Overall, UK consumers drink 2.5 million litres of bottled water a year. Just over half of the UK population, or 51%, drink bottled water once a week or more. 7.7 billion plastic bottles are bought across the UK each year, resulting in substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste. Research has found that more than 90% of bottled water brands contained microplastics. Single-use PET plastic water bottles take 400 years to decompose. Health professionals tell us that the increased consumption of sugary drinks by children and young people is a significant factor in the alarming rise of obesity and diabetes rates. Providing drinking water in parks and other places where children and young people play and congregate would be a great way to encourage hydration without damaging their health or the environment. Furthermore, single-use plastics cause deaths to 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds annually if these enter the waterways. Sheffield City Council can play their part and tackle the plastics crisis.

The proposal to extend the Centurian Golf Club will destroy precious woodland, and the countless ecological services it provides to both the local land, community and the unique biodiverse ecosystem it currently supports. This proposal actively defeats the principles of the ‘Sustainability and Climate Crisis Plan’ the Council itself has set out. The planning proposal from the golf course must be dismissed, and the land must be protected for future generations. UPDATE: We will be keeping this petition open and sending it to St Albans District Council and Hertfordshire County Council in due course - please keep sharing and circulating, and thank you so much for your support.

Imagine a world with no dawn chorus. No murmurations of starlings. No robins. We are already very close to this and it is sheer stupidity on our part. The biodiversity crisis receives much less attention than the climate crisis. I am starting this petition because scientists have stated that one of the top ten crises of 2023 is bird decline caused by pesticides and herbicides. Indeed, over the past four decades, the number of birds across Europe dropped by a staggering 550 million. Thus far it was believed that the main reasons were habitat loss and pollution, but a research team led by Stanislas Rigal investigated data on 170 bird species across 20,000 sites in 28 countries – including records collected by citizen scientists – and concluded that the principal bird killer is agricultural intensification. More precisely, it is an increased use of pesticides and fertilisers, which not only deprive birds of food, but also directly affect their health. I am starting this petition in the hope that 2024 brings a positive change in those departments and policy making, a change which strongly encourages the greatly reduced use of the herbicides and pesticides which have been poisoning our cherished wildlife. And us.

Enough is Enough. From its refusal to return stolen objects, to its backing for BP, something is seriously wrong at The British Museum. Last year, Chair George Osborne said, ‘Our goal is to be a net zero carbon museum – no longer a destination for climate protest but instead an example of climate solution.’ That goal is in tatters. We know that over the last 27 years, BP has used its sponsorship of The British Museum to “artwash” its brand, cleaning-up its toxic reputation by associating its logo with the progressive values of art and culture. It has repeatedly used the museum as an iconic space where it can influence decision-makers during exhibition openings and at private VIP events. After decades of backing climate delay and denial, BP is still pushing the world deeper into climate breakdown. Earlier this year, BP said it would increase investment in the production of fossil fuels by about $1 billion a year, above its previous plans for the rest of the decade. This is the total opposite direction that we should be heading in. Crucially, BP’s business plans are not aligned with the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C, the target that world leaders have signed up to in the Paris Climate Agreement. Communities in Argentina, West Papua, Mexico, and Azerbaijan – to name but a few – have faced violence and imprisonment for standing up against BP’s extraction, pollution and corruption. And today, BP continues to work closely with human rights-abusing regimes in order to gain access to their oil and gas reserves, and used its exhibition sponsorship at the Museum to advance its business interests in countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Russia. But things can change. From the National Portrait Gallery to the Royal Shakespeare Company, most of the cultural sector has largely cut ties to fossil fuel funding, and a new ethical standard for sponsorship has been set. But once again, The British Museum has chosen to be on the wrong side of history. It has decided to back profit-making polluters, not the people. Enough is enough. It’s time to draw a red line - and stop backing BP.

We are seeking support from anyone concerned with the scale of pump storage hydro developments in Loch Ness. Loch Ness is the most famous loch in the world and is an iconic tourist destination. It's beautiful setting, legendary monster and rich biodiversity are at risk from these developments. The list of unknown potential side-effects of pump storage hydro on large lochs is extensive. For example, no research has been done on the impact of pump storage hydro on juvenile wild salmon as they migrate downstream through these lochs, and we think that pumping water on this huge scale will ultimately raise the famously cool temperatures of Loch Ness. The cumulative impact of consenting so many pump storage hydro schemes in one loch are totally unknown and none of the developers seem willing to commit to researching these fundamental questions. The sight of dolphins feeding on wild Atlantic salmon, within metres of the shore, at Chanonry Point is the greatest wildlife spectacle in the Highlands. This hugely popular tourist destination is at risk if wild Atlantic salmon continue to decline.

We need your support in objecting to the planning application HGY/2023/2099 for the installation of two retention basins in the playing field in Chestnuts Park, N15. Friends of Chestnuts Park and Haringey Council initially won some money for a scheme to improve the park including measures to stop the playing field from flooding. However, when investigations revealed this wasn't possible the Council came up with a new plan to spend the money which doesn't even actually address water-logging in the park. Instead, the current scheme proposes to drain water from local 'surface water drains' into a basin in the park. Even worse, an unknown number of household wastewater pipes are incorrectly connected to these drains. This means that household waste meant for sewage treatment will end up in the park. The scheme will reduce the available green space in an area of the borough with the least green space per person, with very limited flood risk benefit to a small number of houses. More details of our objections can be read here on the council's planning site https://publicregister.haringey.gov.uk/pr/s/planning-application/a0i8d000005U1n2AAC/hgy20232099?c__r=Arcus_BE_Public_Register&tabset-3892f=2 Thames Water have told us that though they can start this Spring it will take several years to fix most of the existing the misconnections. It's vital that the scheme does not get planning permission until the issue of misconnections has at least been investigated and the correction work begun, and a better scheme, that also addresses the flooding issues in the park, can be found. We have three days to stop the playing field in Chestnuts Park being dug up and damaged, for a risky scheme which will bring water which is known to polluted and foul-smelling into the park. This scheme cannot be allowed to go ahead at this time in its current form and location

The richest 1% of people pollute more than the 5 billion poorest. That means while people like us are doing our best to recycle and drive less, billionaires and millionaires are jetting about the place without a care in the world. It’s just come out that the super rich ‘polluter-elite’ are using up way more than their fair share of our resources, right before Prime Minister Rishi Sunak heads to a meeting with world leaders to discuss climate solutions next week. Rishi Sunak could use this opportunity to show leadership and crack down on excessive flyers. While this is all over the news, a huge petition calling for a tax on the top fliers in the UK - not normal people going on a family holiday - could help get this on the political agenda and stop rich people from plundering the planet without caring about the rest of us.

Why do we use fireworks? For celebration, for art? The decibel level of fireworks wreaks havoc, distress and trauma amongst animals and wildlife as well as many sectors of our communities. The noise level is pointless. It's destructive, it's harmful, it's unnecessary. Fireworks can be manufactured without the BANG! They can be made to produce beautiful light shows without danger or distress to anything or anyone. We have a responsibility to our planet and all who inhabit it. The devastation and trauma caused by fireworks is horrendous. This is totally unnecessary. The distress caused to our beloved pets and wildlife is inhumane.

This land is extremely important in terms of making up part of the sporting pitch provision and the green space of Widnes. We believe that it must remain so. This land is designated as sporting/recreational Green Space in Halton Borough Council's Local Plan, as such any permission to build a housing estate on it should be refused. We have lost many of our green areas to housing development due to government planning laws. Housing development of this land would have a hugely detrimental impact on people living in Highfield Ward and Hough Green Ward. We urge Miller Homes to think again and stop their proposal to submit a planning application to put houses on this green space. If they will not, we urge Halton Borough Council to do everything in their power to stop any part of this designated sporting/recreational/green space land being turned into a housing development. Hough Green Ward Councillors Cllr Sandra Baker Cllr Kevan Wainwright Cllr Phil Harris Highfield Ward Councillors Cllr Andrea Wall Cllr Paul Nolan Cllr Bob Gilligan

High quality South West farmland, the renowned historic landscape and distinctly beautiful countryside of this area are at risk of irrevocable damage from planting the wrong trees, in the wrong place. The prospect sets a dangerous precedent for farmland across England being taken over for timber, or other greenwashing projects, approved through the back door, when it should be conserved for imperative food production to feed the nation. Plant for commercial timber in marginal land, and do not blight this rare and spectacular, expansive landscape. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) should be conducted, at a bare minimum, in accordance with EIA regulations. Under the regulations this land, known as Bonham Plain, is a “sensitive area” (project of over 50 ha or where any part is in an AONB) Afforestation in a "sensitive area" is deemed to have significant impact on the environment, warranting an Environmental Impact Assessment to ensure a full understanding of the ramifications of planting here. It is duplicitous of the Forestry Commission to create regulations, designed to ensure their slogan "Right Tree, Right Place, Right Reason" , and then ignore them in their approval process. They have further violated the regulations by not providing any coherent reasoning for no EIA. It is useful to note the failure of process that led to the Forestry Commission's errors in approving the forestry project for Wallshield, Northumbria, which they claimed to have learnt from: https://www.channel4.com/news/forestry-commission-admits-it-was-wrong-to-allow-trees-to-be-planted-on-peat-bogs The very same failure of process has led to the approval of Bonham Plain Protect this top quality arable land to produce our food - plant for timber in marginal quality land

Safety on the roads

Brockenhurst is a tourist hub and also host to a large student population during the day. Currently there is nowhere to recycle rubbish in the centre of the village. Recycling helps protect our environment which is currently under threat. Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by waste. Recycling reduces the need for raw materials so that the rainforests and other raw materials can be preserved.