Radio Kent

Derek, our chairman and organiser of the Farmers Market, was on Radio Kent today promoting both Sus Maid and the market.

Do you want to use the space around you ‘better’?

How do you use the resources available (soil, water, sunlight, materials, knowledge, labour) to increase productivity, variety and sustainablity over the long term?

How can you reduce waste, re-use materials and byproducts and recycle those resources to best effect?

Agroforestry and permaculture can be practised by anyone, anywhere.  They use every resource with thought and sensitivity.  These ways of designing growing spaces can be used at every scale, from window-boxes to substantial acreages.  The techniques are simple and based on commonsense good design – but are reinforced by international research and observation of systems across the world.

Visit this great new site by Sustainable Maidstone member, Helen Wharmby:

Agroforestry and Permaculture in Kent

Biodiversity

Barry Gardiner MP, shortened piece on biodiversity (BBC Green Room)

For the past 16 months I have put off upgrading my mobile phone because two years ago a little girl was stung by a jellyfish on a beach in south-west England.

Let me elaborate: it is demand for the latest mobile phones that has made the metal coltan so valuable, leading to conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

That conflict has caused deforestation, which has seen a decline in the number of forest mammals.

As a result, more people demand more fish as an alternative protein, leading to overfishing of species higher up the food chain.

Fishermen, in turn, have shifted their focus to species further down the food chain, reducing their population. This has allowed jellyfish become the lower reaches of the food chain.

Web of life

Every form of life on this planet stands not on its own but is supported by, and supports, other living things.

Lose one species and you lose a vital part of some ecosystem.

That means you lose not just a plant or an insect but a service: you lose the medicine that comes from that plant; you lose the pollination of crops which that insect provides.

As species die, so biodiversity is depleted and with it the ecosystem services that such biodiversity provides.

Agenda for May meeting

Draft agenda for next Tuesday’s (5th May) meeting.

Venue: New Literacy, 10 Marsham St. Time: 8pm

1. Apologies
2. Minutes / matters arising
3. Local food shop / Seasons lottery bid
4. Farmers market
5. Food and energy
6. Skills exchange
7. Community land share
8. AOB, date of next meeting

Farmers’ Market Photos

New Vegetarian Cafe

Maidstone has a new vegetarian cafe and its first one in the town centre. Fortify Cafe is run by James and opened on Monday. It can be found on the High St, just down from Argos.

Avoiding meat, or at least reducing the amount of meat that we consume is one of the best changes that individuals can make to lower their carbon foot print and to improve their health.

James is a great chef too, the food is superb!

Lottery bid

Sadly we didn’t get our lottery bid to open our local food shop and cafe. We did get into the shortlist of 40 bids for 20 grants but that is still a 50:50 chance. We have our next meeting in a few weeks and need to decide our next steps for the shop. If you have any ideas on where to et some cash from or how we can start small and work up, come along or drop us a line.

North and West Kent Councils provide £1,500 grant to residents for solar water heating systems

This was received from CEN:

£1,500 Solar Thermal Grant available from your local authority.  Please see attached leaflet.  You are receiving this because you are listed as a contact for a local environmental, social or residential group. Please feel free to circulate this to members of your group.

North and West Kent Councils provide £1,500 grant to residents for solar water heating systems

The grant is additional to government funding of up to £400 from the Low Carbon Building Programme, which means anybody wanting to install a solar hot water system would benefit from £1,900 off the installed cost of a system.  With systems typically costing £4,000, residents could find themselves benefitting from half price systems.   Residents of Ashford, Dartford, Maidstone, Medway, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge & Malling and Tunbridge Wells are eligible for the grant.

Solar water heating works by using energy from the sun to heat liquid in a roof mounted panel which in turn heats water in your hot water cylinder. Solar water heating systems will still heat your water on cloudy days. When there is not sufficient energy from the sun, the temperature is topped up by your boiler or immersion heater to provide hot water for use in the home.

The grant is being managed by Creative Environmental Networks who can provide a free quotation from a network of UK Microgeneration Scheme approved installers and will check the quotation for value and suitability.   The scheme aims to support residents who want to be less reliant on the traditional sources, and costs, of energy.  Solar thermal is particularly attractive for households who do not have mains gas and consequently have expensive water heating bills.

Tessa Barraclough from Creative Environmental Networks said: “This level of funding now makes solar thermal a really cost effective way for people who have already implemented low cost energy saving measures to reduce their household carbon emissions.  Many people find that they can turn off their boiler altogether over the summer, thus extending the life of their boiler and reducing maintenance costs.”

To apply for a grant please contact Creative Environmental Networks on 0800 294 2848 or visit www.cen.org.uk.

Sustainability Conference – Jul 08

Sustainable Maidstone put on a conference for young people at St Simon Stock School. The conference was attended by around 30 pupill from West Maidstone ranging from 12 to 18 years old. Sessions on transport, water, energy, food, politics and waste were provided by: Stuart Jeffery, Dr Geoff Meaden, John Pasley, John Forrester, Fran Wilson and Sarah Goodwin.

The Power of Community – Jul 08

Sustainable Maidstone put on a free showing of “The Power of Community – How Cuba survived peak oil”