Archive of 'Areas of Action (8 things)' projects.
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Food
2020- 23: The production of West Oxford community apple juice from donated apples that would otherwise go to waste, collected from Tumbling Bay Cafe at WOCA.
West Oxford Community Primary School Cookery Pilot
The children at West Oxford Community Primary School benefited from the expertise of dedicated school cook Ruth Lyster, who led meals in the school canteen. We were delighted to support Ruth in piloting a cookery course for Year 5 pupils. Although the programme ended early due to lockdown, it introduced students to essential kitchen skills, simple vegetarian recipes, food shopping, and awareness of food waste. The course showed strong potential as a model that could be developed into a shareable resource for other schools, and we hoped to continue building on this work in the following academic year.
Beet the Waste food and music festival
The third Beet the Waste festival, planned for 2020, was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. First launched in autumn 2017 at Tap Social as part of LCWO’s 10-year anniversary, the ‘Beet the Waste’ food and music festival quickly became a popular annual event, returning in 2018. Delivered in partnership with Oxford Food Bank, Waste2Taste and other local organisations, the festival featured food stalls, food bank tours, a themed cake competition, a live Ready Steady Cook-style challenge using surplus ingredients, live music, and Tap Social’s beer.
How Green is your supermarket?
Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO) held its ‘How Green is Your Supermarket?’ event in 2015, bringing together local supermarkets and residents to discuss efforts to reduce carbon emissions and environmental impact. Representatives from Waitrose and Sainsbury’s shared progress on energy reduction, sustainable building design, waste reduction, and packaging improvements, and residents were able to raise concerns around sourcing, packaging, and promoting greener food choices.
Building on this work, LCWO sent a follow-up letter to local supermarkets in 2019 requesting updates on their environmental progress, including policies on meat marketing and reducing packaging. The letter was developed by LCWO volunteers (Ruth and Helen), and distributed to several supermarkets used by local residents.
In 2020, LCWO began developing a business sustainability scorecard for West Oxford, with plans to potentially include supermarkets in a future phase if the pilot proved successful. If you would like to get involved in future supermarket campaigning, we'd love to hear from you! Get in touch on info@lcwo.org.uk.
Jam Jar Bank at Hogacre
We set up a Jam Jar Bank to encourage people to reuse their jam jars and make jams and chutneys. The bank is now housed at Hogacre Common Eco-Park – pop by and help yourself – and whilst you’re there, grab some delicious food at the seasonal caf, open on Sundays through the summer.
Seasonal reciped and more
LCWO produced a 2009 awareness-raising calendar featuring pictures of fruit and vegetable from the West Oxford allotments, with seasonal recipes. The photos and recipes were donated by local residents and money raised went towards supporting LCWO local environmental projects. The calendar sold out and made a small profit.
Transport
Our transport and air quality projects:
LCWO is pleased to have secured funding from Low Carbon Hub, WOCoRe and a private individual to enable us to purchase an electric cargo bike for community use. We are currently working with WOCA, ODS and Oxford City Council to make the arrangements for a bike hanger to be sited at the community centre, and hope to have a bike available for use in the near future.
Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT)
Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO) was an active member of the Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (CoHSAT), a partnership of local organisations working to promote accessible, people-friendly streets across Oxfordshire. LCWO’s transport lead, Neville Scrivener, contributed to the coalition’s work, which included developing a vision for St Giles, advocating for improved active travel measures in response to COVID-19, and engaging with local transport planning processes.
During this period, the coalition supported initiatives such as the introduction of bus gates, expansion of 20mph zones, and early improvements to cycling, walking, and bus infrastructure along Botley Road.
Clean Air Day 2019: #CleanerOutThanIn
For Clean Air Day in 2019, we organised a stunt in the city centre to raise awareness of the fact that often, pollution from vehicles is worse inside the car than just a few meters away outside. This involved filling a stationary vehicle with disco smoke, whilst wearing masks and suits. It drew a lot of interest, particularly from curious children! Find out more here, which includes links to the stunt on local news.
Bringing electric vehicles to Oxford
Members of Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO) were involved in the development of the Go Ultra Low Oxford project, which trialled on-street electric vehicle charging for residents without off-street parking. The City and County Council initiative tested a range of charger types across the city and introduced additional electric car club vehicles.
LCWO volunteers Neville and Fiona Scrivener hosted a trial charge point at their home, while additional charging locations were installed across West Oxford, supporting wider access to electric vehicle infrastructure.
No Expressway Alliance
LCWO is a member of the No Expressway Alliance, and opposes the building of the proposed Oxford-Cambridge expressway, along any of its routes. Find out more about the alliance here.
Some other projects to date
- In 2009, LCWO helped set up a local Zipcar scheme which now has a car at the Community Centre, plus a car and van at the Railway Station. More than 170 people have become members of the scheme and at least three families have given up owning a car as a result, saving around 80 tonnes of CO2 per year.
- LCWO supported the successful city campaign for 20mph speed limits on residential roads and under the railway bridge, which should hopefully contribute to a long term shift encourage people to walk and cycle locally.
- LCWO also persuaded the County Council to set an advisory 30mph speed limit on Binsey Lane, improve the pavement under the railway bridge, and remove some cycle barriers.
- LCWO helped with work to develop a cycling map for Oxford, that shows both the routes on the main roads, and the quiet routes that avoid the traffic.
City Centre map: https://www.cyclox.org/index.php/2020/01/14/oxford-cycle-map/
Larger area map: http://www.transportparadise.co.uk/cyclemap/
Cyclox: https://www.cyclox.org/
Stuff
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Wildlife
Archive of additional projects
