Thanks to all the 26 respondents to the SOW survey made available at the Oakington
Village Day on the 24th June 2023. This gives us all some idea what the village thinks.

1. ‘Do you garden for wildlife?’
   19 (73%) answered Yes (2 added “ish”)
   2 (8%) answered both Yes and No.
   5 (19%) answered No.
   
2. ‘Interested in learning about our local environment matters?’
   26 (100%) answered Yes.
   
3. ‘Would you like to help map the wildlife in our village?’
   21 (81%) answered Yes.
   5 (19%) answered No.
   
4. ‘What environmental issues concern you?’
   Respondents’ answers included the following themes:
   9 (35%) global warming/climate change
   6 (23%) water concerns (shortage, pollution, flooding)
   6 (23%) biodiversity loss
   5 (19%) destruction of wildlife habitats
   4 (15%) plastic, landfill, recycling
   3 (12%) access to sustainable energy
   2 (7%) deforestation, tree preservation
   2 (7%) air pollution
   2 (7%) sustainable living (vs. consumerism)
   2 (7%) climate anxiety
   2 (7%) negative environmental impact (noise, traffic/speeding, litter)
   1 (4%) growing food sustainably
   1 (4%) soil conservation
   
   
5. ‘What do you do personally, to live more sustainably?’
   14 (54%) grow veg, compost, garden sustainably/for wildlife
   12 (46%) recycling
   6 (23%) sustainable travel (walk, cycle, bus)
   5 (19%) solar panels
   5 (19%) sustainable shopping (eco provider, second hand, plastic free)
   4 (15%) store/collect rainwater (water butts)
   3 (12%) reduce food waste
   3 (12%) meat free/reduced meat diet
   3 (12%) electric or hybrid vehicle
   2 (7%) reduce energy use
   1 (4%) only two children
   1 (4%) educate myself about sustainability
   
6. ‘What would you like to be able to do, but can’t?’
   8 (31%) use renewable energy at home
   6 (23%) use car less / have electric car
   3 (12%) tackle pollution
   2 (7%) political change
   2 (7%) keep chickens/pigs
   2 (7%) plastic free
   1 (4%) plant trees
   1 (4%) have a bigger garden
   1 (4%) improve house insulation
   1 (4%) self sufficiency (grow own food)
   1 (4%) watch hedgehogs
   1 (4%) Buy sustainable food at local supermarket
   

Events in Oakington, Westwick & Northstowe

Talk on Sustainable Food – choices, diets, local food, recipes, growing our own, reducing
waste. Wed 28 Sep, 7:30pm at St Andrew’s Church Hall, Oakington

Great Green Trail – follow the trail of eco ideas around the village, starting at the notice
board near Oakington Village Stores. Prize for the first person to solve the clues!

Community Recycling Event – including “Take It or Leave It” stall – for items pre-loved items,such
as books, toys and clothes (no electricals) that are in good or working condition; recycling skip for
broken and unrepairable small electrical items; seed swap; upcycling craft.
Sat 24 Sept, 11am- 1pm, Northstowe Green

Wellbeing Walk led by Oakington wildlife experts John Terry and Jake Camilleri. Followed by free
refreshments. Sun 25 Sept, 3pm, Northstowe Green

Recycling Workshop by the County Council Waste Education Team- Cambridgeshire County
Council, including what can and can’t be recycled! Mon 26 Sept, 7pm, Online – contact
sustainable.northstowe@outlook.com @sustainablenorthstowe

Cloth Nappy & Wipes Workshop. Tuesday 27 Sep, 1.30pm, Northstowe PathFinder School (Old
Wing). (During the baby group session there.)
Booking required, email ChildAndFamilyCentre.South@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Talk on Trees by tree expert Jake Camilleri from Westwick. Another opprtunity to hear this if you
missed it when held in Oakington earlier in the year.
Tuesday 27 Sept, 7pm – Northstowe Secondary Colllege (Library)

Talk on Wildlife Gardening by Oakington expert John Terry. Another opprtunity to hear this if you
missed it when held in Oakington earlier in the year.
Thursday 29 Sept, 7pm, Northstowe Secondary College, Community meeting room

Also coming up:

Eco Homes – Wed 26 Oct, 7:30pm at the Church Hall – get tips and inspiration from local
residents who have renovated their homes with the environment in mind
Wed 30 Nov, 7:30pm at the Church Hall – Bird Box Building – how to make a bird box from
reclaimed wood (TBC)
Contact Sustainable Oakington & Westwick:
sustainableow@gmail.com sustainableow.co.uk

Bird Box Building – Wed 30 Nov, 7:30pm at the Church Hall – – how to make a bird box from
reclaimed wood (TBC)

Contact Sustainable Oakington & Westwick:
sustainableow@gmail.com sustainableow.co.uk

Wednesday 29th June, 7.30 – 9.00, Church Hall

Hi all, next meeting of Sustainable Oakington & Wetwick group …interested in trees and would you like to know more about their benfits and how to help them? We have a resident tree expert to talk to us about this important subject and relate it to the village …. + group discussion re this and other things we can do toward a sustainabale village … all folk of all ages most welcome

7.30 Wednesday 25th May, Church Hall

Keen to reduce your environmental footprint but don’t know where to start? Not sure what to look out for, or what will have the biggest impact? From day to day swaps, to lifestyle changes, Sarah, from local business Green Blue You will share some tips on how you can reduce your environmental footprint and save some costs at the same time … what to watch out for in household ingredients, places and ways to source sustainable products and the local support available for doing things differently.

Followed by discussions.

Wednesday 27th April (last Wednesday every month)

7:30pm in St. Andrew’s Church Hall

With guest speaker fm the council, an expert in waste and recycling in practise.…

Wednesday 30th March, 7:30pm in St. Andrew’s Church Hall
Find out how to make your garden better for biodiversity plus discussion of other actions we can take in our community If you’re concerned about nature and the environment, come along!

Or get in touch: sustainableow@gmail.com / 0785 7704 636 / sustainableow.co.uk

Future meetings: 27 April: Waste & Recycling workshop,
25 May: Lifestyle Changes, 29 June: Trees

Thanks to all 30 who completed this one: if the while village behaves in the same way we are doing pretty well on this front: everyone who answered uses their own shopping bags, and the great majority use a reusable water bottle (93%), avoid single-use plastics (72%) and donate to charity shops (86%) and buy second-hand (69%). Most people avoid unnecessary purchases by buying things that will last (83%) and repairing things (79%). Many of us would like to avoid
packaging by using refills (52%), share tools (41%) and have a shopping-free month (34%)

click here to open full survey results

The most wide-ranging and systematic assessment to date (at least that I’ve heard of) of community lead initiatives (CLIs) for climate change mitigation was conducted by TESS (Towards European Societal
Sustainability), an EU funded research project. Based on case study research on the social, political, economic, technological and environmental impacts of 63 community led initiatives (CLIs) in six European countries (Spain, Italy, Romania, Germany, Scotland and Finland), TESS calculated carbon emissions savings compared with national baselines in each country.

This included a calculation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, compared with a baseline figure based on national per capita average emissions in the domain/s in question. This provides an estimate of the emissions avoided by each CLI, based on average consumption levels in each country, rather than a direct calculation.

Results indicated that CLIs achieve the highest reductions in GHG emissions through heat and electricity
generation, personal transportation and promoting / providing vegan and vegetarian diets (with provision of meals being a star performer rather than worrying about where the food comes from)). In terms of absolute total reductions, some headline figures are as follows:

In relation to total reductions, some headline figures are as follows:

• energy: average absolute reductions are 612 tCO2e/year (84.3% below baseline),
ranging from 40 to 2367 tCO2e/year across CLIs

• food: numbers of members and beneficiaries significantly influence figures. On
average, redistribution of food leads to a reduction of nearly 145 tCO2e/year per CLI

• transport: transportation of goods leads to an average 94.7% reduction of GHG
emissions compared with baseline figures, with absolute figures ranging from 1.8 to
43 tCO2e/year for different CLIs

• waste: the average absolute emissions reduction resulting from the activity “Repairing,
Reusing, Upcycling” is very high (1,574 tCO2e/year, with an average saving of 34 kg
CO2e per unit product)

Full report on this link – its chapter 5 that discusses the results and analyzes for the most effective activities

Sustainable Oakington & Westwick would like to find out what actions people are taking or would like to take to help the planet. Please could you spare a few minutes to fill in this short anonymous survey?

click here to open survey

all the ideas so far and its growing …. anything important not covered yet? which are most important? Click image to open the list