Articles

Christmas is a magical time, but it often comes with unnecessary waste - from plastic decorations and over-bought gifts to leftover food. The good news is that it’s easier than you might think to celebrate thoughtfully, support your local community, and reduce your environmental impact. With so many independent shops, makers, and food producers in our towns and villages, a sustainable and festive season is well within reach. Here’s our guide: 1. Shop Smart and Local Our local

Dr. Richard Erskine recently delivered an illuminating and accessible exploration of air source heat pumps , a technology that has been quietly supporting our everyday lives for decades. In his engaging talk, Richard explained how heat pumps work, why they are so efficient, and how they play a vital role in cutting carbon emissions on the path to net zero. Drawing on real-world examples, he highlighted how heat pumps can be effectively used across a wide range of buildings -

Thinking About Going Electric? Get Inspired by One of the UK’s Leading EV Voices Electric vehicles can seem confusing but they don’t have to be. With the right knowledge and a little inspiration, switching to electric becomes an exciting journey. And there are few better guides than Sara Sloman . Clocking up over 20,000 EV miles a year without  a home charger, completing multiple electric vehicle rallies, and even setting a Guinness World Record  for the longest electric moto

Over the years, our newsletter has shared plenty of book reviews - stories that have inspired, challenged and warmed the hearts of the Wotton Area CAN team. From moving environmental memoirs to eye-opening guides and tales that celebrate the wonders of the natural world, these are the books that have stayed with us. If you’re looking for inspiration for your next read, or even a thoughtful gift, we hope this collection can be your guide. And if you decide to try one of these

As the nights are closing in and the temperature drops, that can only mean one thing – whether you know it as Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, or Samhain, it’s spooky season! But the scariest thing about Halloween isn’t the ghosts and the witches, it’s the impact on our planet. Throwaway costumes, plastic decorations, and wasted pumpkins galore, it’s not good news for the environment…. So we’ve gathered some top tips for how to celebrate sustainably and enjoy a green Halloween: W

The following insightful article has been written by a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) student from a local school who set out to...

With public pressure to go plastic-free stronger than ever, many of us are reaching for “green” alternatives like biodegradable bags or...

Soft plastic is one of the trickiest types of household waste to recycle, but many UK supermarkets now claim to have a solution. Tesco ,...

About eight years ago, our family decided to try and cut plastic out of our food shop. Not completely, we weren’t aiming for perfection,...

The Severn Estuary Commission has published its landmark 2025 recommendations, putting tidal range energy firmly back on the national...

How has our local environment changed over the last 150 years? Do our efforts to to support nature truly matter? From wildflower-rich churchyards to rewilding today, we make a comparison with the past by visiting Gloucestershire Heritage Hub. Explore the archives: gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives Get involved: wottonareacan@gmail.com

There is an old proverb that goes ‘The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago.  The next best time is today’. So it was that five...

Over the past year, the Wotton-under-Edge community and its surrounding villages have shown what’s possible when people come together...

No Mow May is a simple idea: you stop mowing your lawn for the month of May to let grasses and wildflowers grow. This provides vital...

Scan of a report about the 1766 Wotton food riots. (ref. D2930-1) Did you know that in 1766, several poor harvests and soaring food...

Hear from Rebecca Charley, Stroud District Council’s Strategic Lead for Nature Recovery and Biodiversity. With over 20 years of...

Over the past 12 months, Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust has been running a joint study with Forestry England to determine the feasibility of

Bats make up a quarter of all British mammals, with 18 bat species resident in the UK. Our bats: like the dark eat insects have complex...

Following on from his popular zoom talk given during lockdown in 2021, Dr. Kevin Howard returns to update us on the significant...

Louise Ciotti, Director at Adapt Architects Ltd and Senior Lecturer in Architecture, Retrofit and Conservation at UWE talks about the...