Our next Zoom meeting is on Tuesday 8th July 7pm – Please contact simongibbon@casav.uk for further details.
Full notes below, after a quick summary – follow links for the detail:
- Waste:
- Plastics:
- Reduce / Reuse / Recycle / Circularity:
- Textiles:
- Buildings:
- Food:
- CASaV Wide
Actions
Background – Our Monthly Waste Discussions
If you have just signed up to the Waste Group, then welcome, I hope these notes of our discussion make sense.
We meet once a month to talk about topics connected to waste and plan / report progress on our ongoing activities such as the Repair Cafes, Foodshare, Refill scheme and events such as the Bilsdale Show. If you visit the “Thoughts on Waste” page on the CASaV website you can find all our past discussions – https://climateactionstokesleyandvillages.org/waste/thoughts-on-waste/
Please get in touch if you have any questions.
Notes form 18th June 2025 CASaV Waste Group Eco-garden Tour
This meeting differed from our normal meetings by being held at Joy and Pete’s Eco-Barn, so less discussion of waste and more seeing reuse, upcycling and repurposing in practise on their land.
Previous Actions
Tracey to provide information on how plastics are recycled and what they are recycled into.
Tracey to provide contact for Reboot (North Yorkshire tech recycling) if available.
Anne and Helen to explore creating an article for the climate column on reducing bread and potato waste for September.
Kate contact Geoff Jacques about Eco-church as a topic for D&S Climate Column
Fred to provide details on the eco-thrift event in Redcar.
All to consider questions for a potential Facebook survey with Tindalls on refill products and implement the survey – email your ideas to Simon Gibbon (simongibbon@casav.uk).
Simon to confirm details for the upcoming shows in Bilsdale and Kilsdale before the next meeting.
All please contact Kate Gibbon (kategibbon@casav.uk) if you or any friends are able to volunteer to help with setting up Give or Take events.
Eco-garden Tour
Pete’s tour of the area highlights the multifaceted approach to developing and maintaining the land, transforming it over 37 years into a space that integrates natural and rewilded elements, alongside sustainable living practices.
Transformation of the Landscape (Since 1988)
• Initial State: The nine-acre land was acquired in 1988 and was initially “just a field” and an “open grass space”.
• Land Division: Currently, five acres are leased for sheep, while the remaining four acres have been specifically developed for various purposes, including a vegetable garden, woodland, and forest school activities.
Key Activities & Developments Enhancing Natural and Rewilded Areas:
• Tree and Hedge Planting:
◦ Tree planting was the very first activity undertaken after acquiring the land.
◦ This necessitated the installation of rabbit-proof fencing around the tree-planting areas, which was a significant undertaking.
◦ Bare-rooted saplings and feathered stock were planted and kept weed-free, which was believed to result in better growth than in Correx tubes, though Correx tubes save labour.
◦ A significant part of the rewilding effort is attributed to hedge planting. An example given is a Yew tree hedge grown from seeds collected from Kirby College, with the seeds requiring a cold spell to germinate. A hornbeam hedge is also present. The Yew hedges are thick enough to walk through and even on.
◦ All trees in the woodland, except those along streams, were planted by the inhabitants over 37 years, planted close together so have grown tall and straight.
• Pond Creation and Water Features:
◦ An early development was the digging of a swimming pond.
◦ Another smaller pond was created three years ago.
◦ One pond contains newts, and another recently had eight female Mallard ducks so probably not as many frogs now as it used to have.
◦ The stream has been developed with stepping stones and waterfalls, intended to spark a child’s imagination…. Pete and Joy also enjoy swimming in the bigger pond.
• Ecological Land Management:
◦ The core philosophy is to “plant trees, leave the land to do what it’s got in it”. An illustration of this is the lawn (former football pitch) that has transformed into a natural area in just three months by simply not cutting it – rich habitat of buttercups, white clover and a wide range of grasses.
◦ Mowing paths maintains a sense of order while allowing large areas to remain wild, noting that leaving the “whole lot to go it alone” would be ideal.
◦ Long grass and wild areas are deliberately maintained, attracting birds.
◦ The land could be further managed to encourage specific wildlife, such as maintaining a particular grass height to create a “thick thatch” for voles, which in turn supports owls.
◦ Invasive species like Himalayan balsam are removed22.
• Creating Habitats:
◦ “Bee hotels” have been constructed using a “pocket hole” design, although their effectiveness is debated by the speaker despite expert recommendations19….
◦ Comfrey (specifically Comfrey Bocking 14 from Russia, also known as “knit bone”) is cultivated and noted as “wonderful for bees”2627. Purple thistles from artichokes are also beneficial for bees28.
◦ The presence of a barn on the land provides habitat for birds21.
• Sustainable Infrastructure:
◦ A sewage treatment plant is discreetly located within the honeysuckle, processing waste from the house and a dacha that housed Ukrainian families29.
◦ This system operates by constantly pumping air through the effluent and requires careful management to avoid killing beneficial bacteria6. It includes a filter to catch inappropriate items29…. The process results in clean water, with solids at the bottom requiring annual emptying3132. This system allows for the treated water to return to the stream32.
Broader Sustainable Practices and Philosophy:
• The approach to the land reflects a broader commitment to reuse and repair, which the speaker is actively advocating for at a legislative level3334.
• They emphasize the importance of using less, making things last longer, and avoiding new purchases to combat waste, particularly textile waste3536.
• The speaker notes the growing trend of younger generations embracing charity shops and vintage items as a “revolutionary” way to reduce consumption.
• Composting is a regular activity, utilizing garden waste.
• The philosophy extends to challenging conventional views, such as trying to convince neighbors about the beauty of dandelions and long grass, rather than maintaining an overly tidy appearance41.
• The development includes the repurposing of materials, such as a council skip used as a hot tub with an underlying fire42….
• Children are actively involved through a forest school company, building dens and engaging with the natural environment, though their activities sometimes lead to bare patches where leaf litter is cleared45…. The speaker notes they plant brambles in winter to mitigate the impact of this activity on the undergrowth46.
• Structures like a rock band stage4849 and a “meditation bridge” (which was vandalized)50 have also been part of the area’s development over the years, though not directly contributing to its rewilded status. The speaker also mentioned a BMX track42.
• The speaker’s background, having been taught to “saw straight” at three by their grandfather and initially wanting to be an architect, underpins their hands-on approach to the land’s development51
Matter Arising
Clothes Swap – Saturday 27th September 2025 – St Joseph’s Church Hall, Stokesley.
Give or Take – looking for suitable venue and volunteers to help. Ann offered to help with the planned Give and Take event event. Difficulties in finding a venue were discussed, with a potential date identified in July at the Town Hall. Ann requested a “prod” to get back on planning.
Tracey offered assistance from the depot for collecting leftover items, requesting advance notice and sorted waste. The Household Waste Recycling Centre would need proper transfer notes. The amount of leftovers is uncertain, reports from Ryedale suggested not as much as feared.
Strategies for dealing with leftovers were discussed, including approaching Stokeley charity shops first. Repurposing items is preferred over just recycling. Other potential destinations mentioned were a free toy shop idea in Malton for toys, Middlesbrough charity groups for food, and the Salvation Army in Middlesbrough for household items (bedding, kitchenware) to support the homeless and those struggling. The need for volunteers to help sort was highlighted.
Action: All please contact Kate Gibbon (kategibbon@casav.uk) if you or any friends are able to volunteer to help with setting up Give or Take events.
Repair Cafes
12th April – Stokesley – including this cafe we have now dealt with over 250 items in 2025 with a 75% success rate.
17th May – Swainby – We are taking part in Big Fix 2025, so tell your friends and along with other 75 repair cafes across the UK taking part, we hope to mend even more items than last year. Plus Pete will be bringing tomato plants to the Swainby repair cafe.
14th June – Stokesley – Our Great Big Green Week Repair Cafe. This year’s Great Big Green Week theme is “Swaps can improve lives”. Why not swap throwing away unloved items for giving them a new lease of life, or swap skills with another organisation in your area. You could come tougher with neighbours in your street to swap an unloved area to one that attracts wildlife. The possibilities are endless. However every swap will add together to make a big difference.
If you or anybody you know could spare time to help at our repair cafes then we are looking for repairers, front of house team members and refershment team members. Get in touch with Simon (simongibbon@casav.uk) or fill out the sign up form – https://forms.gle/cE2gbFjGksauRsq8A
Meetings
Whole CASaV Group – Stokesley Globe 20th 7.30pm will feature Simon Bowen from Friends of the Earth discussing campaigns and how FoE supports CASaV.
AOB
Next Meeting
Tuesday 10th June 7pm – Please contact simongibbon@casav.uk for further details.
Climate Action Stokesley and Villages 