We’re excited to announce a series of online workshops, in collaboration with other community and environmental groups across Oxford – “Communities for Zero Carbon Oxford”. The workshops are all designed to help us as individuals and communities take action to combat the climate crisis. Topics include tree care, waste, food and home energy/ retrofit, details below:
Continue readingTaking action grid
Cutteslowe school children plant 100 tree seeds
It’s National Tree Week, the UK’s largest tree planting celebration, marking the start of the winter planting season. There are various opportunities across Oxford and Oxfordshire to get involved: Oxford Friends of the Earth are planting 400 trees in Botley on 5 and 6 December; Rose Hill and Iffley Low Carbon will be planting the first phase of their orchard in late January or early February; and Banbury Trees has received 950 saplings from the ‘I Dig Trees’ scheme which will be planted at a local park.
Continue readingWhat’s the harm in flying? Key messages and recording now available
A big thank you to all who attended our webinar, ‘What’s the harm in flying?’. We were delighted to welcome Dr Sally Cairns from the Institute of Transport Studies at the University of Leeds, and our trustee and climate psychology expert Rebecca Nestor, to explore the environmental impact of flying alongside its psychological appeal and emotional power.
Continue readingTime to act: fossil fuel divestment
Students call for fossil fuel divestment at St John’s College
Last week Oxford students occupied St John’s College in protest at its £8.1m fossil fuel investments. The students held up placards reading “We can’t eat money or drink oil”, “Fossil Fuels are History” and “Wake up Fossil Fools”. As they endured the overnight cold in their tents, the college’s response included attempts to keep out sleeping bags and blankets, deactivating the students’ key fobs, and a proposal from the Bursar that he could “arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect”. Calling themselves “Direct Action for Divestment“, the campaign group was supported by the Oxford Climate Justice Campaign, XR Oxford and other climate activists.
Continue readingHow to plant a tree
Did you know?
- Just 13% of the UK’s total land area has tree cover (compared to an EU average of 35%).
- Doubling UK woodland cover could help absorb 10% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions annually.
- Not only do trees absorb carbon, they fight flooding, reduce pollution, nurture wildlife and make landscapes more resilient.
- In a year, a single mature tree can absorb up to about 22kg CO2. That’s roughly equivalent to driving 10 miles in heavy traffic.
- 100 mature trees can absorb roughly a third of an average annual UK carbon footprint (excluding stuff we buy and international flights).
Every tree counts, and we need more trees in cities like Oxford. If two thirds of all households in Oxford planted just one tree in their garden, we would have an additional 40,000 trees, which in time could grow into the equivalent of a tenth of Wytham Woods!
This short video from the RHS talks you through what you need to consider if you want to plant a tree.
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