September’s Resource Thoughts – 2026

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 12th October 7pm using Google Meet – Please contact simongibbon@casav.uk for further details.

  • Waste
    • Electricals & Battery Safety Campaign
  • Clothes
    • Ethical Fashion Show – the NEST Guisborough – 19th September
    • Uniform Reuse Directory 2027
  • Energy
    • Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
    • Climate Anxiety & Grid Balancing
  • Reduce / Reuse / Recycle / Circularity
    • WRAP Recycle Week(14 – 20 September)
    • Halloween Costume Re-use
    • Beeswax Wraps
  • Food
    • Community harvest event in Osmotherley
    • Proposed workshop on how to prepare plant based food using sustainable and local food resources
  • Communications
    • Stokesley Library has an exhibition on the extreme flooding of 1976
    • Café Scientifique in Stockton now on 3rd Wednesdays rather than Tuesdays
    • Green Libraries Week(21 – 28 October)
    • Recommended Fire Weather by Canadian journalist John Vaillant
    • D&S Climate Column: impacts of super El Niño
    • “Worlds on Fire” community climate production Arc 15-17 October
    • John Clare centuries ago saw how the land sees us.
  • Events
    • Bilsdale Show – successful stall lots of engagement
    • Green Libraries Week.
    • 19th September Swainby Repair Cafe

Actions/future activities and short notes below:

Actions / Future Activities

  • Wendy: Share feedback and positive comments regarding the Bilsdale Show’s new agri-environmental class at the upcoming NYMA AGM.
  • Kate: Follow up with Helen regarding organizing community Halloween costume swaps in Stokesley and Great Ayton.
  • Kate: Deliver mini insect hotel crafting activities to Carlton and Faceby school before half-term.
  • Kate/Simon: Visit the Common Ground Ecohub in Norton to advise on setting up a Repair Cafe.
  • Kate: Attending the green funerals workshop at the Common Ground Ecohub.
  • Kate: Model in NEST’s upcoming ethical and sustainable fashion show.
  • Kate: Propose seasonal plant-based cooking and baking workshops at Swainby Village Hall to the Food Group.
  • Robert: Finalise this month’s CASaV Climate in the Darlington & Stockton Times regarding government warnings about a super El Niño.
  • Robert: Supply complimentary copies of his book, Green Hush, for distribution in local libraries during Green Libraries Week.
  • Michelle: Run Green Library Week activities (sustainable planters, seed hubs, seeded paper bookmarks, and recycling games) across local libraries.
  • Michelle: Partner with the local Fire Brigade and North Yorkshire Council on an awareness campaign for battery, vape, and electrical disposal safety.
  • Michelle: Distribute “RStuff” downloadable resource packs to parish councils and charity shops for independent Halloween costume swaps.
  • Michelle: Coordinate promotional appearances for WRAP Recycle Week using the “Deo” deodorant bottle mascot in Richmond and Stokesley market.
  • Michelle: Speak with Tracy to explore options for commercial event recycling bins at future agricultural shows (e.g. Bilsdale).
  • Simon: Feedback to Bilsdale Agricultural Show Committee around how to make the show even more sustainable.
  • Kate: Include the event dates and ticket details for the Worlds on Fire climate action production in the October CASaV newsletter.
  • Joy: Ask her son Tom about running a beeswax wrap crafting workshop during his upcoming visit.
  • Jenny: Look into Tim Wesenfelder’s experience with making beeswax wraps.

Previous Actions & Outcomes

  • Agri-Environmental Prize Criteria: Wendy to contact the North Yorkshire Moors Association (NYMA) secretary to request formal specifications and criteria for the agri-environmental competition class.
  • Yard Sales & Table Sales Research: Anne to research Helmsley’s church-fundraising yard sale trail model (£10 map fees) as well as Guisborough’s Methodist Hall indoor table sales model.
  • Scavenging / Foraging Event: Kate coordinated with Robert regarding logistics for the community scavenging event held on 5th September in Osmotherley.
    • Outcome: Over 30 people attended the event. Harvest yield included abundant hazelnuts, apples (eaters, cookers), blackberries, and raspberries, plums, with grapes and walnuts ripening for later harvest. The event raised over £140 in donations for East Africa.

Updates

Wendy

  • Scavenging Event: Expressed thanks to Jane, Robert, and all volunteers who provided the food spread at the foraging event.
  • Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF): Highlighted a Darlington & Stockton Times article reporting a North East clean-tech development converting wood chips, sawdust, and wheat straw into ethanol, which is subsequently upgraded to sustainable aviation fuel.
  • Local Exhibitions: Noted an exhibition running at Stokesley Library featuring photographs and material on the Great Flood of 1976.
  • Café Scientifique: Confirmed that Café Scientifique (affiliated with Durham University) has permanently moved its monthly evening speaker sessions from Tuesdays to third Wednesdays of the month at 19:30 for 19:45. 16th September “How engineers are managing the future – (and can I still eat crisps if we get to net zero?) ” Professor Michael Short is the Director of the Centre for Sustainable Engineering at Teesside University. Café Scientifique Stockton on Tees.

Michelle

  • Green Libraries Week(21 – 28 October): Organising half-term activities across Great Ayton and Northallerton libraries (with Stokesley pending). Activities feature sustainable planters, library seed hubs, seeded paper bookmarks, and paper cup planters for Halloween seeds. Sessions focus on addressing public misinformation around hard-to-recycle items like Pringles and compostable plastics.
  • Uniform Reuse Directory 2027: Working toward a central 2027 online directory logging all school uniform swap hubs and community reuse shops across local areas.
  • Electricals & Battery Safety Campaign: Partnering with the local Fire Brigade and North Yorkshire Council on awareness campaigns regarding battery and vape disposal, following several fires caused in bin wagons, MRFs (Materials Recovery Facilities), and waste sites.
  • WRAP Recycle Week(14 – 20 September): Utilizing national WRAP assets, including a giant deodorant bottle mascot named “Deo” scheduled for promotional appearances in Richmond and Stokesley market.
  • Halloween Costume Re-use: Transitioning from central library swaps to providing downloadable toolkit information packs (“RStuff“) for parish councils, charity shops, and local groups to organise independent community costume swaps.

Robert

  • Foraging Event Summary: £140.50 was raised for East Africa from the Osmotherley foraging event. Noted that apple varieties are ripening sequentially rather than glutting all at once.
  • Book Recommendation — Fire Weather: Recommended Fire Weather by Canadian journalist John Vaillant, detailing the catastrophic 2016 Fort McMurray boreal forest fire, permafrost combustion, 150 years of ignored CO2 warnings, and early oil industry climate research.
  • D&S Media Article: Finalising an upcoming article for the Darlington & Stockton Times highlighting government warnings regarding a upcoming super El Niño.
  • Author Contributions: Offered complimentary copies of his book, Green Hush (Robert Thorniley-Walker), for library distribution during Green Libraries Week.
  • Local Food Resources: Supported Kate’s sustainable food initiatives and highlighted unharvested public fruit resources (e.g., an apple and pear tree avenue in Middlehaven, Middlesbrough) and alternative grains like rye.

Jenny

  • Climate Anxiety & Grid Balancing: Expressed concern over super El Niño forecasts and heatwaves, but highlighted Octopus Energy’s “energy saving hours” (6–7 PM) where customer demand-reduction balanced the grid, saving energy equivalent to powering the city of Leicester.
  • Book Recommendation — Poor: Recommended Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan, detailing childhood poverty and systemic barriers to authority engagement, emphasizing that vulnerable families often lack practical choices without early, supportive interventions.

Joy

  • “Worlds on Fire” Production: Joy and Kate participating in Worlds on Fire, a climate-action musical drama at The Arc in Stockton (15th–17th October) – tickets here. As well as the drama there is also a showcase of 40 local climate/environmental stalls.
  • Poetry Feature: Recited John Clare’s poem, The Lament of Swordy Well, which conveys environmental loss and grief from the perspective of enclosed common land.

Pete

  • Community Rehabilitation & Hope: Highlighted an initiative where inmates at HMP Addiewell in Scotland restored 16 bicycles for homeless charities in Bishop Auckland and Hartlepool, advocating for practical environmental projects over prison expansion.

Kate

  • Bilsdale Show — Insect Hotels: Led children’s mini insect hotel crafting at the Bilsdale Show using recycled tins, sticks, and dried plants (prepared by Joy) to promote uncultivated garden wildlife areas. Planning to replicate this activity at Carlton and Faceby school.
  • Ethical Fashion Show: Participating as a model in NEST’s upcoming upcycled and sustainable fashion show in Yarm/Stokesley – 19th September 6-8pm.
  • Plant-Based & Local Produce Workshops: Proposed running seasonal baking/cooking workshops at Swainby Village Hall focusing on plant-based patisserie, regional grains (rye, spelt), Carlin peas, plantain, and low-fuel cooking methods like pressure cookers. Have a Level 2 Health & Hygiene qualification for insurance requirements.
  • Beeswax Wraps: Discussed running beeswax wrap crafting sessions, possible there is local expertise from Tim Westenfelder and Joy’s son Tom.

Simon

  • Middlesbrough Future Visioning: Shared reflections from a workshop with Rob Hopkins (How to Fall in Love with the Future) and Repowering Middlesbrough on community-led, green, car-free urban futures.
  • Corporate Sustainability Review — Highland Spring: Shared details from a chance meeting with Highland Spring’s Finance Director:
    • PET bottles are shipped as small pre-forms and blown on-site, reducing transit volume.
    • Bottles feature 100% recyclable materials, 20% weight reduction, and tethered caps.
    • Uses a dedicated rail freight facility removing 23 HGV trips daily (6 days a week).
    • Site includes a 2,500-acre organic-certified catchment area in the Ochil Hills and solar power investments targeting net zero by 2040.
    • Contrasted this with Harrogate Spring’s controversial expansion plans into local woodland.
  • Bilsdale Show Stand Review: Strong visitor engagement at the CASaV stand. Noted that event organisers provided only a single general waste bin for the showground, resulting in a lack of public recycling facilities. The new Agri-Environmental competition class (6 entries) was a great innovation, and judged via public vote.

4. Matters Arising — Repair Cafe & Upcoming Events

  • Norton Common Ground Ecohub Support: Kate and Simon are visiting the Common Ground Ecohub in Norton (based in the old Quaker Meeting House) to assist them in establishing a new Repair Cafe, alongside green toddler groups and green funeral workshops.
  • Swainby Repair Cafe: Scheduled for Thursday, 19th September (running alongside a stationery and mailer/Jiffy bag reuse drive). Noted a date clash with the Stokesley Show, though past events indicate minimal impact on attendance.
  • Pink Box Collection Constraints: Clarified that collecting electrical items in pink council-branded boxes at Repair Cafes/stalls is prohibited due to health & safety, insurance, and transit restrictions preventing volunteers from transporting collected items in personal vehicles.
  • Next Meeting: Confirmed for Tuesday, 12th October.

Next Meetings/Events

  • CASaV Whole Group Meeting Tuesday 15th September 7.30pm

Next Meeting

Tuesday 12th October via Google Meet – email simongibbon@casav.uk for link.