We have done a lot since the group started in 2006, so this summary is divided into years 2010-11, 2009-10, 2008-9, 2007-8 and 2006-7.
Our first
EcoFair took place on
We put on a wide range of attractions, including activities for both children and adults, indoors and outdoors, a performance space for talks, music, and stories which went on throughout the day. There were stalls to buy sustainable goods and services, demonstrations, information stalls and food and drink. You could even test how economically you could drive on a driving simulator. See also the EcoFair leaflet (PDF 710KB) and poster (PDF 242KB).
The EcoFair was generously supported by South Gloucestershire Council.
We ran a competition to make a greetings card using recycled materials. The closing date for entries was Friday 14th May, and the winner was announced at the EcoFair. Download a poster (PDF 119KB).
We showed
the new feature film The
Age of Stupid on Friday 19th June 2009 at the Cossham
Hall in
Thornbury. The event was sold out with 120 tickets sold, and
we turned a few away.
The film stars Pete Postlethwaite and is set in 2055. Pete Postlethwaite plays an archivist who is looking back at how stupid people were not to do anything about global warming. See the Age of Stupid website, including a trailer and posters.
After the film show there was a question and answer session with a panel consisting of our MP Steve Webb, Paul Ashford (member of the International Panel on Climate Change), Ian Page (member of International Futures Forum) and Chris Sunderland (Agora).
Download the poster (PDF 592kB) or the handbill (PDF 180kB).
Give-it-Away
Take-it-Away day
was on Sunday June 7th in Rock Street
car park in Thornbury. 400 cars came with items to give away. The
weather stayed dry until the afternoon when the heavens opened and we
packed up.
We ran a series of free evening film shows and talks in the villages around Thornbury during the autumn and winter of 2009-10. Each event was in a different village with a different programme but all with the theme of "Time to think about the future" and the subjects of climate change and peak oil. Each film or talk was followed by a discussion, so that members of the audience could think about how they could deal with possible futures.
These events were all free, thanks to funding from South Gloucestershire Council, Thornbury Town Council, Alveston Parish Council and the Co-operative Group.
The dates, places and events are given in the handbill (PDF 411kB) or poster (PDF 237kB) with further details.
During 2009 -10 our campaign for new allotments in Thornbury and Alveston started to bear fruit. An allotment site was identified in Alveston and a potential site in Thornbury.
We also found some farming partners at the Sheiling School to start a Community Supported Agriculture scheme, called Thornbury CSA. The scheme became a separate organisation at the end of March 2010.
We have been campaigning for new allotments in Thornbury and Alveston. The community orchard and grow your own food groups have continued their good work.
Some members set up a very successful energy neighbourhood, closely watching their energy use to try and find ways to reduce it.
We organised a showing of the film The Power of Community, which looks at Cuba after it lost its oil supplies when the Soviet Union broke up. We also held talks, including:-
Green Economics by Molly Scott cato, about how we could create a more sustainable economy after the credit crunch.
UK Power Generation by Peter Marshall, about the likely shortfall in electricity generation.
Microhydro by Rachel Feilden of the Mendip Power Group, about her 6kw watermill on the Frome in Somerset.
Peak Oil by Ian Page, about the predicted shortage in oil and uranium production by 2020.
We ran our first Supper and Conversation, a visioning conference with key people in Thornbury.
We were granted official Transition Initiative status on 11 April 2009. We are listed as initiative number 154. Ben Brangwyn of Transition Towns wrote "Well done for starting off your initiative so long ago and being an inspiration".
We held two Saturday strategy workshops and started social evenings at the coffee shop Blend on Monday evenings.
Sustainable Thornbury was granted Transition Initiative status. To apply, we had to satisfy strict criteria and complete an application. We officially became a Transition Initiative on the 11th April 2009. The label Transition Initiative is used for what used to be called a Transition Town, because there are now Transition Villages, Transition Cities, Transition Areas and Transition Counties. We are number 154 on the list of all the official transition initiatives in the world.
Ben Brangwyn of Transition Initiatives wrote about Sustainable Thornbury:
"Well done for starting off your initiative so long ago and being an inspiration"
Will
the oil run out? This was the subject on 28th April for Ian
Page, who is
a
former futurist for
Hewlett Packard, now a consultant with International
Futures Forum.
He said that oil production seems likely to decline to nothing for the
next few decades while demand will climb sharply if the recession ends.
With bio-fuels and more efficient cars we can carry on for a few more
years, but the shortage will hit us about 2020. Nuclear electricity
will hit a similar shortage of uranium in a decade or two.
A discussion agreed that we should aim to produce basics such as food more locally, so that we are not dependent on lorries or international trade.
In the winter of 2007/8 we worked with Thornbury shoppers and traders to reduce the number of flimsy plastic bags given away. We worked with the Chamber of Commerce, the Town Council and Castle School to introduce a Thornbury shopping bag as an alternative. The campaign was a major success - the number of plastic bags given out in Thornbury has gone down dramatically, and now most shoppers carry reusable shopping bags.
In the summer of 2008 we organised Thornbury's first
We
also supported the
newly-established South
Gloucestershire Freecycle.
We took on running the community orchard opposite The Anchor pub in Thornbury.
In our first year we put on a number of
talks and film shows about environmental and community issues,
including topics
such as Nuclear Power and Climate Change, Biofuels and Garden Shed
Renewable
Energy. At our
regular meetings we had
speakers from a wide range of local interest groups such as Bristol
Cycling
Campaign, Avon Wildlife Trust, Concern for Thornbury,Transport for
Greater
Bristol as well as general discussions on topics of interest.
We established relationships with local
organisations including both Thornbury Town Council and South
Gloucestershire
Council, two local schools and the Chamber of Commerce. We joined in
the
first Thornbury FM radio broadcasts and have continued to contribute
since.
Members attended
ecopsychology and climate change education group meetings. We
participated in
local events such as the Volunteers Fair,
Christmas Fair, South
Gloucestershire Climate Change Strategy Launch,
Make Poverty History/Climate Change Event. We established
ourselves as
members of South Gloucestershire Environment Forum.
We ran the