Sustainable Blewbury

Sustainable Blewbury is concerned with climate change and other environmental issues. Due to rising atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, as well as depletion of natural resources, we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. We need to explore ways in which we as a village can adapt to a lower-carbon way of living, yet maintain a good quality of life. In 2013 we are celebrating our 20th anniversary!

Blewbury Garden Market

Now open every Saturday: After a successful winter selling homemade bread and preserves at the Post Office, our weekly Garden Market is now open for its fourth year on Saturdays from 9.30 to 11.30 am at the Garage. Producers can bring items to sell from 9.00 to 9.30 am. More information and producer’s forms can be found on our food page.

SB events at the Blewbury Festival 2013:

For details of the following please see our events page.

Family day, Saturday 8th June, 12–4 pm: On the Festival opening day at Tickers Folly Field, we will have a specially extended and expanded Blewbury Garden Market stall selling produce, bread and cakes, etc. (This replaces the usual morning stall at the Garage.)

Kenneth Grahame evening, Thursday 20th June, 8 pm: Our chairman, Mike Edmunds, and the chairman and project coordinator of the Kenneth Grahame Society, Nigel McMorris, will give talks in the Manor Barn. We will be serving home-made bread with local cheese and wine.

Sustainable Blewbury exhibition, Sunday 23rd June, 2–4.30 pm: On the day of the traditional Millbrook walk, we will have an exhibition in the lovely water garden of Millbrook Cottage. CAG logo

Details of all events, and some others run by nearby groups, can be found on our events page. Events elsewhere (and much else) can be found on ClimateXchange, and Oxfordshire events on CAG (Community Action Groups) Oxfordshire, which we are affiliated to.

Recent news

In May 2013 the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere reached a record 400 parts per million for the first time in the modern era. That is higher than it’s been for about 4 million years, when the Earth’s climate was much warmer than it is now – the Arctic was ice-free and sea level was up to 40 metres higher. Before the industrial revolution it was 280 ppm, and in the 1950s it was 318 ppm, as shown in the graph. There is more information on our Energy Initiative’s global warming page.
The global average temperature in 2012 makes it the ninth or tenth warmest year on record. A comparison of recent years with a century and a half of record-keeping can be expressed in various ways:
- the 10 warmest years on record have all been since 1998;
- the 20 warmest years have all been since 1987; and
- all 12 years from 2001 to 2012 rank among the 14 warmest.
However, it is important to realise that global warming is not predicted to be uniform. It would be much higher than average in some regions – which will therefore suffer more serious effects – and lower in others. This and other effects are discussed on our global warming page.
Many experts now believe that the goal of keeping the global average temperature rise below 2 degrees C may not be possible, due to carbon emissions continuing to increase. In addition other effects, such as extreme weather and rising sea-level due to warmer oceans and increased melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica, are worse than most predictions.
The government’s new Green Deal is aimed to be its flagship policy for improving the energy efficiency of homes, in order to reduce carbon emissions and the use of fossil fuels. The Green Deal will provide loans to pay for a wide variety of measures. We explain how it might work, its cashback deal for early adopters, and some possible problems. Our Energy Initiative’s domestic grants page also covers yet another delay to the government’s Renewable Heat Incentive and an extension to Renewable Heat Premium Payments.

Click on these links to find out:

why we need Sustainable Blewbury;
what we are doing;
how to help; and
how to contact us.

Our activity is organised around five main themes:

Travel and Transport The travel and transport theme promotes public transport and encourages cycling and walking, with more cycleways and footpaths, in order to reduce car dependency.	Energy The Blewbury Energy Initiative aims to reduce energy consumption in buildings and to encourage the use of renewable energy resources. The aim is to use much less coal, oil and gas to help the global environment.	Food and Farming The food and farming theme supports and promotes local food production and marketing in order to reduce food miles, as well as encouraging fair trade.
Natural Environment and Heritage The natural environment and heritage theme aims to raise awareness and promote protection of Blewbury's history, architecture and special characteristics – such as its springs and streams, trees, and village fabric.		Reduce, Reuse, Recycle The reduce, reuse, recycle theme aims to reduce the amount of waste, and to encourage reuse of items and recycling to recover raw materials. It promotes water saving, local recycling and household composting.