5-Jun-2006
- Turn the tap off while you brush your teeth!
Take a shower not a bath! Share a car trip with
someone you like, or don’t like! Air your knickers
in public and save electricity! Go on do it -
it’s UN World Environment Day!
This World Environment Day we
are asking mums and dads, kids, families and individuals
to make some small lifestyle changes that will
have a huge impact on the planet. We want everybody
to know that you don’t have to be an Eco-Warrior
to improve the environment – absolutely anyone
can do something to help the planet.
Local celebrity actor Alistair
McGowan, who was born and raised in Evesham, Worcestershire
is urging everyone to take up the challenge this
World Environment Day. "You can make a real
difference – you can improve the air we breathe,
you can save water, you can reduce waste and you
can improve our environment.’
In Worcestershire we are launching
plans for a new environmentally friendly garden
at Worcester Woods Country Park. ‘The Worcestershire
Garden’ is a partnership project between the Environment
Agency, Worcestershire County Council and Severn
Trent Water. The new garden will be located on
the doorstep of 100 acres of ancient oak woodland,
with easy access waymarked circular walks and
a children’s play area.
The garden has been designed
by the Countryside Service, with the help of a
local garden designer. Limiting water usage and
climate change are themes that have heavily influenced
the garden design. Many of the drought resistant
planting ideas can be incorporated into smaller
home gardens. Plants and materials will be sourced
locally and will be native to Worcestershire wherever
possible.
Why not visit Worcester Woods
Country Park from the 5th June 2006 and watch
the garden evolve over the coming seasons. The
Countryside Service will be hosting events and
volunteer groundforce days throughout the year,
for more details contact Wade Muggleton on 01905
766493.
Rob Stevenson, Countryside Sites
Officer at Worcestershire County Council said;
‘Using native plants best suited to their surroundings
means you don’t have to use lots of water’.
Karen Pearce, Environment Agency
Team Leader added;’ We are thrilled to working
on this garden with our partners. World Environment
Day highlights for everyone what simple lifestyle
changes they can make to have a huge impact. Today
we can show what we are doing in Worcestershire
to give people practical tips to take home to
their own gardens.’
Last year nationally, 25,000
people made promises and helped to save 181 swimming
pools worth of water from being wasted, helped
to stop 191 dustbin lorries of waste being transported
to landfill, and declined 3.4 million plastics
bags (end to end, that’s 1000 miles of plastic
bags).
More information
This year’s World Environment
Day promises
Just go to www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wed
and promise to do the following:
I promise to take a shower instead
of a bath.
I promise to put a water saving
device in my toilet cistern.
I promise to turn the tap off
when I brush my teeth.
I promise to use rechargeable
batteries instead of disposable ones.
I promise to use a reusable
bag when I shop, rather than plastic carriers.
I promise to air my washing
in public – not in the tumble dryer.
I promise to boil only the water
I need, rather than filling the kettle every time
I promise to share my car journeys
to work with a colleague, cycle, or replace those
car journeys with public transport at least once
a week.
I promise to use a climate payback
scheme to reduce the impact of any air travel
I take.
I promise to organise or volunteer
for an environmental project in my local community.
Then the Environment Agency
will be able to measure exactly how many litres
of water, tonnes of CO2, kilograms of waste and
kilowatt hours we can all save.
Climate change in the Midlands
Climate change is now one of
the biggest challenges we face. With scientists
predicting more winter flooding and summer drought,
water shortages and hosepipe bans, such as those
now being faced in the South of England, will
become ever more likely in the Midlands too.
The UK climate has varied greatly
over time due to natural causes, but human activities
are now believed to be causing major changes to
the climate by raising the levels of certain gases
in the atmosphere. These gases are called greenhouse
gases as they increase the amount of energy trapped
in the atmosphere so raise the temperature of
the Earth. How much our climate changes in the
future depends on how much greenhouse gas we release.
There is evidence that the climate
in the Midlands is already changing:
Five of the ten warmest years
of the 20th century occurred in the 11000s, these
were 11000, 1995, 1997, 1998 and 1999
Annual mean temperatures over
Central England increased by 0.6ºC between
1901 and 1998
Annual rainfall totals have
increased by 3% since the 1930s, but seasonal
changes have been much more dramatic. December
rainfall has increased by 38% and July rainfall
decreased by 31%
Sea levels have risen by up
to 2mm per year on the East Coast
The UK Climate Impacts Change
Programme (UKCIP) has predicted that the Midlands’
climate will continue to get warmer and wetter,
with more storms and flooding in the winter and
more droughts in the summer. It is likely that
this will lead to changes in the way we live and
work and to the bio-diversity of the region. We
are advising regional bodies on the likely impact
of climate change, and on strategies to mitigate
the effects and to adapt to the changes.
Worcester Woods Country Park
For more information about Worcester
Woods Country Park log on to: http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wccindex/wcc-countryside/wcc-countryside-sites.htm
