Transition Bookham

Transition Bookham began 2012 with a reminder of what brought us together in the first place, with a screening of the film In Transition 1.0. This is an excellent overview of the environmental issues facing us, and includes interviews with people in communities which have taken different approaches to the Transition culture of moving to a more sustainable lifestyle.

In February we tackled one of these aspects with a meeting about adopting a more plant-based diet. We watched the film Making the Connection, which put forward the case for following a vegan diet. This featured interviews with a variety of people including a marathon runner, a dietician, a fitness instructor and an MP, who between them highlighted a number of aspects such as animal welfare, health and food security.

This was followed by talk on the health benefits of a more plant-based diet, and general tips for healthy living. One of the key tips was - as in all aspects of making a lifestyle change - to take small steps in changing your diet. A group of us later took a trip to a vegetarian restaurant to put some healthy eating into action.

In March we continued the food theme with an evening all about growing it. Several of our keen gardeners passed on their advice for growing food in all sizes of garden – allotments, container gardening, small gardens. For those with no outdoor space at all,   it's still possible to sprout seeds and grow some other edible plants indoors.

Also on the gardening theme, we also had our first maintenance session of the year at the wildlife-friendly Pastoral Centre garden at St Nicolas. By the time you read this, hopefully we will have had enough rain to think about adding more bee-friendly plants to the garden.

At time of writing we were looking forward to welcoming ecologist Jim Storrar, a former Surrey Wildlife Trust ranger, to give us a better understanding of biodiversity with a talk on Folk Lore and Medicinal Plants of the Downland. 

At our open meeting on May 16th we'll be watching and discussing three short films highlighting the problems associated with consumerism. Future meetings will focus on how we can tackle some of these problems with practical actions, projects, and the spreading of information about a sustainable lifestyle. If you're interested in finding out more about environmental matters and how you can get involved in Transition Bookham, you're very welcome to join us. Meeting are held on the third Wednesday of the month from 7.30-9.30pm in the Pastoral Centre at St Nicolas and our summer meetings are on June 20th, July 18th and August 15th.  

To receive our email newsletter or find out more about Transition Bookham, contact us at transitionbookham@gmail.com More information on Transition Bookham and sustainability in Mole Valley can be found at www.greenmoleforum.org, and you can read about Transition Initiatives at www.transitionnetwork.org. We're also featured in the Bookham Look Local magazine.