Ways to be greener in your community :Cross Stitch – Environment and greener living

There are lots of things you can do to help make your local community greener by volunteering for a local environmental project, from planting trees to clearing ponds. You could learn new skills, meet like-minded people and improve your health and well-being.

Get involved in The Big Tree Plant

There’s no better place to meet like-minded individuals than through volunteering for a campaign or cause you believe in.

With just a few hours of your time a month, you can make a big difference in tackling environmental problems and improving your local area.

There are all sorts of opportunities for volunteering, like:

  • starting or joining a tree planting groups as part of The Big Tree Plant
  • getting involved in an outdoors Green Gym project and getting fit at the same time
  • organising a car share scheme
  • finding a local community gardening group
  • joining an allotment scheme

You can find a list of environmental volunteering opportunities and Green Gyms near you from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers website (BTCV), or from Do-it.org.

There are many green open spaces in the UK to explore, ranging from local parks and village greens to the vast landscapes of National Parks.

You could try cycling or walking there if it’s close, or see how you can get there by public transport. You can use the journey planner website to work out your journey.

If you are proud of your local green spaces, you can ask your council to try for the Green Flag award. The Green Flag award is a national quality standard for parks and green spaces.

Swapping skills and DIY or gardening tools nurtures community spirit. Sharing tools makes economic sense too, particularly for heavy duty items that you don’t often use, like garden shredders and rotivators.

Do you have a particular craft or skill like carpentry, sewing, cooking, gardening or DIY that you can share? If so, you can try setting up a local swap group, or look for one already set up in your area. Other things you can share are:

  • seeds, seedlings, cuttings and gardening know-how like how to compost
  • expensive DIY or gardening tools you may not use often
  • recipes for cooking seasonal vegetables
  • excess produce from your garden or allotment, if you’ve had a bumper harvest
  • set up a car club to share trips

You could encourage friends, family and neighbours of all ages to swap their skills. They could, for example, pass on craft know-how in exchange for help with using the internet. One example might be asking grandparents and children to share their skills.

Organisations like Timebank and Swapaskill have a database of skills, and opportunities for exchanging those skills.