We campaigned on renewables, climate change and to fix the food chain, getting support from local people, speaking to MPs and campaigning in many diverse locations including St Pancras station, the Houses of Parliament, London Fields, Parliament Hill Farmers Market, Swiss Cottage Peruvian Festival; even as far afield as the international climate summit in Copenhagen!

Check out our 2009 Round Up (PDF) to read about all the campaigning, stalls, events, marches and picnics that Camden Friends of the Earth organised and participated in!

And, if you’d like to be involved in 2010, get in touch - our next meeting is on Monday March 8 2010, 7.30pm at the Pirate Castle.

For more information, see http://www.beunpackaged.com/

Camden Council together with the North London Waste Authority are challenging residents to reduce their waste to zero. The challenge forms part of the Watch your Waste Week which is running from 4-12 October.

For more information about the week and the Challenge, including information packs full of useful tips
http://www.nlwa.gov.uk/html/watchyourwasteweek.asp#TheWatchYourWasteChallenge
and
http://www.camden.gov.uk/ccm/content/leisure/news/2008/september/watch-your-waste-week.en

Most of us would love to eat more locally grown food that has been grown in ways that are good for both our health and the environment. But how many of us feel we could actually do it with our current globalised and industrialised food system? Well three people, all with their different takes on local food, have decided to do just that and are asking you to join them for a week!

Between Saturday 6 and Sunday 21 September, during Organic Food Fortnight and when food is at its most abundant in the UK, we ask you, for one week, to only eat food from a selection of the following sources:

- Organically grown UK food without plastic packaging – if it is organically grown on British soil, it qualifies, but obviously the more local the better. Plastic packaging is out.

- Foraged food – food growing wild and abundantly all over the UK – free rich pickings!

- Self-grown food – any food you, your friends or family have grown.

Visit http://eatthechange.org for more information and advice on how to do it.

Sign up at www.pledgebank.com/eatthechange - if you are taking part please sign up even though we’ve already reached our target so we can show how many people are taking part: we need as many people signed up as possible to make an impact.

The bill will be introduced to parliament in November and FOE has concerns that the draft did not include…
- targets that reflected the latest scientific evidence
- the environmental impact of international aviation and shipping
- a requirement for annual reporting

The meeting will take place at Haverstock School, on Haverstock Hill, by Chalk Farm tube, on 13th November from 7.15pm.

Speakers include the 2 local MPs and Carbon Coach, Dave Hampton.

Contact us if you want to find out more.

The group supports the introduction of a levy on all throw out shopping bags, whether paper or plastic, together with restrictions on the types of bags that shops can supply.

Bags use finite resources in their manufacture and distribution. Additionally, on disposal, often after only one use, they create litter, add to the UK’s landfill problems, and endanger wildlife on land and in water. While throw out shopping bags form a small percentage of our waste, such a levy will send a strong message to consumers and businesses about the need to reduce our impact on the environment.

Paper bags are not the answer as lifecycle analysis has shown that their environmental impact, although different to plastic bags, is still damaging. The group believes that the answer is a return to reusable bags, and that we should not wait for this legislation to make that change.

On 17th November the group is holding a joint event with Highgate LEAF (Local Environment Action Forum) to help people make bags. javascript:void(0)Material, sewing machines, and lessons will be provided. Please contact camdenfoe@gmail.com for more information.

As thousands of people gathered at the nearby Climate Camp we wanted to back up their action with evidence of local opinion. A thousand people were questioned, and the results of the poll showed:
- over 95% supported government action to make rail travel a more affordable, easy, and pleasant alternative to air travel within the UK;
- 62% opposed the expansion of Heathrow, with only 24% in favour of the plans (14% were unsure);
- 64% would be willing to holiday more in the UK than abroad to protect their local area from airport expansion, and help combat climate change

Polling was being conducted at locations across West London, including Richmond, Kew, Ealing Broadway, Houslow and Osterley Park: a historic National Trust house, green space and recreational resource for local people., already blighted by aircraft noise and pollution.  Sarah Kramer, MP for Richmond Park was presented with the results at Kew Gardens following polling (pictured). She told us how frustrating it was trying to make her constituents’ opposition heard - BAA won’t even attend a public meeting to hear their concerns.

Steve Huxton, a volunteer for Camden Friends of the Earth, who assisted with carrying out the poll said “The results of this poll show that people are prepared to change their own travel habits in order to protect the environment, preserve green spaces and tackle climate change.  Government policy needs to catch up with public opinion and  abandon plans for expanding aviation, instead focusing on providing viable alternatives for people’s travel needs.”

Learn more about the issues at http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/transport/case_studies/heathrow.html