All Hertfordshire residents are invited to fill out their online survey here: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/7INFTR/

An accessible version of the survey is available here: https://surveys.hertfordshire.gov.uk/s/MMMFLN/

The survey closes on March 21st.

This is an important survey and will help the county council understand what people think about climate change, how to better communicate with residents about sustainability, and how to get more people involved in taking action.

You can find out more about sustainability in Hertfordshire and what the county council is doing to tackle climate change here: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/microsites/sustainable-hertfordshire/sustainable-hertfordshire.aspx

The post Share your thoughts on sustainability and climate change appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

Will you be in Stevenage Town Centre this coming Sat?
Could you spare 30min in support of Greenpeace’s:

**Mass Climate and Nature Bill Photoshoot**?  

Phil Skone of Greenpeace shared this appeal:  

“At our recent local Greenpeace meeting we discussed the idea of a photoshoot involving as many members of local groups as possible holding banners etc. asking our MP’s to support the Climate and Nature Bill. The photos would be sent to lots of local newspapers and hopefully get plenty of publicity. We decided that the best location would be in Stevenage as it was probably the most central and accessible for everyone.

We have our delayed National Day of Action meeting with Stevenage MP, Kevin Bonavia on the 20th of Dec. The Climate and Nature Bill will be one of the topics. Thus, having a big turnout for the photoshoot will send a very strong message. A local photographer has offered to help.”  
We are happy to share the details below with you:  

**Mass Climate and Nature Bill Photoshoot**

When 🕚 : Saturday 14th Dec 2024, 11am   It shouldn’t take too long ⏱

Where 📍➡ : Stevenage Town Centre on the stage (raised platform next to fountains ⛲).

It’s close to the station 🚃 and there’s free parking 🚘 in the nearby Asda car park.

EVERYONE is welcome – the more the merrier, we need as many as possible for this to be effective, so please bring friends and family and spread the word 🙂

We all want the same outcomes 🌎🌳🐳🐝.

This will be a great show of solidarity and unity ✊🏼💚

If you have any posters and banners with a message asking our MP’s to support Climate and Nature Bill, please bring them or print the one attached.  

We will be using our phones for the photos 📷 and then sending them to lots of local newspapers and hopefully get plenty of publicity (if you have any contacts, please share).

Looking forward to seeing lots of you there 🤞🙏🏼🙂

We need to be sure of a good attendance for this to be successful, so please confirm if you can attend by contacting phil.skone@ntlworld.com . Everyone is welcome to join this WhatsApp group for updates about the event and general chat about environmental issues; https://chat.whatsapp.com/Eqsjzvglz1P9t2CExFvmAc.

Over the 2019-24 Parliament, this bill was presented twice by the former Green MP for Brighton Pavilion Caroline Lucas, on the 2nd Sep 2020 and 21st Jun 2021.  Since the general election last July, this Private Member’s Bill sponsored by Dr Roz Savage MP (LibDem) had its first reading on 16th Oct and is due its second reading on 24th Jan 2025.  

Related news: Sadly Labour has shelved the planned GCSE in natural history because it is “seen as a Conservative party initiative”. The conservationist and campaigner Mary Colwell worked with former Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and Tim Oates from Cambridge University Press & Assessment to create the GCSE.  

Let’s support the Climate and Nature Bill !  

Would be great for many local Green Party members and supporters to be seen and counted in support of a Caroline Lucas dream for the UK! A chance to wear a GP t-shirt and badge💚

The post Show your support for the Climate and Nature Bill appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

Image courtesy of UNFCCC, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The post Talk about Climate Change appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

Luton Rising, the owner of Luton Airport, wants to almost double capacity to 32 million passengers a year. Thousands of people across this whole rural area objected to the proposal. They objected to noise blight and logjams on road and rail services, as well as hugely increased carbon emissions. A decision on this controversial and environmentally damaging proposal is due by October 4th.

This plan would have massive impacts on the local environment all around the airport. Please alert your MPs and urge them to oppose: quality of life in this area would change forever if the plan goes ahead. A much larger Luton Airport, flying over the towns and villages of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, adding carbon emissions at a time of Climate Crisis, choking local roads and exporting more money overseas on cheap flights is not sustainable. Instead, Labour-run Luton Borough Council – which ultimately owns the Airport – should heed its own Climate Emergency declaration and plan for a better airport and not a bigger one.

The Green Party stands against the impact of increased flying on global warming. We stand against the impact of increased pollution on our health. We stand against overwhelming local infrastructure with airport traffic. Where does your MP stand?

Find out more from the LADACAN campaign website.

The post Make sure your MP opposes Luton Airport expansion appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

They say “The strategy sets out a plan to provide more chargepoints so residents and businesses will be able to recharge their electric vehicles conveniently and appropriately in the future. It’s forecast that by 2030, a minimum of 3,000 public chargepoints will be needed in the county, a six-fold increase on current levels. Around half of these are anticipated to be provided in locations such as workplaces, supermarkets and forecourts, with public authorities providing the rest” – mostly in existing public car parks.

You can find more information about EV charging in Hertfordshire here, including a link to Zap-map’s map showing the 798 existing public charging points in the county and many others elsewhere in the UK. Each point on the map includes:

• the types of plugs available
• how to pay
• how to report a fault – contact details for each provider.

The post More electric vehicle charging points in Hertfordshire appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year, fell on 2nd August this year. However, the UK’s overshoot day has already passed – it fell on19th May. In a week when the government has made a series of measures which will make the overshoot even worse, the Green Party has launched an ‘Earth Overshoot Day action plan’ to help move the UK date as late as possible.

The plan focuses on three key areas of energy, housing and transport. Carla was quoted: “It is important we recognise the hugely unequal way in which the world’s resources are consumed, with multi-billion pound corporations and a small number of individuals bearing the largest responsibility for overshoot. This is why Greens would increase taxes on fossil fuel polluters and the super-rich to address inequality and fund the green transition.”

More details here.

The post Green Party announces Earth Overshoot Action Plan appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

Reacting to comments Keir Starmer allegedly made at a shadow cabinet meeting that he “hates tree-huggers,” Green peer Jenny Jones promptly posted a tweet of herself hugging a tree!

As she pointed out, the tree-huggers of the Green Party also support teachers and doctors getting a decent pay rise, tax the rich, repeal nasty legislation that bans protests and strikes, and deal with the climate crisis. Maybe Keir Starmer’s Labour Party could learn something from that?

The post Proud to be tree huggers! appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

The first was from Dr Richard Randle-Boggis, on Agrivoltaics = Farming + Solar Panels. He has an MSc in Clean Technology and a PhD in Biology, and his current research focus is on agrivoltaics – hybrid energy-agriculture systems that deliver low carbon electricity in harmony with agriculture and land use sustainability.

The second was from Chris Berry, on ‘The Countryside – Worth Protecting?’. Chris is Planning Manager at CPRE Hertfordshire and he previously held a position as a Chief Planning Officer. He has 45 years experience in planning and development in both the public and private sectors in the UK and overseas. Chris has also been a parliamentary candidate and Borough Councillor, and is involved in a number of community arts ventures.

The post Videos from our May 2023 Truth for a Change talks on Agrivoltaics and the Countryside appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

If you’d like to increase your recycling beyond the standard kerbside collections, have a look at our interactive map of local recycling points to see what facilities are available near you.

The post Deolinda Eltringham, Recycling Queen appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.

Friends of the Earth are campaigning for the government to provide better home insulation. Their campaign page explains why there is an energy crisis, and explains the solution: Insulating our energy-inefficient homes, supporting those most at risk and moving to cleaner, cheaper renewable energy.

They have also put together energy-saving tips that you can act on now while we press the government to do more to address the energy crises.

Their guide to home insulation and heating explains things like cavity wall insulation and how heat pumps work. And they show you how long it takes for the savings to cover the costs.

You can also use this tool on the Greenpeace website to see how much you and your community could save if the UK Government invested in making our homes fit for the future.

And don’t forget to sign the Friends of the Earth petition calling for mass home insulation!

The post Demand mass home insulation now! appeared first on North Herts & Stevenage Green Party.