All credit to the Hackney Gazette (https://tinyurl.com/2hjaz3yk) for exposing the dismissive rejection of discussion at the AGM of the North London Waste Authority on the planned new Edmonton incinerator. Cllr Clyde Loakes’s fourteen years in the position of chair suggests he has an unhealthy attachment to the plan which is impairing his willingness to listen to legitimate concerns. Evidence that global warming is an emergency is daily screaming at…

Sustainable Hackney probably doesn’t have any members who support Priti Patel’s Police Crime Sentencing and Courts bill but, for the record, here’s some reasons for opposing it.

Our first tweet about the bill was from Drill not Drop. They recognized that anti-fracking protests like those at Horse Hill, Surrey will be hit if this becomes law.…

When we think of greening our environment it’s unlikely that it occurs to us that a malign manifestation of greening, in the form of artificial plastic grass, is fast encroaching upon our surroundings.

Hackney Downs bears witness to both sides of the phenomenon; on a walk around the park we encounter a spectacular burst of tree…

I'm the Community Activator for the new Library of Things which will be opening in the Baths on Eastway soon, supported by partners Sustainable Hackney, LLDC and Stour Studios.

We've been busy installing the kiosk inside the Baths and inviting people to sign up for our newsletter in readiness for when we open for borrowing - you can do this at…

The government is running a consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging. It includes responsibility for litter, and anyone may respond, including private individuals.

The principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) is that the producer should pay the full costs of the waste they produce, and the purpose of the consultation is to find the best way of doing this. The previous system hasn’t been working well, and the new system will replace…

Despite Covid restrictions a banner drop in support of the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) bill took place on March 26 at Hackney Town Hall.  The action was backed by Sustainable Hackney and Hackney- XR members who added their magnificent banners.  The action attracted the support of 23 different groups that included the Trades Council, Hackney Labour for a Green New Deal, the National Education Union, the Green and Socialist Worker's Party.  Diane Abbott was commended for her support…

We welcome the appointment of Mete Coban MBE to lead Hackney's efforts to tackle the climate crisis and we are pleased that he has already acknowledged the climate emergency as a priority.

Hackney formally declared an emergency in 2019.  We produced a community response to that declaration in November that…

The privatisation of railway arches has led to rent hikes and business closures

Running through Hackney and Tower Hamlets is their…

I'm Lucy and I'm working as a Community Activator at the Library of Things, which is opening in the Old Baths on Eastway in Hackney Wick this spring. This will provide an affordable way of borrowing useful things for household, DIY, gardening and more, including steam cleaners, drills, projectors and ice cream makers from as little as £1 a day. The Library of Things already have successful branches in Crystal Palace and Morden. The Hackney Wick Library of Things is supported by partners…

Photo: Tim Lewis

The recent articles in the Observer and the…

Faced undisputedly with a climate and ecological emergency why isn’t there much wider support for the eponymous private members’ bill proposed by Caroline Lucas of the Green Party? That’s the question that Sustainable Hackney posed in December to Meg Hillier, Labour MP for Hackney south and Shoreditch. If the Climate an Ecological Emergency bill (CEE bill) has the support of Diane Abbott in Hackney North, why isn’t Meg Hillier supporting it too?  

Ms. Hillier has declined to…

Growing Communities is taking on two paid interns for three months from 15 February to work alongside our head grower in our Hackney market gardens. This is aimed at young people aged 18-24 who are not currently enrolled in a higher education degree and live in or near Hackney. We would particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic young people (aged 18-24) as we recognise that racial and cultural diversity is chronically lacking in the horticultural and…

With the increase in use of green spaces for exercise we are republishing these walks.  It will be interesting to try them again to see how things have changed in the last 10 years.  Enjoy!…

About 50 years ago, Dutch local authorities and city planners were beginning to realise that many city streets were unsuitable for unbridled expansion of the motor car and - assisted by public pressure - the principle of ‘woonerf’ (literally ‘living yard’) was born: shared space between pedestrians, cyclists and cars, but with pedestrians having priority. By 2000, there were 6000 of these schemes in The Netherlands. Because of the proliferation of street signs and other street furniture,…

Did you know that the new Hackney Parks and Green Spaces Strategy will affect green spaces on estates?  From next year the Hackney Parks Department will take on the management of 237 green spaces on Hackney's estates in addition to the 58 parks and green spaces they already manage.  That's why it is vital that estate residents have an input to the strategy…

At this year’s Sustainable Hackney AGM, we asked people to talk about what they wanted to help build Hackney back better.  Now we are asking everyone who wasn’t there.

Hackney Council are holding a meeting early in March on building back better in Hackney post-Covid, and this is a chance to feed into it: if you tell us,…

The penultimate Bulletin is out now, available in print at Hoxton Trust. Happy Reading!…