If you’re looking for green products and services, green spaces, green initiatives and groups in Birmingham UK, start here. With your help, we can help everyone cut the carbon by pooling our knowledge on all the different initiatives in the city to cut CO₂ and other greenhouse gases – and other forms of pollution.

GREENING BRUM: If you are doing anything to help create a sustainable economy in the city, to preserve biodiversity, or to increase awareness of ecological issues, we want to know about it.

Websites included

• Balsall Heath Is Our Planet
• Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust
• Birmingham & District Alotments Council
• Birmingham Open Spaces Forum
• Birmingham Friends of the Earth
• Birmingham Recycled
• Faith & Climate Change
• GreeninBrum
• Martineau Gardens
• Pushbikes
• Various local parks and nature reserves
• Zero Carbon House

BUSINESSES

• Jyoti’s Indian Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurant, Sparkhill
• Geosolar – photovoltaics (solar electricity)
• Indigo Wholefoods
• Sunpower Technologies – photovoltaics and solar thermal (hot water)
• The Warehouse Cafe (vegetarian and vegan)

Email us if you want us to include your green Birmingham website in the search. This is a free service.

Outside
the quicksilver sinks a little in the glass.
Inside the conference hall
the temperature rises.

After decades of hypocrisy
quick minds need to find a quick and lasting deal
to save us from the quicksands,
requicken our forests, restore our full humanity.

Last,
the kings & queens begin to trickle in
with their signet rings,
as hustlers continue to cobble texts.

Last chance? Last days? Last gasp?
Place mind in heart, put pen to paper, breathe a prayer.

©Copyright Chris Duggan 2009

Enthral us with the beauty
and wonder of the natural world
endangered by our greed.

Enlighten us and embolden us
so that we have the courage
to challenge climate injustice.

Inspire our leaders
to reach a fair and binding deal
on climate change in Copenhagen.

And as creation too waits,
empower us to keep alive
the kernel of hope
that all things will be made new.

Amen

[source: Catherine Gorman/CAFOD. To download more prayers or worship materials or to sign up to weekly email reflections, visit cafod.org.uk/worship]

Dear Roger Godsiff,

I have just learned that our national bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, has lent or underwritten £8bn for exploiting the tar sands in Alberta, Canada. This is a crazy scheme for extracting oil by strip mining, destroying huge areas of forest. Extracting oil from this highly impure source requires a huge amount of energy, and causes pollution of an unprecedented intensity in the oil industry.

Under Stephen Harper since 2006, Canada has torn up its commitment to Kyoto and is doing its damnedest to scupper the talks at Copenhagen.

RBS’ involvement in this globally threatening business seems to me to dwarf their barefaced cheek in planning huge bonuses for some of their employees. If it’s our bank, we should be able to stop it investing in this business.

I hope you will raise this with the ministers concerned as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely

Chris Duggan

Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP
Chancellor of the Exchequer
HM Treasury
1 Horseguards Road
London
SW1A 2HQ

Dear Alistair

Re RBS and Environmental Policies

Mr Duggan was in touch with my office recently concering the above matter and I attach a copy of his email for reference.

I would also be grateful if you would be kind enough to give me some background on other similar issues raised in the press recently which raise environmental investment concerns and include:-

1. Alberta, Canada – RBS financing loans to coal, oil and gas companies, including money for projects such as the massive tar sands projects in Alberta, Canada.

2. India – an entire tribal group is under threat from an opencast bauxite mine planned by a British mining company supported by a subsidiary of RBS.

3. Democratic Republic of Congo – thousands of refugees are caught up in an ongoing civil war inflamed by oil exploration financed by RBS.
With thanks for your assistance in this matter

Yours sincerely

Roger Godsiff MP

A green doctor scheme will be expanded due to popular demand. Family Housing Association’s (FHA) green doctor programme has been a huge success since it was launched in 2007 with over 100 households benefiting from green doctor visits.

The green doctor programme was initially set up to tackle fuel poverty in south Lozells. The doctor visits homes to identify energy saving measures and carries out the necessary work, to ensure the resident saves money whilst also becoming more fuel efficient.

The green doctor, whilst delivered by FHA, is supported by Be Birmingham’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund (WNF). WNF funding will enable FHA to expand the scheme by working in partnership with Groundwork West Midlands and Moseley Community Development Trust to provide a high quality green doctor service to vulnerable households in deprived areas of Birmingham.

All households that have a green doctor visit will be entered into a FREE prize draw to win an A+ rated washing machine or fridge freezer.

To find out more, check your eligibility and book your free appointment call Family Housing Association on 0121 766 1100

From www.bebirmingham.org.uk/spotlights.php?id=65

We are an ngo based in the gambia. we have set up a tailoring project using old clothes – which is proving to be very successful. we have been buying the clothes here – very expensive – can you tell us if any of the businesses that take your waste clothing would be willing to send them to us? we are willing to pay for them/transport as long as it is not too prohibitive. we especially want asian/ethnic clothes but virtually everything can be put to very good use. it is not only creating employment but good tailoring/design training as well and we are also adapting much for use in our childrens theatre companies. any help would be greatly appreciated. many thanks and best wishes
kadi touray

Will add contact form soon – meanwhile contact GreeninBrum

With snow on the roofs of buildings and no sunshine, now is a very good time to see how well insulated your house is. Just go outside and have a
look. You might also notice that snow on the ground close to buildings has melted. Even well insulated buildings leak heat at ground level (our house too) unless the insulation carries on down into the ground. Apparently 1 metre deep is recommended.

Thanks to Oz for this.