Blog
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Plastic Free Llangollen
We’re asking businesses to consider how they can reduce their use of plastic. We’re asking them to replace one plastic product as soon as possible, and to choose plastic free alternatives going forwards.
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Spring Clean 2018 – Get involved!
Be part of Llangollen’s Spring Clean, come along on Sunday 4th March!
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Local councillor acts on air pollution
After monitoring last year, we found that air pollution levels in Llangollen could be of concern. We called on Denbighshire County Council to improve pollution monitoring in Llangollen.
A summary of the results from last year In other parts of Denbighshire air pollution monitoring is carried out on an annual basis, but the last time that Llangollen was monitored by DCC was in 2002.
Our local councillor Graham Timms agreed with us that monitoring should be more frequent, and organised a series of tests for Llangollen. Testing has now started and we await the results, which should be made public in early Spring 2018.
Cllr Graham Timms speaking with concerned local residents at a known pollution blackspot -
Food labelling – Could Wales lead the way?
In 2008 The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee published a report on environmental labelling. Since then, little has been done.
While food labelling for nutrition has made great progress in the UK, environmental labelling has fallen by the wayside. If consumers are to make informed choices, they need information.
Mockup environmental label Producers already provide nutritional information, to print one more label should be no problem. Arguments about space and information overload are covered in the 2008 report.
One important decision would be which environmental impacts should be highlighted. The mockup above shows a variety of measures that could be included. Here are some ideas of impact measures that could be used;
Carbon Dioxide – Use the Carbon Trust method to include; Ingredients, manufacturing, distribution, storage, consumer use, disposal.
Water – If not covered by the carbon figure. The carbon figure may include the energy embodied in the water by treatment and transport. However water use is also important where water is not plentiful and is diverted away from natural watercourses causing ecosystem damage.
Land – This covers efficiency of land use, potential loss of biodiversity and pesticide use.
Packaging – Could be a simple packing weight, or a weighted score including weight vs weight of product, energy, material use, re-use/recycling potential.
Number of Earths (Sustainability) – Given rate we consume this product, how many Earths are required for such use to be sustainable.
A simple A to E scale, giving products one easy to spot rating. This kind of system is already in use for outdoor equipment at a large retailer in the UK. Producers would need to be provided with simple tools and guidelines to help calculate the impacts of their product.
Smaller, local producers may find favour in this system. Due to reduced food miles, their Carbon measure should be comparatively lower than international producers.
Lots of research exists on this topic. It needs a brave decision from policy makes to implement the research. Is this something we in Wales can lead the way on?
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Llangollen Air Pollution
Pollution levels in parts of Llangollen are comparable to those found in major cities. In one location pollution is close to the legal limit, potentially putting at risk the health of residents.
Located in the picturesque Dee Valley, it is easy to assume that air pollution is something that doesn’t affect Llangollen. If you live alongside a main road in Llangollen, you may have guessed that things aren’t quite so rosey.
In January this year Llangollen Friends of the Earth deployed five Nitrogen Dioxide measuring kits. The kits measured this well known pollutant for three weeks. The results were surprising;
The European Union has set a legal average annual limit for NO2 at 40µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre). But even at low levels, short term and long term exposure to NO2 can have significant negative health effects.
One of the measurement sites is very close to the 40µg/m3 limit.
The levels displayed in Llangollen, especially those on the A539 Mill Street and by the A5 / Castle Street traffic lights are comparable to those found in certain locations in major cities. For example; Chester, the outskirts of Liverpool, Walsall and the dockland area of Cardiff.
Although generally lower, the increased average level at the school gate compared to the community garden is likely to be due to droppping off and picking up traffic at the school.
Group member Warren Davies stated, “These readings were taken during January and February when the traffic is pretty quiet. If the rest of the year was taken into account, the average values could be much higher.”
He went on to say “There is a lot of talk about reducing emissions in London and in cities, but localised air pollution in our towns can be just as unhealthy.”
Nationally outdoor air pollution is responsible for 40,000 premature deaths a year in the UK, according to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
NO2 is associated with vehicle traffic. Nationally Friends of the Earth is calling for restrictions of the dirtiest vehicles. Locally, Llangollen & District Friends of the Earth are calling on our local decision makers to consider our findings, and invest in schemes locally to reduce emissions by encouraging walking and cycling, and discouraging traffic-generating developments.
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2016 Welsh Assembly Election Videos
We invited all of the prospective Clwyd South candidates to take part in a 60 second video interview. We asked them…
- Who are you? Tell us a bit about yourself.
- Why are you standing? Tell us what are your priorities.
- What are we going to do about climate change?
You can see all of the videos here on our YouTube channel
We invited; Simon Baynes (Welsh Conservatives), Mabon Ap Gwynfor (Plaid Cymru), Mandy Jones (UKIP), Duncan Rees (Wales Green Party), Aled Roberts (Welsh Liberal Democrats) and Ken Skates (Welsh Labour). The following candidates did not respond; Mandy Jones (UKIP).
