CEF Environmental Blog

Growing Seminar/ Showcase, 28th April Farranree

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:53:00 +0000

Growing Seminar/ Showcase

Farranree Community Centre, Pophams Road

Saturday 28th April 2012

10am -1pm

CEF is hosting this event to inform people of the various opportunities to get involved with growing food, tohighlight the many wonderful projects that are already building resilience in communities and to learn more about food security, how to make marginal land more productive, the importance of bees and ways to attract them to your garden.

Speakers from:

• Community Gardens

• Allotments

• Grow It Yourself (GIY)

• Fruit & Orchards

Presentations on:

• Food Security: Dr. Colin Sage

• Attracting Bees to Your Garden: Tim Rowe

• Transforming Marginal Land: John Dolan

Projects are welcome to bring along promotional displays and /or materials, however, please advise if you are

doing so.

After the seminar there will be an opportunity to visit either Churchfield Allotments or the Community

Garden in Blackpool.

Drinking Water & Water Metering

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:25:00 +0000

National Tree Week Tree Planting & Events 4th -10th March


		To foster and promote sustainable development in the Cork region
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Dear CEF blog,
This week and next week Engineers Ireland, Cork Region, Night Lecture Series focus on the topic of water.

Date:              Tuesday 6th March 2012
Topic:              Drinking Water Safety Plans
                        Speaker: Robert Kennedy (RPS)

Date:              Tuesday 13^th March 2012
Topic:              Water Metering & Charging
                        Speaker: Kevin Murray (Kevin J Murray & Co.)

Time:             7pm (Tea & Coffee from 6.30pm)
Venue:          Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork
Fees:              Free – All welcome
Booking:        Not Required

CEF will have a brief input on household water conservation at the lecture on the 13th March. For further details please check out the Engineers Ireland website here.

UN World Water Day is on the 22nd March 2012. Check out the website for activities and ways to highlight the importance of water. This year the theme is Water and Food Security "There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres."

CEF would also like to organise a visit to a good demonstrable water harvesting project - if you know of any could you please let me know. I have found a few but unfortunately a lot of the system is hidden underground.

Best regards,

Bernie Connolly
Development Coordinator

Email: bernadette@cef.ie
Mobile: 086 8216726

CEF Management Committee 2011/ 2012

Michael Hobbs(Chair)
Kieran McDonogh
(Vice chair)
Helen Barrett (Treasurer)
Anna Aherne (Hon Sec)
Conor McManus
Darren McAdam-O'Connell
Jennifer Franklin
Mary Barrett
Ted O'Leary
Kieran Higgins
Paul Doherty

Bernadette Connolly (Development Coordinator)

Cork Environment Daily

Cork Environmental Forum has launched its very own free, daily environmental newspaper.
Don't believe us? Check us out here!

Featuring stories from Cork, Ireland and the world at large, this is Cork's only daily paper dedicated to the environment. You can subscribe to have it delivered to your inbox every day in time for lunch - and it's completely free.

CEF Members
You will be receiving this as a result of being on our mailing list. Did you know you can also join CEF as a member? This brings all kinds of opportunities for getting involved in exciting work and meeting like-minded people. Our members come from across the different pillars of society and all have a common interest at heart, which is to foster sustainable development in Cork.

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National Tree Week 4th -10th March 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:00:00 +0000

National Tree Week Tree Planting & Events 4th -10th March


		To foster and promote sustainable development in the Cork region
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Dear CEF blog,
Please find following details of the tree planting and events taking place next week to mark National Tree Week. The Tree Council's themes is:
Crainn – Inné, Inniu, Amárach’
‘Trees – Our Past, Our Present, Our Future’

1000+ Trees for Cork
Cork Environmental Forum are being helped by communities in Cork City and County to plant over 1000 trees during National Tree Week. This has been possible through the kind donation by local Cork man Padraig Coakley. One of Padraig’s hobbies is to grow the oak saplings from acorns and the ash from seed gathered locally.

The Irish Natural Forestry Foundation will kick off the planting of the saplings on Sunday 4^th March as part of their open day. Other communities and projects involved include Midleton Tidy Towns who are planting 100 trees in conjunction with local schools. At Fota on the 8^th March 20 trees will be planted at the Scouting Ireland Campsite, Fota Wildlife Park are planting an additional 200 trees in the park during tree week. IRD Duhallow will support the planting of 100 trees in a number of communities in their area. Macroom – 100 trees will be planted in the Carrigaphooca Castle Demense and Liscarroll Community Council will plant a further 50 trees in their area. Ballygarvan –Green-Schools Ireland are supporting local schools with the planting of 200 trees at Ballygarvan Nature Farm – however, they can’t plant until 20^th March!

In the city Colaiste Chriost Ri will plant 100 trees at their community garden at Capwell. NICHE Food Focus Project in Knocknaheeny are planting 45 trees with community members in a green area near the community garden site. Douglas Community Association/ Tidy Towns will plant 10 trees in the Mangala Park and the Lifetime Lab. will add 10 trees to their garden. A further 18 trees will be planted by the community in Togher, with Blackpool Community Centre planting 10 trees.

Why not plant a few more trees in your own garden, to encourage us all to plant during tree week.some garden centres are offering special deals and related talks e.g. Griffins Details here.

Walks & Champion Trees
There are walks organised by the OPW at Fota Arboretum and with assistance from Coillte at the Glounthuane Heritage Walk. However, there are lots of lovely woodlands all over the county so maybe make a special effort to take a walk in your own local woodland. The Tree Council has surveyed “Champion Trees” these appear to be quite clustered in Cork e.g. Fota Arboretum, Glengarriff, Glounthaune – contact CEF if you would like details or check out details and updates of events at the Tree Council website.

A reminder we are having a workshop tomorrow 3^rd March from 10am -1pm, at the Cork Community Bike Project which is located at the Foyer project, Assumption Road, Blackpool. Do please join us it’s an opportunity to be creative and have fun.

Best regards,

Bernie Connolly
Development Coordinator

Email: bernadette@cef.ie
Mobile: 086 8216726

Cork Environment Daily

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!
-- Join a working group
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Membership Subscribe or Renew

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:41:00 +0000

Subscribe or renew Membership to CEF


		To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork
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Dear CEF blog,

Membership Appeal
Your membership of Cork Environmental Forum may be up for renewal (apologies if you have already renewed for 2012). If you are not a member of Cork Environmental Forum then you might consider joining. You can subscribe and pay online here.

Membership rates are:
€10: Individual
€ 5: Concession (student, unemployed, drawing pension
€25: Small groups (< 10 members or community groups
€50: Corporate

Please join or take the time to renew.
CEF is above all a membership organisation and the contribution, energy and ideas of our members are vital to our continued growth and development.

Best regards,

Bernie Connolly
Development Coordinator

Email: bernadette@cef.ie
Mobile: 086 8216726

Cork Environment Daily

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!
-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

Cork Environmental Forum
Mount Carmel
Kilcolman
Enniskeane, Cork IEIE
IE

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Events and activities

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:54:00 +0000

Septic Tank Plenary, Green Drinks, Tree Week etc.


		To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork
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Dear CEF blog,

Please find following some dates for your diary and forthcoming activities. Please promote to others who may be interested in attending events or getting involved in activities.

Friday 10^th February 2012:Information Seminar on the Water Services Amendment Bill 2011, Oriel House, Ballincollig from 9.30am – 1pm. This is being hosted with support from Engineers Ireland, Cork region. The seminar will include an overview of the new legislation, what is involved in a site assessment, possible outcomes and action required, what type of waste treatment systems are available and who is responsible. The event is structured to allow maximum time for attendees to have queries pertinent to them discussed and answered through round table sessions facilitated by the speakers. Good practice in relation to the use and maintenance of conventional septic tanks will also be highlighted. There is no charge for attending, however, due to limited space it is advisable to register by emailing: bernadette@cef.ie or contacting 086 8216726.

Thursday 16^th February 2012 – Green Drinks, Dennehy’s Pub, Cornmarket Street. This is a get together to allow people with an interest in sustainability and the environment to chat in an informal way. It allows you to catch up with old friends and meet new people. We look forward to meeting you there.

National Tree Week 4^th – 10^th March 2012: Can you help CEF to plant a 1000 Tree Legacy for Cork. Through one of our members we have been able to source 1000 Oak and Ash saplings which we would like to plant during tree week. We are looking for community projects that would be in a position to plant a substantial number of trees. Please get in touch if you have such a project in mind. We encourage all groups and communities to get involved in this National Tree Council initiative by planting trees, organising walks in local woods and visiting champion trees. We are in the process of organising some such events and will forward details shortly.

St. Patrick’s Festival, Saturday 17^th March: CEF has participated in the Festival Parade for a number of years. This is always a fun way of highlighting the importance of environmental issues and CEF. This year’s theme is based on the Olympics, we already have some ideas of how we can adapt this in creating our float. As always the more people who participate the more successful the spectacle! Please get in touch if you are interested in getting involved or helping out.

CEF will be participating in the Lifelong Learning Festival, 26^th March – 1^st April. More information on this will be available soon.

Do get in touch if you are interested in participating in any of the above.

Best regards,

Bernie Connolly
Development Coordinator

Email: bernadette@cef.ie
Mobile: 086 8216726

Cork Environment Daily

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!
-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
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-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

Cork Environmental Forum
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noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:43:00 +0000

Cork Environmental Forum, supported by Engineers Ireland, Cork

Information Seminar on the Water Services Amendment Bill (2011)

To Provide a Realistic Understanding of the Implications of the Legislation

10^th February 2012

Oriel House, Ballincollig, Co. Cork

9am -1pm

Attendance is FREE. For further details or if you wish to register please contact bernadette@cef.ie.

Septic Tank Information Seminar

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +0000

Information Seminar on Septic Tank Legislation Su

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		*Water Treatment Services Amendment Bill (2011) - Information Seminar* To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork
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Dear CEF blog,

Cork Environmental Forum, supported by Engineers Ireland, Cork invite you to a
Seminar on the "Septic Tank" legislation.

Information Seminar on the Water Services Amendment Bill (2011)
To Provide a Realistic Understanding of the Implications of the Legislation
Friday 10^th February 2012
Oriel House, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
9am -1pm

Attendance is FREE. For further details or if you wish to register please contact bernadette@cef.ie.

Best regards,

Bernie Connolly
Development Coordinator

Email: bernadette@cef.ie
Mobile: 086 8216726

Cork Environment Daily

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!
-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

Cork Environmental Forum
Mount Carmel
Kilcolman
Enniskeane, Cork IEIE
IE

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Framework for Sustainable Dev. Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Submissions re. Draft Framework for Development

		Forward this message to a friend
		Call for input to CEF's Submission to: *Draft Framework for Sustainable Development for Ireland* *(FSDI)* To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork
CEF Online	Latest News & Notices	Facebook	Twitter

Dear CEF blog,

CEF is in the process of putting together a submission in relation to the draft Framework for Sustainable Development for Ireland (published on 23rd December).

We would like to invite all our members and associates to input into the submission. In this regard the following are the main themes of the document:
• Sustainability of public finances and economic resilience.
• Sustainable consumption and production.
• Conservation and management of natural resources.
• Climate change and clean energy.
• Sustainable agriculture.
• Sustainable transport.
• Social inclusion, sustainable communities and spatial planning.
• Public health.
• Education, communication and behaviour change.
• Innovation, research and development
• Skills and training
• Global poverty and sustainable development.

The document is available on the Department's website at www.environ.ie or if you wish I can email a copy. Observations may also be submitted directly to fsdi@environ.ie. The deadline for public consultation is the 29th February 2012.

It is important that submissions are made to strengthen the document as this will be Ireland's main contribution to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio + 20) which takes place in June this year.

Best regards,

Bernie Connolly
Development Coordinator

Email: bernadette@cef.ie
Mobile: 086 8216726

Cork Environment Daily

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!
-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

Cork Environmental Forum
Mount Carmel
Kilcolman
Enniskeane, Cork IEIE
IE

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CEF Environmental Awards Roll of Honour

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:21:00 +0000


2010
Business & Commercial	WEST CORK TOURISM CO-OP
Public Sector	SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, ESB WILTON
Community & Voluntary	SUSTAINABLE CLONAKILTY
Outstanding Individual	JOHN DOLAN
Cork Community Garden Award 2010	ST. MARYS TERRACE, KILMURRAY
Cork Community Garden Award 2009	CLONAKILTY KINDERGARTEN

2009
Business & Commercial	AVEGO SHARED TRANSPORT
Public Sector	CORK MAIN DRAINAGE PROJECT
Community & Voluntary	NANO NAGLE CENTRE AND KILLAVULLEN MARKET
Outstanding Individual	DR. COLIN CAMPBELL
2008
Business & Commercial	O'DONOVANS HOTEL, CLONAKILTY
Public Sector	CORK ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY UNIT
Community & Voluntary	MEITHEAL MARA
Outstanding Individual	DECLAN WAUGH
2007
Business & Commercial	Food category: MUNSTER WHOLEFOODS SPELT FLOUR Non-food category: KLEE PAPER
Public Sector	CORK CITY AND COUNTY HERITAGE OFFICERS (For Biodiversity Action Plans)
Community & Voluntary	SUSTAIN WEST CORK
Outstanding Individual	JENNIFER SLEEMAN
2006
Business & Commercial	Food category: FLAHAVANS ORGANIC OATS Non-food category: ECOVER PRODUCTS
Public Sector	IRD DUHALLOW
Community & Voluntary	SKIBBEREEN FARMERS MARKET (Growing Awareness)
Outstanding Individual	SEAN O'RIORDAN
2005
Business & Commercial	SLOW FOOD CORK CONVIVIUM (Darina Allen, Clogagh McKenna, Giana Ferguson)
Public Sector	KINSALE COLLEGE OF FURTHER EDUCATION (2021 Energy Descent Plan)
Community & Voluntary	NATASHA HARTY (East Cork For A Safe Environment)
Outstanding Individual	NICK LOUGHNAN
2004
Business & Commercial	1. MICHAEL GEARY (Cork Chamber of Commerce) 2. IAN WRIGHT (Manch Woodland Estate)
Public Sector	ENDA KIERNAN (Cork County Council for Macroom Civic Amenity Site)
Community & Voluntary	1. CLAIRE OSBOURNE (Cork Mandala of Community Gardens) 2. ROB HOPKINS (The Hollies Centre for Practical Sustainability)
Outstanding Individual	1. MARY O'LEARY (CHASE) 2. JOHN O'CALLAGHAN (School Student Competition)
2003
Roll of Honour	TERRY O'REGAN (Landscape Alliance Ireland)

Harnessing Biogas from household septic tanks

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:17:00 +0000

How human waste could power Nigeria's slums

By George Webster, CNN

September 26, 2011 -- Updated 1325 GMT (2125 HKT)

Sewage, collected from household septic tanks, is deposited in the Lagos lagoon

Water intended for domestic use is carried through a choatic network of pipes, many passing through the same open drainages into which sewage is dumped. Cracks in water pipes can lead to contamination of drinking water, says microbiologist Olatunbosun Obayomi.

Due to the prevalence of waterborne disease in Lagos, most people rely on private boreholes (pictured) -- underground wells that pump fresh water to the surface.

Private water vendors, selling drinking water by the canister, are also common on the city streets.

Inventor and Lagos resident Obayomi has devised a way to convert existing septic tanks into biogas generators with little more than plastic pipes, cement, a handful of gas valves and a day's worth of digging.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

· Microbiologist says he has simple solution to sanitation problems in Lagos

· Conversion of septic tanks to biogas generators treats sewage and generates power

· Despite recognition, inventor says there are still cultural and political barriers to development

(CNN) -- In the crowded slums of Lagos, Nigeria, untreated sewage mingles with the chaotic network of pipes that deliver water to the city. Those who can't afford a local borehole or a private vendor know better than to take their chances with the taps -- most preferring to go thirsty instead.

That's according to Olatunbosun Obayomi, a Lagosian microbiologist and inventor who has lived in the city all his life.

But now Obayomi thinks he's found a solution -- one that not only tackles the slums' sanitation issues, but creates free, clean energy in the process.

"With a cheap retrofit, household septic tanks -- the source of the sewage -- can be converted into biogas generators," said Obayomi, 29, whose concept has earned him a TED fellowship, a Nigerian Youth Leadership Award and growing international acclaim.

"The idea of turning waste into energy has been around for centuries. My innovation is simply applying the chemistry in a practical way by using the resources we already have," he explained.

In most homes in Lagos, toilet waste is stored in rudimentary septic tanks beneath the ground. Here it decomposes into a poisonous compound, before being sucked out by a tanker that deposits it all in a nearby lagoon.

"Unfortunately, the system of water pipes is very disorganized, and they often pass through the same place where the sewage is dumped," said Obayomi. "And it's not uncommon for poorly constructed septic tanks to leak directly into the drainage system."

Conventional septic tank

But rather than attempt a wholesale overhaul of Nigeria's waste system, Obayomi's approach makes use of the existing septic tanks -- equipping them with new waste entry pipes that remove oxygen from the decaying process.

Retrofitted septic tank

As he explained: "When excreta decompose with oxygen, it creates a useless, incombustible mixture that carries disease. But without oxygen, the germs die and the mixture produces a combustible gas."

This biogas -- a mix of carbon dioxide and methane -- can be stored in an adjacent underground chamber and used to power cooking stoves, heat homes or even generate electricity.

Opinion: Tackling climate change still a luxury in developing world

"Converting waste into biogas is a win-win strategy," said Sarah Butler-Sloss, founding director of the Ashden Awards, an organization that champions local energy innovations around the world.

"What makes it so elegant is that it resolves a life-threatening sanitation issue -- by treating harmful, waterborne germs -- while simultaneously creating a much-needed source of carbon-free energy," she said.

Butler-Sloss added that recent figures from the U.N. say 1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity, while 2.7 billion still prepare food on grossly inefficient and carbon-hungry open fires.

"We have seen similar projects in places like India and China -- where everything from domestic garbage to animal waste has been used to produce energy with great success ... Clearly this is the time to embrace domestically produced biogas, especially in the developing world."

What makes it so elegant is that it resolves a life-threatening sanitation issue while simultaneously creating a much-needed source of carbon-free energy
Sarah Butler-Sloss, Ashden Awards founder

It's a view shared by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Patrick Mwefigye is program officer for sustainable consumption and production at UNEP's regional office for Africa. He says that in areas where there is "little funding, capacity or infrastructure" for complex waste management, "we see the production of biogas as having great potential."

At present, Mwefigye says the gas is regularly produced in just a handful of African nations.

"In Rwanda, for instance, the prisons have been fitted with large biogas generators, so that they are almost entirely self-powering," he said.

But, although Obayomi's retrofitted biogas generator is relatively cheap to build -- requiring only low-tech materials such as plastic pipes, cement and sand -- and despite all the recognition it's attracted, only a prototype has been installed so far.

Yet Obayomi conservatively estimates that the average street in Lagos could produce 1,720 liters of biogas a day -- enough for an engine-powered water pump to serve the daily domestic needs of at least 50 families.

So what's the hold-up?

"Biogas generators tend to be constructed in situ," said Butler-Sloss, "And while the materials are relatively cheap, they're not mass-produced like solar panels or wind-turbines so, at present, it's difficult to scale-up."

Obayomi has a different take, however. For him, it's not an issue of resources or need, but attitude.

"Although I've been filmed by government TV and won these awards, no politician has approached me to build anything. In Nigeria there is a lot of talk but very little walk," he lamented.

There is also a problem of credibility, he said. In Obayomi's experience, the hardest place to be taken seriously as a Nigerian inventor is in Nigeria itself.

"It is a new concept for many Nigerians," he said. "There's still this feeling that unless an idea or a piece of new technology comes from the West, then it's not glamorous ... it's not valid."

Reference:

Olatunbosun Obayomi (Microbiologist and Inventor, Lagos, Nigeria)
Olatunbosun Obayomi is a microbiologist and bioenergy inventor whose research work spans hydrogen biogas reactors, ecological engines, and microbial fuel cells. He is the founder of Bio Applications Initiative in Lagos, Nigeria: http://www.bioapplications.blogspot.com/ which focuses on the production of energy from organic waste, using green biogas technology to solve pressing needs related to energy supply, food production, and sanitation in the developing world. Obayomi has produced simple biogas plants for converting paper, animal, and human waste into energy. He has also retrofitted a conventional septic tank into a biogas plant. A graduate of microbiology from Olabisi Onabanjo University in Nigeria, Obayomi is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). He was a TEDGlobal Fellow in 2010 and a TEDIndia Fellow in 2009. His efforts have been celebrated in Nigeria as well; in 2008 he was honored with the Nigerian Youth Leadership Award, presented by LEAP Africa.

http://www.blogger.com/profile/11860904792001652935

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/olatunbosun-obayomi/6/950/a07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6Xh05kQNLk

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/ted/2010-09/03/ted-fellows-olatunbosun-obayomi

REBEL PEDAL! Free Cork City Fun Ride

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 14:47:00 +0000

Dear CEF blog, Cork's favourite family friendly fun ride. 10/9/11 starting Grand Parade...

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REBEL PEDAL! 2011

Saturday 10th September 2011
Free registration from 12pm
at the starting point on Grand Parade
Finishes at CIT with food, music...

To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork

CEF Online

Latest News and Notices

Facebook

Twitter

Dear CEF blog,

Rebel Pedal! is an annual Cork Environmental Forum bicycle parade that winds its magic through the streets of Cork city. ANYBODY can take part in this free colourful cycling cruise on 10th September 2011 that is part of the 2011 An Post Rebel Tour.

Register for free from 12pm at the starting point on Grand Parade (Monument end). The ride will begin at 1pm and estimated arrival time at Cork Institute of Technology (where there will be food, music, games and hi-tech entertainments) is 1.45pm via a 7.5km route around the city centre.

All welcome - particularly families. Please note that all under-16s must be accompanied and no more than 3 per adult.

The Rebel Pedal is a free event, but it will be possible to make donations to the cause at the start line.

CEF LATEST NEWS

CEF Management Committee 2010-11

Michael Hobbs (Chair) Kieran McDonogh
(Vice-chair)
Bernie Connolly (Treasurer)
Anna Aherne (Hon Sec)
Ailish McGarry
Barry Hurley
Conor McManus
Darren McAdam-O'Connell
Helen Barrett
Jennifer Franklin
Martina Mercer
Mary Barrett
Ted O'Leary
Tony Cain

Patrick Treacy (Development Coordinator)

The Cork Environment Daily!

Cork Environmental Forum has launched its very own free, daily environmental newspaper.

Don't believe us?! Check it out here!

CEF Members

You will be receiving this as a result of being on our mailing list. Did you know you can also join CEF as a member? This brings all kinds of opportunities for getting involved in exciting work and meeting like-minded people. Our members come from across the different pillars of society and all have a common interest at heart, which is to foster sustainable development in Cork.

And finally, from our Latest News page...

Apple Care Workshop

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!

Subscribe from only €5 per calendar year.

-- Join a working group
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-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

-- Pay online

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REBEL PEDAL! 10th September 1pm

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:21:00 +0000

Dear CEF blog, Cork's favourite family friendly fun ride. 10/9/11 starting Grand Parade...

Can't see the pictures?
Click to view this email in a browser

Forward this message to a friend

REBEL PEDAL! 2011

Saturday 10th September 2011
Free registration from 12pm
at the starting point on Grand Parade
Finishes at CIT with food, music...

To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork

CEF Online

Latest News and Notices

Facebook

Twitter

Dear CEF blog,

Register for free from 12pm at the starting point on Grand Parade (Monument end). The ride will begin at 1pm and estimated arrival time at Cork Institute of Technology is 2pm via a 7.5km route around the city centre.

All welcome - particularly families. Please note that all under-16s must be accompanied and no more than 3 per adult.

CEF LATEST NEWS

CEF Management Committee 2010-11

Biodiversity Day 2011

We held two great events on Sunday 22nd May (International Day for Biological Diversity). Read about our Wildflower Walk in Beaumont Quarry, and the tour of Glengarriff Nature Reserve and see the pictures here.

The Lost Mess Monster

The first children's workshop of 2011, hosted again by the Lifetime Lab. Twenty four lucky children made a giant monster installation out of items retrieved from their rubbish bins at home. The monster will appear in different locations throughout the summer! See the pictures here.

The Cork Environment Daily!

Cork Environmental Forum has launched its very own free, daily environmental newspaper.

Don't believe us?! Check it out here!

Featuring stories from Cork, Ireland and the world at large, this is Cork's only daily paper dedicated to the environment. You can subscribe to have it delivered to your inbox every day in time for lunch - and it's completely free.

FEASTA Book launch

On Monday 21st March we co-hosted a launch of the new FEASTA publication 'Fleeing Vesuvius; Overcoming the Risks of Economic and Environmental Collapse' in Cork Central Library. You can listen to David Korowicz's fascinating talk here.

St. Patricks Day Parade

Walking trees, oak saplings, rickshaws and bikes... Did you see us in the parade

CEF Newsletter: Politics & Economics

We published our most recent newsletter last week in the run up to the general election with articles from David Korowicz (FEASTA), Lucy Pearce (Dreaming Aloud) and Patrick Treacy (CEF).

National Tree Week 2011, 6th-11th March

CEF will be planting trees around the county with local partners to mark this special annual event. 2011 is the International Year of Forestry and we hope to run a number of guided tours around Cork woods and possibly to visit particular heritage trees. Get in touch if interested in attending or guiding!

Lifelong Learning Festival, 11th-17th April

We ran a Water Conservation workshop at Mayfield CDP on the afternoon of Wednesday 13th April and had a stand that morning at the local GAA hall.

And plenty more! World Water Day, Green Drinks, National Spring Clean, Global Action Plan... they all come thick and fast this time of year! Let us know if you are interested in joining in. In the meantime...

CEF Members

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IE

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REBEL PEDAL! 10th September 1pm

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:07:00 +0000

Dear CEF blog, Cork's favourite family friendly fun ride. 10/9/11 starting Grand Parade...

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REBEL PEDAL! 2011

Saturday 10th September 2011
Free registration from 12pm
at the starting point on Grand Parade
Finishes at CIT with food, music...

To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork

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Dear CEF blog,

CEF LATEST NEWS

CEF Management Committee 2010-11

Don't believe us?! Check it out here!

CEF Members

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!

Subscribe from only €5 per calendar year.

-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

-- Pay online

Cork Environmental Forum
c/o Patrick Treacy
1 Orchard Gardens
Shanagarry, Cork IEIE
IE

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Green Drinks TONIGHT at the Franciscan Well

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 10:44:00 +0000

Dear CEF blog, Pop in this evening between 7 and 8pm to meet like minded people at the Franciscan Well Brewery

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Green Drinks
THIS EVENING 7-8pm

at the Franciscan Well Brewery

To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork

CEF Online

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Dear CEF blog,

Join us this evening between 7 and 8pm for Green Drinks at the
Franciscan Well Brewery on North Main St.

Green Drinks - what's that?!
Green Drinks is an informal gathering of people interested in sustainability/green issues/the environment. It is simply an opportunity to meet and mix with old friends and to meet likeminded folk in the area. There is no agenda or desired outcome to the evening other than making introductions and getting to know one another.

What will we talk about?!
Whatever you want! There is a lot going on in the local world of sustainability to discuss (depending on who appears):

The Cork Cycling Arts Festival
Ireland's Credit Rating woes! (and two very interesting local trading events held in Cork recently)
Water charging/metering
The glamorous world of Septic Tank monitoring
The government consultation on a possible levy on packaging
... or whatever else springs to mind.

But these are just suggestions - there is no agenda, no formality, no speakers.

Drop in any time between 7 and 8. Look out for familiar faces, or ask at the bar for Cork Environmental Forum or Green Drinks.

See you there!

Patrick

CEF LATEST NEWS

CEF Management Committee 2010-11

Don't believe us?! Check it out here!

CEF Members

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!

Subscribe from only €5 per calendar year.

-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

-- Pay online

Cork Environmental Forum
c/o Patrick Treacy
1 Orchard Gardens
Shanagarry, Cork IEIE
IE

Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.

National Bike Week 19-26th June

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:14:00 +0000

Dear CEF blog, Check out the amazing line up of free events in City and County for Bike Week 2011

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National Bike Week
Programme of Activities

Sunday 19th June - 26th June

To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork

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Dear CEF blog,

A fantastic line up of events around city and county for National Bike Week 2011 starting this Sunday. This programme is brought to you by Cork City and County Councils, Cork Sports Partnership, Cork Environmental Forum, Cork Community Bikes and Cork Cycling Arts Festival...

Sunday 19th June- Start Time 11am: Fun Family Cycle from Carrigaline to Crosshaven – a safe and scenic cycleway on old railway line. Meet at Kilnagleary Car Park (signposted on the day).

Wednesday 22nd June, 1pm: Lunchtime Cycle in City Centre - the perfect way to beat the midweek blues! Meet at Albert Quay House, Albert Quay.

Thursday 23rd June, 7pm – 9pm: History Cycle around the oldest part of Cork city. Meet at Grand Parade/South Mall junction.

Thursday 23 June, 9pm The Cork Cycling Festival will hold a film night showing of some irish and international short films on the theme of cycling and bikes. Light refreshments will be available.
Location: Civic Trust House, 50 Pope's Quay, Cork

Friday 24th June: Big Bike Ride 2011 in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland. Six Cork County Council Engineerswill cycle to every Town Council and Area Office in the County to raise awareness of Downs Syndrome Ireland, the Tour de Munster Charity Cycle and cycling generally within the Council. They’ll be collectively covering over 600km in one day in their “Big Bike Ride 2011”.Colleagues are encouraged to get on their bikes and join them for a short section after each stop so all are welcome! (Contact Catherine.Sheridan@CorkCoCo.ie) This event is also supported by Cork City Council.

Sunday 26th June- Start Time 11am: Fun Family Cycle from Passage West to Blackrock Castle – a safe and scenic cycle along the shore of Loughmahon and on to the castle for refreshments, entertainment and bike workshops. Meet in Passage West amenity park (signposted on the day)

All Week: Lots of individual activities in local schools and communities

Children’s SMILES Project Art Competition: Theme – Kids Love Bikes!

Categories 4-8 years, 9-12 years, 13-18 years
Entries marked “SMILES Project Art Competition” to Reception Desk, City Hall by 16.00 on Monday 27th JuneGreat Prizes – prize giving during Cork Cycling Arts Festival in July
Entries on display in City Library from 16th-24th July

CEF LATEST NEWS

CEF Management Committee 2010-11

Don't believe us?! Check it out here!

CEF Members

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!

Subscribe from only €5 per calendar year.

-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

-- Pay online

Cork Environmental Forum
c/o Patrick Treacy
1 Orchard Gardens
Shanagarry, Cork IEIE
IE

Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.

Free 'Nappucino Morning', Organico, Bantry 26th May

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:11:00 +0000

Dear CEF blog, Find out how to save yourself money while doing something about the fact that Ireland dumps 600k disposable nappies into landfill every day

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'Nappucino' Morning
- Organico Café, Bantry

10.30-11.30am
Thursday 26th May 2011

To foster and promote sustainable development in County Cork

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Dear CEF blog,

Are you near Bantry? Want to know more about 'real' nappies? Find out how to save yourself money while doing something about the fact that Ireland dumps 600k disposable nappies into landfill every day! Free CEF "Nappucino" morning at Organico, this Thursday 10.30am.

CEF Management Committee 2010-11

Don't believe us?! Check it out here!

CEF Members

Become a member of
Cork Environmental Forum today!

Subscribe from only €5 per calendar year.

-- Join a working group
-- Receive bi-monthly members mailings
-- Meet like-minded people
-- Take advantage of occasional discount offers

-- Pay online

Cork Environmental Forum
c/o Patrick Treacy
1 Orchard Gardens
Shanagarry, Cork IEIE
IE

Read the VerticalResponse marketing policy.

CEF events for International Day for Biological Diversity

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:12:00 +0000

We had a great day on Sunday celebrating (gulp, deep breath) the UN International Day for Biological Diversity (or simply 'Biodiversity Day' as I like to call it!).

There were two free events happening at the same time. In west Cork, local expert Patrick Goyverts led 32 people on a tour around the Glengarriff Nature Reserve, taking in the Big Meadow Walk and Lady Bantry's Lookout Point.

Meanwhile in Cork City, with the help of the Cork Branch of the Irish Wildlife Trust we had a Wildflower Walk around the amazing Beaumont Quarry led by ecologist Jo Goodyear.

The quarry is an oasis for wildlife in Cork’s suburbs. Originally quarried to provide limestone for St Finbarr’s Cathederal and Beaumont House (residence of the Beamish family), it has been recolonised by wildlife over the past 50 years. The steep slopes below the limestone pinnacles support a surprisingly diverse calcareous grassland, including Fairy Flax, Yellow Rattle, Eyebright and Wild Carrot. A taller grassland is found on flatter ground where the presence of anthills and grass tussocks reflects the lack of grazing and mowing. The rocks themselves support the nationally rare Little Robin flower, while the Quarry floor now supports wet grassland and willow woodland and the slopes are wooded with Ash, Sycamore and Oak providing shelter for nesting birds.

During the walk we explored the various habitats of the quarry, paying particular attention to the limestone grassland flowers and to the issue of monitoring and controlling invasive alien species. Japanese Knotweed is abundant at this site - originally a decorative escape from Victorian gardens but now rapidly expanding its range across Ireland. Snowberry and Winter Heliotrope have a similar provenance.

The walk was led by Jo Goodyear, an experienced botanist with a particular interest in grassland ecology. She has worked for the UK’s Institute for Grassland and Environmental Research and as an ecological consultant, as well as volunteering for Irish Wildlife Trust. She is also interested in wild foods and medicines.

We hope to run some more similar events this year and ideas include the Geara in west Cork and the Salt Marshes in Ballycotton, east Cork. Let us know if you have any other ideas for biodiversity themed events (with local experts).

Shadowlands: Ireland Election 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:00:00 +0000

As we go to the polls a UN Food and Agricultural Organisation index measuring the price of a basket of food commodities surpasses the 2008 record and oil prices flirt again with $100 a barrel. This is in the context of a battered world economy and a credit crisis that far from being resolved, has merely been displaced. Food and energy prices are pushing popular revolutions in the Middle-East, deposits are haemorrhaging from Irish banks, and debt re-structuring may be just around the corner. Yet we are not in a crisis, but at the edge of one.

As the election approaches, prospective politicians will claim a solution for a predicament that cannot be solved. They will claim a level of insight and dominion over systems they can barely intuit and over which they have little and declining control.

The electorate assumes there must be a solution to get us out of recession, a way to reverse what we have come to call 'austerity'. More than that they will demand the right to the realisation of their expectations- their pensions and purchasing power, jobs and savings, health and education services.

The electorate and politics share a common perception of the world, and each will expect the other to reflect and confirm it. That perception or world-view has been formed in the context of our past experience, particularly that of economic growth. We have become accustomed to the reassuring thought that at the end of every recession, no matter how deep or long, growth and prosperity will again take off. There is a sense that economic growth, though sometimes wayward, is the natural order of things. It is a powerful idea both redemptive and optimistic.

It is the glue that holds together the social contract between the rich and poor, and between citizen and state. It stands behind our faith in technology and progress. It acclimatised us to increasing wealth, both personal and in the goods and services we expect from society and the state. It shaped our identity as the anxious consumer and choosy lover. We have become so habituated to growth's freedoms and promise, that we have barely noticed how its ties have bound us.

Yet that growth is coming to an end, there will be no recovery. Ireland may lead the downward slide, but ultimately the prudent Germany and the workshop China will tumble also. This process, the collapse of the globalised economy is re-enforcing, a fall prompts a further fall and so on.

While we in Ireland have understandably focussed upon our own indebtedness, we are but one small but prominent casualty of an unprecedented credit bubble that still has the power to drive the global economy into a depression. This depression has the potential to be deeper and longer than the Great Depression, not just because of the size of the credit bubble, but because of the complexity and globalised nature of economies today. The only possible way to avoid this is a wholly unprecedented and rapid period of economic growth. This would require a major increase in energy use, particularly oil. This is because the only true laws in economics are the laws of thermodynamics.

But global oil production has been almost flat for five years. We are, according to diverse and respected analysts at the peak of global oil production now. The global economy is straining against limited supply, and prices are rising. Soon the amount of affordable oil available to the world will begin to decline. This constraint is already undermining our financial and monetary systems which are dependent upon growth, and exposing the effective insolvency of the global economy. It will undermine the discretionary wealth and economies of scale that secure our employment. It will undermine food production and access. It will challenge the cost effectiveness and maintenance of our critical infrastructure.

Already we are seeing essentials such as food, energy, and debt servicing becoming more and more expensive. This is at the same time as the money we have to pay for such things continues to decline. Our consumption is being caught in a tightening vice. All the while jobs will be lost in the parts of the economy that provide non-essentials - and in developed economies this is where the the large majority of people work.

Growing bad debts and the accelerating decline in the credit money needed to facilitate the working of the economy is likely to lead to asset price falls, bank failures and bank runs, sovereign defaults, currency re-issues and freezes in international trade. Ireland may be first, but global contagion is coming.

We could see major drops in demand, oil and other energy prices may fall. But by then we will be much poorer, there may be gluts of oil on the market, credit will not be available for energy investment, and energy infrastructure will be harder to maintain.

So in this electoral period we are likely to witness the beginning of a process in which our world-views crash against a fundamentally unstable financial system and ecological constraints. A localised economy will no longer be something environmentalists aspire to develop, rather it will be forced upon us as bank failures, monetary uncertainty, and lost purchasing power sever links in the web of the global economy. But we no longer have indigenous economies to fall back upon. Our national economies, including our purchasing power, accessible food, jobs, and the maintenance of our critical infrastructure exist by virtue of their integration with the globalised economy.

Yes, we can and will build a largely local economy out of the ruins of a collapsed globalised one. It will be a much poorer one, and one where we will have lost much of what we take for granted. It can also provide a good life, where our basic needs are met, where meaningful lives can be lived, and a rich texture of experience found.

But in the interim we face a huge resilience gap between the basic welfare and social needs once provided by integration with the globalised growth economy and what is available without it. We need to prepare for sudden shocks such as freezes in the banking system, and its effect on food access say, and the more strategic changes we require in agriculture, monetary systems, employment, and governance.

The problem with such preparations is that in many cases they are likely to be too late. This is because the risk of severe financial shocks is rising all the time, and the issues are complex and often unclear. In addition real preparation would require a new and wide consensus on the nature of our predicament. But the emergence of such a consensus would lead to people and institutions taking rational action such as withdrawing deposits from banks, cashing in financial assets, or the refusing of credit. Such action would begin the re-enforcing process of a financial collapse.

So it seems we are in a real bind. What can we ask of ourselves and politics this election time? Maybe is is not about whether to choose one set of deluded policies over another, rather it is a question of character. Events are likely to surprise and disorient both politics and society over the coming electoral term. We need to try as well as we can to choose those who can respond to crisis which at the moment they scarcely realise might be possible. We need to choose those who might be steady and wise in a storm when all they have ever experienced was a light breeze.

The gap between expectations and what can be realised is historically a major source of popular anger, and can ignite a cycle of fear, violence, scapegoating, and authoritarian leadership from either left or right. It can give the avaricious the power and cover to appropriate wealth that should be used for collective welfare. Our politics will be better served by the modest, those who try to tell us the hard truths, and who admit where they are uncertain, rather than those who point to the easy way out. As the stakes rise and the the decision arena becomes more complex, we will need people who can make bold and unpopular decisions in the interest of our collective welfare. And we must accept that sometimes such decisions will fail in their desired effects. We will need politics, but with a new realism about its limits.

For those of us who accept these risks, we need to appropriate responsibility that once might have been seen as the concern of government. We need to anticipate both the risks approaching and how we can prepare for such contingencies. We need to network, persuade, plan, collaborate and execute.

We should avoid letting the imagined fears of the future cloud the real pleasures of the present. We are entering the shadowlands, embarking on a great adventure, the most important of causes, where we all have a role and much work to do.

David is a physicist and human systems ecologist. He is a member of Feasta, The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, and director of Risk-Resilience.

Book Review: Fleeing Vesuvius: Overcoming the risks of economic and environmental collapse.

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:20:00 +0000

Fleeing Vesuvius: Overcoming the risks of economic and environmental collapse.

Richard Douthwaite and Gillian Fallon (eds), Feasta, 2010. ISBN 97809549510-1-3

Fleeing Vesuvius is a book of its time, written by some of our brightest minds, for our people. Its stated aim “to arm its readers with the knowledge they need to develop new ways of doing things, instead of staggering from crisis to crisis” trying to patch up systems that are no longer viable. This, then, is a book of the moment, for the moment. It may hold many explanations for why we are where we are and what we might do about it.

The 27 contributors to this book, drawn from leading thinkers in fields as disparate as psychology, economics, engineering, architecture come together to vision possible responses to the current meltdown of our economic system and the threat of peak oil. It presents a wealth of diverse and detailed knowledge and experience: a systems approach to the deep complexities of our globalised society and the tapestry of economy and environment and how it all unravels if a single thread is pulled.

Published in September, pre-bailout and before the true extent of our economic mess was fully known, it charts the truly terrifying cold, hard figures: the size of the deficits currently owed by Ireland, the UK, the US and other major European economies, our current energy needs and how we might meet them. It then considers the changes required in the way we think and how we relate to others and the land we inhabit if we are to reduce the risk of environmental and societal breakdown which threaten our civilisation.

The editors suggest that readers ask themselves three questions as they work their way through the book: “What can I do myself? What can I do with other people? What can't I do anything about at all?” The authors seeks to enlighten us on all three.

This is a must-read for concerned citizens, activists, thinkers, politicians, planners and business people of all stripes. For those who are wondering why we are where we are, where we are headed and how we might respond, this is the manual to help you steer over the stormy sea. At times it is wordy and stylistically dense to be almost impenetrable by the lay reader. At others it is revelationary, clear and terrifyingly accurate.

Kudos to David Korowicz for his extremely strong opening chapter, which coherently outlines a systems understanding of the global economy with great clarity and many pertinent and highly memorable nuggets. Understanding the global economy as a complex, self organising system reminds us “that governments do not control their own economies. Nor does civil society. The corporate or financial sectors don not control the economies within which they operate. That they can destroy the economy should not be taken as evidence that they can control it.” Would that our leaders had read this a few years back.

This is not an easy bedtime reading book - it might give you nightmares! Rather, it gives you a sense of being in the company of many great minds: like having a conference in book form. Or a dinner party of outside-the-box thinkers – some fascinating, some a little dry – but as a whole informative and rich. Its ultimate strength is the weaving of many voices. No reader, however informed previously on the subject, could come away claiming to have known it all before.

It ends with a chapter of practical advice reaped from the collective experience of all the contributors, so that readers aren't left feeling overwhelmed, despondent or disempowered.

“Pioneering any new approach isn't easy,” counsels Tim Helweg-Larsen, one of the contributors. This is especially true given the scale of the task ahead of us and the changes that need to happen on every level in our global culture. Through this book these thinkers are all contributing to and modelling the Great Conversation which needs to happen, right now, if further disasters are to be sidestepped or at least their effects minimised. Politicians, professionals, citizens, take heed and quickly. The volcano is rumbling ominously. Let the people of Pompeii be a lesson to us.

Fleeing Vesuvius: Overcoming the risks of economic and environmental collapse.

Richard Douthwaite and Gillian Fallon (eds), FEASTA, 2010. ISBN 97809549510-1-3

* FEASTA (the Foundation of the Economics of Sustainability) the influential think tank, based in Ireland consists of on international network of people “who believe that inappropriate systems cause many of the world's problems and who are trying to develop better ones.”

www.feasta.org

Lucy Pearce is a freelance writer and associate editor at JUNO magazine based in East Cork. Trained in the History of Ideas, she is a regular contributor to a number of UK and Irish publications, including the Feel Good section of the Irish Examiner. She writes about living philosophy and natural parenting on her blog: dreamingaloudnet.blogspot.com An archive of her articles is available at her website www.dreamingaloud.net

She can be contacted at pearcelucy@yahoo.co.uk

2011

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 14:10:00 +0000

2010 was a year to challenge us. It began with the exceptional flooding of Cork fresh in our memories, proceeded to an unfamiliar freeze which paralysed services and shredded road surfaces, a swine flu pandemic, a biblical outpouring of volcanic ash, financial meltdown in peripheral EU states, an application by Ireland to the IMF/EU for a vast loan to keep the show on the road and the 4th in a grim sequence of austerity budgets passed by a government with a tiny majority in Dail Eireann. We then closed out the year amidst a return to prolonged icy conditions, water shortages and an early flu season!

So as 2011 takes shape and an election looming, who could be blamed for a sense of trepidation?

This may be the time to refocus ourselves on Resilience - at domestic, community and national levels. Already a familiar concept in the excellent Transition Town network, 'Resilience' refers to learning the skills, collecting the tools, making the right investments for the future and forming the connections necessary to help absorb the shocks coming from the world outside and lay the foundations for a way of life that can be sustained into the future.

Let's face it - most of us are hopelessly dependent on the supermarket and oilman continuing to provide, on banks holding our deeds and helping us out when we need a new car and on water perpetually flowing in our pipes and taps. Many of us in Cork have had a reminder of our vulnerability this last year - the banking crisis, water shortages and disruption to our everyday travel routines. These things can happen more or less overnight without warning, and suddenly we realise what kind of power over our daily lives we really have.

So here's a short list of suggestions for 2011. It’s not a list of measures that will make you self-sufficient overnight, it’s a list that will get you thinking of your resilience and help you on your way. Some of the following cost very little, and anything that does cost money is an investment for the future security of your family.

Water
Invest in a water butt. These are inexpensive barrels with a small diverter that takes rain water from your house's downpipe. You'll be amazed at the supply of water you suddenly generate for yourself - use it to wash your clothes or your car, flush the toilets, water the lawn and plants or anything else that doesn't involve personal consumption or hygiene. Aside from the security it gives you, you will also waste less water which has been expensively cleaned to drinking standards and pumped to your house from miles away.

Conserve water. Do you need to flush 12litres of water every time you use the toilet? Do you need to leave the tap running when you brush your teeth? Could you insulate the pipes in your attic so they don't freeze in the winter, rather than leaving a tap dripping at night?

Energy
What would happen if the oil man couldn't come for a month and your tank was empty? Do you have a wood-burning stove and a good supply of timber (from a well managed, local source)? Have you made best use of the available grants to insulate your house to squeeze the most out of the energy you do use heating it? Every euro you don't spend on oil or coal is another euro that potentially stays in your local economy.

The sun is a never-ending supply of free energy and Ireland benefits from much more solar energy than we commonly believe. Invest in solar panels to harvest this resource - these and other green technologies are also well supported by grant schemes.

Waste
Have you ever thought about how much rubbish you'd have on your hands if your bins weren't collected for 3 months? For a lot of people, a high proportion of what they dispose of is compostable waste that can give you something useful in the garden - for that day when you do get round to making a raised bed to grow your own vegetables and salad! Useless packaging makes up another high proportion of our recyclable and non-recyclable waste - avoid it at source and you'll soon see the difference in your bin.

Transport
Use the bus or local train - it might seem like a terrible inconvenience at first rather than using your own car, but with a bit of planning you can build them into your routine to your own advantage. You will free up time to read the newspaper or work on the train for example.

Car share - why do you and your neighbour both drive to Cork City everyday alone in your own cars?! Save yourselves both a fortune by going together. You can agree to do it once a week at first if you're scared of committing and see how it goes from there. Alternatively, check out car-pooling/sharing services such as Avego and Go-Car. This measure touches on an infinity of things that can be shared/pooled/rotated around neighbourhoods. The real key to it is getting to know your neighbours.

Better still, could you cycle once or twice a week? Could you even work from home?

Consumerism
Be part of the society you want to see your children benefiting from in future. Start when you shop - fairtrade, local, organic, least packaging - whatever you judge to be the responsible choices. Don't need it? Don't buy it. The world really doesn't need another plastic gadget in a landfill site.

Food
Grow some of your own. Be realistic with your ambitions initially but once you start there's a fair chance you'll never stop. Experience the immense pleasure of eating something you've seen grow from seed, not to mention the incomparable flavour of freshly picked or dug produce. Best of all, get your kids involved and learn the skills together. You might even get them to eat something green!

Community
Most of the above suggest solutions at a domestic level. With a little organisation and planning you will get even better returns on your time, money and energy if you look to invest them wisely with others. Look out for local groups that already exist and see what they're up to. It's possible there's a community garden right around the corner, a local currency, allotments, tree planting project, a car pooling scheme. Put your energy in and you'll reap the rewards. Be realistic about setting your goals - it won't all happen overnight - but steadily doing a little will yield great rewards over time.

See if your community group can host a Global Action Plan or Powerdown programme. These are superb starting points for sustainable community actions.

The extent to which modern society can provide for our basic needs is nothing short of miraculous, but should never be taken for granted. In the long, long history of the human race nothing has ever resembled the comfort, security and confidence we have experienced in the developed world in the last 100 years. And where modern society functions well - with conscience, imagination and intelligence - it is something to be extraordinarily proud of: a testament to humanity. However, we have lost sight of what a fragile web that is, and how to make ourselves strong within it.

-----

Patrick Treacy is the Development Coordinator of Cork Environmental Forum.

Rebel Tour 11th September 2010 - we need you!

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:31:00 +0000

The Rebel Tour 2010 will take place on 11th and 12th September 2010 with 3 rides on the Saturday starting and finishing with a party in Cork City and an off-road event in the Ballyhoura hills on the Sunday.

As always, we are are relying on the help of volunteers to make this great event a big success. There are 4 ways you can chip in if you're willing:

1. STEWARDS PLEASE!

The Rebel Pedal will be part of the Cork Rebel Tour this year - a much bigger and more ambitious event than ever before. We are planning for large numbers and so will be looking for a lot of stewards again. We had about 15 stewards for last year's Rebel Pedal which was fine, but on the low side - this time I will need at least twice that number. The route will also be a little longer (so we spend more time in the city centre) which again means more bodies working to keep everyone together.

As in previous years, everyone who volunteers will get a briefing pack explaining exactly what needs doing - none of it is complicated or hard, but it helps makes the day run smoothly. Successful cycling events that are seen to run well are good for all cyclists in the city!

2. PROMOTION

We've had great help from you all over the last few years in distributing fliers around the city in the run up to the event and it would be great if we could call on that again. Cycling shops, bars, venues, petrol stations (!) and of course on bikes throughout the city - if we can get fliers out effectively for the 3 weeks running up to the event it will make such a difference. We will have plenty this year so please get in touch if you'd be willing to take a bundle for your bag and put them out wherever you go.

3. PHOTOSHOOT

We haven't set a date yet, but we are planning a fun photoshoot featuring adults and children spelling out the word 'REBEL' on the ground surrounded by bicycles, possibly in CIT, in the next fortnight. It might take half an hour one afternoon but again, it will make such a difference to getting our press releases into papers - and making them memorable to readers!!!

4. AFTER PARTY

The Rebel Tour after party (with riders from the Rebel Pedal, Rebel Rider and Rebel Challenge) is being planned for 2500 people in the Cork Showgrounds (entering from Monahan Road). We really really need volunteer support to steward the event - some of the duties will be tedious, others not so but everyone will be rotated on a rota. It's not as fun as being a steward on the parade and I won't pretend it is, but your support will make such a difference on the day.

If anyone can help with any of the above, please do get in touch as soon as possible. We have a fantastic team working very hard on making the event a success, but we really need your support to make it happen.

Thanks everyone.

Aquatic Invasive Species in Ireland

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:50:00 +0000

Thanks to David Lee for the following report on the Aquatic Invasive Species Public Stakeholder Conferences in Galway and Tullamore April 2010 and background information. David is a longterm supporter of Cork Environmental Forum, a director of Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), an avid bee-keeper and angler.

Aquatic Invasive Species in Ireland

A Report on Aquatic Invasive Species Public Stakeholder Conferences in Galway and Tullamore April 2010.

The Central Fisheries Board has secured €1.5 million in funding from the European Community (EC) under the Life+ programme to control and eradicate invasive species in Lough Corrib, The Grand Canal and the Barrow Navigation Line. Minister Conor Lenihan formally launched the Life+ project ‘Control of Aquatic Invasive Species in Ireland’ (CAISIE) at the European Commission Office in Dublin on 23rd February 2010.

Aquatic invasive species are a major threat to biodiversity in Irish freshwaters and their adverse effect will continue to increase unless effective eradication and control methods are developed. CAISIE will focus on researching and implementing control and eradication methods, plus a marketing campaign to increase awareness and stakeholder engagement. The future cost of controlling Lagarosiphon major (African Curly Leaved Waterweed) in Lough Corrib by cutting and removing the deadly weed in a labour intensive process is estimated at €300k to €400k a year.

At the moment the funding is limited via the Western Regional Fisheries Board and the National Parks and Wildlife Service and a little in the past from Galway County Council and the OPW. But I think this funding will not continue long-term and is not sustainable so CAISIE have come up with a long term solution which is to cover the bottom of the lake with a material similar to old potato sacks (jute sheeting). This light excluding material saturates and sinks quickly on contact with water, and so is relatively easy to deploy compared to traditional benthic barrier methods. This will cover the bottom of the lake, thereby preventing the invasive weed from growing but allowing native plants to grow through the jute and provide food and cover for the fish stock in the lake as normal. Minister Conor Lenihan affirmed that this is a matter of considerable importance to the Inland Fisheries and this project, funded by the EU, brings together a number of State bodies to work together in the control of aquatic invasive species in Ireland.

The following is a list of invasive species which CAISIE – a group of 4 people headed by Senior Scientist Dr Joe Caffrey – will be occupied with, working on the sites where greatest risk is currently posed. Joe asked the audiences in Galway and Tullamore to inform him of any new outbreaks of any of the invasive species appearing in other rivers and lakes in Ireland and for people that were not at the meeting to also help be getting the booklet “Field Guide to Invasive Species in Ireland” which gives names and colour photographs that will help people to identify these dreaded plants.

For more information visit www.invasivesspeciesireland.com or contact by email joe.caffrey@cfb.ie

Key species in Lough Corrib:

Lagarosiphon major (African Curly Leaved Pondweed)
Dreissena polumorpha (Zebra Mussel)

Lagarosiphon major was first discovered on Lough Corrib in 2005 where it covered 9 bays. By 2006 it had spread to 24 bays, in 2007 64 bays were affected and in 2008 113 bays were covered. It now covers from the northern end of the lake at Cong down through all the bays to the middle lake and unless some remedial action is taken in the near future it will spread down lower Lough Corrib close to Galway City where it is likely to cause severe flooding as the water flow is restricted. It will also cause problems for boats navigating through the dense vegetation.

The plant originated in southern Africa where it is regarded as a nuisance. The weed grows during the winter months and has a long stem that is brittle and easily broken which aids dispersal. Only female plants are present in Lough Corrib and all reproduction is by fragmentation (asexual). Lagarosiphon major poses a serious threat to tourism, angling, boating and other recreational pursuits - it can also kill fish through oxygen depletion especially during very warm weather and low water during summer months.

Unfortunately Lagarosiphon major – along with other invasive plants species – is sold in garden centres and shops throughout Ireland as an oxygenating plant. This is one of the main sources of spread of the weed - other sources include anglers that snag pieces of stem when moving boats or trailers. (Anglers should make sure that their boats are properly washed down and all weed removed. Nets, waders and engines should all be properly cleaned.)

Presently there is no legislation in Ireland to prohibit the sale of the following invasive species in shops, which do untold damage to our natural resources.

These are:

Azilla filiculoides (Water Fern)
Crassuls helmsii (New Zealand Pigmyweed)
Elodea nuttallii (Nuttall’s Waterweed)
Hottonia palustris (Water Violet)
Hydrocotyle ranunculoides (Floating pennyworth)
Lanarosiphon major (African Curly Leaved Waterweed)
Lemna minuta (Least duckweed)
Lysichiton americanus (American Skunk Cabbage)
Myrmphyllum aquaticum (Parrot’s feather)
Nymphoides peltata (Fringed Water Lily)

Suggested Alternatives for your garden or Aquarium:

Butomus umbellatus (Flowering Rush)
Caltha palustris (Marsh Marigold)
Iris pseudacorus (Yellow Flag Iris)
Menyanthes trifoliata (Bogbean)
Lychnis flos-cuculi (Ragged Robin)
Mentha aquatica (Watermint)
Potentilla palustris (Marsh Cinquefoil)
Hippuris vulgaris (Mare’s Tail)
Nuphar lutea (Yellow Water Lily)
Potamogeton crispus (Curled Pondweed)
Potamogeton perfoliatus (Perfolitate Pondweed)
Potamogeton pusillus (Lesser Pondweed)

Floating Plants:

Nymphaea alba (White Water Lily)
Potamogeton natans (Broad Leaved Pondweed).

The following is a list of invasive species which CAISIE will work on and the sites where these pose the greatest risk at present.

Key species at Lough Corrib:

Lagarosiphon major Curly Leaved Pondweed
Dreissena polymorpha Zebra Mussels

Key species on the Grand Canal, Barrow Line and Navigation:

Lagarosiphon major (Curly Leaved Pondweed)
Leuciscus leuciscus (Dace)
Hemimysis anomala ( Bloody Red Shrimp)
Crangoyx pseudogracilis (Northern River Crangonyctid.)
Elodea nuttallii (Nuttall’s Pondweed)
Crassula hellmsii (New Zealand Pugmyweed)
Azolla filiculoides (Red Water Fern)
Dreissena polmorpha (Zebra Mussel
Fallopia japonica (Japanese Knotweed)
Heracleum mantegazzianum (Giant Hogweed)
Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam)
Gunnera tinctoria (Chilean Rhubarb)
Corbicula fluminea (Asian Clam)

The CAISIE meeting in Tullamore was chaired by Dr Stephanie Evers who outlined the efforts made by the EU commission through CAISIE in combating invasive species in Lough Corrib and the Grand Canal and Barrow Navigation area.

The EU commission has provided €1.5 million in funding through the Life+ project to combat the losses of biodiversity in the above areas in a project that will run until 2013.
The project objectives are to control and remove invasive species.

The meeting informed those attending that the EU recognised invasive species introduction as one of the main causes of biodiversity loss - second only to direct habitat destruction. It was estimated that the loss monetarily to the global economy caused by the impacts of all invasive species is $1.4 trillion or 5% of the global economy. The cost to the EU was estimated at €12 billion per annum.

Dr Evers informed the meeting that there are 14 invasive species present in the above areas, the Asian Clam being the most recent arrival.

Resources:
http://www.invasivespeciesireland.com/
http://www.cfb.ie/fisheries_research/invasives/index.htm
http://caisie.ie/

Masters of the Sky

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:12:00 +0000

This article was kindly contributed by John Lyden, a director of the Golden Eagle Trust and member of the Irish Raptor Study Group.

Masters of the Sky

A White-tailed Sea Eagle photographed in
Killarney National Park

A quiet valley, late afternoon – the wind began to pick up. As it did, two giant birds of prey, sitting on rocks, flapped their wings and launched themselves into the air. After a few minutes, they were sailing in the wind showing their eight foot wingspan, slowly circling with their broad wings outstretched fully. Barely moving their wings, these masters of the sky circled and circled, and circled yet again, steadily gaining height.

Ten minutes later, two more great birds were circling. There were now four large raptors in the air, then six and then eight. Within a half an hour, no less than ten great birds of prey were slowing circling and gaining height. As they rose above the hill on the southern side of the valley, they drifted south west out of view, in groups of twos or threes. Sometimes, one bird would suddenly dive at another in a mock attack. The victim would react instantly by turning on its back to show its fierce talons and then, just as quickly, flip back to its normal posture and continue to sail south west into the wind.

This could have been the highlands of east Africa. It could have been the mountains in Asturias in Spain, or in the Basque Country, with Griffon Vultures scouring the land for food. But no, this was Kerry in May 2009 in a valley near Kenmare. The birds were not vultures but White-tailed Sea Eagles reintroduced from Norway to Killarney National Park. In fact, on that day, at different times, there were seventeen different eagles in the area.

A few hours earlier, in the same valley, eight eagles were feeding on the carcass of a dead animal, with a ninth eagle perched about 100m away. Above the eagles was a large flat rock. While the eagles were feeding and squabbling with each other, a fox came up onto the rock to size up the situation. Then, without warning, he rushed at the eagles and chased them off, as if they were pheasants. He took some of the carcass and ran off with it before the eagles could regain their dignity and their composure.

For the past three summers, young eagles collected as chicks in Norway have been released in Killarney National Park. In the wild, if there are two chicks in the nest, the second chick rarely survives. So by taking one chick from a nest of two, there is little impact on the population in Norway and the removed chick can be given a new lease of life in Kerry.

A Golden Eagle chick photographed in its nest in Donegal

Eagles were once widespread in Kerry and West Cork up to 130 years ago. 250 years ago, eagles were resident at the Old Head of Kinsale and they must have been seen regularly off Barry’s Head and Robert’s Head. Now they frequent the Iveragh peninsula south of Killarney and range into West Cork but if you are very lucky you may see one closer further across the county. Some readers may have seen Buzzards, which look like small eagles. The wingspan of a Buzzard is four feet but a sea eagle’s wingspan is eight feet.

Each eagle has a white tag on its right wing to indicate that it was released in Kerry. On their left wings, birds released in 2007 have yellow tags, those released in 2008 have red tags and those released in 2009 have green tags.

Each bird is fitted with a small VHF radio transmitter, which has a unique radio frequency, to allow the birds to be monitored and tracked. On 22 March 2008, four eagles were tracked or seen in east Cork. On 25 March 2008, Dr Allan Mee, the White-tailed Eagle Project Manager, picked up a radio signal from a young female eagle, yellow No 7, which indicated that the eagle was in the Myrtleville – Robert’s Head area.

Some eagles have been fitted with solar powered satellite transmitters. These transmitters are light weight and they acquire a precise GPS position during daytime every few hours (in good conditions, if there is little cloud). Every week, data from the transmitter is uploaded to a communications satellite and this information is then regularly downloaded by Dr Mee. In fact, by going to the website www.goldeneagle.ie readers can see the past journeys of a few White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles, Red Kites and Hen Harriers.

One eagle in particular, male red L, has been an outstanding adventurer. At 12.00 noon on 11 March 2009, male L was at Frogmore in Kerry but by 18.00 on that day he had reached Woodcock Hill in Clare. Next morning at 11.00, he was in Parteen in Clare before he headed south, passing close to Michelstown in north Cork, and he reached Leamlara in east Cork by 18.00. He stayed there for a day.

On 14 March 2009, male L headed west and he was over Aghada on the east side of Cork Harbour by 11.00. By 12.00 noon he was at Lough Beg near Currabinny on the west side of Cork Harbour. Then he flew south west, passing to the east of Carrigaline, heading for Tracton. By 13.00 he was over Ballybogey near Ballinclashet and by 14.00 he was at Money Point near Charles Fort in Kinsale. By 18.00 he was at Brinny north of Bandon.
He was back in Killarney National Park by 15.00 on 15 March 2009.

But that was only a warming up exercise for male L. On 20 April 2009, he left Kerry and was in Sligo that evening. Then he headed for Donegal, Antrim, Mull of Kintyre and up the west coast of Scotland. In late May, he flew from John O Groats on the north east coast of Scotland to the Isles of Orkney. He returned to Scotland and spent the next few months in the Kyle of Durness in north west Scotland. In September 2009, he headed down the west coast of Scotland and he spent several weeks on the island of Islay. On 13 November 2009, he was back in Donegal. In early December, he spent some time in the flooded landscape of east Galway near Portumna. On 22 December 2009, male L was back in Killarney.

Male L did a round trip of at least 2,700km, which is the longest recorded trip for a White-tailed Sea Eagle. During his eight months’ absence from Kerry, there were only one or two eyewitness reports of male L (he was photographed in Orkney by visitors from London). Without the satellite information, his amazing journey would never have been known.

There is plenty of food for eagles in Kerry and in Cork. But, unfortunately, there is one major problem. Seven eagles, and possibly one or two more, have been needlessly killed by poison. There is no evidence that people intend to poison eagles. But a few reckless and selfish individuals have put out poison (invariably in clear breach of veterinary and pharmacy regulations) on carcasses, with the intention of killing foxes and crows. The eagles eat the poisoned carcass and die needlessly.

In every known case, there has been a complete disregard of the law, as well as posing dangers to neighbours’ sheep dogs and possibly to young children. Some of the poisons used are lethal to humans (even in small quantities) and the Gardai have treated each of these cases very seriously.

Eagles are top predators. They lessen the spread of disease by cleaning up dead carcasses quickly. They do not harm domestic or farm animals. They hunt crows, magpies, rats, foxes, badgers and rabbits. Left alone, they will control the numbers of pest species. In Donegal, sheep farmers found that they had far less problems with ravens and grey crows, as soon as Golden Eagles moved into their area.

In any event, there are much safer ways of controlling foxes and crows that do not involve the reckless use of poison. In Kerry, with the endorsement of the IFA, local gun clubs and others, the Golden Eagle Trust has issued an “Advice leaflet on control of foxes and crows”. Even small quantities of rat poison, left out in the open, can poison Barn Owls and other beautiful birds of prey.

Please, please, do not use poison if at all feasible. Rat poisons are dangerous to humans and are harmful to wildlife. If they have to be used, please think before you use them and follow the manufacturers’ instructions carefully.

The Future of Life - Edward O. Wilson (2002)

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:50:00 +0000

Biodiversity Book Recommendation:

The Future of Life (2002)
Edward O. Wilson
(two time Pulitzer Prize winner, biologist, researcher and author)

This is a fascinating insight into the amazing diversity of life on our planet and a concise and clear analysis of the challenges we face. Wilson’s style makes this a very accessible and enjoyable read for the lay person. He examines in detail the range of ecosystems from the sterile environment of Antarctica’s Lake Vostek to the wealth of species in the rainforests and why each domain of life is vital for our future. He looks at the role of humanity as planetary killer but importantly he provides solutions to avert further destruction of vulnerable life forms.

Essentially this book is about choosing biodiversity in order to choose survival. A gem of a book!

Bernie Connolly is the Treasurer of Cork Environmental Forum, and her involvement with CEF goes back over a decade.

The Frog Army

noreply@blogger.com (Cork Environmental Forum) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:41:00 +0000

Michael Hobbs is the Chairman of Cork Environmental Forum and joined the management committee in 2006.

As part of his huge contribution to CEF, he is currently conducting a survey of Squirrel sightings in west Cork, (which you can take part in online), with a view to setting up a protected zone for the Red Squirrel with the support of Coillte.

I always promised myself that when I bought a piece of land I would build a wildlife pond on it.

So back in 1995 when I was lucky enough to buy a piece of land on Cool Mountain I started work on one the next summer. I had little money at that time so I dug the hole out by hand with a mat hook and a spade. It was hard going - there was a space on my land that was already a natural valley, so as well as digging I had to dam up one end. The pond that resulted is about 16 feet long and 10 feet wide. To cushion the plastic against the bed rock I used up all my and my neighbours old bedding and coal sacks. Instead of pond liner I used a large roll of black plastic folded over making about four layers. Then I gently put the soil back in and started filling it up.

My brother owns a large spring up the hill so I laid a 1" alcothene pipe from there. If there is one thing I’ve learnt from making the pond it is that if you do the right thing by the environment it will pay you back in spades, and I have certainly reaped the benefit of unintended consequences.

The pond did absolutely nothing in the first year but look like a big puddle - it was only at the end of the second year that I saw the first signs of life coming into it. In the spring of the third year I had my first clump of frog spawn - and that summer the pond finally came to life with dragonflies and pond skaters, diving beetles etc, all moving in. The following spring I counted 15 frogs making spawn in the pond from my kitchen window. The next spring it was 23, then 34, then 45, then 64 and this spring I counted 83 frogs in the pond… I reckon next year I will make the ton! This all makes for a lot of croaking and splashing, in breeding season I can tell you… but I don’t mind a bit. And I will tell you why.

As well as a wildlife pond my garden also contains 16 raised beds in which I grow most of my own food. Living in a wet part of west Cork I had the usual slug infestation problems. I remember driving back from late night CEF management meetings, and forcing myself to go out and pick slugs by the light of my solar powered torch. (Solar powered torches are great as the light doesn’t last that long which gives you a great excuse to stop and go to bed.) Anyway about two years ago I noticed that the slug population in my garden had definitely plummeted and today it’s about 30% of what it once was and the reason: my 83 frogs in residence. And I do mean 'in residence'. When I dug out the pond I used the excess soil to make the raised beds and the stones I left in piles around the side and the back of the pond. I went to move one of these piles last year and found 16 frogs living in it - my piles of stones had become in fact a large frog apartment block.

And now every night as I’m lying snug in bed, out come my frog friends wanting breakfast, so that now any slug thinking of dining on my cabbages, has to first run the gauntlet of getting past my own personal, slug hungry frog army - it’s brilliant!