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A few years ago West Berkshire Countryside Society (WBCS) volunteers were asked to cut back the overgrowing vegetation to help keep the Eling Way path clear and well maintained. The Society, with the assistance of the Estate landowners, stepped up to this challenge and now spend a couple of days a year on this task.
The Eling Way is a footpath and cycle route (permissive path on Eling Estate land) that has been created through partnership working involving the Estate, West Berkshire Council, Sustrans, National Highways, West Berkshire Spokes and the local Parish Councils. The initial section of Eling Way, linking Hermitage and Hampstead Norreys, was completed in February 2020 and uses the trackbed of the former Didcot Newbury and Southampton railway line. It provides a useful recreational and environmental resource for the local community. There are proposals to further extend the Eling Way in the future.
This is an example of the variety of work the Society undertakes which is benefitting the West Berkshire countryside, walkers and cyclists. Why not explore this route and visit the Community Café at Hampstead Norreys for refreshments post walk or cycle!
WBCS volunteer work groups operate on Tuesdays throughout the year. If you would like to join in (no experience necessary) or wish to find out more about getting involved with the barn owl group, please contact: enquiries@westberkscountryside.org.uk.
In the first round of Solar Together, over 2,200 solar panels were installed in West Berkshire, helping residents lower their energy bills and CO2 emissions.
This scheme offers a pathway for every household and small & medium businesses wanting to install solar panels, slash their energy bills and offset their carbon footprint.
By grouping interested individuals, we can negotiate competitive pricing for homeowners and business owners who are considering getting solar panels and battery storage. The more people join in, the better the potential savings, making it a win-win for everyone involved.
Households and small & medium businesses have until the 9 August to register their interest.
If you have any questions about new or existing installations you can call Solar Together for free on 0800 014 8851, Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm, or contact the Solar Together Berkshire helpdesk.
Purley Sustainability Group (PSG)
Top Laundry Tips
We've all seen the advertisements to make laundry look brighter, softer and smell fresher but many products are expensive, contain phosphates (which cause harm to rivers, lakes, plants and connected wildlife), sodium sulphates, chlorine bleach, synthetic perfumes and optical brighteners - potentially risking our own health too.
Alison at PSG researched what changes could make a greener, healthier and cheaper wash. Here are Alison's top tips:
- Save money and water by washing full loads at lower temperatures. Thames Water state an average washing cycle uses roughly 80L of water.
- Washing at 20 or 30 degrees saves power and reduces the number of plastic microfibres released into the rinse water when washing synthetic fabrics.
- Try to hang washing out to dry as this saves money and power plus you get that lovely fresh air fragrance!
- Check the labels on laundry products. Some say “harmful to aquatic life”. Maybe switch to an eco-friendly brand? Where possible, buy from local companies who offer refills of different eco friendly products. You will also reduce plastic pollution.
- Use “green” kitchen products. White vinegar is a natural water softener, kills some germs and breaks down limescale. Perhaps use instead of fabric conditioner with lavender essential oil.
- Reduce stains by cold soaking with vinegar and washing soda (sodium carbonate) overnight before the machine wash. Use Bicarbonate of Soda to deodorise and brighten fabrics.
- Do we “over wash” our clothes? If outer garments aren’t dirty, hang up somewhere well-ventilated before putting them away for another day.
- Apparently, Charles Bergh (CEO Levi Jeans) was asked how often jeans should be washed, he replied hardly ever and never in a washing machine. He advocated wearing them into the shower and washing them with soap and water just as if you are washing your legs! That certainly saves on water and detergent!
Perhaps we can all make one small change and really help our environment!
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Thank you to everyone who is recycling their food waste through our weekly kerbside collection service. Food waste is taken for processing to our in vessel composting facility at Padworth, West Berkshire.
However, on average 20% of the black bin is still made up of food waste.
What is food waste?
Food waste isn’t just plate scrapings, gone off bread, potatoes or meat. It's tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells, apple cores, onion/potato peel, white meat bones and any other part of a food item that you don’t eat. If you don’t compost these at home make sure you recycle them in our weekly food waste collection service.
We are recycling around 80 tonnes of food waste from West Berkshire households each week.
There are lots of great ideas and practices we can adopt to help reduce food waste.
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Click on the image to read the magazine
 The Department for Education (DfE) is recruiting volunteers for it's Climate Ambassadors Scheme.
Individuals, community groups and organisations play a vital role in helping West Berkshire address the Climate and Ecological Emergencies so we are encouraging people to get involved in any way they can in providing support for some of the issues we face. This scheme has been presented to members of the Environment Delivery Team at the Council who were very impressed and wanted to ensure the opportunity was shared for those keen to have an impact.
The Climate Ambassadors scheme exists to provide free expertise and support to nurseries, schools and colleges to develop and deliver impactful climate action plans and is a consortium jointly led by the University of Reading, STEM Learning and EAUC.
The Climate Ambassadors scheme mobilises and supports educational settings in England to act on climate change with the help of skilled volunteers. These skilled volunteers will receive training to become Climate Ambassadors from across the private, public and charity sectors provide settings with free, tailored guidance to progress their Climate Action Plans, wherever they are on their sustainability journey.
The scheme is recruiting volunteers to put their sustainability expertise to work. If you haven’t worked in an education setting (nursery, school or college) before, not to worry, all volunteers will receive training on Climate Action Plans and advice on applying their knowledge and skills in an education setting. Please email: climateambassadors_se@reading.ac.uk to get involved.
Partnership working is an important way to deliver environment enhancements for West Berkshire.
A £1.5 million grant has been secured by the team at the North Wessex Downs National Landscape Partnership for their Partnerships for Nature programme – a suite of projects across seven sites in the North Wessex Downs which will restore and enhance a range of important habitats.
The Partnership for Nature initiative will work in West Berkshire to increase or improve a number of habitats that will include:
- Restoration and enhancement of heathland and wood pasture at Bucklebury Common
- Chalk stream and riverbank improvements on the River Kennet
- Wetland creation at Pangbourne
- New cultivated field margins near Lambourn for arable plants
- Ash management and hazel coppice restoration at Moor Copse, Tidmarsh
Multiple species will benefit including butterflies such as the chalk hill blue, birds such as the nightjar and woodlark, as well as other vulnerable species like crickets and lizards. For more information please visit: the North Wessex Downs website.
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On Tuesday, 25 June, The Living Rainforest in Hampstead Norreys, hosted its first 'giving day', to help fund enhancements and new facilities for the wildlife. Thanks to the very generous donations on the day, The Living Rainforest can:
- Upgrade the dart frogs’ enclosure
- Implement a themed insect display
- Install UV lighting for their primates
- Establish a new mudskipper breeding facility.
These improvements will greatly benefit the animals.
Mudskippers use their fins to "walk" which can look like skipping on land and thanks to your donations our new Mudskippers breeding facility will help understand and support their unique needs.
Did you know that blue dart frogs are found in only a few isolated areas of rainforest in Suriname and northern Brazil, so were only discovered in 1969. Their new enclosure will better mimic their natural habitat.
Adding new UV lighting is crucial for primates like our pygmy marmosets, aiding in vitamin D synthesis and bone health - so a big thanks to our visitors generosity!
If you want to learn more about the incredible animals and be part of the journey towards a more sustainable future visit https://livingrainforest.org/get-involved.
Thank you for your continued support!
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