The honey bee has been the subject of much concerned and detailed scientific scrutiny over the past few years due to massive losses in bee populations. Bees not only provide us with honey, but are hugely important in pollinating crops - anything from apples and apricots to beans and strawberries.
The Vanishing of the Bees is a new film that uncovers some of the facts behind "colony collapse disorder" and unexplained bee losses.
Transition Scilly are showing the film on Thursday 11th March at 7.30pm in the Old Wesleyan Chapel on St Mary's. Entry is free and all are welcome.
If you can't make the film evening the DVD will be available in St Mary's library after the event.
In Alberta, Canada lie vast reserves of bitumen, known as "Tar Sands". Essentially this is shale and sand with a high oil content that can, with a high input of energy, be refined in to liquid oil that can be refined in to petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, gas, etc.
Theoretically, this is an answer to the shortage of oil that North America faces, but it comes at a very high cost. Besides the threat of oil spills, conventional oil production is relatively unobtrusive as it's pumped from vast underground reservoirs. Tar sands however are the complete opposite.
It's like open cast mining on a vast scale. Vast tracts of pristine wilderness disappear, water courses are heavily polluted, there's severe localised air pollution and devastating effects on both wildlife and humans. The energy required to refine tar sands in to oil is immense.
A new film called "Toxic Fuels" is being released on March 15th, supported by The Co-Operative Bank. Have a look at the website here: http://toxicfuels.com/
This Thursday sees the launch of a series of film screenings from Transition Scilly. First up is a big budget film The 11th Hour, written and presented by Lenardo di Caprio.
Film starts at 7.30pm on Thursday 25th February in the Old Wesleyan Chapel on St Mary's. There will be tea and cakes, entry is free and anyone is welcome. Doors open from 7.00pm.
Rather than a description from me, judge for yourself from the trailer:
Two interesting series on TV at the moment that have strong connections with the principles of Transition (and a common link in Monty Don!) include:
Mastercrafts: Green Woodworking, where "Monty Don, a huge fan of traditional crafts, presents a series which celebrates six of the craft skills that built Britain and its heritage, ranging from thatching to stonemasonry." http://bbc.co.uk/i/qsc3j/
We had another good work session at Trenoweth Community orchard again today. About 12 people helped at some point during the day, where we continued getting the hedges in shape, moved all the hedge cuttings and stripped the old black plastic away from the arum lillies.
It was a lovely sunny day after 12 and it felt very sheltered from the cool Northerly breeze. The photos show some good work having been done and another...well, reflection?! Does Nick realise he's been caught on camera supervising the biscuits?
We're still on course for planting on 28th Feb, but will confirm nearer the time.
On Sunday 31st January several Transition Scilly members got together on a lovely sunny day at Trenoweth to help prepare the field for the new Community Orchard.
The land had previously been part of Trenoweth Horticultural Research Station and had been used for Narcissi flower trials. But as it was ancillary to the main parcel of land it hadn't been fully managed for a number of years so is in need of some improvement.
Hedges to the west and north of the plot needed some serious cutting, so we got in and started hacking back the Oleriaandgorse in a dramatic way. Looks a bit serious to start with, but it'll improve the field no end in the long run.
Another work party is planned for Sunday 14th Feb from 10-4 where we should finish hedge cutting and have the field ready for planting a couple of weeks after that. Then it really will be an orchard!
"You are what you eat" is a simple statement that gets right to the heart of the relationship between our landscape, society, human health and economy. Eat good, wholesome food from your local area - and of course a balanced diet, and the short and long term health benefits are immense.
It seemed to take our society about 25 years to work out that in fact we may not be giving our children the best food at school, and that this has a huge impact on learning, behaviour and grades. Fortunately this has been addressed on a national scale, led by people like Jamie Oliver and carried on by great projects such as Food for Life.
We've also realised that perhaps hospitals are not providing the best food to help patients recover, though sadly this has not been addressed on a national scale.
It's particularly shocking then that children in Nurseries appear to be fed on absolute rubbish right up and down the country. The Soil Association report Georgie, Porgie, Pudding and Pie found that many nurseries were spending as little as 25p per child on food. Much of this food had additives and ingredients banned under school nutritional standards.
The effect that such poor food has on young developing minds and bodies can't be underestimated. Trends towards weight gain and obesity start in the under 5's, so we're saving up massive health problems for society in the future if such trends continue.
When the decision to build a third runway at Heathrow was announced individuals, NGO's, politicians and local people all rallied against the proposals to stop further airport expansion.
Air travel is an enormous and rapidly growing source of global carbon emissions that has massive implications for climate change. Further and unchecked growth will lead to ever faster rates of global temperature rise and disasterous consequences.
One highly inspred action was the acquisition of a plot of land at Sipson in Middlesex, right in the heart of the proposed runway development. This plot of land now has over 60,000 co-owners, meaning to acquire the site the developers must evict every owner!!
The action has been co-ordinated by Greenpeace and is called Airplot. It's a Gandhian-inspired piece of non-violent action and has huge symbolic significance.
Have a look at the video and if you would like to get involved simply go to the website and sign up as a plot owner - it's free and very quick.
I recently went to a Cornish organic farmers and growers' low carbon farming event at Cusgarne Organics near Truro. The farm is beautiful, set in a secluded valley away from main roads, producing veg boxes, beef, eggs and chickens. They've also planted up more orchards and some nut trees including sweet chestnuts and almonds.
One really interesting project was Biodiesel production from waste cooking oil from the surrounding area. "Biodiesel Dave" from Cleaner Combustion produces this stuff in a workshop on the farm to a high standard - i.e. that can be run in modern cars, not just dirty old Land Rovers and tractors.
It certainly gave me a further jolt of inspiration for use of waste oils to power machinery. The photo (above) on the side of his car, whilst going against the ethos of healthy organic food, gave everyone a laugh!
Transition Network have recently released a film about Transition initiatives - the principles and practices, featuring ideas and people from different parts of the world.
The Vanishing of the Bees is a new film that uncovers some of the facts behind "colony collapse disorder" and unexplained bee losses.
