Wednesday 17 February 2010

The Moseley Swap Shop

One man's trash is another man's treasure!

At The Moseley Swap Shop


Have u got anything you don't want? Or do you just fancy some new stuff for FREE? Then the Moseley Swap Shop is the place for you! Brought to Moseley by FOEcycle and REUSED. Don't miss first Swap Shop February the 27th, at the Prince of Wales. It'll open at 12pm and finish around 5pm and will be appearing at The Prince of Wales every 4th Saturday of the month!

Come along maybe after a visit to the Moseley Farmers Market, pop in to The Prince of Wales to get out of the cold and there you will find books, clothes, kitchen stuff, DVDs, Computer games, Ornaments, and anything you bring along to add! All for FREE This stall is entirely dependant on you getting involved, so come down and participate! Based on the online yahoo group Freecycle (now Freegle). www.IloveFreegle.org which allows you to place ads to get rid of things you don't need and respond to ads to get things you do, without money getting involved, well worth a look. The Moseley Swap Shop is your local alternative!

We all know about the 3R's, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, this is a great way to achieve all 3 of them on a Saturday afternoon in the pub and leave with some nice stuff! The stall will also be taking donations for Birmingham Friends Of The Earth and have promotional information available about the activities of BFOE in Birmingham, and other information about what Green alternative stuff is going on in Birmingham and how you can get involved if you're interested.

So don't miss out on the 27th of Feb because you won't be disappointed!

If you have any inquires please email me at fisher_woman@live.co.uk


Thursday 11 February 2010

Food Inc – Lifting the lid

You will never look at dinner the same way

Food, Inc, the Oscar nominated powerful film about the US's broken food chain is coming to Birmingham next Monday 15th February at Vue, Starcity.

Food Inc is a hard hitting documentary film which is a stark and powerful reminder of just how broken the global food chain is. Film maker Robert Kenner lifts the lid on the US food industry, exposing how the world's food supply is controlled by a handful of multinational corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health and the environment.

Food, Inc is critically acclaimed and has received an Oscar nomination in the Documentary (Feature) category and find out who wins on the 7 March 2010. Featuring experts such as Eric Schlosser from Fast Food Nation, along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield's Gary Hirshberg, Food, Inc. reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat and how it's produced.

On one hand, farming has progressed and we have bigger breasted chickens, the perfect pork chop, herbicide-resistant soybean seeds and even tomatoes that won't go bad. However, on the other side, we also have new strains of E. coli the harmful bacteria that causes illness, we have increasing obesity in humans and an epidemic level of diabetes among adults. Food Inc. shows just why we need to act now to protect our food, our health and the health of the planet.

The film powerfully highlights the unintended consequences of industrial agriculture and the need to move to planet friendly farming. Individuals can make a difference and Birmingham Friends of the Earth are campaigning to fix the food chain to get the Government to put people and the planet first, so please come and get involved. Friends of the Earth on the evening will have postcards to put pressure on the MPs to push for sustainable farming.

So come along to the special day of the one-off nationwide cinema screening at 6.30 pm at Vue, Starcity on Monday 15 February.

Wednesday 10 February 2010

Happily Ever Crafter

The tale of Its a wrap continued...

On the 3rd Monday of the month at 6.30pm at Birmingham Friends of the Earth's warehouse Allison St, B5 5TH, There will be a craft group! Led by Becks and Beth, it will cover loads of different ways of making things over the weeks.

The first session will be Recycled Craft! on Monday the 15th of February we will be looking at what can be made out of a juice cartons for example wallets, decorations, jewellery, baskets etc. Please bring juice cartons if you have any lying around, we have got some, but more is always better!

So.... please come along for tea and craft and do get in touch if you have any talent, maybe you would like to lead a work shop or requests, for a workshop you would like us to run any suggestions welcome! you can email us at reused.it@gmail.com

Thursday 4 February 2010

Swan Centre- an update

The Birmingham Mail have published more about the lack of development at the Swan centre and Developer Jeremy Knight-Adams and local MP John Hemming.

There is more information is on John Hemmings Blog regarding Jeremy Knight-Adams actions, which says Jeremy Knight-Adams is objecting to the compulsory purchase order as the development is unsuitable and they have come up with alternative scheme.

Sadly, I can only find a news item on the website and am unable to find detailed information on the website, so have emailed them for more information.

UPDATE: Received an email referring to a full website that describes the alternative proposal for the Swan Centre site.

Wednesday 3 February 2010

Big Decision For Renewables in Moseley Tomorrow

The planning committee of Birmingham City Council will meet tomorrow morning to decide on the installation of a photovoltaic array on the roof of St. Mary’s Church in Moseley.

SusMo has been rallying support for this as it is a crucial part of the plan for spending the money they recently won in the Green streets challenge to bring energy savings and sustainability to the area.

A report to the committee by the planning officer has recommended refusal, but this withholds crucial information, and seems to entirely ignore Birmingham City Council’s own Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan, as well as the government’s Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development. Under the heading of ‘Policy Context’, the report fails to mention a letter of support from Birmingham City Council’s head of Climate Change and Sustainability, Sandy Taylor. Furthermore, under the heading of ‘Sustainability’, the report states the project as ‘Neutral’ – failing to note the array’s expected contribution of 8000kWh of electricity. SusMo has written to all members of the Planning Committee to alert them to these omissions.

With regards to the listed status of the building, it is significant that the National Trust has recognised the threat that climate change poses to our national heritage, and that there will be none left to conserve if climate change is not tackled. The National Trust first installed solar panels on the roof of one of its Grade I listed buildings in 2008, and recommended that owners of other Grade I listed buildings follow suit, where appropriate. Indeed, solar panels are particularly appropriate, given that their installation is a simple and easily reversible procedure which causes no damage to the roof that they are installed on.

For a current example, there is a photovoltaic array on St. James’ Church, Piccadilly.

It is also notable that the Moseley Society, which for decades has guarded the character of the Moseley Conservation Area, is in favour of the application. In total, 22 messages of support were received, and just two objections – one of which came from the Chantry Road residents’ association, which did not consult all residents before forwarding their objection. However, no objections were received from residents on Oxford Road, which is the vantage point from which the panels will be seen most frequently.

For reference, the panels, which are dark blue and low profile, will not be visible from the pavements of St. Mary's Row as they will be hidden by the parapet. Some panels will be visible from the end of Oxford Road but most will be hidden by trees when they are in full leaf.

If the Planning Committee refuses planning permission at its meeting on Thursday, not only will Moseley lose all the benefits that the project would bring to the parish and the wider community, but also, the £30,000 contribution towards the cost of the project from the British Gas Green Street project will be lost, as it has a tight timescale.

The Planning Committee meets on 4 February at 11:00 in Committee Rooms 3 and 4, Council House. The St. Mary’s photovoltaic array is Item 15 on the agenda.

It would seem very strange indeed to reject such a project the day after Birmingham City Council announced it was signing up to 10:10.

(Information from Susmo: susmo@moseleyforum.org.uk)

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Open Letter to Channel 4 news

On hearing that Lord Lawson is appearing on channel 4 news this evening, I felt compelled to contact them and express the following after his previous appearances on TV:

Dear Channel 4 news

Could I please request that appropriate rigour be used in questioning the views of Lord Nigel Lawson on this evening's programme when allowing him to speak on the subject of climate change. His involvement with oil companies who fund much of the denialist work in preventing action on CO2 emissions reduction has now been well documented: http://www.leftfootforward.org/2009/11/oil-links-of-tory-climate-denial-grandees/
It is dangerous to allow such people to continue their self-interested campaigns to promote doubt in the well-supported, peer-reviewed science of climate change when the lives of billions of people all over the globe are at stake. Please also see this article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18279-deniergate-turning-the-tables-on-climate-sceptics.html which is far more damaging to the sceptics' arguments than anything that has been discovered about climate scientists.
I trust that you will consider such points and ensure that the integrity of your news coverage is not damaged by allowing oil industry lobbyists an easy ride on this crucial issue.

Yours faithfully

Joe Peacock
Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Maybe you would like to write something similar to news@channel4.com