Green Up Luton – a local update – The Earthbound Report

A local update. International readers may want to skip this post, unless you’re interested in the practical stuff we get involved in.

Green Up Luton
Luton Borough Council is challenging ten households to ‘Green Up’ in as many ways as they can think of, including saving energy, reducing waste, and travelling by more sustainable means.

It’s a competition, with a £500 council tax rebate for the household that makes the biggest dent in their environmental impact after three months. It’s also about awareness raising. The selected households will keep diaries, and share their ideas and progress online and in the local paper. Hopefully the challenge will be infectious. Luton’s annual energy bills are £90 higher than nearby towns in the county apparently, which suggests some money could be saved along with that energy. And we’re lagging a little on recycling: Luton recycles 32% of its rubbish, not the lowest rates in the county, but some towns are over 50%.

My wife and I are entering, although we’ve already done all the easy things and might be at something of a disadvantage. Join us – All the details are on the council website here.

Grow Your Own 1.0

If you’ve ever wanted to grow your own food and don’t know where to start, come along to the Friends Meeting House on Crawley Green Road, Wednesday 10th of Feb, 7:30. Transition Luton is hosting a question and answer session with a panel of experienced local gardeners, and you can ask whatever you like. Details on the Transition Luton site.

We had a bit of a transition photoshoot in the back garden at the weekend to publicise the event. I’m not proud of our shameless posing. I am proud of the raised beds, which I put in the day before.

Transition Luton Hustings
As Luton South has a particularly interesting set of candidates in the upcoming elections, we thought we’d take a punt at running a hustings event and get them to declare their environmental credentials. Somewhat remarkably, the candidates have agreed to it, most of them, and it’s at 7:30 at St Mary’s on February 25th.

St Anne’s TARA
While I’m talking Luton I might as well get really local and mention the St Anne’s Tenants and Resident’s Association, which formed a fortnight ago. It’s been a great way to meet neighbours and plan good things for the street, and I highly recommend joining a resident’s association if you have one in your area. Among other things, the St Anne’s group will be attempting to keep and improve Abbotswood Park, which has been shortlisted as a site for a new housing estate.