It’s March 2020, we’ve all suddenly had a bit of a shock regarding our ability to go and buy food, either through limited access to shops (self isolation) or limited stock in the shops. There are other food supply option which we can access like our very own Tree and local food veg box schemes, but these cannot all ramp up at the same speed as the emergency measures have struck. As a resulRead More…
By Isabelle Low Come spring, the winter crops of cabbage and kale and leeks have bolted and the stores of potatoes, onions and roots are running out. Spring vegetables have only just been sown and won’t be ready to harvest until May and June. Eating in the hungry months in medieval times was both hard and uninspiring – a diet dominated by old potatoes, cabbage and wormy apples. PresRead More…
Underwater by 2050? Later this year Glasgow will host the annual United Nation
Climate Challenge COP26 Meeting of World Leaders (UN Climate Change Conference,
UK 2020). The timing and venue are appropriate since Scotland was one of the
first countries in the world to acknowledge the global climate emergency and
has since introduced the most ambitious target, to be carbon neutral by 2045,
five Read More…
Over the years the St Andrews Green Film Festival has taken many shapes and forms. In 2020 in it’s own mixbag of venues, crowds and topics, the Festival captured attention, provoked deep thinking and sparked vital discussion. Here we have a recap from Jorika Smolikova, one of the co-directors of this year. Read into behind the scenes where she uncovers the committee’s approach to the week’s eventRead More…
The Fashion Scene of St Andrews and Interview with Emma Walsh, Sustainable Style St Andrews In February, St Andrews, the little town by the sea, turns in to a fashion hotspot on a global scale. Whether you are a student or briefly visiting, you can indulge in any of four fashion shows – Charity Fashion Show (FS), Dont Walk, Catwalk and VS 2020 Urban – as well as a number of smaller eventsRead More…
Here is an exciting short term post / job share in the University Environment Team! Closing date 3rd Feb 2020 The St Andrews Green Corridors project aims to enhance the two main wildlife corridors of St Andrews, the Kinnessburn and Swilken Burn, whilst tackling invasive species. This post will lead on the planning, design and creation of environmental enhancements that meet aims of the UniversRead More…
We all try to do our bit for the planet, so when it comes to household plastic, we religiously wash out our milk and other containers and put them in the green Fife Council wheelie bin, safe in the knowledge that it will be responsibly recycled. Wrong! After importing more than 45% of the world’s waste plastic, China stated that it had enough of its own plastic mountain, so was not going to impRead More…
Today we heard from Climate Change Commission that UK must cut land use emissions by two thirds to meet our goal of zero carbon by 2050. There has been much talk about planting trees to achieve this, but low carbon farming and taking care of our soils is expected to account for as much as 23% of those savings. You can probably imagine what planting more trees would look like, but low carbRead More…
Are you
doing Veganuary? Good for you! A few
suggestions. On a vegan diet, it’s
really important to make sure that you eat a balance of 50% vegetables and
fruit, 25% protein (beans or nuts) and 25% good carbohydrates (wholemeal rice or
wholemeal pasta) plus a bit of oils (olive is best). Please
consider carefully before you buy out of season or exotic plants which have
beRead More…
Climate change-driven fires burning up Australia, biblical floods in Indonesia, and the hottest decade on record worldwide…2020 is not even one month old and the news headlines are already sounding alarm bells about the climate crisis unfolding around us. Words from the 2018 IPCC report, still ringing in our ears, feel even more urgent just now: we only have until 2030, 10 years away, to fuRead More…
Scotland is famed for many things which include golf, castles, grouse moors, salmon, whisky, clans, haggis, tartan, bagpipes, green energy and, yes, oil and gas. All of these contribute to the national economy in a variety of ways, but with the Climate Emergency, the last two mentioned, oil and gas, are coming under the spotlight more critically. From the 1800’s Scotland’s coal industry was eRead More…
On Saturday 14 December, from 11am to 2pm, was the date in the diary for the annual Pittarthie Christmas Fayre. Tansy Torkington reflects on the day. Without further ado, a massive thanks and a big shout out to Patrick, Caroline and Angus for hosting this annual event. If it was not for your hospitality and craziness, the event would not have been such a success. Oh and let us not forget Read More…
