Welcome to out February Newsletter with a plastic and seasonal, early spring focus.
Our Winter Photo Competition
We are still receiving your winter photographs for our competition until 01 March please. This is an opportunity to capture what is inspiring you through these winter months and to share these with our community. We are not looking for technical perfection, instead those images you took in January of February that have made you feel better in these dark months. We will be celebrating selected images in our March newsletter.
Bird Watch
Did you take part in the RSPB Birdwatch at the end of January? Please do share your sightings and numbers - unusual or otherwise! In Lancashire, the top three birds recorded were the House Sparrow, Starling and Blue Tit.
Now is a good time for those New Year resolutions
Can you cast your mind back to last Thursday (1st of February)? It was a lovely sunny and fresh day with the promise of spring just around the corner. The day marked Imbolc - a seasonal festival celebrated that marks the midpoint between the winter solstice and spring equinox. It is traditionally associated with the awakening of nature after the long, dark winter, and is a time to celebrate the coming of spring and new beginnings. So, a good, or better time to make resolutions for the coming year! The Regen Notes newsletter has some great suggestions for celebrating the promise of the coming spring.
Plastic Focus
Longridge Environment Group was founded with a plastic reduction mission and a focus on encouraging businesses in Longridge to become plastic-free champions (If you are one of our great champions please get in touch to share your stories) and by hosting LEG Plastic Free Markets.
Plastic Recycling
“Pretending we can sort (the plastic crisis) with recycling is just industry greenwash,” … We’re creating a hundred billion bits of waste plastic a year, and recycling is hardly making a dent” (Greenpeace)
We have to make a mindful decision when buying and ask - can this be reused, is it available in better packaging, where did the material come from, where will it go, what impact has it had or will have on the health of humans and the environment?.
If unsure or unhappy with the (non plastic) choice you have the mention it to the shop staff
The Big Plastic Count!
Nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging are thrown away by UK households every year.
The results of one of the largest voluntary research projects into the scale of plastic waste (Big Plastic Count 2022) show that only 12% of the single-use packaging used by households is sent for recycling.
The Big Plastic Count is back on the 11-17 March 2024. … For one week in March, thousands of schools, households, community groups and businesses will be coming together to count their plastic waste. You can register to take part here
Know your plastics?
A little plastic bingo fun - match the number of plastics in this first image (1-12) with the descriptions in the second image. Answers in next month's newsletter, but please do share your comments.
Coming up…
The conversation at our Social Saturdays is always uplifting, inspiring and full of great ideas - why not join us for an eco-natter?
Join our Active Sundays to look after trees we have planted, prune the orchard and maybe plant some of our remaining (autumn) trees.
Our Saturday Socials continue every 2nd Saturday of the month (Next is February 10th at 10am at Little Town Diary) and our Active Sundays on the last Sunday of the month (next will be 25th February 2024). Watch for details on our Facebook and Whatsapp pages (see below if you are not connected)
We know that getting outside and being active in nature, with a good social group is so good for our health. But did you know LEG is a social prescribing linked organisation? Please do get in touch if you or someone you know would like to know more.
Great Big Green Week 2024
… will be back 8- 16th June. If you have ideas or would like to get involved in helping to organise Green Week activities around Longridge please get in touch. There is a training workshop organised by GBGW on Tuesday 20th February, 6-7.30 pm, where you’ll hear more about what type of events we can host, learn from previous organisers and more.
Supporting LEG
For time and other reasons, we are aware that not all can join our activities, so we have made it easier to support us with a donation. Simply use the QR code below and you will be taken to our Stripe page where you can donate. All gratefully received, no matter how small.
Thank You.
Keeping in Touch
A reminder that you can …
And we look forward to connecting at a social Saturday or active Sunday.