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!

 

Tour de Tooting - workshops, a film night, a parade!

 

Tour de Tooting Creative Director Lucy Neal

With less than 2 weeks until Tour de Tooting, are you ready for a wonderful wheeled parade through Tooting, followed by a sharing picnic on Fishponds Fields?  Pop 3rd July in your diary!

Maybe you've found one of these mysterious #tourdetooting tags on your wheels?

#tourdetooting

Maybe you've been to one of the wheelie workshops we've held so far? No! Don't worry! There are three more workshops to come. They're all free and everyone is welcome - whether you have wheels or not. Join in the fun!

• 26 June - wheel decorating and bike workshop, 12.30-5.30pm, Bruce Hall
• 01 July - wheel decorating at Fransciscan School's Festival, 4-6pm
• 02 July - wheel decorating and bike workshop, 11am-4pm

Come to the Hubs & Spokes Cafe - Thu. 19 May, 6.30pm @ Rechere's

Want to find out more about Tour de Tooting?

Come along to our second Hubs and Spokes café on Thu. 19 May, from 6.30pm to 8.30pm at Rechere’s Wellbeing Centre, 163-165 Tooting High Street in anticipation of  the Tour de Tooting, Sun. 03 July.

What will be doing in this Hubs and Spokes Cafe?

The gathering on Thu. 19 May from 6.30pm to 8.30pm will fill in the gaps of what remains to be invented. Do we need more rides? More people? More materials? What part might you like to play?

Pedal by pedal, we will look at compatibility between the Tour's four components:

• Creating and making:  Decorate your wheels, bring your machines if you like!
• Roads and Rides:  Catching up on our route and sites – we need people to marshall / steward / site manage. Would you like to ?
• Connecting and Communication:  Telling people in Tooting what's happening
• Resourcing:  Join our team! Time, sweet time – do you have any you might like to give? Whether it be for something specific or getting involved in the co-ordination. We need Principal Pedalistas! Social Media advocates, Volunteer Stewards, Leaflet distributors and poster putter-upperers, Site Managers for on the day and help with Volunteer Co-ordination! Roll up! Roll up!

We're wheely looking forward to seeing you, please do spread the word and bring folks who you think might be interested.

In the meantime, have fun trying to Draw A Bike From Memory!
http://www.booooooom.com/2016/05/09/bicycles-built-based-on-peoples-attempts-to-draw-them-from-memory/

What happened at the last Hubs and Spokes Cafe? 

Those who came along to the first Hubs and Spokes café enjoyed Cake! Tea! and a short movie on the bici-machinista-cycle-powered marvels of Guatemala and the collective energy of creating this emerging event! 

Lots has happened since:

• We’ve been developing Route, Traffic and Event Management plans
• Leaflet and Poster design are underway
• A logo, thanks to everyone, with help from Sue Rentoul!
• We’ve engaged with Wandsworth Cycle Campaign and Wheels for Wellbeing, a fantastic charity that removes barriers to cycling
• Organising workshops with children at Franciscan School, our Départ point     
• Continuing plans for a wheel-themed film night in Tooting Market
• Co-ordinating a bike-themed Tooting Restart Party on June 21st Tuesday

We look forward to seeing you. Come join in the fun! #tourdetooting

Transport in Tooting

A few transport issues have caught my eye this weekend. Firstly I am well in support of Wandsworth Council's opposition to the expansion of Heathrow. Who wants more aircraft noise blighting our quiet enjoyment of SW17 and around. Not me. See the Council's reasoning and ways to have a say in the consultation here.

Crossrail2 Safeguarding Area

Another issue for consultation is the proposed route and access shafts for Crossrail2. The plans will undoubtedly be of benefit to commuters in the Tooting Broadway area, but a big concern for me is the proposal to site permanent access shafts on both Trinity Fields and Wandsworth Common. This is currently under consultation and I think it is important to oppose any further infringement into community green spaces. Dan Watkins has a good analysis of the impacts for Tooting and around on his site here.  You have until Weds 28th January to voice your opinion to crossrail2@tfl.gov.uk.

Meanwhile Jon Irwin's tireless campaigning for a more people and cycle friendly urban space in our area continues. His latest campiagn is to make Tooting Bec Road safer. Will Balham Boulevard become a reality this year? I hope so. Check out details on these and the latest on local cycling and street design issues here. 

Finally Wandsworth Council's snail's progress towards 20mph on residential roads sees some action now in Bedford and Furzedown but what about the rest of us? Let's hope there is more progress in 2015. Wandsworth Living Streets and the Wandsworth group of 20s Plenty For Us continue to campaign for better safer streets for all.  dt

Tooting's Air Quality - community meeting Wednesday 26th Nov

We'll share the results of this local and practical 'citizen science' project to measure local air quality, and hear from knowledgeable speakers who are involved with this challenge.

All welcome to take part in this urgent discussion, look at the issues in depth, and consider: 'what's to be done?'

When: Wednesday 26th Nov, 1930-2100 
Where: Tooting United Reformed Church, Rookstone Road SW17 9NQ

Speakers:
Samantha Heath - CEO, London Sustainability Exchange
Rex Osborn - Borough Councillor, Graveney Ward
Houda Al-Shafiri - Head of Public Health, Wandsworth Borough Council
David Thorne - Co-Chair, Transition Town Tooting

TTT has been running a campaign on air pollution locally in collaboration with London Sustainability Exchange and with Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council. We have carried out ‘citizen science’ measurements around Tooting, and our surveys have produced some interesting results.
See a graphic summary of the local results by clicking here.

• Some parts of Tooting High Street record levels of nitrogen dioxide that are 2 to 3 times higher than the European safe exposure limit
• The Mayor of London’s ’ultra-low emission zone’ does not include Tooting. 
• Around 4,250 people die each year from long-term exposure to fine particles in London
• Those affected lose 11.5 years of their life on average
• Much more needs to be done to ensure Tooting has a clear bill of health!

To see our recent leaflet on local Air Quality, click here
To see the event poster, click here

For more information, please email us

Part of: Furzedown Low Carbon Zone

Change Picture

Air Quality in Tooting

Starts

19:30, Wednesday 26th November

Ends

21:00, Wednesday 26th November

Location

London | Wandsworth | Tooting
Tooting United Reform Church, Rookstone Road SW17 9NQ (map)

Workshop

You are attending this event (change)

Created by Charles Whitehead

About

We'll share how we have been involved in a practical 'citizen science' project to measure local air quality
Transition Town Tooting has been running a campaign on air pollution in Tooting in collaboration with London Sustainability Exchange and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council by carrying out ‘citizen science’ measurements around Tooting. Our surveys have produced some interesting results:

• Some parts of Tooting High Street record levels of nitrogen dioxide levels that are 2 to 3 times higher than the European safe exposure limit
• Around 4,250 people die each year from long-term exposure to fine particles in London
• Those affected lose 11.5 years of their life on average

The Mayor of London’s ’ultra-low emission zone’ does not include Tooting.
Much more needs to be done to ensure Tooting has a clear bill of health!

This event will look at the issues in depth.
Speakers:

Samantha Heath - CEO, London Sustainability Exchange
Councillor Rex Osborn - Graveney Ward, Wandsworth Borough Council
Houda Al-Shafiri - Head of Public Health, Wandsworth Borough Council
David Thorne - Co-Chair, Transition Town Tooting
To see our recent leaflet on local Air Quality, click here
To see the event flyer, click here

- See more at: http://www.projectdirt.com/apps/event/32292/#sthash.Sd6nVmrX.dpuf

Part of: Furzedown Low Carbon Zone

Change Picture

Air Quality in Tooting

Starts

19:30, Wednesday 26th November

Ends

21:00, Wednesday 26th November

Location

London | Wandsworth | Tooting
Tooting United Reform Church, Rookstone Road SW17 9NQ (map)

Workshop

You are attending this event (change)

Created by Charles Whitehead

About

We'll share how we have been involved in a practical 'citizen science' project to measure local air quality
Transition Town Tooting has been running a campaign on air pollution in Tooting in collaboration with London Sustainability Exchange and Battersea and Wandsworth Trade Union Council by carrying out ‘citizen science’ measurements around Tooting. Our surveys have produced some interesting results:

• Some parts of Tooting High Street record levels of nitrogen dioxide levels that are 2 to 3 times higher than the European safe exposure limit
• Around 4,250 people die each year from long-term exposure to fine particles in London
• Those affected lose 11.5 years of their life on average

The Mayor of London’s ’ultra-low emission zone’ does not include Tooting.
Much more needs to be done to ensure Tooting has a clear bill of health!

This event will look at the issues in depth.
Speakers:

Samantha Heath - CEO, London Sustainability Exchange
Councillor Rex Osborn - Graveney Ward, Wandsworth Borough Council
Houda Al-Shafiri - Head of Public Health, Wandsworth Borough Council
David Thorne - Co-Chair, Transition Town Tooting
To see our recent leaflet on local Air Quality, click here
To see the event flyer, click here

- See more at: http://www.projectdirt.com/apps/event/32292/#sthash.Sd6nVmrX.dpuf

Travel and Transport: Carbon Conversations Meeting 4

Jenny has posted her response below to the most recent meeting in our 'CC' series. During the series we have been digging into understanding our own 'carbon footprint' and what it means to us in real life.

The UK average carbon footprint per person per year now is c12 tonnes of C02 emissions. There's a challenging and more sustainable goal of four tonnes of CO2 emissions per person per year (= emissions from home energy, travel, food purchasing and general consumption, at roughly a tonne each).

"I offered to write a post on this, because when I did my carbon footprint, I realised that travel and transport form a significant portion of my annual carbon footprint, so it’s an area I want to improve on.

In this session, we shared what was important to us - peaceful, safe streets, short journeys to work, lower speed limits and safer cycling. 

We imagined what it would be like if people didn’t own cars anymore and there was a cycle super highway like the one Norman Foster has proposed. We didn’t all agree on these more extreme re-imaginings of how we travel, but we all agreed that shorter local journeys on peaceful streets would be a good thing.

While looking at the pros and cons of different types of transport, there was a lot of debate and focus on cycling. Most people in the group own cycles and had cycled to the meeting. It’s a quick and easy way to get around Tooting, but all agreed cycling in the centre of London was not such a pleasant experience.

Wouldn’t it be great if you didn’t have to be aggressive cycling in the city just to claim your piece of road? Would more people cycle if London was more like Amsterdam? What if the state gave you a free bike if you promised to use it more than three times a week, like in Sweden?

We played a game, imagining we were a family of four making travel choices based on lifestyle, and on government policy.

What soon became clear was that low carbon choices aren’t always made with the sole intention of doing good for the planet. More often, travel choices were made based on money or time saved – money and time that could then be spent as a family. Policy rarely influenced decisions in our game and sometimes, that was surprising.

In the future, we may have to reduce to 1 tonne of CO2 per year per person for travel. Here’s my challenge: can I get to 1 tonne?

I started my own travel diary and estimated my day trips & holidays.
Here’s how my annual carbon footprint stacks up now in 2014:

• Commuting and local travel around London: 6,396 miles per year = 0.9 tonnes of CO2
• Day /weekend trips out of London, and holiday travel: 1640 miles = 0.3 tonnes of CO2
• 2 return short-haul plane trips to Europe: 4 tonnes of CO2

In total, that puts my travel emissions at just over 5 tonnes per year. 
Is it time to cut the trips abroad or can I save enough by getting a job locally to afford me one flight a year?

One tonne is certainly going to be a challenge!
I’ll post a follow up on this, and from the other participants in the group"

Thanks for these honest comments, Jenny!
We'll report back from the two remaining Carbon Conversations meetings in this series.
If you would like to get into this fascinating and urgent topic, do join us in the future when we next offer 'CC' locally. All welcome: you do not need to be an expert, just interested in exploring your own choices, and in taking some action.