We had a fab day co-hosting the zero waste market with Plastic Free Hackney, educational activities such as DIY vertical salad leaf planters and ofcourse the screening of 'A Plastic Ocean' in the evening followed by a lively panel discussion.…

Hackney Energy has struggled to get a new solar power/community energy project up and running this past year. The big issue is government cuts in support for community energy - as frackers, the Tories seem to despise the wishes of local communities.

Meanwhile, Hackney Council decided not to support the Wilton Estate solar scheme while it works out a borough-wide energy plan. It's six months since the local elections and we haven't heard anything further.

If we had received…

After a day helping at the Big Fix, some strong images remain.

There were the two young women modelling second-hand garments they had bought while Traid volunteers nipped and tucked until they fitted perfectly – a veritable fashion show.

Traid clothing repair

And the man who had brought his much-loved…

Every day, a dangerous and even deadly threat faces millions of children across the UK: toxic air.

That's one in three children living, learning and playing amidst toxic air; 4.5 million children at risk of stunted lung growth, reduced brain development and lifelong conditions like asthma; £40 million a year spent by the NHS and social services on related illnesses.

The devastating impact on children's health must not be ignored.…

Governance of Economic Transition is an invited background document for the Global Sustainable Development Report 2019 drafted by the Group of independent scientists. 

They point out straight away the difference  between typical economists who emphasize carbon pricing as a policy tool for tackling climate change and natural scientists and multidisciplinary environmental research groups who are arguing for more profound political engagement and…

Alongside watching whales and dolphins, one of Whale and Dolphin Conservation’s wonderful Scottish Shorewatch volunteers Steve Truluck and his dog Riley have been collecting garbage from their local beaches for a while now, to stop plastic pollution from making its way into the ocean.…

Last year residents were delighted by the "People Parking Bay" near London Fields. 

Now, in a pilot scheme promoted by Hackney Council, residents can apply to create a parklet in their own street. The pilot…

Tackling climate change and air pollution and giving residents a real voice in how the borough is changing are upfront and bold in the Mayor’s foreword to ‘A Fairer, Safer and More Sustainable Hackney’, Labour’s manifesto for the 2018-2022 Council. And while the environment is bringing up the rear in the document, the…

Tackling climate change and air pollution and giving residents a real voice in how the borough is changing are upfront and bold in the Mayor’s foreword to ‘A Fairer, Safer and More Sustainable Hackney’, Labour’s manifesto for the 2018-2022 Council. And while the environment is bringing up the rear in the document, the…

Between 5 December 2017 and 12 January 2018, local residents, businesses and schools were consulted on the proposals and a majority were in favour of the proposals. You can view the approved Delegated Powers Report which gives full details on the scheme and consultation at…

At long last it’s starting to happen, but so, so slowly – general recognition of our right to breathe clean air and that we are not able to do so. Our air quality is illegal; our air quality is killing people – 40,000 early deaths every year. Here in London, which falls way down the air quality league table of European capital cities, the main contributor to pollution is transport.

The pressure started with Client Earth, whose UK offices are in Hackney, successfully taking…

Clean air should surely be a basic human right – for us, our children and for future generations. Right now in London we are living in illegal levels of air pollution.

By the end of January 2018 the city had already exceeded recommend EU air quality…

With temperatures increasing, you can refill your water bottle with refreshing tap water for free from over 1000 businesses in #London.  Download the app to find your nearest refill point here #RefillLondon 

On March 28, at 6am I boarded a train bound for Wigan, filled with anticipation and excitement for the great un-known for what was set to be the first of many CTRL Shift emergency summits for change. Thanks to the Permaculture Association (the organisers), along with the most forward thinking solution based organisations in the country, I was very lucky enough to get a bursary ticket for the event. These…

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, has taken the next step towards divesting the London Pension Fund from fossil fuels, and he’s called on other London Boroughs to do the same. This is good news, but there’s still lots to do to get the commitments we need and to build the fairer, cleaner Hackney and London we want to see.

A few things you can do to get involved - no contribution is too small ...

Sign the petition to Divest…

There is a buzz of conversation, laughter, a whoop of excitement as a dead vacuum roars back into life.  People are having fun.  So that's why they call it a Restart Party!   

Can you have fun and help save the planet?  Turns out you can.  Hackney Fixers has been running repair parties for electrical and electronic gadgets since 2014 and in four years has…

The Landworker's Alliance and Growing Communities have launched a series of practical proposals, accompanied by illustrative case studies, for a scheme to dramatically increase local fruit and vegetable production following…

An alliance of farming and environmental groups are calling for the government to give special protection to small and medium sized farms in its new Agriculture Bill. The government's consultation on the future of food, farming and the environment is open until the 8th May and you can have your say



This is an unmissable opportunity to feed into…

A new campaign to win public support for the UK’s first solar powered film venue was launched on March17.

The joint campaign led by Hackney Energy, the Wilton Estate Tenants Association and the Rio Cinema aims to raise around £40,000 to install 55 solar panels on the cinema’s south facing…

Image: Fairtrade Foundation

Celebrations of Fairtrade Fortnight in Hackney were made extra special this year as, thanks to a grant from Hackney Council, we were able to ‘buy in’  presentations from Ketra Kyosiimire, a visiting female coffee producer from Uganda who gave interesting, illustrated talks on how coffee is grown and how fairtrade benefits the…