We have hosted the last meeting of the May-July series of Tooting Carbon Conversations.
Please come and join us for the next series!
More information on next steps below, and to go straight to the other five recent blog posts by series participants, click here.
Dan has written this response to taking part...
The Final Conversation in the series
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| Low-carbon living pops up everywhere |
"The final conversation
gave us the opportunity to reflect on the things we had learned and decisions
we had made along the way, and to think about where we go from here.
It was also an opportunity to celebrate what we had done – and accordingly everyone brought along some delicious (low carbon!) food that we ate to round off the finale.
The session began with everyone sharing a
“carbon moment” that they had experienced during the week – these could be something
positive, something negative or just a moment of realization. 'Carbon moments' included:
Swimming in the (unheated) Lido and feeling you're on holiday (while in the heart of Tooting)
Cooking a home grown artichoke
Giving a rose from the garden to a girlfriend instead of one that was flown in from Kenya
Drinking local beer
On the subject of beer, we discovered that
Adnams do a great deal to reduce their carbon footprint - this was just one of the many useful bits
of knowledge I have learned over the course of the conversations – and one that
suited me down to the ground as Broadside is one of my favourites!
Next, we played the Climate Walk game in two teams: we had
to make a series of choices about things we would personally do and things
that, if we were in government, we would legislate on.
 |
The group's 'Climate Walk' via choices, and chances, to 2100.
Would we take steps to limit the global rise in temperature? |
At the conclusion of the
game, we found out where (if everyone in the developed world made these
choices) we would end up – in terms of the average temperature rise and the
ensuing climate changes/wider impacts.
It was interesting that the group found
it harder to commit to the personal sacrifices (e.g giving up flying, giving up
air freighted exotic fruit) than to the pieces of legislation.
In discussion,
we concluded that it felt easier to do things if everyone did them (as in the
case of legislation). Reflecting on this on the way home, I also wondered
whether part of what was off-putting was the absoluteness of giving something
up permanently.
I feel it is perhaps easier to think in terms of working towards a carbon budget of
around 6 tonnes a year (as recommended in the Carbon Conversations workbook and in
How Bad are Bananas) because then you can still choose to fly if you want to –
but in order to do so you could “save up carbon" by cutting down on milk and dairy – or by
changing your car commute to a bicycle one, and so on.
To conclude we reflected on where we go
from here.
It was inspiring to hear what people were planning to do, including:
> Training as Carbon Conversations facilitators
> Considering lifestyle changes, such as living or working differently to avoid a commute of 6,500 kilometres on the tube every year
> Creating a game for the Tooting Foodival to help spread awareness of carbon choices
> Setting up Carbon Collaborations – developing a community to bring people together, face-to-face and via a new website and Facebook page to spread these ideas widely in a very participative way
Personally, I learned a great deal from the
whole Carbon Conversations process and made a few fairly significant choices
about my own lifestyle.
I’m now busy reflecting on ways to communicate what I
have learned to others in a way that avoids preaching and guilt trips.
In the
meantime, I’m loving seeing London from a bicycle rather than sweating on the
tube.
And I'm trying to convince myself that I prefer coffee without milk…"
..thank you for sharing your own experience of the meeting, Dan!
All welcome to join in with the next Carbon Conversations series when we fix new dates. Meanwhile, everyone is welcome to enjoy taking part in Carbon Collaborations
And of course there's the Tooting Foodival on the weekend of Sept 13th and 14th - you can grow local vegetables, cook a dish and participate in many ways on the weekend.
Dan will be at the Foodival with FanSHEN theatre company on Sunday Sept 14th.
Please join in! 
On Sunday 14th at Samaj Hall, 26b Tooting High St, the line-up of bands and performers is incredible and we are really grateful for all of their offers to entertain us. Similarly we are very grateful to the particpating restaurants cooking up your donated produce, the fabulous array of local groups who will be there, not to mention the special input of fanSHEN, Mark Watson and Tooting's Phantom Knitter. 
This year's Foodival on the 13th and
14th September will, as ever, be a celebration of locally grown food showing how it's possible to grow
local, eat local and be sustainable while also having fun! Now in its 7th year, we hope this will be the biggest Foodival yet and of course it's FREE to attend. 
You can collect some of this home grown produce on Sat 13th or use anything tasty you have growing to create your Top Tooting Cook entry. Bring your creations back on Sun 14th when the
tastiest dishes with
the lowest food miles will win some fabulous prizes, with the
winner crowned “Top Tooting
Cook”.
In this session, we shared what was important to us -
peaceful, safe streets, short journeys to work, lower speed limits and safer
cycling. 
We played a game, imagining we were a family of four making travel choices based on lifestyle, and on government policy.
The idea is to promote local businesses making things in Tooting,
and also to help people make (and grow) things themselves. We have a web address and a twitter account (@MadeInTooting) but they're not live yet. The idea is that local businesses making things in Tooting are
promoted on the website, as are the small shops, restaurants and
bars stocking the local produce.
On June 15th, as part of the Open Garden Squares weekend, TTT presents the Tooting Community Garden
Open Day & Father's Day Fete at the Community Garden, 5 North Drive,
not far the Lido. Come and discover for yourself this hidden garden paradise. It's free,
naturally, and there are events for all ages including story-telling,
paper making and games.
Or maybe you would just like to come and experience this reclaimed semi-wild growing space, chill out and picnic or get some gardening advice from those involved in the projects we run with community volunteers and local schoolchildren. 
