Sustainable Thornbury

Our aim is to promote the well-being of everyone living and working in the area, by promoting greater local self-reliance and a more cooperative and inclusive community. For more information phone the secretary on 01454 416778.
Meetings are held regularly (approximately monthly) depending on current activities. In 2008/9 the group is concentrating on:

activities that seek to promote local and seasonal food which include: a campaign to increase the number of allotments, a project to encourage using seasonal ingredients by publishing tasty recipes, developing the community orchard, encouraging growing your own food (particularly to help beginners in this)
action to bring together various groups in the town to look at networking effectively so that we approach challenges together
action to stimulate debate and personal reactions to future challenges to our climate and use of diminishing resources (such as oil)
following up on our campaign to reduce plastic bag use
preparing for our second Give it Away-Take it Away event to encourage re-use
considering our approach to the transition town movement
looking at the possibility of holding a ‘green fair’

Food For Thought

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!

Please email

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.

Plastic Bags follow up

We undertook a survey to try to establish the success of our campaign to reduce plastic bags in Thornbury last year. We were heartened to find that of 200 people surveyed, 83% were carrying reusable shopping bags and 93% of traders reported to us that they had had to buy fewer bags since the campaign started.

Many of the traders have changed their behaviour too (charging for bags, not offering bags, only using biodegradable or compostable bags).

Visit the Plastic Bag campaign page for more information.

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 followed the project and published regular tips on how to reduce your bills by making changes.

Sustainable Thornbury Supper and Conversation

26 local people including church representatives, councillors and small businesses met and explored ideas over a meal. The idea was to talk about the future of Thornbury, given the threat of climate change and oil running out.

Visitors enjoyed a delicious vegetarian first course made mainly from local produce and explored the question: “How might it be possible for the citizens of Thornbury and surrounding villages to have an improved quality of life as fuel becomes more scarce?”

Then everyone changed tables ready for apple puddings and cream, met new people and discussed the second question, which looked at our resilience when facing change.

Our aim was to bring together people from different walks of life to share their various views and experiences. See below for comments from the tables. Why not add your own views by clicking here? - we'll pass on your comments to Sustainable Thornbury.

We would also like to thank the Hatch for their kind hospitality. Working in such a warm and welcoming environment added a very special something to the evening.

Summary Answers

Click here to see the full answers.

The questions were:

1. How might it be possible for the citizens of Thornbury and its surrounding villages to have an improved quality of life as oil supplies run out?
2. How can Thornbury and the surrounding area become more resilient to change?

The answers were:

General: Our quality of life could improve. We don’t know whether the climate will get hotter, colder or wetter. We need to be less dependent on world systems, such as banks, fossil fuels and supermarkets. We will need to get and keep fitter. There may be difficulties for elderly people. People will need to be empowered, developing local initiatives and responding to the challenge to adapt.

Transport: Cycling is good for short journeys, and makes you fitter. Walking to school is good. We need more frequent buses on more convenient routes. Cars are convenient but expensive. Fewer cars would mean less pollution and less space used for roads and parking. A car-free High Street would improve the town centre. Charging for car parking would deter drivers. We will have to fly less. Commuting reduces the soul of community. Less travel means we could get to know our neighbours better. We could do more home-working with better e-communication and local serviced offices.

Food: Food needs to be more local and seasonal, and we need more allotments. We will need to use the High Street and other local facilities more.

Energy: We need much better insulation and solar panels. In old buildings, efficiency may conflict with conservation. New buildings should be built to very high standards. We need more affordable housing.