Village Sustainability Newsletter November 2025
SUSTAINABILITY – WORKING TOWARDS THE COFE’S CARBON NEUTRAL TARGET 2030
Power of the media
Firstly, my apologies for the lack of an article last month when I was unwell. I made a sizable dent in my stack of charity shop-sourced novels and jigsaws! Normal service has now resumed, thanks to a gentle week and our fabulous local doctors’ surgery.
My little brush with medication sparked the following thoughts about sustainability:
1 – Did you know that you can recycle blister packs used for painkillers and other tablet-form medicines? There are collection boxes in larger branches of Boots, and some vets, and doubtless other locations too. No need to put them in the grey bin.
2 – Inhalers account for around 3% of the greenhouse gas emissions of the NHS. The worst effects are from those which have a metered dose delivered by a gas propellant. Dry powder inhalers have a much lower impact, so if you or a family member use an inhaler, why not ask your doctor or pharmacist for the most sustainable option?
3 - One of my pet hates when my children were small was the vast number of plastic syringes that came with bottles of Calpol. I understood the need for them but it was always disappointing that there was no way of saying “no thank you, I have 50 of these at home!” My “what do I do with…?” online groups were full of people trying (and usually failing) to find alternative uses for these (weird crafts and administering medicines to small mammals come to mind…) although I believe they can at least be recycled in some branches of Tesco’s and perhaps elsewhere too these days.
Do look out for other ways of sustainably disposing of these kinds of items and share the information with those around you.
I am a bit late to the party (it started last June) but I have recently discovered the excellent BBC podcast Radical by Amol Rajan of (soon to be former) Today and current University Challenge fame. He interviews known experts with interesting, innovative, educated, thoughtful – let’s say radical - views and suggestions on how we could and maybe should tackle the issues of the day. The format is lively, engaging and accessible, the guests friendly, the whole thing informative without being patronising.
In those few months there have been episodes on, inter alia, rivers (Robert Macfarlane), climate migration (Gaia Vince), sustainable farming (James Rebanks), conservation (Chris Packam), fast fashion vs clothing repair (Josephine Philips), ultra-processed foods (Thomasina Miers), plus others covering subjects less directly concerned with sustainability. There is masses of information delivered in a thought-provoking way, and each is followed by a Q&A session where listeners get to ask about issues raised or on their minds.
And of course, the other media “talk of the moment” is Channel 4’s excellent Dirty Business docu-drama, putting the spotlight on the appalling sewage discharge practices of the country’s water companies and the associated failings of regulation and government which have caused so much damage to human health, plant and animal life, and water quality in general in recent years. It’s an absolutely must-see if you haven’t already done so. The day after we finished watching it I heard an interview with the Tonbridge Wells MP about the many disruptions to water supply suffered by his constituents and the failure of his local water company to resolve them or even to respond to their failings in a timely or effective way. We have had our own local issues with untreated sewage in rivers and on the public highway in neighbouring villages and surely this is area where action needs to be forthcoming, and soon. A reliable water supply with safe sewage treatment should not be a radical expectation in a wealthy 21st century democracy.
Julia Hoaen