It's unnecessary and dangerous for insects,  other wildlife, dogs and humans.  We need to stop thinking that 'neat' is necessary,  nature is not 'neat'. Having longer grass near trees is not unsightly and very rarely is it dangerous to highway users.  If you must remove the grass around trees for safety reasons hand cutters do the job just fine.  Glyphosate  is a highly toxic chemical that damages plants,  is one of the main causes of the diminishing bee population and has been known to make wildlife and dogs very sick or even kill them.  It also damages the Mycorrhizal fungi that trees and plants use to communicate with each other as well as  the quality of the soil.  This is turn damages the tree over years.  The World Health Organization classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans” in 2015. A group of experts concluded in March that “glyphosate and GBHs [glyphosate-based herbicides] cause genetic damage, oxidative stress and hormonal disruption”. “Regulatory agencies in countries around the world should treat glyphosate and GBHs as hazardous, as some countries have started to do,” the experts said. “Agencies should act without further delay to limit their use, or eliminate them if legally required, to protect public health.” Please stop spraying glyphosate or any weedkiller where there are alternatives available which are safer to wildlife and people. And please stop the unnecessary killing of wide areas of grass by using quad-bike sprayers instead of spray-guns which target the growth you need to kill off.

All across the UK people have been increasingly leaving non biodegradable memorial objects and ritual offerings at sacred sites, circles, wells and henges. This has now reached epidemic proportions and is unsustainable. The natural environment can no longer bear the weight and impact of this behaviour and it is too big and important an issue for any one person in any one place to tackle alone. This problem calls for joined up thinking from those bodies within and without the Pagan Community to create clear public guidelines for these practices, for structure that promotes better ways of interacting mindfully within our sacred sites. This will be to the benefit of all, but most importantly will safeguard our sacred landscape for future generations to come. 

Wandsworth Council should also: • Identify all council owned land suitable for community cultivation.  • Make this land available for cultivation by a simple licence to community organisations at no cost. • Consider community food growing on sites awaiting development for other uses on a fixed term basis.  • Adopt the Right to Grow motion and support the Incredible Edible campaign for a national right to grow.  We know we can transform the lives of people in Wandsworth for the better by actively growing food together in our neighbourhoods, as part of building our resilience in a changing world. The biggest obstacle to more local food growing is the lack of available land close to people’s homes.  All around Wandsworth, small parcels of public land are being left unloved, costing taxpayers money to maintain while giving nothing back to the community in return. Community food-growing projects such as Fishponds, Transition Town Tooting Community Gardens, Paradise Cooperative and Bramford Community Gardens, as well as projects that have created havens for wildlife in built-up areas, have shown that with a little TLC these parcels of land can be turned into something far more valuable. In the middle of the cost-of-living crisis, unlocking access to local healthy food could be a lifeline for many communities, offering practical hope for everyone. We think it should be easy for communities to identify this unused public land, and apply for free, straight-forward leases to take on the care of the land. That’s why we are calling on you to give the citizens of Wandsworth a Right to Grow.  Transforming space in urban locations for food growing creates neighbourhoods which are cooler in summer, less polluted, better for our mental and physical health, better for wildlife and encourages local food spend. And, because many of these actions are about giving power to people to shape their community, they turn out to be more sociable and more connected places.

Do you care about biodiversity, climate change, and Scotland’s natural beauty? Then please sign today to preserve a precious maerl bed on the Isle of Skye! In this frightening time where biodiversity is plummeting and global warming is rocketing, you can save an organism that protects us from both: maerl – a living calcified algae with coralline branches in exquisite pink and purple hues. Maerl is a crucial keystone of marine biodiversity. The spaces between its branches provide homes for a myriad of juvenile crustaceans and molluscs, such as scallops and anemones. In allowing these marine creatures to mature, maerl supports the fish, otters, seabirds, and seals that feed upon them. Maerl is invaluable in the fight against global warming, as it absorbs carbon dioxide and stores that carbon in its hard exterior. Because of these vital characteristics, maerl is a Protected Marine Feature under Scottish law.  We cannot take this beautiful defender of our planet for granted - maerl is categorised as a threatened and declining habitat. Therefore, we are unbelievably fortunate to have a 6-hectare, centuries-old maerl bed (recognised by NatureScot and the Marine Directorate) here in Ardmore Bay, on the Isle of Skye.  NEWS UPDATE!!! Freedom of Information disclosures show that NatureScot recommended Ardmore Bay and the adjacent Loch Bay be designated as a Proposed Priority Marine Feature Managed Area, citing the presence of Maerl as the primary reason for protection. That did not happen! SSEN chose to omit all Maerl from marine impact assessments. They were seeking approval to for high-pressure water blasting of the seabed to lay a cable through Ardmore Bay, which can destroy this maerl bed. Maerl is extremely slow growing (about 0.5 mm per year) so when damaged it is essentially forever lost, depleting the wider marine life and negatively impacting the climate. Campaigners may have just seen the first step of progress. SSEN may be about to abandon water blasting and use “Rock Bags” to hold the cable instead. However, NatureScot has remarked that rock bags can hold invasive non-native species. Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas), which spread quickly, pose a serious threat to live maerl beds by smothering. Thankfully, this is a unique case where both maerl and new infrastructure can co-exist! There are alternative routes for the cable into Ardmore which will not impact the irreplaceable maerl bed. Therefore, we urgently need SSEN to consider the alternative routes for their cable into Ardmore, before this Protected Marine Feature is irreversibly decimated. Maerl has helped protect our home, it’s now time for us to protect it.  Video of Maerl Bed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSLcpi7j8zg Video Identifying Alternative Routes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnC5dJ5Myl8 Press Articles Referencing Ardmore Bay Maerl’s Plight: https://www.facebook.com/OpenSeasScot/photos/lovely-to-see-our-work-turn-up-in-private-eye-it-was-a-pleasure-to-help-the-comm/1234525238822664/ Skye locals fight power cable plan 'threatening rare coral beach' | The National

This is a countrywide scandal - see  'Dirty Business' Watch it here on Channel 4: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/dirty-business?cntsrc=social_share_android_dirty_business Our rivers and wildlife have been catastrophically damaged. The Environment Agency has failed to protect them. 

12 months ago I founded The Binfluencers in Keswick as locals were fed up with folk pitching tents at the side of lakes which is illegal and then all the mess they leave also. We also noticed a huge amount of general litter and huge amounts of poo bags just been discarded throughout the national park. I decided locals voices needed to be heard and the extent of such issues needed to be shown. We do regular litter picks, especially around Derwentwater and we managed to gain media interest. This year we have been collaborating with a local filmmaker who is making a film and and a animated short information film about these issues

This campaign helps save money for householders. Reduces water demand from rivers and reservoirs. Helps prevent flooding. Also rainwater is better for plants. Subsidising water butts is a simple low cost policy which would generate immediate benefits. 

We're sick of it. Sick of the lies, sick of the greed, and sick of a system rigged against us. This is a scandal and this dirty business must end. For more than 30 years water companies have put corporate greed and profit before public health and the environment.    Our privatised water system has failed.  Sewage pollution is making people sick, destroying livelihoods, and wrecking our environment. Whilst bills rise, water companies extract billions and fail to invest. Whilst they get rich, we get sick.  This is no accident. It was a choice. Since privatisation, the Government and regulators have looked the other way and let this scandal fester. Now our waters are some of the dirtiest in Europe.   After more than three decades of broken pipes, broken promises and a devastating human cost, your Government has pledged “once in a generation” plans to clean up the water industry. But in reality, your plans lock us into the privatised system where profit comes first and the public gets sick.    What are we calling for?     1. Public health must come first and profit from sewage pollution must end.   2. The Government must end the current privatised water industry.   3. The Government must take back control of water companies and restructure them, removing the profit motive, to ensure they operate for people and the environment. No option, including public ownership, should be off the table.  It’s time to end the profit-driven sewage scandal and put #PeopleBeforePayouts 

In our rural area there is almost no brown-field building land, so field after green field is going under concrete. Trees are being felled. The water table is higher than ever before. In the current climate conditions, houses are flooding, roads are flooding. Sewage is pouring across our streets and into play areas. And still we are forced to build more houses to meet impossible Government targets. We call for the Government to purchase local land and fund its conversion to Wetlands, to absorb and hold surface water, to reduce flooding, to slow the loss of biodiversity and form an environment where our increasingly cornered wildlife can thrive. 

These were initially used only when teams came onto the pitch but are increasingly used every time points are scored.  Every use pollutes the air, adding to climate change, and can't be good for fans - and especially players - breathing in the smoke. We should be doing all we can to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and this is just one example where they are needlessly escalating, damaging health and the climate. 

It’s one of the most dangerous poisons you’ve probably never heard of – linked to cancer, fertility issues, and even birth defects – and now it’s everywhere. "Forever chemicals" (PFAS) don’t  break down in the environment. Instead, they build up over time, and are now found in our drinking water, food, blood, and even the human placenta. [1] But right now, we have a great opportunity to push for their ban. The EU is already racing to a full ban, and the UK government is holding a consultation asking for the public’s opinion. [2] Let’s flood the consultation with 100,000 voices to demand a ban on these poisons! This isn't just a petition. When we reach our target, 38 Degrees will submit our signatures to the official DEFRA consultation. Add your name and share -- before the consultation closes. These toxic chemicals are hiding in plain sight – in everyday items we use without a second thought: non-stick pans, waterproof coats, make-up, and food packaging. [3] PFAS are almost impossible to avoid. They seep into our daily lives, and stay literally forever.  But while Europe is banning the entire group of over 10,000 PFAS across industries, from food packaging to toys, the UK government is only talking about banning them in firefighting foam. British families deserve the same protection as those in Europe — and we have a window of opportunity to fix this. The government is deciding its "chemical strategy" right now. Let’s show them that British voters won't accept second-class safety, and push them to match the EU's ban. Add your name to the consultation, to tell Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds to ban forever chemicals in the UK. NOTES: [1] Newsweek: Forever Chemicals Disrupt Placenta, May Add Risk to Pregnancies [2] FieldFisher: PFAS Regulation in the UK and European Union: November 2025 Overview [3] The Guardian: Are PFAS in everything? What you need to know about ‘forever chemicals’

⚠️  Shock planning return for Our Village?! 🏡❌ I’m honestly baffled 😳 to see this planning application back on Somerset Council’s table. Not often that happens — usually, once it’s gone through an officer’s report, that’s it. So why now? Here’s the kicker: it’s an outline application 😡. That means:  • No actual houses need to be built yet 🏚️  • They just get to change the principle of the land from agricultural ➡️ housing 🌾➡🏠  • And it could push our village boundaries further out 🚧 Meanwhile, there’s plenty of land already available ✅ — old factory sites, brownfield plots, areas in the local plan. We don’t need to eat up more countryside just to satisfy developers’ profits 💸. Also, I’m incredibly puzzled .. 🤷‍♂️why is there no new officers report or any assessment and  why  has gone directly to planning board From what I can see, this has all the same problems as the last plan:  • Wrong type of housing ❌  • Wrong location ❌  • Minimal benefits to the village ❌ And here’s a huge problem: we STILL don’t even have a secondary school locally 🏫. Children would continue to be forced onto circular bus routes to Shepton Mallet or Castle Cary 🚍💨, and those additional transport needs are often ignored. This isn’t just inconvenient — it’s a real community failure. And don’t get me started on developer 💰💰💰 contributions… supposedly to help the community, but Somerset Council has one of the worst records for making developers actually pay up 💀. “Oh, they can’t meet their profit margin” 💸… and the council rolls over. Seriously? 😤 We need homes, yes. But we need: ✅ Affordable homes ✅ Properly designed homes ✅ Homes in the right places Not another cookie-cutter sprawl ruining our village and our community 😡 Perhaps this is yet another incompetent error administration? By  who ? The developer ‘chancing it”.. someone else ? 🕵️🪽🐷🐖🪽- I mean given it is adjacent to a former pig farm perhaps flying pigs are as likely! If you care about our village, this is the kind of thing we can’t let slip through. Speak up, comment, and ask questions before it’s too late 🗣️✊