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Archive for Sustainable Skibbereen

Cycle to school in Skibbereen!

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· March 2, 2020 

Starting on Thursday 5th March children in Skibbereen will be able to cycle safely to school as part of the new Cycle Bus scheme.

Three schools are taking part- St Patrick’s Boys, Abestrewry National and the Skibbereen Gaelscoil.  Any students who want to cycle safely to school can register with their school and join the convoy as it travels through the town, picking up cyclists on the way and delivering them to the three schools.

The convoy will run on Thursdays and be accompanied by adult volunteeers and a cycling Ban Garda.  It is being organsied by Katie Mann of Cycle Sense.  

Cycle Sense write “Soon children in Skibbereen will be able to go to school on their bike by joining a Cycle Bus (a group of cyclists supervised by marshals) This group will stop at various places around town and finish at the school… Watch this space!”

To find out more contact your school.

Why cycle to school?

In the Uk and Ireland many local authorities and cities are encouraging cycling for all generations.  Broxap reports

With children spending more time behind screens than outside, cycling can be a healthy and fun way of encouraging children to enjoy the outdoors. People of all ages can enjoy cycling, but learning to ride from a young age will equip children with a skill for life.  Cycling to school is a good starting point to get children out and about and on their bikes. Providing cycle parking at school will encourage more pupils to ride to school.

Benefits of Cycling To School

  • Encourages independence and builds confidence
  • Good for the environment
  • Reduces congestion – especially around school gates, making it safer
  • Provides an active start to the day, children will be more alert in lessons

Pictured are Katie of Cycle Sense and Brian of Sustainable Skibbereen and St Patrick’s BNS.

 

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Cycle Sense stakeholder Meeting 3rd December

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· December 2, 2019 

Cycle Sense, a social enterprise focused on the promotion of cycling as a sustainable form of transportation and conducting cycle safety training for schools and organisations, is looking to initiate upcycling and waste reduction projects in Skibbereen.

As the climate crisis rages on, we feel it is important to take actions locally here in Skibbereen to help combat the climate challenge head on. Projects that focus on upcycling and waste prevention are especially impactful, as they address our current system of unsustainable consumption. They can also have significant economic and environmental benefits for our local community, as they reduce the amount of waste produced and collected in Skibbereen and can provide jobs & training opportunities and access to affordable, environmentally-friendly goods for our friends and neighbours.

Meeting

A meeting for potential stakeholders will take place in Skibbereen from 12.00 til 3.00pm on 3 December, 2019 at the Community & Family Resource Centre, North Street, Skibbereen, to discuss these opportunities.

We have partnered with the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland’s National Centre for the Circular Economy, to assist us in studying the feasibility and implementation of these projects. As part of this initial phase, we are conducting an information and exploration session with local stakeholders to look at opportunities, assess local needs and map out current & potential activities in Skibbereen.

Cycle Sense

cyclesense@gmail.com

 

 

 

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Paula Demonstrates Plastic Free Shopping

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· November 19, 2019 

Paula from Baltimore Zero Waste demonstrates how to reduce plastic packaging at home by choosing what you buy, coming prepared, and using some handy tips.  Watch the video taken at the stall sponsored by Fields of Skibbereen.   Learn about plastic reduction on everyday items sush as coffee cups, toothbrushes, water filters, making your own toothpaste, make up ranges and paper lunch bags! Watch out for the stall again at Fields.

Bea Johnson writes Think waste-free living is depriving, time consuming, costly, or simply reserved for hermits living in the boondocks? Think again! With a blog turned bestselling book and talks throughout the world, my family and I have debunked those misconceptions and inspired a global movement. Join us and hundreds of thousands of others in enjoying a richer life based on experiences instead of stuff!


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Climate Action & Renewable Energy for Skibbereen

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· November 14, 2019 

Developing Skibbereen as a Model for Climate Action & Renewable energy

West Cork Hotel Skibbereen   Wed 20th November  7.30pm

An information session for business and owners and community interests.
Can Skibbereen become a centre of excellence for action on climate change and renewable energy?
How business owners and community interests can collaborate on the installation of renewable energy technology, including the installation solar PV array on their roof-tops.
The building owners and occupiers will benefit from lower energy costs and make a substantial contribution to reducing the carbon foot-print of the town by reducing their CO2 emissions.

About the Event

You are invited to an information session for business and owners and community interests to discuss how Skibbereen can become a centre of excellence for action on climate change and renewable energy. The event will take place in the West Cork Hotel on Wednesday 20th November commencing at 7.30pm business owners and community interests can
collaborate on the uptake of energy efficiency measures and the installation of renewable energy technology, including the installation solar PV array on their roof-tops.

Building owners and occupiers will benefit from lower energy costs and make a substantial contribution to reducing the carbon foot-print of the town by reducing their COj emissions.
While the project will have clear benefits for the businesses, households and community interests in reducing costs it will demonstrate that business and the local community in Skibbereen is committed to playing its part in meeting national climate change and renewable energy targets.

Financial supports are available through grant funding through from SEAI including the Sustainable Energy Communities Programme (SEC) and the Better Energy Communities Programme (BEC) and the event will provide information on the operation of these programmes and how to participate.

Confirm your attendance

If you wish to attend the event please confirm with Jim O’Donnell:
Mobile: 086 243 3126

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Beginning the Zero Waste Journey: Appreciate what we have already

Posted by Sekeeta Crowley 
· March 11, 2019 

‘Waste not want not’ The old saying in times past where things were less plentiful still applies, but slightly updated with David Attenborough’s stamp of authority, and I quote:

“The one thing we all have to do in a way which covers every aspect of our life is simply not to waste. Don’t waste plastic. Don’t waste food. Don’t waste power. Live within our means without inflicting damage on the planet”

This call to action is about more than throwing less in the bin. It is about not wasting our precious and limited resources. If we take this on it may be a  worthwhile exercise to think more about our ‘need’. I not talking about austerity or going back to eating cabbage all week , or wearing the same well-darned jumper for two years.. But in this consumer age we are surrounded by ’stuff’ in shopping centres and on the internet which heavy advertising on all sides encourages us to buy; often it so poorly made it just doesn’t last. Or we see something else new and shiny that takes our eye; isn’t it SO hard to resist?… ‘but do I actually need a kettle which matches my toaster? (but I want a red one!). Do I have enough shoes already (nooo!)? Can what I have be repaired effectively? (ok… all I really need is a new button, but I don’t know how to sew it on!)

There is an interesting BBC video clip (about 5 mins). https://www.bbc.com/reel/playlist/mind-control?vpid=p06xj82k on shopping.. the ‘Didero effect’. No, I’d not heard of it either, but I bet marketing students have… First described in 1769, it is still used today to encourage us to buy stuff we didn’t know we ‘needed’!!

We are being taken in not just by advertising, but world reports that tell us buying is good for the economy, economic growth is good, and in times of low growth rates, asking what industry or governments are going to do about it? It doesn’t take a degree in economics or anything else, to work out that unless resources are infinite, growth cannot continue forever.

Buying only what we need sounds kind of dull, but it depends on your outlook, and just look at the advantages for the planet:

Less demand means ultimately less production, so

Less pressure on world resources

Less energy used in production and transport, so less CO2 emitted.

Less packaging going to waste

…and to you:

Fun and satisfying time spent repairing/ upcycling/reinventing what you have to give it a new look, discovering your new creative self!

Less money spent on trivia and more to spend on a better, nicer, more long-lasting item, or better quality (organically produced?) food.

Maybe then ‘buying something new’ becomes more of a considered, satisfying and enjoyable activity.

So… back to the first call of action.

There is a short film on the website:

Great Zero Waste Info Film Shared by our Zero waste trainer Rachel Dempsey here is a “Great video to learn the basics on the 5 R’s of Zero Waste”  As the first review says, “Really good straightforward guide that manages to give some deeper info while still being a quick, accessible watch. Great.”

The film was apparently inspired by Bea Johnson who managed to reduce her entire years waste to the contents of a jar. Now that IS ambitious.

She shows an inverted triangle ( have a look), the first layer is REFUSE

So the first step is to REFUSE stuff we don’t need, and:

Appreciate and use what we have already.

To think about:

First: to avoid picking up extra packaging waste, remember your shopping bags, add the veg bags and take along leak-proof clip-lid boxes. Ask at your butcher/ fishmonger/ deli-counter to put your meat etc into the boxes and stick the price label on the top. It is then already labelled to put straight in the freezer if needed! However this does take extra organisation. It took me WEEKS to reliably remember the boxes, but in the end I found it works if as soon as I have used the contents, I wash them out and put them straight into the shopping bags in the car along with the veg and bread bags. Getting my esteemed ‘other half’ to take them with him is the next aim!

If you have time, head for the market for unwrapped fruit and veg or seek out one of those growing number of shops which provide unpackaged goods (Twig in Clonakilty). However there is no point in driving miles especially to do that, as you are then wasting fuel!!

Second: single-use plastic is considered bad, BUT… it needn’t be single use if you find another purpose for it, so don’t throw it away… yet!

There is nothing to stop you taking the plastic bags from bread or fruit from a previous trip to hold loose produce on your next shop (DO felt tip out the bar code.. it can cause problems at the checkout..)

Or you can use them for wrapping sandwiches or for bits and pieces in the fridge. You will have to recycle them eventually, but you have extended their use and avoided collecting more bags from the supermarket to throw away, or the use of other wrappings.

Try saving some of those unavoidable little plastic tubs from the cream cheese/ margarine/hummus to store small quantities of left-over food in the fridge, instead of putting cling film over half an onion or a piece of cheese. It has saved you using the cling film (which you would throw away afterwards) or buying a little plastic box for the same purpose.

The best bit is none of this has cost anything extra in terms of money or time, but you have already avoided adding to your waste / recycle bin!

Third: Youtube is a wonderful resource for ideas to revamp clothes or learn how to do repairs. Ask your nan/ granddad, they will surely be delighted to offer advice, or if you’re really lucky, they may offer to do it for you (don’t tell them I said that!)

For the really keen, with a bit of imagination or a scout around the internet, you will find loads other stuff to do with unwanted packaging.

So if you manage just one of these measures, you are all a little further down the road towards Zero Waste. Please share know what works for you.. and what doesn’t.  If you sign up for the blog, I would be delighted if you would comment and suggest where we head to next!

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Zero Waste Skibbereen… is this realistic?

Posted by Sekeeta Crowley 
· February 28, 2019 

There is now an organisation with a Facebook page called Zero Waste Skibbereen. The name says it all, but is it seriously achievable?  Unless you have been hiding under a rock for a good while, you will know as well as anyone that this poor planet is suffering, possibly terminally, from misuse by the human race. 

If we do nothing then the chances are that the word ’possibly’ will be removed from the sentence. It does not matter where we live, our practices are killing the wildlife, wrecking the atmosphere, the oceans, forests and countryside and the ecology upon which we ultimately depend. We can wring our hands in despair, blaming everything on ‘the system’ and demand that ‘they’ do something about it, or (against all current scientific thinking) insist all this has nothing to do with us, and carry on as normal, convinced that there is no point in changing anything as ‘it’ is going to happen anyway.

zero waste skibbereen

Zero waste.. the start

Alternatively, and this is why I am writing this blog (!), we can look around and see what we can do ourselves and just get on with it! Outside the areas of the world that are so wracked with war and famine where pure survival saps all energy, there is a stirring in the grassroots of people with a huge dissatisfaction with their own government’s lack of will and/or lack of urgency in dealing with the problems in hand and who are taking on these challenges themselves. In amongst the despairing articles in the media, a scroll through Facebook will bring to light the positive efforts by people who clear their beaches of rubbish, reduce their use of plastic, upcycle otherwise unwanted items and tend their gardens in a way which encourages wildlife and take steps to reduce their energy use.

It is quite uplifting, knowing there are so many people around with similar views and we can all actually DO something to mitigate the situation.

Organisations abound with postings to help you live more lightly on the Earth, some useful and  others with ideas that just won’t suit your lifestyle, sometimes making the task seem insurmountable, even if you are really keen to take some positive action. Others are just plain kooky. How can you steer a path through all this without wasting days staring at a small screen or giving up entirely and heading back under that rock with a book and a cup of cocoa?

Enter Zero Waste Skibbereen.

Zero Waste bin… our aim!

It is part of the Sustainable Skibbereen platform. Our first aim is to fish out the more useful hints and guides offered online to help people to move into a more sustainable lifestyle and reduce our footprint on this planet; to use less and to waste less.  We would like to provide practical tips that will work here where we live and share the positive experiences of doing this. How the group moves forward depends on its members and their input. It may be possible to introduce meet ups and workshops. But first, why not ‘like’ the page and if you have ideas and hints or find useful websites and helpful links please do post them. If you have a suggestion, a story, or a blog of your own, let’s share it. And of course sign up for the blog updates

Aiming for zero waste is a journey. It starts here!

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Sustainable Ambulance Service

Posted by Sustainable Skibbereen 
· October 14, 2018 

After another great Skibbereen Walking Festival 2018 served up 6 brilliant sell out walks this year who didn’t fall in love with the joys of sustainable transport?  But while we have all had a go at cycling and walking, how many have been rescued by wheelbarrow ambulance.

An injured walker could have called a helicopter to be rescued from Long Island but a deep commitment to sustainability and getting back for the tea and scones on time led the intrepid crew to requisition the local transport.  A mile long hike to the ferry was managed by a relay of walkers driving the ambulance.  Many thanks to them and to the generous islander who lent the vehicle.

 

Fellow island walker

 

 

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