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CONTACT
Kate Allport
Community
Team Leader
01225 787912
Email
Jo Belotti
Community Initiatives
Officer, Somer
01225 366145
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sustainability forum
"Working together in our local communities by raising awareness and encouraging action to help create a sustainable environment"
The Sustainability Forum was set up in the summer of 2000 and represents a partnership between Somer residents in the B&NES area, Envolve and Somer Community Housing Trust.
Community Furniture Sales | Light Bulb Tour | The Green Handbook | Environmental Training | Bags For Life
Community Furniture Sales | Back to top
These events are run in partnership with SOFA Project, Bath & North East Somerset Council and The Real Nappy Project/Recycling Consortium (TRC).
 The sales provide a means of buying inexpensive furniture and white goods for people on a low income, while providing a forum for other re-use/recycle items - features at sales over the last year have included re-usable nappies, compost bins & low-energy light bulbs.
The Forum hopes to hold more of these events soon, intending to target areas not yet reached and also to re-visit areas where local residents have requested a repeat performance. If you would like a Sale in your area, please contact staff through the details below.
Designed as a means of distributing the 40,000 low-energy light bulbs donated to Somer, to their residents in Bath &North East Somerset, the tour has made bulbs available at Forum events e.g. Community Furniture Sales and has also delivered door-to-door at Somer properties, e.g. Elmhurst Estate in Batheaston. Four bulbs are available to all Somer’s residents and to date, the Forum have managed to distribute an impressive total of 5574 light bulbs to 1628 properties across Bath & North East Somerset.
 The Forum is looking for new ways of distributing the supply of free low energy electric light bulbs to Somer’s residents in Bath & North East Somerset over the next year, so if you would like some, please contact contact staff through the details below.
Launched last September and distributed through Somer Local Service Centres, the Envolve Information Resource and attendance of local events, the Handbook provides information on how people can live more sustainably. Topics include how to save energy and money on heating and lighting, appliances, water, insulation, damp and condensation, all about the reduction, re-use and recycling of rubbish, plus tips on energy efficiency with a family. Each section contains information fliers to pull out and take away, so the information is freely available to the public, but inexpensive to reproduce.
Plans are in hand to extend distribution of this information through Somer’s Welcome packs, local libraries and other public venues; and to create new sections for the Handbook on sustainable Transport and Food sourcing.
Environmental training | Back to top
The Forum is co-ordinating various training courses through Somer and Envolve, covering topics including energy/recycling training, cookery/healthy eating and accessing local food, growing your own food and composting of household waste.If you are interested in any of these training opportunities, please contact staff through the details below.
The aim of this initiative is to reduce the use of disposable plastic carrier bags, by providing low-cost, re-usable, bio-degradable shopping bags for local residents. The Forum intends to work in partnership with their Community Furniture Sales partners, Bath & North East Somerset Council, SOFA and The Recycling Consortium (TRC), to provide Fair Traded bags made from a material such as jute, or hemp. The bags would have a long working life and be fully bio-degradable once they became worn out.
If you are interested in obtaining a ‘Bag for Life’, please contact staff through the details below.
There are many more ideas under development and we need residents from all areas of B&NES to join and contribute their ideas and enthusiasm.
 The Sustainability Forum meets every six weeks on Tuesdays lunchtimes at Somer Community Housing Trust, Lower Bristol Road, Bath.
The Sustainability Forum represents a partnership between Somer residents in the B&NES area, Envolve and Somer Community Housing Trust. |
