Buy nothing new in 2022

"I will try to buy nothing new in 2022", was a pledge made by a number of people at the recent Aldersbrook eco-festival. It is an important pledge. A recent survey estimated households spend £9,000 a year on stuff they just don't use, whether that be clothes, food or subscription to TV channels. Buying has become so much easier in the world of online shopping. It is so simple to click on a product and have it delivered to the door, let alone go to a shop. Though, much unused stuff is also purchased in the shops as well. It is believed that some people buy, as a sort of therapy - to feel better. The whole advertising industry is about persuading people to buy, buy, buy. There is though also the planetary cost of this purchasing binge. All the stuff has to be made, using up valuable resources and contributing to climate and biodiversity destruction in the process. The consumerist mode of living though has been the norm for many decades - almost a religion. Consumer capitalism is dependent on people using up stuff, then throwing it away, so creating more demand. The damage that this way of living has caused to the planet has become more and more obvious. The planet is finite, if humans continue with this destructive consumerist model, then they will destroy the whole ecosystem that we all depend on for life. It has been this realisation that has led to pledges like to not buy anything new in 2022. Also, the growing movement to recycle and re-use rather than throwaway and buy new offers a sustainable way of living. Where it leaves consumer capitalism, with its dependence on the throwaway society to create more demand is anyone's guess. What is for sure is that things cannot continue in that previously wantonly destructive way. The new movement that rejects stuffocation in favour of a simpler, more sustainable way of living really is the only way forward.

Fascinating insight into nature at St Marys, Wanstead

Spiders,bees, peregrine falcons and daffodils can all be seen at Marys churchyard in Wanstead. St Marys was the site recently of an excellent guided tour, arranged by the Wren Group. The tour was led by chair of the Wren Group, James Heal with help from the custodians of St Mary's. James was pointing out the birds, a goldcrest and coal tit in amongst the Yew trees, when a peregrine falcon flew over above, scanning the area for prey. The next object of interest was a rotting log, which had become a home for wild bees James found a variety of spiders, as a result of shaking branches. The amount of wildlife in this three acre space was truly remarkable. There are also bee hives being tended on site. The church has a gardening group, which works in the graveyard. The Church working with Wild Wanstead and Redbridge Council have developed the graveyard into a biodiversity oasis. A real case of reading the signs of the times. Something also in evidence when going inside the church, were the pews full of goods donated by the local community to help the people of Ukraine. Built in 1790, the church sits adjacent to the site where Wanstead house stood until the 1820s. St Mary's often attracts the film crews, particularly those making films featuring the Georgian period. Vanity Fair was one recent drama partly filmed there. St Mary's, though, is truly a living church aware of its historical legacy, whilst also living in the moment, with the wild graveyard and charitable support for the people of Ukraine. The church truly plays a vital role as part of the community of Wanstead - an example that has much to offer others, particularly those seeking to live in a greener and more sustainable way. A cause for hope, so go take a look.

A bit more cash needed to realise the true potential of Wanstead Park and Epping Forest

There has been much happening in Wanstead Park recently, with the successful introduction of the long horn cows grazing, the area opened up to cycling, new sign posts and the exciting Thames 21 developments along the Roding. More is on the way with proposals for the park to get some Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space (SANGS) funding via Redbridge Council that will enable more work to be done around improving accesses to the park and the area around the exchange lands. It seems things have come a long way over the past 20 years. At the turn of the century, the custodians of the park, the City of London Corporation (CLC), seemed less willing to engage with the local population. I was part of a group called the Wanstead Park Community Project (WPCP), the forerunner to the Friends of Wanstead Park (FWP). The group was made up of historians, archaelogists, environmentalists, journalists and film makers. Much of the work was about bringing the past and present life of the park to public notice. Filmaker Stuart Monro was a driving force in setting up WPCP. Stuart also made a number of DVDs about different aspects of the park. Some of these are still on sale at various places around Wanstead. There was also a booklet about the park. Sadly, Stuart died in 2017 but his work was taken forward. The WPCP and then the FWP took forward concerns over things like the state of the lakes in the park. The park was put on English Heritage’s at risk register in 2009, due to the state of the lakes. It remains on that register today. But things have been moving forward, with some of the developments mentioned earlier. There has also been the excellent ongoing work of the Wren Group, whose members are regularly doing voluntary work around the park. Volunteers helped with the introduction of the cows, effectively watching over the cattle, whilst informing the public about what was going on. The FWP also do much in the park. They raised funds, which helped with the provision of the recent signposts and information boards. All of that said, there is a growing concern that a whole number of stakeholders from the volunteers of the Wren Group and FWP to Redbridge Council and Thames 21 seem to be contributing in different ways but what about the Corporation of London itself? Recently, the Environment Agency were insisting that statutory works needed doing in the form of a flood prevention plan for the park. Some £10 million was committed for the work before that need was reduced down to nearer the thousands so what happened to the rest of it? Neither it would seem are the funding shortages limited to Wanstead Park. The Epping Forest Heritage Trust (EPHT) has called on the City of London Corporation to “invest more in protecting and conserving the forest for people to enjoy now and for generations to come.” The EFHT highlight a 19% cut £1.66 Million) in the budget for the [Epping] forest from the previous year (2020/21). There has been a 40% cut in the budget over the past 10 years. “Extra funding is essential for tree, path and pond maintenance, as well as vital for habitat management to protect the Forest’s biodiversity,” said Peter Lewis, chief executive officer of the EFHT. “We all understand more than ever the importance of the Epping Forest to the people of London and Essex, as well as the Forest’s importance in terms of biodiversity, heritage and climate change. As we come out of the pandemic, we call on the Corporation to follow the visionary example of their predecessors and invest now in the future of the Forest for the good of us all, and for the good of our planet.” Let’s hope the City of London Corporation heed these words. It is a very rich organisation, which surely could afford to put a bit more into this vital ecological infrastructure stretching from East London out into Essex. It is a much-loved space, which just needs a bit more cash put in to help develop its fantastic potential.

A world in crisis , Covid, Ukraine and Climate destruction - what next?

The terrible scenes from Ukraine over recent weeks have shocked the world. The unleashing of violence by Russian President Vladimir Putin against people of another country, under no pretext, is very hard to fathom War always amounts to a total breakdown in human relations, a grotesque failure, leading to untold damage. Since the Second World War, all manner of laws, conventions and diplomatic structures have been put into place to prevent armed conflict taking place The UN, though imperfect, has played an important role as a place where people talk and resolve differences, rather than leap to violence. There have been conflicts over the past 77 years, such as Korea in the 1950s, Vietnam, Afghanistan (twice) and Iraq (twice). But in the main, it has been a period of peace compared to what went before. What is so difficult to understand is how President Putin can justify the huge amount of destruction unleashed. The thousands of deaths, the millions of refugees and demolition of much of what was a modern country. Is it all about imperial dreams of a greater Russia? Whatever the motivations , the actions and resulting devastation do not justify Putin's actions. The remainder of the world has held back from military intervention, which given the nuclear angle could bring the end for us all. Economic and cultural war though has been declared. Sanctions and boycotts have isolated Russia as a world pariah, but will it be enough? Is this a way to restrain violent conflict? Only, time will tell. What is for sure is that there needs to be a new push for peace and reinstatement of means to avoid war. The precedence of international law needs to be restored, something that took a severe knock when the US and UK invaded Iraq in 2003. Something, that President Putin no doubt noted, prior to invading Ukraine. It must be hoped that among those means is not a new arms race. The.tills of the arms manufacturers across the world have already been ringing loud and clear, as a result of the Ukraine conflict. The world has massive problems, like climate and biodiversity destruction, to focus upon. Huge resources are required to deal with these threats. Another arms race, amid an even more unstable world, is the last thing required. These certainly are turbulent times, first a worldwide pandemic killing millions, now war in Ukraine. It was hoped that life might change for the better coming out of Covid, a realisation that we all need to come together for the common good of all. Let's hope that when the Ukraine conflict is over, and peace returns, that a similar sentiment prevails. The generosity and support of ordinary people in the street for the stricken in Ukraine has been overwhelming. It is these sentiments that need to be plugged into in order to create a better, more peaceful world, not more arms sales and carbon emissions.