New year, greener you!

Happy new year! For our January bulletin, we’ve got some new year’s resolution suggestions for you. Here are our green steps for January…

Green your money

The banks we choose to look after our money can have a big impact on climate change. Banks have considerable power in deciding which businesses receive investment (and which don’t).

You can search for your current provider on bank.green which will tell you whether your bank is funding the fossil fuel industry.

Consumer magazine, Which?, has rated the sustainability of 18 banks and building societies. Find out where your bank is on their website.

Pension funds also hold a lot of power in the financial sector as their investments can be used to support a transition from oil and gas or continue to support the fossil fuel industry. As a member of a pension fund, you can influence how your money is invested. Visit the Make My Money Matter website to find out more.

Recycle only what can be recycled here!

We’d love to be able to recycle more things, and changes may be on the horizon, but for now what’s most important is that you only put things that Hampshire County Council (HCC) is able to recycle in your bin.

Only the following should go in your recycling (black) bin:

• Tins and cans
• Aerosols
• Paper
• Card
• Plastic bottles

You can also recycle glass bottles and jars (without lids or corks) from home or at one of our bottle banks.

Please ensure that you only put the above items into your recycling and avoid any of them accidentally going in your refuse (green) bin. Anything that can’t be recycled will be separated from other waste and taken elsewhere to be burned for power. This process takes time and costs money.

If you have another material that you think could be recycled but you don’t know where to take it, check out the HCC website.

The PeCAN tree festival in November 2023 - Photo: Tina Knowles

Get active!

If you’re feeling the urge to take more action to tackle climate change, it can feel like a daunting task. But you don’t have to go it alone.

You could join one of the local climate action networks already set up in the district – PeCAN (Petersfield Climate Action Network) or ACAN (Alton Climate Action Network). Both organisations take part in a wide range of projects, so if there’s a particular area you’re interested in, you’ll find one that suits you.

Alternatively, if your area doesn’t have a Climate Action Network of its own, why not set one up? If you want to start building a Climate Action Network in your town, please get in contact with ACAN or PeCAN to find out how it's done.