Eco-Design Christmas Fair

On Saturday 2nd December the group were out in force campaigning at the Eco-Design Christmas Fair in Camden. The stall attracted lots of interest, and particularly popular was the Christmas Card to Tony Blair, thanking him for a climate change bill in the Queen's Speech. Members of the public signed the card and added their own personal messages; many demanding tougher action on Climate Change in the New Year.

We now hope to get an opportunity to hand the card over in person before Christmas. If we manage to do so you can be sure there will be photos posted back here, so watch this space....

The London Letters on Climate Change

An exciting new project in support of the FoE Big Ask Campaign incorporating all London local FoE Groups is being co-ordinated by Camden FoE Group members Graeme Maughan and Anisa Jadwat-Reinecke.

The aim of the project is to get as many London MPs as possible to sign up to an open letter, setting out their concern about climate change, and proving their commitment to show political leadership, by supporting the development of a Climate Change Bill.

You can find out more on the dedicated London Letters Blogspot here.

Beat the Drought

London, along with much of the UK is currently suffering drought conditions, with a hosepipe ban in force, and a drought order now applied for. Why is there a drought? Quite simply, there hasn't been enough rain. The south of England is experiencing its driest period since 1933, with low rainfall over the last two winters, when traditionally reservoirs and underground aquifiers are replenished.

Whilst it is easy, and perhaps justifiable to a certain extent to blame Thames Water for contributing to the problem with their poor record on repairing leaks, having missed their own targets for three consecutive years, whilst still managing to increase profits each year, consumers also have a part to play. Fifteen years ago we each used around 139 litres of water a day; now we use 150 litres.

We can all help alleviate the problems by taking some simple steps to conserve water. To find out more about the problem and what you can do to conserve water, visit www.beatthedrought.com.

And if you spot a leak in the street, call Thames Water's leakline free on 0800 714614, or report it online here.

West Hampstead Local Food Festival 2006

This year's event was even bigger and better than last year's inaugural event. Being held over a fortnight from 14th to 27th June, the Festival was launched with a Local Food Fair on West End Green on Wed 14th June, and there a second fair on Sat 24th. Both events were very well supported, with locals enjoying the fine fare from the local farmers market, live jazz, cookery demonstrations, fun and games for the kids and lots, lots more!

During the fortnight nine local restaurants featured specials on their menus using fresh produce from the local farmers market, which yet again turned out to be tremendously popular.

And on Thurs 22nd we held a sell-out screening of the film McLibel, which was followed by a Q&A with the film's director and Camden resident Franny Armstrong.

Here are some photos from the launch event.

The Camden FoE stall was a centre for discussion and debate

Event organiser Nikki prays that the farmers will deliver the goods ...
Steve goes quietly...for a change!
The tomatoes were very popular
Would you buy a raffle ticket from these two?
Local jazz, nice ...
The produce was far better quality than the photography; me and my shadow...

Camden FoE soak up the sun at Camden Green Fair

Summer arrived just in time for the Camden Green Fair and the Camden FoE team were there in force to promote the upcoming West Hampstead Local Food Festival, and sign people up to the Friends of the Earth Big Ask and Company Law Reform (CORE) campaigns. Final scores on the doors:-

• CORE - 268 postcards
• Big Ask - 285 postcards

We also collected plenty of sunburn ...

And here's a picture of our lovely local food hamper used to publicise the upcoming West Hampstead Local Food Festival ...

Camden FoE Response to the DTI "Our Energy Challenge" Consultation Paper

A subset of the Camden Friends of the Earth group formed a study group during early 2006 to review and respond to the DTI's consultation paper "Our Energy Challenge". The resulting response document can be found here.

Camden FoE Members Pay a Flying Visit to Gordon Brown

On Budget Day, the Campaign Against Climate Change staged a protest against the Chancellor's pro-aviation growth remarks in his Pre-Budget Report. The protest was organised by Camden FoE member (Captain) Jim Roland, and he was ably assisted on the day by Camden FoE coordinator (Cabin Services Director) Suzy Edwards.

Here are some more photos from the protest...

Suzy gets up close and personal with big GB

Suzy again? Who organised this...?

Jim and Suzy dance GB into the ground