Sustainability stories - Bideford LM

Bideford LM

The Meeting started to take action in earnest towards promoting sustainable living in July 2009. This was prompted specifically by a visit of one of our members to a conference held in Brussels in 2008 organised by the Quaker Council for European Affairs combined with material from the Living Witness Project and the excellent QPSW study booklet 'Responding to Climate Change' - and, of course, the feeling that we really should be doing something as a Meeting and not just individually.

So, what did we do? Well, we began by organising a meeting to decide how to proceed. At the meeting we agreed that our first challenge was to educate ourselves, the better, eventually to enthuse others! We achieved this in various ways; the two most successful being a) to watch and subsequently discuss various documentaries about climate change, including 'An Inconvenient Truth', David Attenborough’s 'The Truth about Climate Change', Greenpeace’s 'A Convenient Solution' and finally 'The Age of Stupid' ..and b) to invite the LWP to provide a one day workshop.

Simultaneously, we managed to get an agreement with a free local magazine, The Bideford Buzz, to have a ‘Green Page’. For this, we paid £150 for an article once a month for about 6 months.

We organised the public showing of 3 of the documentaries on two separate occasions. This was publicised by sending a letter to each local councillor, by advertising in the local press and by distributing leaflets and putting up posters wherever we could. This attracted an audience of about 40, including some councillors and the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Parliament. We asked the audience to sign up if they were interested in organising a local group. Although perhaps only 6 or 7 people signed, this, it turned out, was enough!

The outcomes? Firstly and to our great relief (we are all somewhat 'past our prime'!), the baton has been handed on to a new organisation: The Bideford Sustainability Group . There is now a steering group and three focus groups, one of which is exploring the possibility of becoming a Transition Town. Two of Bideford Meeting are members of the steering group but others have the main roles within it.

Secondly, as a result of the one day workshop, we have managed to eliminate a 'cold spot' in the Meeting House and we are considering the feasibility of solar panels. Thirdly, we have a 'green slot' in our own Meeting Newsletter once a month.

By Jacqui Poole

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