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Electric vehicles

2G3S member Janet O’Boyle attended the Green Living event in Cambridge on 22 September, advertised in our last newsletter. She found some interesting facts about electric vehicles; here is her report:

 

‘At the Cambridge Green Living Event I was interested in the electric scooter display, a vehicle I hadn’t heard of before. An electric scooter is faster and goes further than an electric bike, and costs less than £3000. So it would be suitable for journeys that are too far for a bike (like my 12 mile commute) but it uses less energy and takes up less road space than an electric car. You can charge it overnight from a 3-pin socket. Further details at www.supersoco.co.uk.

 

There was also an electric car stand, promoting a tie-in between an octopus energy tariff specifically designed for economical car charging, installation of a home charging point, and lease of a choice of electric cars (from Leaf to Jag) at less than dealer rates (they said). More details at www.octopus.ev.com.’

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Kids’ Repair Cafe 26 October

09:30-12:30, Arts Picturehouse

(from the Transition Cambridge Bulletin):

Cambridge is hosting its first ever Repair Cafe that’s totally focused on fixing children’s games and toys! The event is tying in with the screening of WALL-E. Repair Cafes are free events that match experienced repairers with people who need stuff fixing. Children are invited to drop-in to see one of our repairers before or after one of the films, anytime between 9:30am and 12:30pm. The hosts, Cambridge Carbon Footprint and Transition Cambridge and the 38th Cambridge Film Festival look forward to welcoming all during half-term. Please note, children need to stay with their parent or carer and sit with the repairer during the fix. No booking required, you may have to wait and it’s limited to one item per child. Love toys, hate waste.

Go to CCF website for more information.

 

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News from the August meeting

2G3S meeting held 30 August 2018
We discussed various ideas for future events, including ways to progress our campaign against single-use plastics.  As part of this we are publicising the Eco Living Festival in Cambridge on 22 September.

There are also important events being held by other groups in the near future, including the international ‘Rise for Climate’ action on Saturday 8 September.

Also Camcycle, formerly Cambridge Cycling Campaign, are holding a month of cycling events in Cambridge throughout September.

Back to 2G3S: we are hoping to hold an Apple Day next autumn, possibly as part of a wider event.  The idea is to combine apple pressing for juice, which we have done before, with talks and activities on how to use your apples (making chutneys, cakes etc).

We will almost certainly hold another Repair Café, and are considering ideas for winter evening activities – something on plastics? green finance and investment?  Let us know what you would be interested in.

Fracking: we plan to be part of a delegation to our MP, Heidi Allen, urging her to vote against the government’s proposal to bypass local democracy and planning processes to fast-track fracking.

Photos!
We are looking for photos for our new website.  If you would like to send in a photo (as jpg format please) that illustrates either our general Mission Statement, or a particular type of 2G3S event, we would be delighted to hear from you.  We especially welcome submissions from young people.  So please send your photo, plus your age if you think it relevant, to greengroupssss@gmail.com.  Photos are welcome at any time, but we shall be making our initial selections by the end of December, and awarding a small prize to the best (ioho!) of those we publish.

Financial  help for other groups
Finally, we are a small group of activists.  We always welcome more people to our meetings!  But we have also decided that one way of advancing our aims is to give financial help to other organisations who wish to put on events.  So if you or your group want to stage an event in the 2G3S area which complies with the 2G3S Mission Statement, and need some funding for pump priming, you can apply to us for up to £75.  If at the end of the day you can give some or all of this back, that would be great, but is not essential.  Contact us for more information.

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Upcoming Repair Cafes in South Cambs

Great Abington, Saturday 27 October
The Abingtons’ second Repair Café will run at the Village Institute on the morning of Saturday 27 October, 10am to 1pm, with refreshments on sale from Jeremiah’s Cafe.  To book, please email the team at repaircafe@theabingtons.org.uk, with as many relevant details as you can find out – such as manufacturer, approximate date of manufacture, model number, nature of fault etc. Alternatively, you are welcome to turn up without booking, and probably join a queue.
For more info, visit The Abingtons website.

Cottenham, Saturday 3 November
at the Cottenham Community Cafe, 10am to 2pm.
Details to follow.

Fulbourn, Saturday 10 November
Run by Fulbourn Forum.  Details to follow.

Barrington, Saturday 8 December
Barrington’s first Repair Café!  Details to follow.

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October social/planning meeting

See the event listing for Agenda.

Do join us at our meeting at 8 pm on Tuesday 16 October at The Rose, Stapleford.  The meeting usually includes an ‘open forum’ to discuss green issues – so if there is something you’d like to get off your chest over a drink, or if you’d just like to come and meet us, come along!  We’re very informal.  We use the small bar to the left of the main entrance, but are sometimes in a quiet area in the main bar – ask the bar staff if you can’t find us!

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‘Rise for Climate’ Action day, Saturday 8th September 2018

The climate crisis is rapidly becoming a climate emergency and it’s time our leaders took the strongest action (watch David Spratt’s 2014 talk for more on this, download his latest 2018 report “What Lies Beneath”)

On 8th September, from 11am, groups from Cambridge, including Cambridge Carbon Footprint, Fossil Free Cambs, Zero Carbon Cambridge, Friends of the Earth and Cambridge Conservation Forum are holding a day of action on the market square.

They will be asking people to sign petitions calling for divestment from fossil fuels for the university and the county council, and encouraging people to write to their MP calling for an end to fracking in the UK.

There will be a big performance at 1.30pm, speeches, and a march later.  The event will finish around 3pm.  Do try to attend, even if for a short while, and spread the word.

This is part of a global event, initiated by 350.org.  See the main website: https://riseforclimate.org/

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Summer 2018 Newsletter

Here is our Summer 2018 Newsletter as a download.

As well as reports of our most recent Repair Cafe and dates for future cafes, it contains updates on campaigns and lots of information about other green events locally, and green news from the wider world.

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July social/planning meeting

UPDATE:  This meeting has been rescheduled to Wednesday 18th July – still at 8pm, at The Rose.

See the event listing for Agenda.

Do join us at our meeting at 8 pm on Wednesday 11 July at The Rose, Stapleford.  The meeting usually includes an ‘open forum’ to discuss green issues – so if there is something you’d like to get off your chest over a drink, or if you’d just like to come and meet us, come along!  We’re very informal.  We use the small bar to the left of the main entrance, but are sometimes in a quiet area in the main bar – ask the bar staff if you can’t find us!