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If you have a question for any of the discussions please fill in the form below. This will be forwarded to the respective panels and answered in the live virtual session.
VDD: Moments, Mindfulness, Meditation
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Moments, Mindfulness, Meditation
Thursday 29th July 21:10 – 21:40
Mindfulness simply means paying attention to our experience in the present moment, on purpose and with an attitude of kindly acceptance. Join Suzette as she ends the virtual discussions with time to reflect, be calm and to prepare your mind for the journey of a peaceful sleep.
Suzette Jones (MSc, RN) is a Registered Nurse and a Health & Wellbeing Adviser who delivers and facilitates training, talks and support groups on a range of health and social issues to the faith, voluntary and statutory sectors. A lifelong Christian meditator and Mindfulness teacher of over ten years she facilitates sessions which are open to all, regardless of faith or none. Mindfulness practice can be found in a range of settings including health, education, and business. Each session is bespoke to those attending in time and content and will include some simple exercises that use our natural human capacity such as observing breathing, walking, speaking to reduce stress and aid our mental & physical well-being.
To join fill in the EventBrite form below:
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Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com
VDD: Habitat Monitoring in Runnymede
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Habitat Monitoring in Runnymede
14th July 19:30-20:30: Free Virtual Discussion – Ticketed Event
Runnymede National Trust explores Habitat Monitoring
The Runnymede and Ankerwycke National Trust site contains a diverse range of habitats for wildlife including homes for many rare and endangered species. Habitats include Langham Ponds, which is a protected area designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and additional wetlands, meadows and woodland.
In mid 2019 the Trust decided to form a new volunteering programme solely focused on understanding the species of butterfly, bee and plants found on the site, offering an opportunity to experience a different Runnymede- known historically as the site of the signing of the Magna Carta.
Since 2019 a lot has changed and the trust are proud to work with a dedicated team of volunteers who have embarked on their first formal butterfly transect routes, priority habitat surveys and we are now looking to the next stage of developing the programme further.
Jess Kellard is part of the Runnymede Explored team, a National Lottery Heritage Fund project. The aim is to make Runnymede National Trust’s stories more accessible, particularly how the landscape played a role in the story of Magna Carta and how we as a community can look after it today. Jess’s work involves co-creating meaningful volunteering opportunities, events and activities that everyone can get involved in.
Come join Jess in this live virtual dinner discussion and bring a picnic.
If you want to leave a question for this discussion please submit a question via our question form. Click here to access
To connect with us:
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Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com
VDD: Low Carbon, Low Energy
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Creating a Low Carbon Home
Thurs 15th July 20:00 – 21:00: Free ticketed live virtual dinner discussion
Many of us are interested in reducing the pollution we generate directly , whether that is through transportation (see discussion on Walking and Cycling Infrastructure) or simply via the energy generation needed to run one’s household. 13% of the UK’s carbon emissions comes from mainly heating our homes due to draughts and cold spots. A low carbon home is a more comfortable home with cleaner air and a healthy indoor temperature.
What’s more exciting, is your home can become a virtual power plant providing electricity to heat your home, charge an electric vehicle or to store energy for use later on. As the UK is moving away from coal fired power stations, the grid carbon factor has halved since 2014. So electrification and moving away from gas is a really important part of creating a low carbon home.
The difficult part is knowing where to start, so we are inviting you to a free virtual dinner discussion with our expert, Leah Robson, who will answer questions to help you on the road to a low carbon home. Leah has installed heat pumps and solar panels in over 50 local homes and businesses and is especially keen on a whole house approach to look at how insulation and different technologies can work together to reduce CO2 emissions.
Saving or reducing the energy used also means saving money. That can be as simple as changing a light bulb!
Resources:
- Quick wins by the Energy Saving Trust
- A range of tools, guides and reports to help your business or organisation
Leah, specialises in helping households to be carbon neutral. To join her discussion, register below and then be ready with questions and your dinner.
If you want to leave a question for this discussion please submit a question via our question form. Click here to access
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Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com
VDD: Electric Cars Demystified
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Electric Cars Demystified
Monday 26th July 2021 at 8pm-9pm
The Government has brought forward the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars to 2030, and from 2035 you will not be able to buy a plug-in hybrid. As such, many of us are turning our attention to alternative fuels, in particular electric. With respect to clean air emissions, this is great news as the air emissions from fossil fuel cars creates Nitrogen Oxides which is harmful to living organisms, including us.
Air is essential for us, our animals and plants. The quality of our air is affecting us in insidious ways. For example: Four million children develop asthma every year as a result of air pollution from petroleum fueled cars and trucks, equivalent to 11,000 new cases a day. Children are especially vulnerable to toxic air and exposure to it is known to leave them with stunted lungs. https://www.who.int/airpollution/news-and-events/how-air-pollution-is-destroying-our-health
But what other benefits or disadvantages are there to electric cars? How environmentally kind are they? If you’re interested in electric cars and the infrastructure that supports their use, come armed with questions to ask Mark Calnan who will be presenting this session.
Mark Calnan, of Qarma Solutions and EB Charging, advises local authorities and businesses on integrated and sustainable solutions for decarbonising transport to meet the 2050 net zero emissions target, and to prepare for the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. He has been a pure EV (Electric Vehicle) driver since 2014 and is currently authoring a charging infrastructure guide for local authorities, on behalf of the Department for Transport's Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) due for publication in 2021.
Mark is a highly experienced chartered engineer with over 30 years in major integrated transport infrastructure and complex building projects (UK and Middle East) - from Channel Tunnel to Crossrail, including a 2-year assignment as Heathrow’s Energy Manager overseeing its energy demand reduction programme. Ever passionate about the environment and sustainability, over the last 8 years, Mark, Alex (his son), and business partner, Paul have co-founded EB Charging who initiated and funded the first electric taxi projects in Hertfordshire and Cambridge. They continue to develop and advise on innovative technology solutions; from managing Clean Air Zones, to intelligent charging bays and Smart Charging.
Mark and Paul recently completed a feasibility study to assess powering locally-owned EV charging infrastructure from community solar generation. They are currently advising an NHS Trust on decarbonising its fleet, and a North East authority on its 2-year electric van trial.
To connect with us:
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Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com
Cycle Repair & Mini-Craft Fair
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Cycle Repair & Mini-Fair
25th July 10am – 1pm
Xavier who is hosting a cycle-ability discussion on the 15th July, will be helping you understand how you can repair your cycle on the 25th July at St John’s Church grounds. To keep him company, we will be hosting a mini fair with crafts and a refill stall.
Location: St John’s Church grounds
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Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com
VDD: Reduce Your General Waste
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The Journey to Zero Waste & Litter Free Environments
24th July 6-7pm: Ticketed Virtual Q&A
Handling & processing waste costs money. Waste that is not recycled is incinerated, which means a resource is burned forever.
Check your knowledge of the waste terms here
Metal is the only material that can be recycled nearly an infinite amount of times. Recycling glass requires very high temperatures (over 800 degrees celcius which is higher than the temperatures of the incinerators) and materials like plastic and paper are downgraded with each “recycle”. I hear some of you saying “My council recycles plastic”, and some of you demand that “More plastic should be recycled”
When plastic is recycled, it can be recycled on average 6 times before it is deemed useless. Since September 2019, virgin plastic has been cheaper to purchase than recycled plastic.
To reduce the amount of waste that is processed, there are a number of initiatives from BYOR (Bring Your Own Reusable), Repurposing, Upcycling, and Reusing. Charity shops, preloved sites and freecycling are great ways to reuse items that are in good condition. Upcycling or repurposing using crafting methods has a finite number of times you will be able to divert your rubbish from the general waste. Our Eco-Brick project is a way to repurpose bottles and upcycle plastic rubbish we would otherwise have to put in our general waste. But we should be able to see beyond normal and see opportunities. Zero Waste / Refill shops have been popping up around the UK and globally.
BYOR is a great way to refuse purchasing single use bags, coffee cups, take away containers and more. Some of the take away shops will use your containers if you ask them. Cups in Egham used to provide a 20p discount off your purchase if you brought your own container.
There are many more ways to reduce waste and we have brought together a panel that actively reduces waste from a business/organisational perspective, resident perspective, and a political perspective
- Iris and Shannon – Chertsey residents whose challenge is to pick up litter every day in their daily walks and have an Instagram account @RubbishADay
- Neil – from Zero Waste Europe promotes and supports societal moves to zero waste, and the need for change at political and corporate level to enable that change at a personal level.
- Mel – runs Bare and Fair, a refill shop in Woking to enable sustainable and low-waste living a realistic option
Come join us for a free live virtual dinner discussion on going zero waste on the 24th July 6-7pm. Register for a ticket below:
If you want to leave a question for this discussion please submit a question via our question form. Click here to access
To connect with us:
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Email: StJohnsEghamEcoChurch@gmail.com
Getting to Know Your Waste Terms
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What is the difference between recycling, reuse, repurpose, upcycling and more?
Zero Waste: is a philosophy with the goal to minimise waste that ends up in incinerators or landfills. It is an holistic pursuit that attempts to be systematic and scalable aiming for long term permanent solutions.
Recycling: when a material is broken down so that it can be used to make something new. “The action or process of converting waste into reusable material.” Recycling results in reduced demand for new material because the recycled material can be used instead. This is a scalable way to address waste meaning it can be done for large quantities of waste material typically by municipalities. Runnymede Borough Council collect the recyclables and Surrey County Council are responsible for where the recyclables go.
Reuse / Reusable: repeatedly using an item without significant alteration of the original (eg jars can be re-used – after cleaning and removing the label but without further modifcations). This is usually an individual effort except for some deposit systems and bottle re-use programs.
Repurpose: using a material in a way not originally intended but without significant alteration. This is usually not scalable but is typically done on a project basis. Eg using an old yoghurt container as a pot for plants. There is a limit to how many yoghurt containers can be used in this way.
Upcycling: turning a discarded product into something useful / of higher quality. Crafting with waste materials can be included in this. This is rarely scalable – meaning it is usually done on a one-off basis and is not an effective solution for waste reduction because it is time consuming and there may be little demand for the end product. A lot of upcycling requires the use of new materials as part of the project (paints, glues, some new parts, etc). Craft projects are generally not effective at waste reduction though they can sometimes be used to good effect as an artistic statement about waste.
Incineration: is sometimes referred to in the media as “recycling” as in “waste is recycled into energy” “Swedes recycle nearly 100 per cent of their household waste”. This is NOT recycling – it destroys the material, it does not recover it which is an essential part of recycling.
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