PB Press info re launch

GO SOLAR IN 2011
SAT. 18th JUNE 12.00 to 2.00
A FREE DROP-IN EVENT AT
“CAFÉ 1901” St George’s Tce. Jesmond.

Ask your questions about getting solar power from your roof. Access Renewables and Transition Jesmond combine to explain how and why it is worth installing solar power now. Good for the planet, good for your pocket. Talk to a company that fits solar. Visits to local houses with solar also offered on the day. Organised by transitionjesmond@gmail.com

Shoppers in Jesmond are being encouraged to bring their own bags and reject
free plastic carrier bags, to help make Jesmond more sustainable.

And traders are to be asked to sign up to measures to reduce the use of
free plastic carrier bags.

An accreditation system will award “green leaf” symbols so that shoppers
know how committed each trader is to supporting this campaign.
* three leaves – either charges for plastic bags or does not offer at all
* two leaves – is taking action to reduce the use of plastic bags
* one leaf – is due to introduce a plan to reduce use within the next 12
months

Look out for the stickers on shop windows. A Directory will appear here and in
Jesmond Local showing the levels of trader support.

The scheme is due to be launched when the first stickers are given out to shops in the next few weeks.

The campaign will start in the Acorn Road area and expand later throughout Jesmond. If you would like to support it, or have questions, please contact
transitionjesmond@gmail.com

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
* WON’T TRADERS MAKE MONEY OUT OF CHARGING FOR PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS? We are
encouraging them to donate this money to charity – if so this will be
publicised.
* HOW CAN I REMEMBER TO TAKE MY REUSABLE BAGS? We’d welcome everyone’s ideas
on how you managed to develop the habit! It’s good to hang a bag near your
door as a reminder – and keep a spare one inside it. Or some people have
bags which fold up small which they keep in a pocket or handbag.
* WHAT’S WRONG WITH USING PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS? The world uses 1.2 trillion
plastic bags a year. On average they are used for 12 minutes before
disposal.They end up in landfill (producing harmful gases) or harm wildlife
such as in rivers and the oceans. They do not biodegrade and so continue to
accumulate.
* SOME SHOPS ALREADY OFFER THE CHANCE TO RECYCLE PLASTIC CARRIER BAGS – it
uses resources to recycle the bags and they still eventually end up in
landfill or as waste, resulting in the harm listed above
* HOW WILL CHARGING MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Countries or regions which have
introduced charges have seen an immediate usually dramatic fall in the use
of plastic carrier bags – often as much as 90% down.
* AREN’T REUSABLE BAGS ALSO USING RESOURCES? – if you keep using the same
reusable bags then the carbon footprint is much lower AND there is not the
harmful effects on the environment
* I USE MY BAGS IN THE RUBBISH BIN – IF I DON’T GET THEM I’LL HAVE TO BUY
PLASTIC BIN LINERS – if you’re saving waste food for compost that can be
kept in a bucket which can be emptied direct rather than using bags.
* WHY JUST ACORN RD? – We plan to start in Acorn Rd and then move out bit by
bit to cover the whole of Jesmond based on what we learn in Acorn Rd
* WHAT ABOUT BIG SUPERMARKETS? – we are sure they are amenable to change and
could start charging for PBs as a result of public pressure, and that is
what we hope our scheme will lead to. We hope they will see that their
public image can only be helped by showing more concern for the environment

ends

Tony Waterston
01912816752
07763385319
a.j.r.Waterston@ncl.ac.uk

When:  Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th November 2010

Details: Booking required. Sliding scale price structure: £120 high wage, £80 low wage and £40 unwaged

Dear Transitioners,

We have a date for transition town training in Newcastle! Thanks to Frances for fundraising and organising. This is a two day course that explains the concept of transition towns, and provides valuable guidance on setting up and maintaining a successful group. The trainers have taken the feedback from participants in the Berwick training seriously, and we are hoping that one of the original trainers is going to deliver the course.

The current price structure is, £120 high wage, £80 low wage and £40 unwaged. However, it is important to the organisers that people are not excluded from coming due to cost. If we are successful with the grant application to the co-op (we hear end of September) then we will be able to reduce the rate further.

Booking- Please can you e-mail Frances Hinton or myself to book a place and let us know whether your attendance is dependent on us being able to reduce the rate further or not. (This will help us to see whether we can still run the course if we don’t get the grant). Places are limited to 24.

All refreshments and lunch will be provided.

To book please contact:

Frances: frances_hinton@yahoo.com  0191 213 5284

Ruth:  ruthehayward@hotmail.com  0787 606 3157

For full details on what will be covered see: http://www.transitionnetwork.org/support/training/training-transition-detail

Steve  Emsley

At
West Jesmond Allotment Association.Saturday October 9th 12.00- 3.00pm

We
are working in partnership with Jesmond Community Orchard,

and
the allotment associaltion for the 2010 APPLE DAY.

We
need 12 volunteers for the day. Let us know now by e mailing

transition-initiative-newcastle@talktalk.net

We
need to know soon so that we can meet together to plan the event.

HELP TO COLLECT THE APPLES

We
also need volunteers in the fortnight before then, to leaflet local
houses

on
the weekend of 25th-26th september.

Also to call back the weekend of 2nd and 3rd October to collect
apples door to door.

We
have a garage we can store them in. This is great fun because you

are
harnessing peoples sense of generosity and community.

If
you want to volunteer to help with any of these, put it in you diary
now

and
e mail us your details, and when you can help, so we can discuss
details further.

Without people chipping in these wonderful events don’t happen.

Last year we collected 100 kilos of donated apples.

Help us make it even more this year.

We
need a core of supporters like you.

Does this appeal to you ?

If
you cant do any of the above, but you have an apple tree and want to
donate some apples

please get in touch.

Attached : photo of last years Apple Day

Transition
Initiative Newcastle: Optimism, Sustainability, Resilience in
Newcastle upon Tyne

Meet at 20 Burdon Terrace, Jesmond, NE2 3AE at 10:30

The End of Suburbia
9th June
7:30pm
British Legion Club
3 West Jesmond Avenue
Jesmond

********************************************************************************

-WEST JESMOND ALLOTMENT ASSOCIATION OPEN DAY

SATURDAY 12TH JUNE 12.00 – 2.00PM.

IN Jesmond off Forsyth Rd, Gate opposite No 1 Highbury .
Nearest metro West Jesmond.
Numerous buses from Haymarket, stop on the North rd, near the Forsyth Rd traffic lights
near to the allotments.

A chance to see allotments and meet some of the people who work them, ask questions, and maybe take away a few plants.

****************
Between 1.00pm and 2.00pm

Steve Emsley from Transition Jesmond
Will do a talk / walk around the site on the theme of

GETTING AND STARTING AN ORGANIC ALLOTMENT.

This is aimed at people considering whether to get an allotment and those who have only recently done so. It is a chance to see examples and to ask questions. Steve and Gil have a plot they have managed organically for 20 years.

Potential allotmenteers should seek plots on sites local to them, but all are welcome to this open day and talk. A call to the Allotments officer Via 0191 2328520 should result in you being given the name and number of the secretary for your local site. Most have waiting lists.

Thanks

Steve Emsley

2 Can I have an Eco-Friendly Home and Community ?
Come to the Conference in Newcastle. FREE BOOKING NOW.

Wednesday 23 June
9.30– to 4.00pm
Star and Shadow Cinema, Newcastle NE1 2NP

Workshops and discussion on developing
Green Homes, Minds and Communities.

A conference supported by
Cooperatives UK.
The Permaculture Association.
The British Beekeepers Association.

Places are FREE and will be allocated on a first come served basis.
Tickets will be limited to two per booking. Full details and booking information available at:
www.permacultureorg.uk/coop2010 Contact us to book a place
Email: office@permaculture.org.uk Tel: 0113 230 7461

3 YOUR CHANCE TO OWN YOUR OWN SMALL HOLDING / LEARN ABOUT FARMING WITH THE BBC.

Are you sick of the rat race? Wish your life was more “Good Life” than “This Life”?

Is a day on the allotment your idea of heaven? Think you can run your own business?

BBC is looking for ten couples (married couples / siblings / friends etc.) to take part in a new series which will really put your aptitude for farming to the test. Over six weeks you’ll learn how to run and manage your own farm; from animal husbandry and harvesting, to coping with the unpredictable British weather.

The series will culminate in the winning pair getting the opportunity to live and work on their own small farm.

Whatever your background or relationship; friends / married / siblings, as long as you both share that yearning for a life on the farm we want to hear from you.

To apply, please email your name to farm@splashmediatv.co.uk and an application form will be emailed to you.

Successful candidates may spend up to six weeks away from home in summer 2010.

Fraser Mullen Researcher

Splash Media | 1 Bedford Avenue | London | WC1B 3AU T: 0207 255 5475 | F: 0207 255 5443

frasermullen@splashmediatv.co.uk

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/beonashow/live_and_work_on_farm.shtml

(TRANSITION NEWCASTLE SUPPORTS THE IDEA OF PEOPLE LEARNING ABOUT

SMALL HOLDINGS AND FARMING. WE ARE ALSO AWARE THAT TO BE ABLE TO

CARE FOR THE LAND AND ANIMALS EFFECTIVELY, PARTICIPANTS WILL NEED ONGOING LEARNING

AND SUPPORT. WE HOPE THAT THE BBC WILL HELP TO LINK PARTICIPANTS TO THE ONGOING SUPPORT NEEDED).

4 Dear Good Energy supporter

Fair deal for energy entrepreneurs: Please join our campaign

We’d like you to sign a petition and write to your MP about the unfair deal that early adopters of microgeneration are getting from the feed-in tariff. Here’s why:

Good Energy has a long history of campaigning to help grow renewable generation in the UK. We’re

really proud that one in every 25 of our customers generates their own renewable power and we’re committed to getting the best deal for them.

For several years we were part of the campaign to get a feed-in-tariff – or FiT- to reward renewable generators with a payment for their electricity. We pioneered our own, award-winning HomeGen scheme which pays generators 15p a unit for all the electricity they generate. And we were very pleased when the government recently announced the terms of its FiT scheme starting on April 1st 2010.

BUT – there is a major flaw in the scheme.

For the pioneers who installed their microgenerator before July 15th 2009 the government is offering much lower payments – just 9p a unit – than those available to new generators, who will get up to 41.3p a unit. We think this is wrong.

The UK microgeneration industry owes its existence to the early adopters who installed their own generation equipment because they wanted to make a difference to climate change. Many invested their life savings in such schemes because they believed it was the right thing to do – and they deserve to be recognised and rewarded for their entrepreneurial attitude, not penalised. We believe that green energy entrepreneurs should not be worse off under the new scheme.

So we’re campaigning for a change in the legislation to ensure they get the recognition they deserve.

We’re delighted that the Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael has endorsed our campaign and tabled an Early Day Motion on this issue. As he says, “If the government is serious about wanting people to develop small scale renewable energy projects then they will have to treat everyone fairly instead of punishing those who demonstrate initiative and commitment.”

You can support the campaign in the following ways:

Sign a petition Please sign the petition about this on the Number 10 website – http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Microgenerators/
* Write to your MP If you are an existing generator who will be affected by this, please write to your MP telling him about your concerns and asking him to sign the Early Day Motion. We’ve drafted a letter you can use, which you can download from our website. To find out who your MP is, please visit http://www.parliament.uk/mpslordsandoffices/. Cross Party support is important, so please write to your MP whatever his political party.
*
If we work together, we can make a difference and help our energy entrepreneurs get the fair deal they deserve for helping set the UK on the right path to reducing its carbon emissions.

Yours sincerely The Good Energy Team

www.goodenergy.co.uk

5 Any Transition Towners in Outer West Newcastle.
This couple are wanting to meet up with other people,
including allotmenteers who want to be sociable and share tips / ideas
about growing veg and fruit. They live in Newburn.

Tony and Sheila Jobling on 0191 267 9078 (evenings only) or via
tony.jobling@talktalk.net.
make contact directly if you want to.

6 PEAK OIL; Making the connection. The link below gives some interesting reading about the issue of PEAK OIL.

http://transitionculture.org/2010/03/24/government-‘peak-oil-summit’-starts-the-process-of-government-acknowledging-peak-oil/

7 If you are organising a Transition (or related) event anywhere in Newcastle and want it
circulated on our contact list, please send it to the address above and try and give us a few weeks notice.
We send these communications between every 2 to 4 weeks depending on the
amount of material we receive. If we receive it in plenty of time we will try to get it circulated.
Apologies for any not sent where the timescales are too short.

Thanks

Steve Emsley for TIN.

TRANSITION NEWCASTLE AGM
Advanced Warning…Please reserve a space in your diary
for SAT 20th March 1.00 to 4.00 pm
Details of venue etc later.
People from all Newcastle Transition Groups welcome.

Hopefully our strategy of encouraging the development of lots of locality specific
Transition Groups across Newcastle is starting to work. We are after all about
doing things on a community level.
If anyone else who gets this e mail is interested in setting up another local group
in your area, but would like to talk about it first. Please reply to this e mail,
and ask to meet up with members of the strategy group who can help
to get you started.

If you are not already aware of the Evening Chroncle having a GO GREEN campaign
have a look at it every tuesday. If anyone would like to participate

From CORE: We still have a few places left on the next renewables course. This
will be the last of three courses funded by Awards for All and it starts next Friday 12
February in Central Newcastle. It is free to attend the course and limited travel
expenses can be paid. Full details can be found at the CoRE Network Website.
Please email val@core.coop for an enrolment form if you wish to participate.

THANKS

Steve Emsley