TTT's next series of Carbon Conversations is postponed until early 2019 - in time for New Year's resolutions!

We're postponing our new series of Carbon Conversations until the New Year.
Tonight's first session is cancelled, as are the following 5 meetings. The series of meetings needs a critical mass of local people to join in so we have rich and diverse discussions - we are nearly there but not quite for the series due to start this evening. So we will find new dates early in 2019 with that existing participant group, and encourage more people to sign up and join them. Let us know if you are interested!
Very early New Year's resolutions, anyone?
All the info on the six free meetings organised by TTT's Ben Cuddon in a recent blog post here. Just ignore the dates.

The facilitated workshops enable individuals to explore the areas of our lives where we can reduce our own carbon emissions: travel, food, domestic energy, consumption and waste.
During the six weekly sessions you'll discuss in a supportive atmosphere all the practicalities of making your own 'low-carbon lifestyle' changes. Making these changes is never one size fits all. 

A quote from a past participant:  

"The beauty of Carbon Conversations is the 

optimism, creativity and shared ideas" 

Local Stories of Sustainability Success - four vivid can-do examples of reducing carbon footprints and increasing wellbeing

We're hosting a new free event: Local Stories of Sustainability Success in the afternoon of Saturday 20th October, from 2:00 to 4:00 at the Mushkil Aasaan Hall, 220 Upper Tooting Road SW17 7EW.

The event will illustrate vivid can-do stories by local people who have reduced their carbon footprints and increased their wellbeing 

Martin, Susan, Tanya & Dermot - clockwise from top left

• Martin Cobley and several hundred worms will demonstrate why he is the borough guru for how worm composting
• Susan Venner will share the steps to make a 19th century family house in Balham warm and cosy, emphasising how to tackle the high-impact things first. More detail on Susan's experience on the Superhome Database at https://tinyurl.com/y94mqnsb
• Dermot Jones will share his experience of switching to an electric vehicle. Dermot also tweets as @ElecticVanMan about the story of his first 4000 miles - and the myths and memes
• Tanya de Afonseca will share her own experience of reducing (refusing?) household plastics. Tanya's BYO Zero Waste Shop is in Tooting Market https://byo.london/

We'll discuss these inspiring examples of what can be done, share ideas, be energised, make some new resolutions & links.

For the 'Local Stories' flyer, please click here.

The session is designed for anyone who is interested in these lively local stories. You do not need to be an expert!
Please share with friends and colleagues who you think would appreciate the event.
Bring the family! We'll have a crafts table alongside for some making.

Thanks to the Zero Waste Shop for sharing this diagram of five core elements of zero waste.


We'll also introduce the next run of Carbon Conversations starting on Thursday November 1st. For details, click here. Please encourage friends to join in with this 13th series!

TTT's new series of practical & participative local 'Carbon Conversations' is running in November & December - you're invited to take part!

Carbon Conversations is back! Our new series of six free meetings in November & December in SW16 - organised by TTT's Ben Cuddon. 

The facilitated workshops enable individuals to explore the areas of our lives where we can reduce our own carbon emissions: travel, food, domestic energy, consumption and waste.

A quote from a past participant:  

"The beauty of Carbon Conversations is the 

optimism, creativity and shared ideas" 

During the six weekly sessions you'll discuss in a supportive atmosphere all the practicalities of making your own 'low-carbon lifestyle' changes. Making these changes is never one size fits all. 

Exploring your own situation, start point and preferences is so valuable and makes the series personal and practical. 

The meetings are well structured with a mix of games, conversation, debate, activities and exercises.


Click here for the flyer and here are the summary details:
Venue: in SW16 between Mitcham Lane & Streatham Common Station 
Timings: all meetings run from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm 
Dates: six Thursdays from Nov 1st to Dec 6th, once a week
Free: there is no fee to take part. The only cost is currently £14 for the workbook and learning materials, which TTT charges at cost. Sessions are led for free by TTT's trained Carbon Conversations facilitators. 
To join or ask any questions: contact Ben Cuddon by email here or TTT by mail here

TTT has run over 12 series of Carbon Conversations since 2011. 
On average participants are able to identfy how to reduce their own carbon footprints by a third - by over 4 tonnes of carbon.
Wait a minute! 
What does 'four tonnes of carbon' mean? 
You may already be worried about shorthand & jargon. The way we facilitate the meetings means that you do not need to be an expert. 
Although it's a complex subject, we guarantee that by the end of the sessions you will learn useful new language and concepts and understand the practical elements of household carbon reduction.

This series is a great place to start if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, meet some friendly and like-minded people and explore the topic as it affects you, rather than being lectured at!

As a participant said: 

"At the last session I don't think anybody wanted to leave!"

 Join us to find out how to reduce heat loss from your home!

Inviting you to our series of free local events this autumn exploring sustainability in Tooting!

We're thrilled with the fun and buzz at the Tooting Foodival last Saturday! Thanks to all who contributed their time, equipment, skills and produce to make it a success (see the I Grew This 2018 blog post).  Over 600 people took part on a sunny Tooting afternoon!
Much more to share about it soon on this blog.

The Tooting Foodival was the first in a series of free local events this autumn, all about exploring, influencing and creating sustainability in Tooting, together.


All invited to all of them!

Click here for a copy of the flyer.



The next event is a Tooting Debate on Weds 19th Sept:

'Local Food is an Expensive Luxury'.

Yes, we know.....that's intended to be provocative after the success of the community Foodival based on locally-grown food, local cooking and local eating together. 
Come along and share what you think! Details to come here on the blog.
The debate is on Weds 19th Sept from 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm at The Selkirk Pub, SW17 0ES

We'll promote and share details of all the other events in good time.

Carbon Conversations - The Final Meeting

The final session discussed how we communicate with others about Climate Change. We were asked to consider examples of bad and good conversations we had experienced. We considered some of the reasons that make it so difficult to engage in conversation: busy-ness, it's all about the future rather than the here and now, it demands self-sacrifice with no benefit for me.

We went on to consider our own initial reservations about approaching the topic: fears about upsetting those closest to us, our sense of ignorance, never knowing enough to present a persuasive argument. We then shared what gave us positive support. Some found that being part of a group provided a network of resources. Others talked of the cost-saving arguments for low carbon energy use. What is most helpful is to frame the problem in terms of things that can be done now.

We followed up with a listening exercise in pairs where people were encouraged to listen to the other without interrupting them or listening selectively in order to ask questions. We recognised the importance of speaking from our own experience , "telling our story",rather than using ideas alone as a means of engaging with people.

Finally, we reflected on what we had found useful about our six weeks together. We shared how we had become empowered to make changes in our lives and how sharing our feelings about the process was so important. We celebrated with a meal that members brought to share and planned how we will keep in touch and meet up again in the future. Thanks, once again, to everyone for their contribution. Great to have your presence in the final session, Charles, as one of the founding figures. Thanks especially to Ben, for providing his home as an intimate space in which we could all share and reflect in an atmosphere of trust.

Carbon Conversations Week 5

General consumption and waste

 In this session we focused on our consumption. We learned how it is a big proportion of our carbon footprint and how it tends to increase in line with our total household income (the more money we have the more we spend!). There is a relationship between what we buy, why we buy it and our identity.

 Our first exercise was to relate a purchase we were pleased with: Kew membership, solar PV, a battery to go with PV, second hand clothing, bikes, evening courses. And those we regretted: books, home improvements that go wrong, bad phone contract, speed dating nights, shoes and interestingly, bikes.

Then we discussed why we buy using the exercise on p29. Thoughts that occurred to us included: purchases for comfort or enrichment, is being green denying ourselves pleasure?, purchases leading to hoarding, friends who buy to cope, purchases to celebrate traditions (Christmas, carnival), days out with children, substituting 'experiences' for actual gifts especially when celebrating children's birthdays.

 Our next exercise was to design a poster exploring the differences between personal needs and wants. One group drew three concentric circles with basic needs in the centre (food, warmth, housing, ?Wifi), then a middle ring for things like special food, entertainment, enrichment, studying etc and an outer area for purchases that we felt were extravagant and not needed like weekend breaks by air (some said these were a necessity to some people), art collections, extravagant jewelry, watches etc, private heated swimming pools and so on. The other group's poster was a collection of drawings: community giving companionship and friendship which didn't require expenditure, a mastercard advert for a festival, choices and thoughts when making purchases, children's expectations.

 Our penultimate exercise was to think about five 'ways to well-being' published by the New Economics Foundation which explored the ideas of give, connect, keep learning, be active and take notice. We all thought about whether we do these in our lives and could we make more time in our lives to do them. Generally we thought these were good principles but sometimes it can be hard to keep a balance. One particular example is how family responsibilities can take up the time we might spend on learning, being with our friends, volunteering and so on. Another is how education can give us a double bonus of spending time with others of different age groups and life experiences. And also our busy-ness can mean that we miss what is going on around us especially in the natural world. 

Finally we thought about the things we didn't get a chance to say during the evening - being too busy in our lives, remembering to be compassionate to ourselves, working towards the NEF Five ways, paying attention, new ideas for home improvements, the carbon significance of un-deleted emails (server space and carbon footprint!), unsubscribing to unread emails.

 Thank you to Ben for hosting our group and to Peter for the wonderful cake!

Carbon Conversations Week 4

We had a lively and informed discussion about food. We started by discussing some memorable meals that we'd had and interestingly a lot of people described the context much more than the food itself. We then did an activity in pairs where we discussed the meaning of food, such as what and who influences our food choices. Topics ranged from how there's more choice now than a few decades ago, veganism, organic vs. local, rituals and habits, noticing seasonality and availability to compassion for our own-grown vegetables. We then did an 'anxiety spectrum' where we got up and stood at one end of the room or the other according to how strongly we felt about certain issues, such as the treatment of small farmers in the UK and further afield, which some people in the group had not thought about much previously and took away as one of the main things they will consider after the session. In the break we enjoyed some lovely Brazilian snacks - cheese balls and corn cake and peanut sweets.

For the majority of the session we played a food footprints game looking at the main sections of the chapter in the book: production, processing, packaging and transport. It was really useful as it's difficult to differentiate between a lot of products which seem similar, such as the production of different fruits and vegetables, so it really gets you thinking. It seems easy to hold one piece of information in your head - say the worst or best thing about a product such as there being minimal packaging or it being flown over from New Zealand - but to think of all four factors with each product is more of a challenge. I generally find it easy to not buy a fresh product where it's obvious that's it's been flown from far away, but more difficult to take into account where the ingredients of products with multiple ingredients have come from. So in some ways it's easier to just avoid these products, or at least see them as a treat.

We also discussed our food diaries briefly, which was interesting as even for people who already think about these things quite a lot, such as vegans, there is still often a gap between your own perception of what you eat and what you actually eat. I realised that I don't think of myself as someone with a sweet tooth but I in fact eat more sweet things regularly than I had thought. And I also eat more dairy than I think of myself as doing.

My main lesson was to eat less dairy (I'm already vegetarian and used to be vegan for five years), because in terms of carbon it's actually worse than some meats. So I'm going to treat dairy as more of a treat than an everyday part of my diet. I was really encouraged by other people in the group who said they'd had loads of support to be vegan and it made me remember that my family and friends were really supportive when I was vegan a few years ago.

Carbon Conversations Week 3

'Travel and Transport' was the theme of the evening's discussion this third week of Carbon Conversations.  Stories of favourite and nightmare journeys were shared - from wonderful night time cycling through Hyde Park to the extreme frustration of delays, queues and missed connections while under pressure to meet a deadline elsewhere.  We talked about what travel represents to each of us , especially within a culture where it has become so accessible and so enjoyed.  Aspirations to travel the world are encouraged almost as a rite of passage and, subsequently, many thousands of conversations coalesce around those experiences.  We looked at our reasons for making journeys and there was a recognition of the challenge that would be felt were the visiting of family and friends abroad to be restricted.

We talked about the advantages and deficiencies of cycling and the current public transport system - who it works for, or not, - and some of the steps that could be taken to make it more accessible for all and why the obstacles to this happening are so significant.  There was a recognition that solutions in potentially wonderful technologies may be still in their infancy! This theme of taking difficult carbon-reducing decisions was continued in the group game we played: we experienced how lifestyle changing decisions could be made at the individual family level (good, though sometimes not to our liking, inconvenient and expensive) alongside having the opportunity to make strategic policy decisions at a government level (also good, potentially having a great impact but likely to incur huge resistance from many quarters).

We spent some time reflecting on the dilemma of what feels acceptable behaviour and how we can take responsibility for our carbon footprint .  Our final activity was deciding on a manageable action that we want to take and then looking at the driving and restraining forces that we could see coming into play, and then focusing on reducing the effect of the restraining forces.  Plenty to think about during the week!

Carbon Conversations Week 2

In the second session of Carbon conversations, we predominantly discussed domestic energy and how we could reduce our carbon footprint from energy usage.

The discussion started with how much temperature rise could happen in the future and within what time and would we able to cope with it? People had thoughts from 2° C rise to 10 °C and some of them felt we are doomed, while a few who are still aware would not want to think of it negatively and see what action they could do.

We did an exercise of what a comfortable home looks like. While most of us did prefer fresh light and air some preferred a garden. We touched upon minimalism, as to how it could contribute to a comfortable home. We discussed energy, EPCs and how we could reduce our carbon footprint as owners or tenants.

The group was divided into two (role as owners and tenants) and played a game of reducing 6 tonnes of carbon footprint through energy savings. It included a combination of changes to the house along with behavioral changes.

We spoke about challenges that we could face in reducing our carbon footprint through energy. The changes being expensive was a dominant factor, while for some being in a position of the tenant could hinder progress. Understanding of the technical aspects could be a challenge, while the efforts and time for research and taking informed decisions could prove to be a big task.

At the end we all spoke about specific actions that we could take to reduce carbon footprint and any challenges that we could face. All in all, it was a fantastic session with a lot of learning on different aspects of energy as a facet of reducing our carbon footprint and how we could start off with even the simplest and free measures to reduce our carbon.

Carbon Conversations - First Session April 26

In our first session we discussed some general issues around climate change such as responsibility for the problem and what a low-carbon future would look like.

On the issue of responsibility we thought about individual vs structural change. We agreed that individuals do hold significant power through their consumer choices. However we also recognised that people can only take actions within certain frameworks of possibility (eg they can only use public transport if these services are provided; they can only use community-generated energy if the political system supports and encourages such endeavours). So of course there are limits to individual action.

We also brainstormed what a low-carbon future might look like. We wondered what legal frameworks might be developed to ensure that our carbon footprints were lowered. In the absence of such frameworks, would people's individual morals be enough to keep all of our footprints down? This is a thorny issue which governments are reluctant to touch, because it would involve imposing carbon quotas upon people, which could be unpopular.

We also thought about whether we would have such a strong sense of seasonal change in the future, given our changing weather and how the availability of produce all-year round makes us more immune to the seasons. We also wondered whether, if people have smaller families, this would lead to more people living communally, in order to find a sense of community which they wouldn't get from having a big family. Finally, we had a mind-bending discussion about self-drive vehicles, which felt like science fiction, but apparently is a fast-creeping reality!

TTT's new series of practical & participative local 'Carbon Conversations' is running in April and May

Carbon Conversations is back! Our new series of six free meetings in April & May in SW16 - organised by TTT's Ben Cuddon. The six facilitated workshops enable individuals to explore how they can reduce their personal carbon footprints. The meetings bring together small groups of local people to discuss the areas of our lives where we can reduce our own carbon emissions: travel, food, domestic energy, consumption and waste.

A quote from a past participant: "The beauty of Carbon Conversations is the optimism, creativity and shared ideas"

During the six weekly sessions you'll discuss in a supportive atmosphere all the practicalities of making your own 'low-carbon lifestyle' changes. Making these changes is never one size fits all. 

Exploring your own situation, start point and preferences is so valuable and makes the series personal and practical. 
The meetings are well structured with a mix of games, activities and exercises.


Click here for the flyer and see below for summary details:
Venue: in SW16 near Streatham Common Station 
Timings: all meetings run from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm 
Dates: six Thursdays from April 19th to May 24th, one a week
Free: there is no fee to take part. The only cost is currently £14 for the workbook and learning materials, which TTT charges at cost. Sessions are led for free by TTT's trained Carbon Conversations facilitators. 

TTT has run over 10 series of Carbon Conversations since 2011. 
On average participants are able to identfy how to reduce their own carbon footprints by a third - by over 4 tonnes of carbon.
Wait a minute! 
What does 'four tonnes of carbon' mean? 
You may already be worried about shorthand & jargon. The way we facilitate the meetings means that you do not need to be an expert. 
Although it's a complex subject, we guarantee that by the end of the sessions you will learn useful new language and concepts and understand the practical elements of household carbon reduction.

This is a great place to start if you want to reduce your carbon footprint, meet some friendly and like-minded people and explore the topic as it affects you, rather than being lectured at!

As a participant said: 

"At the last session I don't think anybody wanted to leave!"

 Join us to find out how to reduce heat loss from your home!

 

Exploring Food and Travel in your carbon footprint - stories from May's 'Carbon Conversations'

TTT's 10th local Carbon Conversations series continues - the free weekly local facilitated meetings where participants can explore their own practical options for low-carbon living.

The sessions are not only about 'counting carbon' and understanding our carbon footprint; they are also about exploring our own values and preferences in a safe and facilitated setting with a small group. Understanding the meaning of our choices.... the 'why' as well as the 'what'.... means we are more likely to take steps which we can sustain over time.
Quoting one of the participants in this series:

"The beauty of Carbon Conversations is 

the optimism, creativity and ideas

that are shared and emerge"

Each of the six meetings has a theme - for example home energy, or waste. We reported on the first two sessions in this blog - read it here, and below two more participants describe the discussion points and feelings raised by the third and fourth meetings: about food and travel.


1 Food: probably the issue that goes to the core of our identities more than any other.
We did an activity reflecting on all the aspects of food production that worry us most. One of the group shared a really heart-rending story of playing a game with a child where they had to mime different animals. They wagged their tail like a dog, pranced like a horse, but when asked to enact a chicken they curled up into a ball on the floor. This child only knew a chicken as a dead body wrapped in clingfilm on a supermarket shelf. It was a poignant moment...

We also played a board game to figure out the carbon emissions embedded in all the different stages of the food production process: growing, processing, packaging, transport.

It was illuminating, but it also made us realise the complications of solely judging things based on carbon emissions. What is something is 'really low carbon' but harmful in other ways? There are lots of factors to take into account.
It also made us reflect on the foods we eat. As one group member said: 'it does make you think....what ARE we eating?!'

Update from the first two meetings in TTT's current series of local Carbon Conversations

TTT's tenth series of local Carbon Conversations began in April with a group of 8 local people. Thanks to all, the sessions have been lively and informative.

 

The series facilitator Ben has shared a short report of the first two sessions:

 

 

"For our first session we had several interesting and far-ranging discussions.
One of them was about what a low-carbon future would look like. 

Several people suggested that everything would be conducted at a much more local level. But this left us thinking: does this mean we will have to unravel everything that globalisation has delivered? Is it possible (and desirable) to dismantle globalisation, or should we aim to retain aspects of it and go local only in certain ways?  

 

For our discussion about a low carbon future we spoke about the importance of having more regulation from government to control carbon emissions, fossil fuel extraction, etc. But the issue of regulating ourselves was also raised. How will we regulate our own behaviour? Several people suggested education and how important that would be in the process."

        Adding a thought-provoking example:

• Here's the 'Bosco Verticale', 2 prizewinning towers that have been built in Milan. There's two acres of vegetation - if it was flat on the ground.
• Should individual developers lead on this kind of innovation? Should there be government encouragement? Where do tenants fit in to such plans?

• The architect Stefano Boeri says: "All the plant life helps reduce smog, dampen noise levels, produce oxygen, and regulate temperatures inside the two buildings.
  During the winter, sunlight can easily pass through the bare plant life and help heat people's rooms. During the summer, the leaves can block harsh rays from making apartments too hot."
  

Ben continues his report:
"For session two we discussed carbon reduction in our home energy consumption.

Everyone agreed that the whole process of overhauling your house can feel very complex and overwhelming. There are so many things one can do, and most people don't have the technical expertise to understand all the options thoroughly.

We discussed the problems of the current housing market and how the energy rating of a home is often not very important to the people purchasing it. This is especially true in a housing market like London where people are just desperate to get on the housing ladder and probably aren't too concerned about the energy efficiency of a home.

The issue of being a tenant came up – we noted how there is little incentive for landlords to renovate their homes if their tenants are paying the bills.

We also talked about communicating these issues and how to point out someone is overfilling the kettle without appearing a nag! You can tip-toe, or you can just tell someone they're being daft.... (we will return to the issue of how to communicate climate change in session 6).

Finally, the question came up of how to make carbon reduction at home glamorous. Loft conversions are glamorous. But carbon reduction isn't. Or at least, at the moment. That could change....

There were some positive notes as well.

One potentially fun way of tackling the issue is by engaging children. If engaged they could be enthusiastic supporters of carbon reduction, if it is made fun, and if they have the chance to receive education on the issue – linking with what we discussed in week one."

Heat loss in a simplified detached house travels in all directions...would you have guessed those percentages?

We'll continue the coverage of this series of meetings, and more information about Carbon Conversations can be found by clicking here.

Get in touch with TTT if you would like notice of when we are offering the 11th series - or get the core of a group together yourself, and we'll find more people and maybe run it in your home!

Our tenth series of Carbon Conversations postponed to start on 20th April

TTT's tenth series of local Carbon Conversations is going to start on Thursday April 20th
We promise you will enjoy and also find a lot of practical value in this exploration of your own 'low-carbon living' choices and opportunities. 

The outcome of the series is an action plan for reducing your own carbon footprint by understanding the impact of what's in your own control - home energy, travel, food and purchases.

An active game about the carbon footprint of food

You'll find it friendly, fun & surprising
- and there's just two places left!










For all the details, please click here.
And for our recent blog post (including the new dates) - click here.
Don't hesitate to get in touch with Ben at bencuddon@gmail.com even if you can't make every date over the series of 6 meetings. 
We look forward to seeing you!

New series of free Carbon Conversations workshops starts April 20th

All welcome to join our Tenth Series of free local Carbon Conversations!

Do you want to make some changes to reduce your carbon footprint, save energy and save on your bills, but you're not sure how or where to start?

Join a group of local residents in a series of 6 meetings to explore how small changes can make a big difference.
You'll assess your own carbon footprint, then together we'll look at home energy, transport and travel, food, consumption and waste to help you make changes that fit your situation. We'll help you make an action plan of practical steps to take. The workshops are free.

When?

• Sessions will take place on Thursdays between 20th April - 25th May 2017
• Specific dates are 20th April, 27th April, 4th May, 11 May, 18 May, 25th May
• they will run from 7:00 - 9:00pm

Where?

• At 96 Besley St, SW16 6BD

What do we do in the sessions?

For a start, they are enjoyable!
We discuss what's important to us about 'low carbon living' - our values as well as technicalities. We're meeting in the home of one of the facilitators, so it's a friendly atmosphere and you can bring cake or samosas...!

We play some creative and instructive games, which lead to more discussion and planning. This one is about making travel choices.

We look at technical information, too. 
In this example we're exploring where heat loss occurs in a normal house.




For all the info on the workshops, download the series flyer

Please email Ben to join in, express an interest, or ask any questions. 

We ask for a voluntary contribution of £16.00 per participant to cover the direct cost of “In Time for Tomorrow?” the excellent Carbon Conversations handbook published by The Surefoot Effect.


To read personal blog posts by participants in an earlier series of meetings, click here and scroll down all six (they are in reverse order as we posted them live after each session).

All welcome - you do not have to be an expert!

Carbon Conversations - the final session... for now!

Over the last six weeks, we've run a series of workshops called Carbon Conversations, to help a small group of people learn about the steps they can take to reduce their carbon footprint, and investigate why some steps are harder than others.

We're looking to run another series in October, so if you'd like to find out more or even sign up, please do get in touch. You can find out more about the workshops here.

Martin Cobley is one of the participants. He's an active community gardener and a member of Transition Town Tooting, who has taken a lot of steps recently to live more sustainably. Here, he sums up the final session of Carbon Conversations.

I’ve been reflecting on one of the topics of last week’s final session: where next in my journey to lower carbon living? After a short exercise reviewing the areas we’d covered in the series – energy, travel, food and recycling, consumption – and some interesting suggestions such as eating only food in season; insulating between floorboards to reduce home energy bills; using local takeaways to reduce unnecessary travel, I’m drawn to the idea of getting a bike. I’m fitter and healthier now that I walk as much as I can, and I’m impressed by the folding bikes a couple of the participants have used to get to the venue. Hmmm… but it’s decades since I’ve ridden one and then it was on quiet suburban roads, no busy London traffic.

Next we played the Climate Walk game: mentally moving through the century thinking about the consequences for global warming of personal choices, such as giving up flying (a difficult one for some of the participants) and the things governments might do such as compulsory land purchase for growing food, or setting personal carbon quotas. Very thought-provoking: I can see that large-scale government action sooner than later could really make a significant difference. Although I happily sign online petitions from the likes of Avaaz, 38 degrees and Sum of Us for all sorts of climate-related issues, I’ve never been particularly interested in Politics (with a capital P). Logically it’s something I should be doing and I imagine joining in one of the many events which will no doubt be organised around the Paris 2015 talks later this autumn… But is this really my kind of thing? Can’t see myself enjoying it.

The session ended with a delicious and very healthy supper: everyone brought a low carbon dish, whether home cooked, locally grown or foraged from a school kitchen (with permission in case you were wondering). The conversation picked up some of the threads we touched on earlier: how hard making lifestyle sacrifices can be and having friends think you’re weird; how difficult to talk to climate change deniers without evidence; how to get more Carbon Conversations going? (Could we get a pro-environment character into EastEnders?!). Then, way past the scheduled finish time (I don’t think anyone wanted to leave), farewells at the door and arrangements to meet up again soon.

So a week later and where next? Neither the bike idea nor going on a demo fills me with enthusiasm. I’ve pushed my comfort zone quite hard recently with some of the lifestyle changes I’ve made – mainly on my own – and some still feel a bit fragile. I think I need something upbeat whilst they bed in. I remember the spirit of camaraderie at the supper; I’m enjoying physical activity… Got it! I shall try learning ballroom dancing! At a party recently I’d chatted to a very lively and energetic person who turned out to be a teacher at a local dance centre. I was immediately drawn to her. And it turned out that several friends-of-friends went to her beginners classes. Low cost, healthy, sociable and fun, plus it doesn’t matter if I’m a complete duffer. And there’s a perfect place to practise waltzing , a private corner of my local community garden!