Sustainable Thornbury
The aim of Sustainable Thornbury is to promote the well-being of everyone living and working in the Thornbury area, by promoting greater local self-reliance and a more cooperative and inclusive community.
Meetings are held regularly (approximately monthly) depending on current activities. In 2008 the group is concentrating on :
- activities that seek to reduce waste which include: a campaign to reduce the number of plastic bags given out and used in our town, a project to discourage food waste by researching and publishing tasty recipes for leftovers, an event to encourage re-use
- action to stimulate debate and action to make our shops vibrant and give life to our town
- action to bring together various groups in the town to look at networking effectively so that we approach challenges together
Food For Thought
Did you know that as a nation, we throw away about 25% of all the food we buy?
Members of Sustainable Thornbury learnt recently about this staggering amount, started to think of ways of cutting down on waste and thought if you were making a meal, you would think about how much food you needed in order to complete your meal- sounds like common sense?
But, if you are buying package food, then it is much harder to judge just how much of the contents you will need. This lead on to thinking- well all right, if we have leftovers- what do we do with them - apart from throwing them away of course.
For a while the email lines were jammed with recipes and ideas from members all telling us about pasta bakes, nourishing soups and tasty puddings.
Then, because we want to change the world - or at least our part of it, we started to think of ways of putting all these ideas together and circulating them to others, who might find them useful and in turn, they would not have to feel guilty about what they throw away.
What do you do with your leftovers? That is when you have any, of course. We are dying to know what the good people of Thornbury do to use up any leftovers from Sunday lunch or any other day of the week for that matter. I've even heard of cooks who cook extra in order to have a leftover feast the following day!
Please let us have any ideas you may have on the subject and we are willing to collate and perhaps produce a leftover cookery book of some kind! Here's a classic to get you started: Bubble and Squeak. Leftover potatoes and vegetables can be mashed together and browned off in a frying pan. You can even shape into small rounds and fry, if you are feeling artistic. Delicious with cold meat or veggie sausages.
For contact please email
Reducing the use of Plastic Bags in Thornbury
Following a survey of Thornbury's shoppers, which revealed overwhelming support, Sustainable Thornbury is hoping to reduce the number of plastic bags given away and used in our town.
Plastic bags damage our environment and are particularly hazardous to wildlife.
Visit the Plastic Bag campaign page for more information.
Thornbury Community Orchard gets a makeover
Hardy members of Sustainable Thornbury's Grow Your Own Food Group braved a cold and damp Saturday morning to plant new fruit trees at the orchard and learn how to prune and improve existing ones.They were ably instructed by Mr Fruit (Graham White) who demonstrated the best way to prune fruit trees for a better, healthier crop in the autumn.
The Orchard was planted in 1995 and existing trees have more or less been left to take care of themselves since then. However, with the support of South Gloucestershire Council's Environment Department, Sustainable Thornbury members decided to take on the challenge of the management of the orchard and started by planting a number of new fruit trees to compliment the existing ones.
The project perfectly illustrates the aims of the group which include encouraging the production of locally grown food. Members are interested in all aspects of fruit and veg growing and very much appreciated having the help of a professional fruit grower on hand. There should be a bumper harvest in the autumn and the trees, hopefully, will appreciate all the care and attention.
The photo above is by Lucy Day Studio.
Did you Make a Difference by saving energy?
Sustainable Thornbury has given those of us living in and around Thornbury help and information to reduce the amount of energy we use in our homes, businesses, churches and schools.
Since 2003 gas prices have increased by 63% and electricity prices by 44%. At the same time more evidence has emerged about the damaging effects on the environment caused by burning fossil fuels.
Sustainable Thornbury ran events and competitions to encourage everyone in Thornbury and surrounding villages to improve the energy efficiency of our homes - both by changing the way things are done and by improving the way houses are insulated.
MyThornbury and The Gazette followed the project and published regular tips on how to reduce your bills by making changes.
For more information about Sustainable Thornbury, phone the secretary on 01454 416778, visit www.sustainablethornbury.org or email
