make compost at home

Features from Wildlife magazine Wildlife articles 2008 -- Spring 2008 -- ::Severn Barrage ::The Variety of life ::A year at Willsbridge ::Willsbridge comes of age ::Reaching out - Willsbridge ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2007 -- Autumn 2007 -- ::Thinking BIG ::Watery webs:the pond network ::Wildlife in the landscape ::Variety of life ::How to be a climate friend ::Seasonal stroll - Walborough ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2007 -- ::The Folly Farm appeal ::Weston Big Wood-biodiversity at its best ::The variety of life ::How to capture a butterfly ::How to get to know an orchid ::Seasonal stroll - WestonBigWood ::Reserves update -- Spring 2007 -- ::Folly Farm - a very special place ::Making a difference at Folly Farm ::How find the magic at Folly Farm ::Seasonal stroll at Folly Farm ::Magic spots at Folly Farm ::Batscapes ::Climate challenge ::Variety of Life - the Ponways project ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2006 -- Autumn 2006 -- ::The Severn Estuary ::Bird Watch results ::How to identify garden birds ::Making space for wildlife ::How does your garden grow? ::Round the reserves -- Summer 2006 -- ::Going for green ::Stand up and be counted ::Happy birthday NSLMP ::Holi day - a riot of spring colour ::Avon's species-rich grassland ::How to photograph dragonflies ::The Big Switch ::Round the reserves -- Spring 2006 -- ::How to identify winter water birds ::Make 2006 the year you... ::Invasive invasion ::Sowing the seeds: Willsbridge Mill ::Round the reserves Wildlife articles 2005 -- Autumn 2005 -- ::Indentify common funghi ::Build a hedgehog hideaway ::Big Bird Watch ::Champions for wildlife ::Round the reserves ::Seeds of the futre: Willsbridge Mill -- Summer 2005 -- ::Restoring Folly Farm ::How to become bee-friendly ::How to identify the butterflies of spring ::Save our seas ::The variety of life: hedgerows ::Round the reserves ::25 Ways to make a difference -- Spring 2005 -- ::The variety of life: water voles ::The Avon Biodiversity Action Plan ::How to take really good wildlife photos ::How to help your garden grow ::Round the reserves ::Seasonal strolls: Browns Folly ::Sowing the seeds: for wildlife for people ::Sowing the seeds: looking back

How to be a climate friend

The Wildlife Trusts throughout the South West are already looking at ways to help our wildlife adapt to climate change by thinking BIG as you’ve been reading .... but we also need to tackle the causes of climate change – and this is where YOU can help!

The South West Trusts celebrated Climate Friendly Fortnight from 15-30 September when they began a campaign to highlight four areas of action for people to take to reduce carbon emissions. They’re by no means the only actions you can take but what they do have in common is that they’re all fast, easy and cheap ways for ordinary people to combine climate action with help for wildlife. Read on – and get inspired!

What you can do

1. Garden for wildlife
Enjoy your garden visitors and help nature adapt. Choose plants that provide nectar, seeds, nuts or berries and create a wildlife pond. The area of land in the UK covered by private gardens is much greater than all our nature reserves put together, so if they’re tended with nature in mind we’ll massively increase the number of wildlife havens and make it easier for species to find or move to new habitats.

Did you know?
A long term survey of just one suburban garden found that it supported more than 2,200 plant and animal species.

Find out more: Wild about Gardens is a joint initiative of the Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society. Factsheets can be downloaded free of charge from www.wildaboutgardens.org

2. Make compost at home
Reduce waste and watch your garden grow. Turn potato peelings back into potatoes via your own compost heap. Its so easy to do and wildlfie will thank you for it – from the minibeasts that break down the compost to the robins watching for grubs as the compost is spread. Well over a third of household rubbish can be composted at home, saving on transport and the powerful greenhouse gas, methane, that’s produced as it rots down in landfill. You can compost cardboard too if you can’t recycle it locally – give it a good soak first and scrunch/tear it up.

Did you know?
The average person in the UK generates about half a tonne of rubbish every year – an increase of 15% over the ten years to 2005.

Find out more: subsidised composting bins and composting tips are available from the government funded Recycle Now programme – see www.recyclenow.com/home_composting

3. Take a walk
Leave the car at home for just one regular trip each week, and see how much fitter you get. About a quarter of all car trips are under two miles; about a third of household greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. Use your feet, ride that bike – it’s good for you too. We’re getting fatter and unhealthier because our use of cars, even for very short journeys, is increasing annually. If you can’t avoid motoring, try to car share for regular journeys like commuting.

Did you know?
In 2003 one in five Bristish children aged from five to sixteen, hadn’t taken a walk lasting 20 minutes or more within the last year.

Find out more: Transport Direct www.transportdirect.info suggests journey options. For car share in the Bristol and district area go to www.2carshare.com

4. Local, seasonal food
Savour the taste and freshness, and cut the traffic on the roads. About a fifth of UK greenhouse gas emissions are from road transport, and a quarter of lorries on our roads are carrying food. Buy seasonal food – it makes sense because out-of-season foods either need transporting or have to be grown in energy-wasteful greenhouses. Food imports are another source of high carbon emissions so buy from local growers, or grow your own.

Did you know?
25% of the lorries on our roads are transporting food, and imports account for 95% of the fruit and half the vegetables we buy today.

Find out more: The Farmers Market movement began in the South West – get a list from www.farmersmarkets.net or call 0845 45 88420. To find out about other local food outlets including veggie box schemes see www.bigbarn.co.uk

More action tips and resources are available from www.swwt.org.uk/climate. Watch this site for updates and developments.