Good morning! I’m Sarah Hartley with your usual Tuesday edition of The Northern Eco back after our summer break. As you’ve received this newsletter then either you subscribed, or someone forwarded it to you. If the latter, then you can click on this handy little button below.
It’s been two weeks - did you miss your weekly eco update? Have no fear, we didn’t waste the time frying on a beach! After a rail trip to the amazing city of Rotterdam for a few days (including visiting the famous Floating Farm) we’ve been hard at work on some investigative work of the sort we don’t always get the time to do as well as building up some new initiatives.
And the first of those initiatives launches today! We’ve something special for our North Yorkshire based readers - a doorstep delivery service for eco refills and planet friendly products. But don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten about those of you further north and have an entirely different new initiative to bring you next week.
Plus the news agenda never really stops, even in the ‘silly season’, so there’s plenty to catch up on from right across the region. Thanks for being here!
Fed up of plastic waste filling up your recycling bin? Or maybe you want to find natural options for your household everyday products? You’re not alone!
Plastic waste, micro-plastics and the prevalence of everywhere and forever chemicals are driving many people to take action on their regular shopping baskets and so we’ve launched this new doorstep delivery service in parts of North Yorkshire to help.
Reducing plastic waste was the motivation that first prompted Sally Williams to set up a refills service called Sew So Eco back in 2023. Regular readers might remember we featured her in one of our early articles: Sally Williams - refill delivery entrepreneur.
I signed up as a customer at the time and have been impressed by quality of the products along with the convenience of never having to struggle back from the shops with bulky, boring essentials like washing-up liquid.
A couple of months ago Sally made the decision to move on from her business and I wondered if we could sort something out. After all, the idea is so well-aligned to the values of The Northern Eco in acting locally in face of global challenges it seemed a perfect fit. A few weeks on and here we are - The Northern Eco refillables shop is now open for doorstep deliveries.
Posting a farewell, Sally said: “We’re thrilled to see another delivery service offering refills and helping us move away from single-use plastic.
”We wish Sarah all the very best as she takes on the battle against plastic - and we hope you’ll give her your support!”
We have a collection of planet friendly, zero waste and natural everyday alternatives for you, your loved ones and your home. We’re starting small with a selection of essentials such as hand wash, surface cleaner and bubble bath. All of our products are biodegradable, vegan, cruelty free and parabens free
The intention is to grow the selection over time so there’s also some pre-order items available so I can better understand demand. Operating a retail business is a whole new adventure for me - as someone who’s spent their entire career in the news industry, every day is turning into a learning day!
The map below shows the delivery areas we can service with a doorstep delivery on a Friday split into different zones.
To place your order:
Which zone are you in? If Zones 2 or 3 please add the relevant delivery charge to your basket here.
If this is your first time purchasing refills, please add the once-only bottle charge to your cart. The £5 Deposit enables us to be able to keep the glass bottles in circulation. Only one deposit required, regardless of how big or small your order is. If you decide to no longer order from us , this deposit will be refunded once the bottles are returned.
Pick your selection of eco friendly household essentials from the shop.
I’ll drop your order to your home on the following Friday and collect your empties. You don’t need to be in, think of it like the eco milk round!
I hope you’ll find this a simple, useful way to cut down on the plastic waste in your life while also supporting your local independent eco news provider.
Sign up for the NEW delivery newsletter. (Please note: This is entirely separate to this Tuesday eco newsletter you are subscribed to here and is only for refill delivery announcements.)
If you want to read more about everywhere, and forever, chemicals, I can recommend this well-researched long read by Kenza Bryan at the FT Weekend.
A selection of the stories that happened over the past two weeks.
🚢 On beaches from Cambois in Northumberland to Seaburn on Wearside, up to 25 tonnes of plastic pollution has washed up. The horrific environmental disaster off the north east coast will be continuing for many months (or years?) and I echo Brian Aitken at Eyes and Ears’ frustration at the lack of the scrutiny and official action to date. He points out where action to prevent anything similar happening in future should start:
“Millions of nurdles got into the Tyne in five seconds. That doesn’t sound like they were bagged or packed into separate crates inside the shipping containers. Why ever not? We wouldn’t be looking at a massive ecological issue right now if it was a few dozen crates that had to be fished out of the river rather than millions and millions of tiny pellets being projectile vomited into the water.”
We’ll join the attempts to find out more in the coming weeks and months but in the meantime, we can all support the thousands of people signing this petition from Friends of the Earth(FoE) calling on the government to step up and take action. FoE says:
“Thousands of volunteers, including our local action groups, are desperately trying to clean the beaches and reduce the impact on wildlife. But the official response has been far too slow, while every tide washes more into the sea, making it harder to clean up. Please tell the government to coordinate an emergency response. And hold companies accountable for every penny of environmental recovery.”
💦 I was sorry to miss the recent event organised by the Ilkley Clean River group where Yorkshire Mayors responded to the Channel 4 docu-drama on the water industry, Dirty Business, and launched their Campaign For Water. Two Mayors - Tracy Brabin West Yorkshire and Oliver Coppard South Yorkshire - took part, although North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith was unable to attend. His office pointed me to previous statements on the issue such as this: “Yorkshire Water has let down Yorkshire’s residents, saddling the company with debt and leaving it with crumbling infrastructure, all while paying out to its shareholders.”
Following the event, Ilkley Clean River is looking for support via this petition and has organised two briefings for MPs in September. The group says the petition is to force MPs and the Government to discuss how to secure public voice in the decision about water. The debate is on the 14th September at Westminster Hall from 4.30pm.
🌳 We’re seeing a new source of friction across the region’s wild spaces coming through this summer in the shape of pop-up campsites. With wild camping being frowned upon given the fire risks, pop-up campsites have recently, erm, popped up, in both the Lake District and Richmondshire causing concern for those communities. In the Lakes, campaigner Sarah Wilson has started a petition to close a loophole in the planning system. She explains:
“In 2023 the Government created a permitted development right allowing pop-up campsites of up to 50 pitches with no planning permission at all. The operator simply notifies the planning authority. There is nothing to approve and nothing to refuse: no assessment of noise, waste, drainage, wildlife or fire risk, and no consideration of the families living feet away.”
However, in North Yorkshire, the county council has stepped in to block a pop-up campsite operating on land earmarked for a controversial holiday park near the banks of the River Swale.
A temporary stop notice to prevent the campsite running was issued after the St Nicholas Estate in Richmond advised North Yorkshire Council of plans to run the pop-up site on the two fields, reports Local Democracy Reporter Joe Willis.
Estate owner Nick Green sought to use permitted development rights to operate the site between August 1 and 15 and August 18 and 31, with a maximum of 50 pitches across both fields. The notice runs until September 25.
🪶 The RaptorPersecutionUK blog reports on a recent British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) conference where new research was presented suggesting that there are around 400 Hen Harrier ‘persecution events’ across different life stages (e.g. nest, adult, 1yr and 2yr old birds) and that only 0.5 – 10% are detected.
💨 The latest moves on the plans for a massive wind farm on the North Yorkshire/County Durham border were covered for us during the break by Local Democracy Reporter Joe Willis. You can keep up with what’s happening there at our dedicated Hope Moor Wind Farm section.
🌌 If the excitement of waving a colander at the eclipse last week has got you staring at the heavens, then this news that a train ride to the stars is among almost 30 events is for you. Sam Wonfor at Cultured.NorthEast reports that the 10th North Pennines Stargazing Festival runs between Friday October 16 and November 1 and is being organised by the North Pennines National Landscape with expert astronomer guides to help visitors enjoy the dark night skies of the area.
🌟 And finally some stars of a different type! Every time I go past this iconic landmark Grade II listed AA Box 442 in Wensleydale I wonder what is to become of it. So it was great read that a group of Yorkshire Dales National Park volunteers have teamed up to carry out conservation work around this rare surviving AA roadside call box.
Thanks for reading issue 192. The Northern Eco is free for everyone, but it takes a LOT of time to research, write and edit. If you can, please upgrade to a paid subscription – it’s only £4.99 a month. The cost of a posh cup of coffee! And maybe you can encourage a friend to join as a free subscriber?
That’s it for now but, don’t forget, there’s plenty of stories you can browse on our website and via social media.
Stay-tuned for a special report from carbon expert Tom Bray coming up for you next Tuesday.
Plus if you’re in County Durham, we’ll be back at our community newsroom based in the Artists’ Hub at Bishop Auckland from 10-3pm next Wednesday, August 26 (and most Wednesdays). It would be great to see you so just drop in and we’ll get the kettle on!
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.