We believe ordinary people have a big role to play in tackling the challenges we face from climate change, energy needs and living sustainably. We believe change comes from the grassroots, local level. We’re here to listen to any concerns you have about your environment.
With almost forty years campaigning on a huge range of environmental issues, we can give you lots of help. This might be support and advice on running a campaign. Maybe we can direct you to specialists in areas such as planning, energy efficiency, law, recycling, road safety schemes,
One of our campaigns 20s Plenty! Aims to make the streets more pleasant, safer and easier to use for pedestrians, cyclists and even motorists. This pushes for a 20 mph speed limit on residential roads. This has already been successfully achieved in Portsmouth, where accidents and injuries have decreased as a result. We’d like to do the same thing in Birmingham, Britain’s second city. All the available evidence shows this makes very little difference to journey times and can actually benefit car drivers. Driving slightly more slowly in built up, densely populated areas is easier, less stressful and can even save on fuel if there’s less accelerating and braking.
How are recycling facilities in your neighborhood? Good? Bad? In need of improvement? Do they meet your needs? Are you able to access them? Can you recycle what you want to? Are you confused about collection days?
We can help you to improve recycling facilities, through using our extensive networks of contacts.
For several months we’ve been running a Swap Shop in Moseley and we’d like to expand it to other areas of the city. It works like this:
You bring along any items you don’t want to us and we put them out at our Swap Shop.
You come along and take away anything you do want.
You don’t need to have given anything to take something away.
We’re keen to help people to reuse wherever possible. Items re-circulated through the Swapshop have included books, CDs, DVDs, clothes, tools, power tools, household crockery, cutlery, torches, curtains, childrens toys…you name it!
Friends of the Earth are always keen to help improve the local environment and cities like Birmingham have a surprising amount of green spaces. Unfortunately, they’re not always used in the best way and sometimes can be neglected. We’re currently working with residents in Handsworth who are in the process of re-claiming a small park which in recent years has been taken over by problem drinkers and drug users.
We’re also working with residents on an estate in Ladywood to plant some trees and small shrubs to improve their area. It doesn’t take a lot. We found going out one afternoon with three residents, more people became curious about what we were doing and wanted to join in. It only takes a few people to devote one or two hours each week and a patch of waste ground can be transformed into somewhere for people to relax, meet, chill out and enjoy.
Maybe there’s some land near you which isn’t doing anything? In Winson Green we’re working with the local residents and the council to bring a piece of wasteland into use as a grow site, where residents are able to grow their own food, on their doorstep. Not everyone has cars, or the time to devote to an allotment, so small grow sites, on little parcels of land, can be a great way to enjoy your own local, healthy, seasonal food.
If you’d like to get in touch, please contact:
Tom Pointon
Outreach Officer
Friends of the Earth Birmingham
The Warehouse
54 – 57 Allison Street
Digbeth
Birmingham
B5 5 T H
0121 632 6909
tom@birminghamfoe.org.uk
