Club news

Braughing Repair Cafe repeated.  Residents grateful for extended  life of treasured items.

The second repair cafe, held on 26th October, was another success.  Every slot was pre-booked and again over thirty treasured belongings - clothing, cycles, furniture, large toys, laptops and small electrical items were brought in for repair, and a lot of blade sharpening was done. Comments from those attending were complimentary, and those who just visited for tea and cake were equally happy with the new event.  The majority of items were able to be repaired, which saved them having to be taken to the recycling centre.   We are enormously grateful for the donations, and to the fabulous team of repairers, hosts, cake makers and helpers who made this work so well.  We have started planning another event for 8th March 2025.

In May, all the volunteer repairers met at the Community Centre to be updated on the plans for the Repair Cafe. 

At our April meeting we were given a great talk on green finance by Madela.  Thank you.  There are £trillions in pension funds, and we can contact them and ask pertinent questions about what companies are they invested in.  There's a big difference between banks and the degree of support  given in financing fossil fuel projects.  At least one of our members has changed their bank as a result of this knowledge, and found the process quick and easy.  

April 2024 Book "Green money" by David Macdonald recommended.

Recommendations:

Use coffee grounds to deter slugs

Book One Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones

The March 2024 meet was to discuss the repair cafe planned for end of June.

Between meetings, our Whats App group discussed the possibility of compiling a sustainable cook book involving as few plastic-packed ingredients as possible and efficiently batch cooking.

Our February meeting was all about clothes mending - many a favourite had its life extened.

29th January 2024  SLC meeting saw some good ideas being shared: sessions on green finance and green energy were suggested, as well as a Swish (a swap shop for clothes) event,  a community hub could be set up for sharing useful but rarely used things, and a repair pop-up could be trialled.

 

In 2025 we expect East Herts Council to move to a three-week collection cycle of glass, plastics, cans, plastic bags and wrapping / cardboard and paper / non-recyclable waste. Garden waste will be collected independently. Food waste will be collected every week.  New smaller bins will be distributed for the non-recyclable waste, with the existing black bin being used for paper and cardboard.

 

January 2024   'Ethical consumer' magazine recommended.

Sustainable dog food recommendations:

Yora pet insect-based eco food can be obtained direct or from Pets Corner

Butternut Box will collect packaging for recycling if asked.

Real Raw is ethically sourced - www.naturaw.co.uk