Next week marks the start of COP26!
 Next week marks the start of COP26 (Conference of the Parties) in Glasgow, where global leaders will be meeting with the aim of accelerating climate action. Did you know our local MPs will be involved? Alok Sharma is actually the President of COP26 and has had an incredibly busy year leading up to the Conference and Laura Farris will be attending and participating as well.
The main goals of COP26 are:
- Reach net zero by 2050 and aim to limit warming to 1.5 degrees
- Help adapt communities and natural habitats
- Share and mobilise finance
- Work together to tackle climate change
During the first week the key themes include finance, energy, youth and public empowerment, and nature. The second week will see discussion focusing on adaptation and damage, gender, science and innovation, and transport.
Back in 2019 we announced a climate emergency and since then have been working hard to act on this. You can read our Environment Strategy here to see our targets. We will be keeping up to date with progress at COP26 and are looking forward to the outcomes.
 We might not be heading to Glasgow, but that's not stopping us from having our own version of COP26!
Join Council Leader, Lynne Doherty and Cllr Steve Ardagh-Walter as they discuss our environmental work and answer your questions. You will have an opportunity to learn more about the work we've already started as well as our aims and ambitions going forward.
We will be streaming on YouTube at 5pm on Monday 1 November live from Newbury College's Renewables Centre.
Get out and immerse yourself in the autumn colours! Our local Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has lots of fantastic open spaces close to your front door for you to explore. Check out their upcoming events here as well as their guides to going green here.
Why not discover some of our great public right of ways in West Berkshire? You can find walking, cycling, and horse riding routes and maps here.
Wherever you explore, tag us in your photos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
The Community Energy Switch is a scheme where residents can sign up to see if they can receive cheaper energy tariffs. We run this scheme in West Berkshire with iChoosr who manage the auction and switching process.
Due to the persistently rising wholesale prices across the energy market, we have received the below message from iChoosr:
"In our October auction, suppliers could not bid with tariffs below, or indeed close, to the Ofgem price cap so we find ourselves in an unusual situation where our best advice for you is to not switch"
Anyone who signed up to the October auction has had their registration details moved into the Winter scheme for the next auction in February.
For further information, visit the iChoosr online Information Page to find out a bit more about why prices are so high, or read their FAQ page to learn more about their schemes. Residents can always contact the helpdesk for advice too.
 Did you know a terrifying 14.5 million pumpkins are expected to be left uneaten this Halloween? Pumpkins aren’t just for carving, the flesh can also be reused into many fang-tastic recipes for the whole family to tuck into! For recipe inspiration and more info on how to reduce your waste, take a look here.
If you can’t quite save it all, then once your pumpkin is carved and hollow you can use it for compost, or it can go in your food waste bin at home #PumpkinRescue
 We're dreaming of a green Christmas...are you?
This Christmas we're going to be showcasing our independent local businesses with green initiatives by creating a new online magazine. It will help residents to shop local and shop green this Christmas - look out for it from the end of November!
We're calling on all eco-conscious independent local businesses to get involved. We would like to hear from you if you are a local business with strong environmental values. From farm shops selling locally-sourced produce to online craft stores with eco-friendly gifts, tell us more to be included in the Christmas magazine!
To find out more about the magazine and to apply visit our webpage.
The deadline for application is 11.59pm on Sunday 31 October, 2021.
A new recycling service has been introduced for paper containers with metal ends, such as Pringles tubes, packaging used for hot chocolate, nuts and other products.
These containers can be recycled alongside food and drink cartons at specialist banks at the Council's Newbury and Padworth Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and Mini Recycling Centres (MRCs):
- Newbury - Waitrose, Sainsbury's
- Hungerford - Station Car Park
- Thatcham - Kingsland Centre
- Hermitage - Hillier Garden Centre
- Burghfield - Willink Leisure Centre
The introduction of the new service follows a number of other improvements made together with Veolia UK in the past year. These include the introduction of accepting plastic pots, tubs and trays at selected recycling centres along with the expansion of the small waste electronic equipment and carton recycling banks at our MRCs.
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Earlier this year, we chose to switch over to 100% carbon neutral paper supplies in our office print room, so far saving over 7 tonnes of CO2.
Our suppliers offset the carbon generated in the production of their paper and board products. As part of their Tree Buddying scheme, for every tonne of CO2 that they offset, one tree is be planted in the UK.
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For the past couple of months we have been working closely with local bus operators to look at how we can improve bus services across the district after the Government launched the National Bus Strategy in March 2021. As part of this work we have published a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) outlining how we would like to improve bus services across West Berkshire. The BSIP has also been submitted to the Department for Transport (DfT) for consideration. Thank you to the 712 people who responded to the recent survey. This is a fantastic response rate, and it has helped with our thinking.
The BSIP is a very ambitious document, and we are hopeful that we will receive significant funds from the DfT’s £3bn funding pot, which will be used to improve bus services across England over the next three years.
By April 2022 the Council and local bus operators will enter into an Enhanced Partnership (EP) which will allow both operators and the local authority to work together more closely to improve bus services for everyone.
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