Appeal for computer/web helpIf you have computer/web skills can you help us maintain our blog? The blog is our window to the world, with news and updates on our activities. It is particularly relevant to other Quaker meetings who may be struggling with environmental issues. At present members of the steering group are struggling to upload documents and images to the blog to keep it up to date. Support for anyone willing to take this on is available from Jonathan Baxter. If you are interested please contact Jonathan at
jb4change(at)gmail.com.
Appeal for beach clean co-ordinatorThe beach clean has been a feature of our Living Witness project and we have built a good relationship with the East Lothian countryside ranger service. Paul Parrish is hoping to arrange a final beach clean shortly, but sadly he will be leaving Edinburgh, so we would like to find someone to take this on. The job involves a few phone calls, emails and meeting announcements once a quarter, and of course, cleaning the beach (the fun part!). Simon Jackson has offered to keep the beach clean going in the interim but we would love to hear from anyone who would like to do this in the longer term.
Beach cleaning has also brought us into contact with PAL – People Against Litter. PAL encourages people to sign up on their web site. (See,
Relevant Websites below.) There is no fee. This is something anyone can do, even if you can’t make it to the beach!
EventsAllotment Planting Planning meeting
1st meeting 24th Feb. Contact the steering group for news of further meetings and gardening opportunities. THE TIME HAS COME FOR EVERYONE TO PLANT SOME SEEDS NOW. We may have space for seedlings on the allotment or in the meeting house window!
Art and the Environment
QMH Saturday 28th March – for further details please see Simon Jackson, Michelle Gunn and Jane Angel.
Beach Clean
Look out for an announcement from Paul Parrish. Usually features convivial refreshments and a bit of bird watching as well as collecting many sacks of litter from the beaches around Musselburgh.
Living Witness Day (an overview)
Our Living Witness Day on Saturday 7th March was a real pleasure and thanks go to all Friends who helped to make it a success. It was in many ways both a review of the year past and a seed time for the year to come.
Our beautiful banner will soon be on display in the Meeting House foyer. We are open to suggestions as to when or whether we should take it for walks.
Our friend Alastair McIntosh gave an inspired and inspiring talk on the imperative to shift and deepen our relationship with the natural world.
The Scottish Wildlife Trust reserve at Johnston Terrace was open for visitors in the morning and Jane Garven and Lindy Furby came along to introduce adults and children to “Forest School”. We now have our own key to the site and look forward to arranging a variety of activities in what feels like our own “secret garden”. Some suggestions include crèche activities, all ages meeting for worship, living witness steering group meetings, art events and a summer fair/Bar-b-q. Janet Saunders will be happy to take Friends for informal visits after meeting. Leaflets about the reserve (the smallest in South East Scotland) are in the library.
Emma Chapman gave a talk on composting. The options ranged from the humble heap to the “green Johanna”. The wormery offers a complete indoor processing option for people with no garden and produces useable compost for growing plants. There are also a range of in-between options, such as the Bakashi bin, which will partly digest compostable material. The produce then needs transported to an outdoor compost area to complete the job.
Emma explained that by composting we are providing a habitat for the creatures who are doing the composting for us. A successful compost area will need 1/3 greens, fresh fruit and veg cuttings, 1/3 browns e.g. twigs, small pieces of cardboard and shredded paper and 1/3 air. This provides food, nesting material and oxygen. Emma’s care and respect for all the life forms that inhabit, or might visit the heap, was evident in her talk.
Anyone who is concerned that their heap might not be operating efficiently can call the master composter scheme for free on site (or should that be heapside) advice. Contact Changeworks on: 0131 555 4010 or email:
mastercomposter(at)changeworks.org.ukOr write to: Master Composter, Changeworks, 36 Newhaven Road, Edinburgh, EH6 5PY.
A variety of compost bins are available to purchase on the web. WRAP (The Waste & Resources Action Programme) in partnership with all Scottish local councils is offering reduced price compost bins to residents from only £6, with FREE delivery to your door. Each household can purchase up to three bins, and the compost bin comes with a kitchen caddy and a full instruction leaflet. Bins can be ordered from the Waste Aware Scotland website
http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/buy_a_bin/in_your_area_1.htmlor call the orderline on 0845 076 0223. PLEASE QUOTE REFERENCE CW-MCV WHEN ORDERING (Changeworks is recognised for giving out the order details.). Bins are heavily discounted and the level of discount is not always obvious when you first visit the site.
Gregory Norminton launched the Carbon Weightwatchers and Green Book Club. This offers a further form of support for those keen to live more lightly.
GREEN BOOK CLUB
There will be a first gathering for the Green Book Club in March. If you haven't yet signed up but would like to, please let Gregory Norminton know: 0131 2285031 or
gdr(at)totalise.co.uk.
The Green Book Club is not a scary science book club: we'll be reading everything from poetry and fiction to inspiring nature writing. Come along and we can decide what to read together! Hope this will do and that there's still time.
We also had a display from the Heart and Soul group. More details of this can be obtained from Brian O’Hare at
edinburgh-transition-heart-soul(at)googlegroups.com
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