a small business who have waste paint you need to dispose of, we may be able to help you dispose of it. We want to speak to you now.

Most people who make resolutions abandon them within weeks. The most effective way is to gradually implement your resolutions over the year. For this month why don’t you review your energy use. Save pounds and the environment by taking advantage of the huge grants available for insulating your home. With current energy costs this is a better investment than money in the bank.

However, in times when the economy tales a bit of a down turn the environment gets a welcome break. People tend to think more carefully, buying only what they need.

Energy used to produce and transport goods is reduced and ultimately so is waste.

So this year is a perfect time to think a bit more carefully and buy only what you really need – cutting out useless gadgets that tend to hit the bin in January or are never used.

Christmas is the biggest consumer fest of the year so make sure you do all the usual things to cut down waste, such as recycling as much as possible including paper ,cans, glass and plastics through the Council collection service, buying rechargeable batteries and a charger if you don’t have one already.

Tesco and WH Smith will be collecting your old Christmas Cards again this year on behalf of the Woodland Trust during January so look out for the special bins provided at their stores.

Thousands of us will be getting a new mobile ‘phone this year so make sure you recycle your old one at one of the many collecting points in the area. These will either be sent to the Third World or stripped down to recover the valuable elements. You can also bring them in to en-form at 15 Church Walk but please remember to include the battery and charger.

Check out more tips for Christmas and more information on our website www.en-form.org.uk. You can even help en-form raise valuable funds this year by buying your Christmas shopping through our website.

Happy Christmas and have an environmentally friendly new year.

You can of course donate your items to charity and community groups which recycle all manner of things. However, there are hundreds of items that cannot be recycled in this way - until now.

Over the past few months there has been a quiet revolution going on in North Essex through a system called Freecycle.

Freecycle is a free e-mail matching service where anybody can post details of items they no longer want and hopefully other members will take the item off your hands.

The Colchester Freecycle group already has over 480 members, with all manner of things being disposed of, from a brand new workmate to an old car for parts.

I'm sure we all have items we no longer want but can't bear to dump. So why not give them a new lease of life by giving them away. You may even pick up a few useful items yourself. Its a bit like e-bay, car boot sales or junk swaps but with no money changing hands.

Already hundreds of items have been saved from landfill. The more people that join, the more effective the system will be.

Anyone can join, it costs nothing. Just send a blank e-mail to colchesterfreecycleuk-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and get junk swapping.

One final bit of news, following requests from our customers we now operate an e-mail reminder service for the Colchester Farmers' Market. If you want to be reminded when the next market is on, send a blank e-mail to colchesterfarmersmarket-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

However, until recently we have not been able to easily recycle electrical goods. Two new projects have now solved this problem.

The Tendring Reuse and Employment Enterprise (TREE) were set up about a year ago as a social enterprise working with adults with learning difficulties. It aims to collect all types of unwanted electrical goods, particularly large appliances such as washing machines and fridges, refurbish them and sell them through there shop in Little Clacton.

They operate throughout Tendring and Colchester and will collect good quality electrical items free of charge. These are then sold for a nominal amount with the proceeds used to run the project.

If the goods are not in good condition they will still normally take the item for recycling but make a small charge.

Since the project started they have struggled to get enough items to sell. This is amazing when you consider how many electrical items are dumped every week in this area.

The other community organisation to offer an outlet for electrical items is the British Heart Foundation shop in Colchester High Street. Again they will collect good quality electrical items for resale with the procceds going to the charity.

So, if you have any good quality electrical items you wish to dispose of please give these groups a call and stop these items ending up in landfill. 

Tree can be contacted on 01255 863007 and the British Heart Foundation on 01206 575242. For details of other recycling schemes in this area check out the website www.ecorrn.org.uk or give us a call at en-form.

There is a perception that prices at a Farmers’ Market are higher than the supermarkets. Firstly this is not neccessarily so, particularly fruit and veg but most of this misconception is because customers do not compare like with like.

For instance, if we take sausages as an example, comparison is often made between those made with
100 % quality meat which are bound to be dearer than sausages that contain only 30% meat. Also, you will tend to feel fuller if you eat sausages with a higher meat content and will therefore not eat as many.

Likewise, apple juice sold at Farmers’ Markets is 100% pure apple juice and tends to sell for £2 a litre. This often gets compared with cheap blended juices containing up to 80% water. So if you want cheap apple juice just add water and the price would reduce to about 40p per litre.

Farmers’ Markets will never replace the supermarket but you can pick up some tasty treats to go along with your main shop. The beauty of Farmers Markets is that you can generally sample a taster, so why not pop along to your local market this month and give yourself a treat.

Don’t forget we are in the strawberry (so a good day out is to visit one of the many Pick Your Own Farms in the area) and barbeque season.

We are eager to find out what you think of our markets as this is the only way we can improve them. So feel free to come up and let us know this weekend at the Colchester Farmers Market at the Arts Centre this Friday 1st July and Clacton Village Market which has a number of Farmers’ Market stalls on Saturday and Sunday the 2nd and 3rd July at Clacton Factory Shopping Village.

When markets are first started the novelty value ensures that they are well attended. To keep them viable in the longer term however is more challenging.

We are pleased that the Colchester Farmers’ Market is still going strong and is about to celebrate its second anniversary next month.

Not everyone understands the Farmers’ Market concept. Originally they were set up to allow Farmers to sell fresh, local produce direct to the public. After all, this was the traditional way of trading in the past.

However, todays modern consumer demands more than this. They want a shopping experience and choice. Farmers’ Markets therefore allow what are termed secondary producers. This means if you buy in a product but change it or add value to it such as cakes or preserves these can also be sold at Farmers’ Markets.

At most markets, secondary producers out number traditional farmers – after all there are only so many fruit, veg and meat stalls you can have.

We still get asked why there are for example no bananas, which brings us to the next point. Everything must be produced locally, generally within 30 miles. Unfortunately unless climate change really does kick in we cannot produce bananas in the Colchester area. Although, secondary producers can use bananas. Because of this, produce is only available when in season and available - hence stallholders are not at every market. No strawberries in December for instance.

Some markets also allow garden and craft stalls. Strictly speaking they do not comply with the core Farmers’ Market criteria, but again are normally allowed if space permits and the stock is locally produced to make the market more attractive to customers. After all no one wants to visit a market with 3 stalls.

A number of Farmers Market stalls will be at The Colchester Food and Drink Festival in the Castle Park this Friday and Saturday so why not pop along and try some of there produce this weekend.

Already we have collected about 5 tonnes of unwanted paint and re-distributed almost a tonne to good causes in the area.

Unwanted, but good condition paint can be donated at the special collection skips at the Civic Amenity sites at Shrub End in Colchester and Rush Green in Clacton.

However, we can only re-distribute good quality paint so please do not put empty, or poor condition paint in the skip as this actually costs us money to dispose of.

We have also had requests from local residents asking us to pick up paint from their homes. Unfortunately, the economics of the scheme makes this far too expensive.

The project has been primarily funded by the CRED fund, which distributes National Lottery money for projects that recycle or reuse items from the domestic waste stream.

Local traders have also contacted us and in certain circumstances we have been able to accept some paint from them free of charge. Paint from local businesses counts as commercial waste and is not funded by the project so we have to be sure that we can re distribute the paint before we accept it. It can cost businesses up to £1 a litre to dispose of unwanted paint – and it costs us the same.

If we are not sure of re-distributing paint from traders we can still accept it if it meets our criteria but we charge 50p per litre which should cover our disposal costs if we cannot re -distribute it.

Both the Colchester and Tendring schemes are now fully stocked with paint and we need charitable projects to come forward to use it.

The paint is already being used to cover graffiti, paint school and charity premises, for art projects and painting scenery for plays.

Individuals in genuine need can also qualify for free paint (you need to be on benefits). We cannot offer it to individuals who are not in need as it will have a detrimental effect on local traders.

At the moment we are keen to support community projects. Does your street need a good spruce up. If so give us a call to see if we can help

Following on from the success of the first one, the new directory includes even more entries, 118 in total.

We have tried to include all the feedback received from customers over the past year, improving the sections on Farmers’ Markets, Country Markets, Organics and the map section.

The directory was primarily funded by the Seed Programme, which distributed National Lottery money on behalf of the New Opportunities Fund. This funding has now ended.

At the present time we are not planning to produce editions in future years. However, with the help of local IT company, Jamie plc, we will shortly be launching the directory on the internet. It will eventually include all the information from the printed directory as well as many extra features as it develops. The site is not yet finished, but you can have a sneak preview on www.localfoodharvest.org.

The new directory was launched at the Colchester Farmers’ Market on 1st April. It is now available free of charge throughout North East Essex at local Farmers’ Markets, libraries, visitor centres and other local information points.

Interest in local foods continues to increase and following customer requests the opening hours of the Colchester Farmers’ Market have been extended to 2pm. This will make it easier for people who work in the town centre to visit during their lunch hour.

The Clacton Market which apart from Farmers’ Markets stalls, includes local food, garden and craft stalls makes its return for 2005. The first market will be held on April the 9th and 10th at the Clacton Factory Shopping Village from 10am till 6pm on Saturday and 11am till 5pm on Sunday.

Also starting in Clacton this month is the Tendring Re>Paint scheme. Although it is up and running now, the official launch of both the Colchester and Tendring schemes will be on 21st April by the famous Dulux dog.

If you need free paint for your charity, school or community group, give us a call, we have plenty of paint in stock.

Colchester council are organising the ‘big litter pick weekend’.

Already 15 groups have signed up to take part but what about clearing up your own street, school or business.

Everyone signing up as a volunteer will receive bin bags, litter picker tongs, gloves, jackets and the rubbish will be picked up by the council.

Why not collect in pairs with one of you collecting cans, which can easily be recycled and the other collecting all other rubbish.

This is a good opportunity to raise funds for your school, local charity, red nose day or even ourselves, en-form by having a sponsored litter pick. Far more constructive than the usual activities that get sponsored. You could sponsor the number of bags you collect or the weight.

To register to take part and borrow litter picking equipment telephone Brian Godden on 01206 282737 or e-mail at brian.godden@colchester.gov.uk.

Whilst we are talking about improving the look of the town, does your local community need a good lick of paint. The Re>Paint scheme has been operating since December and free paint is already being used by a number of local groups to clean up community buildings and remove graffitti. If you need some free paint to improve your community give us a call on 01206 367776.

Another way you can improve your local surroundings is to help with this years Colchester in Bloom. Last year Colchester entered Anglia in Bloom for the first time and did very well. This year we hope to do even better but we need more groups and individuals to become involved. If you want to help this year let us know and we will pass your details onto the Colchester Town Partnership who are the organisers.

Finally our Harbour Ward project is now in full flow providing free energy checks, helping to reduce energy bills and making homes warmer.If you want us to help you and you live in Harbour Ward give us a call. We are particularly looking for participants in Old Heath or Barn Hall.

The past year has been a challenging one in Colchester environmentally.

In April, the recycling service was totally revamped and became a victim of its own success. For several months the service struggled to keep up with demand.

However, the service has been improving throughout the year and should now be operating without problems. The good news is that the recycling rate has increased to about 40% making Colchester one of the best recycling towns in the country.

Tendring also launched a comprehensive kerbside collection service, which is also improving the recycling rate.

However at 40% the scope for increasing the recycling rate still further is much harder. The current service now means that most of the contents of your bin, about 80%, can now be recycled and collected through your kerbside collection service.

To increase the recycling rate still further would require those not currently recycling to start. So please persuade your friends and family to start recycling if they don’t already.

Over the Christmas period there have been a number of alarming programmes on climate change, which have been suggesting that life as we know it could end within the next 20 years.

To avert this we all need to cut down our carbon emissions, which essentially means cutting down on our use of energy.

With grants currently available there is no excuse for not insulating your home.

The good news is that from April government regulations will ensure that only energy efficient condensing boilers will be available.

How to reduce traffic use is an altogether more difficult problem. The good news is that rail journeys are up dramatically the bad news being that the network seems to be at capacity. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be reducing car journeys. Like the energy problem we seem to be running hard to stand still.

The booming economy in China increased the steel price, which has meant that we have few abandoned cars on our streets. In many cases your old car can be disposed of free of charge.

One problem that is getting worse is litter. Many parts of the town are constantly covered in unsightly litter. Do we really want to walk litter-strewn streets? Contrary to popular opinion litter is the responsibility of us all not just the council.

The past year has been challenging and the next one looks to be even more so. With all the problems in the world at the moment the environment has taken a back seat in the past few years. It now needs to be brought back to the forefront again.

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