The total destruction of the vital environment and large swathes of animal life on earth, caused by the insatiable drives of capitalism threatens the entire bio-diversity of the planet in the long term and the foundations of human civilisation in the short term. Now, that wouldn't be very nice, would it?

This October we urge women and men to join us in removing the pink ribbon blindfold and in asking Breast Cancer Charities to do the same. Why, despite all the money raised, are more and more of us are getting this disease? Is it possible that we’re not being given the full picture on the breast cancer epidemic that has taken us from 1 in 12 chance of a woman getting the disease in her lifetime in 1995 to a 1 in 8 chance today? Why are Breast Cancer Charities refusing to acknowledge the environmental and occupational risk factors for breast cancer, when the evidence is already out there? ALL women need and deserve a full understanding of ALL potential risk factors for the disease that threatens women’s lives and health. Now is the time to question why Breast Cancer Charities continue to focus solely on ‘lifestyle’ risk factors such as diet and exercise, while ignoring the potential 60% of breast cancer cases for which they have no explanation. What about the role of chemical, environmental and occupational exposures in this? Why, when the World Health Organisation states that prevention (which is not the same as early detection) offers the most cost-effective long-term strategy for the control of cancer, do we not see this reflected in our cancer plans and strategies? Why is primary prevention (stopping the disease before it starts) not equally addressed along with better treatment and care? Why are those with the power to influence decisions on breast cancer policy not acting on what we already know? Join us this October in removing the pink ribbon blindfold and asking the Breast Cancer Charities the Big Question: WHY they persist in refusing to acknowledge the role of environmental and occupational toxins by ignoring decades of evidence up to the present day on the link between our lifelong (womb to grave) exposures to toxins and the escalating incidence of breast cancer? Actions: There are various actions you can take: 1. Join us in removing the pink ribbon blindfold on the 1st of October for the social media launch of our campaign. Do your own action in a group or individually - take a photo removing the blindfold and share on your Facebook page or via social media twitter - @pink_prevention Instagram - pink_to_prevention Flickr group - From Pink to Prevention. 2. Sign our petition, and share widely. 3. Get your organisation to sign up to our statement - www.frompinktoprevention.org 4. Write to your Breast Cancer Charity to ask them the big question. Please send us a copy of their response. See a sample letter on our website. www.frompinktoprevention.org 5. Visit our Facebook page for poster to share: https://www.facebook.com/FromPinktoPrevention 6. World Health Organisation Asturias Declaration: http://www.who.int/phe/news/events/international_conference/Call_for_action_en.pdf 7. For more information on the evidence linking breast cancer and environmental and occupational risk factors: http://www.frompinktoprevention.org/resources/scientific-evidence/ 8. Pink Ribbon Blindfold picture Copyright to Mark Chilvers, thank you to Unison for the use of the picture. Concept by Helen Lynn.

The Paris Climate Change talks start on 30th November. We REALLY are, all in this together. Our Council and every one of us - needs to work towards changing our unsustainable life-styles; in order to protect areas and countries -that are vulnerable to flooding; and the whole eco-system overheating: a threat not just to people, but all living creatures. I am volunteering to co-ordinate 7-10 days, of focused activity in BANES: talks, debates, demonstrations, information-stalls,a Green Fair(?) and generally encouraging discussion and action plans - leading up to Bath Climate Change Day on Sunday 29th November. All groups who can relate to this aim - please contact me with ideas and offers of help. Children's involvement welcome - 'It's their planet'! (eg/ schools and clubs making animal masks of favourite animals that would be threatened by climate change (and it won't be just polar bears folks) - for a Chronicle photo-spread? There is also a need for child-friendly information; that is constructive and 'hopeful' - 'Scary' is a turn-off! I am co-ordinating an anti-clash diary, and posting the final diary of events - mid- November. I've booked a Climate Change information board at the Central Library - 2nd-7th November

Around 3pm on 4th September 2015 the Danish armed warship HDMS Knud Rasmussen entered Lerwick harbour and took the small boat Echo aboard before leaving for the Faroe islands half an hour later. The Echo had been seized from the Dutch-registered Sea Shepherd ship Sam Simon on 1 September by Lerwick police at the request of the Danish authorities, in response to a letter of request issued by the Faroese chief of police on 22August. The seizure followed the small boat’s involvement in the defense of 61 pilot whales at a grindadráp at Sandavágur on 12 August. On Thursday police informed Sea Shepherd’s lawyers that the Echo would be held for a week, giving the lawyers time to appeal the seizure but the Danish authorities fast tracked the extradition and the Scottish police released the boat to the Danish vessel. Insisting the small boat be returned to Lerwick at least until the appeal process is completed is an important signal to the Faroe Islands and their Danish protectors that they cannot ride roughshod over the justice system of another country without consequence.

Brighton now ranks 302nd out of 326 councils for its recycling record. Recent changes even reduced the number of items that can be recycled! Brighton residents pay handsomely for their council tax with the right systems in place green waste could be composted commercially and may even bring in some revenue. Other councils around the country can do it, why can't ours

The Blue Fin Tuna is one of the worlds most beautiful, large and yet endangered fish species. During August 2015 a shoal of upto 500 blue fin tuna was spotted off the coast of Cornwall.Due to their high demand as a good delicacy each fish could be worth over a million pounds. Current EU legislation whilst prohibiting UK fishermen from landing the Blue Fin Tuna permits French, Spanish and other European trawlers to land these fish. With warming of the worlds oceans the blue fin is being spotted more frequently in UK waters. Large industrial trawlers could decimate their numbers in hours. The UK government should push the EU to make UK waters a protected zone banning the fishing of blue fin. the will send a message to the world of the importance of marine conservation and that the UK and EU wish to make real progress in protecting the blue fin.

When an application for planning permission is refused by the local planning authority, an appeal can be made to the Secretary of State against the decision. However if planning permission is granted either by the local authority or by the Secretary of State (who has no local knowledge) there is no right of appeal. This blatant inequality needs to be removed. In our area there have been totally inappropriate speculative housing developments, granted to a big national builder, when the company appealed to the Secretary of state, after the local planning department deemed the development unsustainable. Currently a planning application for a large housing estate on the field similar to the one shown is going to appeal All we are asking is the same right of appeal for local people as is already given to developers, against a a planning decision with which they are not happy.

Evolution by natural selection is one of the most important scientific theories of all time. It explains how living organisms evolve over generations and create new species. Amazingly, not one but two British scientists had this idea roughly at the same time. They both had astounding adventures and suffered great hardship in their search for the truth and yet the contribution made by Wallace has largely been forgotten! It is time for that wrong to be righted by adding Wallace's portrait next to his friend and fellow adventurer, Charles Darwin. There is still time before the ten pound note is redesigned in 2017 and the belated addition would help educate the general public of the truth behind Evolution. London's Natural History Museum have had the vision to belatedly add a portrait of Wallace next to Darwin's statue so I hope the Bank of England will also have that same vision and courage to act. A wrong not righted becomes an injustice!

In 2006, the then Chancellor Gordon Brown put into place a plan that would ensure that by 2016, every home built in the UK would be carbon neutral. The plan, which had backing from homebuilders, architects and green campaigners alike, was scrapped by the government earlier this year. The viability of the plan has been demonstrated by architecture firms and homebuilders who have successfully built many carbon neutral homes already in an affordable and practical way. Scrapping this bill is a huge step backward on the UK’s target to live up to the requirements of the Climate Change Act that state that we, as a nation, must reduce our carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Currently, the CO2 emissions from housing account for almost a third of all of the carbon emissions in the UK, and this figure is set to rise to more than 50% by 2050 if we don’t make drastic changes to the way in which we build our new homes. Homes in Britain are currently, according to an EU study, among the least efficient in Europe when it comes to heating. This means more fossil fuels being used and more greenhouse gases being emitted. If we could reinstate the zero carbon homes plan, we believe that we could make dramatic changes to this, reducing our carbon emissions by up to a third and getting us well on the way to meeting the target for 2050. If you agree, then sign this petition and hopefully with enough voices calling for the same change, the government will listen and see sense.

Our native woodlands are in danger: imported trees pose a biosecurity risk. They may be infected with pests and diseases and if so they will contaminate UK grown trees, in tree nurseries and out in the woodlands. There are 700 pests and diseases on the Forestry Commission's Risk Register. We need to keep these out of the country. Remove the risk; DO NOT PLANT IMPORTED TREES

Currently the big 5 supermarkets control the price paid for farmers production where once dozens of small dairies, abattoirs, butchers and other small businesses bought at a fair price to the farmer of 50% of the end price. Now the supermarkets buyers control that price, and profiteer pushing farmers to the brink of bankruptcy. The marvellous countryside of the UK is cared for largely by farmers if we do not support them, our countryside will cease to be a vibrant place Our lambs here in the Scottish Border hills sold for £80 at this time last year are now down to under £60 - the supermarket price is nearly unaltered

Last month the government slashed and axed green energy subsidies because no money was left. But now the government is pushing full steam ahead with £17 BILLION subsidies for untested nuclear reactor at Hinkley. How can there be on rule for green energy and another for nuclear energy? If there is no money for green energy how can there be BILLIONS for nuclear? If there’s no money left why are we committing to subsidising a deal that’s been called as “economically insane” by city analysts and “one of the worst deals ever for British households and British industry” by Lord Howell, the pro-nuclear’ former Tory Energy Secretary. Agree with me that paying billions of pounds for nuclear energy is wrong? Please sign the petition now. There have been safety concerns over Hinkley. Two plants in Finland and France which use the same design, have been plagued with construction delays, spiralling costs and design flaws. Hinkley is under attack from not just from campaigners and community but also from one of our biggest banks. A report from HSBC on 2nd August 2015 warned that the massive cost was the new nuclear power plant was ‘becoming harder to justify.’ HSBC concluded: ‘We see ample reason for the UK Government to delay or cancel the project.’ The Hinkley deal is so outrageous and over-subsidised (£17 Billion), that ten green energy firms from Germany and Austria launched a legal challenge against it last month. Let’s not lavish the nuclear energy with billions of pounds while we’re cutting back from renewable energy because apparently the piggy bank is empty. The chorus of disapproval growing and if 38 Degrees members add our voice we could force the government to bin this bonkers plan.