Beautify Balham

Striving for a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Balham.

beautifybalham

Balham In Bloom To Create The Balham Floral Boom

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I am originally from a small town in Worcestershire, which tends to mean that you aren’t too far from rolling fields, forests and other open spaces to indulge in nature. When moving to London over 7 years ago, I followed the usual criteria for movers, hopefully to find somewhere with a nearby supermarket, good transport links, a good local pub (of course!) but I added an equally important addition to my list. I had to be near green open space, somewhere I could walk and get my balance of ‘countryside’ as well as that of living in a city. Luckily, I managed to find somewhere only ten minutes walk from Tooting Common, which has definitely helped during the last 12 months to break up the working from home rut we are all in, particularly as I live somewhere without a garden.

Beautify Balham

It’s so important to have community groups/campaigns like Beautify Balham to support and encourage us to make where we live greener and cleaner and protecting the local ecosystem. It’s fantastic to see how much support this group has garnered. The aims of the group resonate with my own and so with ‘Balham in Bloom’ around the corner we have a perfect opportunity to achieve them.

Although I am limited to the constraints of my top floor flat this hasn’t stopped me from thinking of how I could create my own floral arrangements, albeit from my own (very) small gardening experience and sharing it in this blog. However, I will have to admit that prior to writing this I did put in a call to my grandmother, who briefly lived in the area just after 1945, and who has (for 50 plus years) run a small independent garden and plant nursery so I cannot take complete credit for it!

Beautify Balham

So my suggestions are:

Ready grown bedding plants

  • Geraniums (Red, White or Pink)
  • Pansies (mixed Colours)
  • Marigolds (Orange)
  • Petunias (Pink)
  • Carnations (Pink and scented)

*All of these plants if they are planted just after the last frost (around May) they will flower in time for June and last until September/October time. They should also be planted in bedding compost and regularly watered (daily) particularly in drier weather.

Potted Plants

  • Hybrid roses
  • Strawberry plants
  • Raspberry plants

*These should be planted/maintained the same as the bedding plants but will last year on year.

I am personally really looking forward to seeing the creations that start to emerge on our streets and I would encourage everyone to get involved and all make Balham a greener, cleaner and more beautiful Balham.

– Thomas Mytton

  • Beautify Balham
  • Beautify Balham

Lockdown Silver Linings (Or Should We Say Green Linings?)

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Balham Street Gardeners

Balham Street Gardeners was started during the first lockdown with the objective to encourage neighbours to work together to transform our street into mini gardens. The large tree pits were identified and everyone took it in turns to plant flowers and water them throughout the Spring and Summer. Social distancing was respected and children got involved throughout the project.

  • Balham Street Gardeners
  • Balham Street Gardeners

We now want to incentivise the local community of Balham to replicate this project and create green corridors to encourage pollinators, increase biodiversity and create stronger communities. 

– Justine McNeil from Balham Street Gardeners

Balham Street Gardeners
Balham Street Gardeners

Meet Jean Millar, Founder of Beautify Balham

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Balham and Tooting are vibrant places to live but we do sometimes struggle with littering, fly-tipping and a lack of green spaces. Jean Millar has lived in Balham for over 40 years and although she loves it, she began to find the litter and lack of greenery in the High Road a bit depressing. So she suggested starting a campaign to collect litter and plant greenery in the High Road and ‘Beautify Balham’ was born.

Jean’s efforts include organisation of litter picks and asking participants what green ideas they would like to see introduced. She has also contacted local churches and schools to garner support and encourage other sections of the community to become even more involved in ‘green’ projects.

“I felt Balham needed a face lift with plants, trees and flowers. Also a regular clean up session so that litter would be a thing of the past.”

– Jean Millar

Jean is exploring the possibility for more trees and has also offered her ideas to improve Balham bridge and to ‘green’ the station wall. She is an example of how one person can kick-start changes that the whole community can benefit from.

We chat with Jean over a (socially distanced!) coffee to find out more…

WHY DID YOU START BEAUTIFY BALHAM? I have lived in Balham for many years, but only in retirement have I had the time to really look at the environment around me. Although I love living here, I saw a lot of concrete and grey buildings, also litter and fly tipping. I felt Balham needed a face lift with plants, trees and flowers. Also a regular clean up session so that litter would be a thing of the past. 

WHAT ARE YOUR OBJECTIVES FOR THIS YEAR? For more people to know about the campaign, to encourage more volunteers to join the monthly litter pick and to have a celebration in June, ‘Balham in Bloom‘, so that residents and businesses can take part in beautifying their own front gardens and premises as a community project. To encourage local businesses to take responsibility for their rubbish and sponsor Balham in Bloom.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT BALHAM? The vibrance of the streets and diversity of people. 

WILL YOU BE ENTERING BALHAM IN BLOOM? Yes, of course! 

Frankie The Fox: Mask Making Activity For 3-7 Year Olds to Support Campaign to Protect Environment (Via NappyValleyNet)

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Children aged 3-7 are encouraged to take part in activities at home, to learn all about litter and recycling, as part of the Wandsworth Council’s MyWandsworth campaign.

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In this week’s activity, young people are encouraged to learn all about Frankie the Fox and make their own mask courtesy of Earth Cubs a free educational platform created by a local resident.

Earth Cubs provides a range of activities for 3-year-olds right up to 7-year-old.

Parents and teachers can access free resources, downloadable activities and an app to inspire young people to learn all about our environment.

Local resident and father of two small children, Toby Hunt, setup Earth Cubs as he has long believed there is a need for fun and creative resources which inspire children to learn more about the world they live in and support the UN’s Global Goals.

Toby said: “I wanted to find a way to build excitement around sustainability and the environment. Our beautiful planet has so many incredible environments, all facing different issues. Earth Cubs was created to approach these issues in a positive way, empower children to make a difference and have fun at the same time!”

For children, an interactive mobile game encourages creativity, numeracy and literacy. They get to meet fascinating characters like Antonio the Anteater in the rainforest or Nigel the Nervous Narwhal in the Arctic.

For parents, simple to use home learning packs cover a wide-range of environments, activities and hints on making life more sustainable.

For teachers, Earth Cubs lesson plan resources all fully aligned to EYFS and KS1 curriculum. Their complete lesson plans include: guided teaching steps, activities, outdoor learning ideas – all focused on the environment and sustainability.

Parents and teachers can access free resources, downloadable activities and an app to inspire young people to learn all about our environment.

Councillor Steffi Sutters, Cabinet Member for Community Services and Open Spaces, said:
“Earth Cubs is a great way to bring messages around litter and recycling to a younger audience, inspiring the next generation to learn about and take care of their local area while in lockdown.

“The activities are fun, free and give Wandsworth’s children, parents and teachers one simple way to help spread the word about what kids can do to protect the environment.”

Download Earth Cubs App for free via Apple and Android App stores.

Watch Abigail, age seven, colour-in and make her own mask: https://youtu.be

GO TO: nappyvalleynet.com for the original post.

Is The UK On The Brink of a Face Mask Litter crisis?

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As part of a recent campaign, here at Regatta we wanted to look in-depth at the UK litter Crisis. After gaining insightful data from the charity ‘Keep Britain Tidy’, we were able to uncover the true extent of the litter crisis that’s developing across the country. From the most common types of litter found in the UK each year, to the shocking amount of litter dropped each second; the data was a stark reminder as to why it’s time to act now and turn the tide on the UK’s bad litter habits.

Regatta Urges People To Dispose Of Their Face Masks Correctly

Our campaign found that it’s smoking-related litter which causes one of the main issues in the UK. However, as the country continues to battle a global pandemic, could this mean smoking-related litter is surpassed by a new item we’re now using and discarding on a daily basis?

Face mask

The impact of face masks on the environment

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), more than 96 per cent of adults confirmed that they had worn a face covering after leaving their home since the outbreak. Although this lifestyle change is hopefully slowing the spread of COVID-19, large numbers of people are wearing disposable masks, and not disposing of them properly, opting for the floor instead of a bin.

A recent survey of 2,000 respondents found that over 51 per cent of people are using a single-use face covering on a daily basis, which totals around 27 million people. Experts say that a single-use face covering should only be used for a certain amount of time, meaning on average, a person changes their mask twice a day.

Although we can take positives from the large number of people admitting to wearing a face covering, more education needs to be done in order to inform people of the correct ways to dispose of their masks.

The rising issues presented by face masks

We’ve touched upon the upon the benefits of face masks, but if they’re not disposed of correctly, then they’re only going to add to the current litter crisis the UK is facing.

Using Ipswich as an example, anti-litter campaigner Jason Alexander revealed that in one single day he recovered around 50 face masks from the streets within his local area. Although this shocking figure is alarming on it’s own, people who drop face masks on the streets and in beauty spots across the UK are likely unaware of the materials they’re made from and the damage they can have on the environment if not disposed of correctly.

In times gone by face masks were simply made from cloth, but this is no longer the case. Modern day disposable face masks typically contain plastic materials such as polypropylene. Over recent years we have been alerted to the plastics crisis the UK is experiencing and how it is damaging our waters and local nature, so it’s vital face masks are disposed of in the correct manner.

Guidance suggests that the correct way to dispose of a single-use face covering is to remove the two straps from the fabric piece of the mask and dispose of them separately. By doing this the risk to wildlife is reduced and we’re less likely to find them littering our local area. As it’s highly likely the nation will be asked to continue to wear a face covering for the foreseeable future; to protect our wildlife and environment around us, now might be the time to invest in a reusable face mask.

Is the UK on the brink of a new type of litter crisis?

The figures discussed in this post are extremely frightening, but to add to this, a recent campaign created by InYourArea and ‘Clean Up Britain’, found that 90 per cent of people surveyed admitted that they had seen face masks littering the streets; with a further 87 per cent saying they wouldn’t feel comfortable picking one up and disposing of it accordingly.

Our UK litter crisis campaign revealed some alarming figures, but the data we’ve shared above makes you wonder if we’re on the brink of a whole new litter epidemic. With the UK population now having to wear face coverings in a number of settings, it’s important we all play our part in using them correctly and disposing of them in the right manner – don’t forget to bin it!

Join our conversation and share your litter experiences on social media using #UKLitterCrisis

Guest author: Helena Mulhearn at regatta.com