Sussex eco group urges people to discover the benefits of going green

As the current holder of the County Times Community Hero Award for ‘Friends of the Environment’ I am delighted to be introducing the first of a new column which helps us address the current challenges we’re facing and offers some practical solutions.
By Carrie Cort
Published 16th Oct 2020, 10:38 BST
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We all enjoy variety so this short weekly piece from the Sussex Green Living (SGL) and our Youth Eco Forum (YEF) will be hosted by a diverse range of writers, from our youngest members of the YEF who are still at school to those of us who have lived through rather more decades.

The umbrella organisation, Sussex Green Living, launched in 2012, is a group that spans all ages, faiths and communities and I’m delighted to report that in May this year it was granted charitable status.

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Since March we have been running free online meetings full of inspiring ideas. These proved to be increasingly popular, so in June we also launched a weekly Horsham Future Forum and Youth Eco Forum.

Sussex Green Living SUS-200810-151343001Sussex Green Living SUS-200810-151343001
Sussex Green Living SUS-200810-151343001

The Horsham Repair Café is thankfully now a physical event again in the town centre, on the first Saturday morning of each month. People are invited initially to chat to a volunteer repairer about their item to see if the repair is viable. Repairing trumps Recycling!

This isn’t to say that we’re neglecting recycling - far from it! We have now developed a hub near Horsham Bus Station where difficult to recycle everyday items (such as baby food pouches, crisp packets or toothpaste tubes) can be brought. Not only does this reduce landfill but it also generates an income for future projects as well as donations to the Sussex Air Ambulance.

Other services include cheap refills of eco-friendly cleaning products for the home and free impartial advice about switching to clean energy. We have saved customers between £95 - £366 a year and gone green!

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We deliver free environmental education in about 65 West Sussex schools and run an annual eco art project. We are excited to report that our youth group have recently been granted an award of £1,000 from the Sussex Community Fund to run an outdoor day for local youngsters. In addition, they recently published their excellent first online magazine called ‘Planet B?’ which can be viewed here:

https://www.flipsnack.com/noplanetb/planet-b.html

Our hope is to reach out to people across the Horsham district to chat, share ideas, and plan action to address the climate crisis.

If anyone would like to offer their skills, volunteers are always needed.

​Come along and say hello at ​the Unitarian Church Hall 10-1​pm​ on the first Saturday of each month, or join our zoom ​meetings https://www.sussexgreenliving.co.uk/cafes-forums/.

We’d love to hear from you!

[email protected]

Related topics:PeopleRecycling