Lancashire is full of people aiming to tackle climate change and promote sustainability in the local area. This blog showcases some sustainability ‘stars’: we are not ‘endorsing’ these examples, but offer them as a way to stimulate thinking. Here, in no particular order are some sustainability stars in our local area.

1. Gina and James Somerville, Green Rose CIC

Gina and James Somerville run Green Rose, a Community Interest Company that aims to offer households free advice and support with energy issues. In 2020, they have helped 187 low income and vulnerable households in energy saving techniques, leading to an avoidance of 332 tonnes of CO₂. Georgina has a background in social housing, charity development and quality assurance management and oversees the delivery of Green Rose’s programmes. James has a background in the energy industry and oversees the company’s business development.

2. Jon Jackson, WasteVu

Jon Jackson owns WasteVu, a company aiming to promote circular economy solutions for companies, simplifying their waste management. Jon has worked hard to create a platform that allows companies to communicate to redirect their waste into more environmentally friendly uses, such as recycling, reusing and remanufacturing. Diverting waste in this way reduces the impacts that waste has on the environment, both by reducing the amount of material sent to landfill and by reducing the carbon emissions produced through the creation of new products.

3. Nick Smith (Queen’s Market Morecambe)

Nick Smith at Queen’s Square Market, in Morecambe, is aiming to open a market primarily using reused and recycled materials sourced from the local area. This will reduce the carbon emissions associated with using raw materials to set up the market. The market, will be a food hall and events space once the construction has been completed.

4. Relic Plastic team

The Relic Plastic team aim to collect plastic waste that currently has little value, to turn it into new products that customers love. This can reduce the amount of plastic entering waterways, helping to contribute to Goal 14 of the Sustainable Development Goals which is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans for sustainable development. The organisation promotes a circular economy approach to plastic pollution, meaning that resources are also diverted away from landfill.

5. Support the Goals

Support the Goals is a local organisation that aims to raise awareness of the Sustainable Development Goals within the business community. The company are focussed on giving local young people work experience in corporate sustainability, giving them the skill to succeed in both sustainability and in the workplace in the future.

6. Sewing Café Lancaster

The Sewing Café Lancaster is a grassroots project that advocates for an ethical textile industry. The group have promoted free mending items in various neighbourhoods around Lancaster. Recent projects have included a sewing circle for refugees and asylum seekers, and a community banners project. In addition, their natural dyes project aims to raise awareness of the toxic effects of industrial dyes on the environment.

7. Carbonbit

Carbonbit is a consultancy company guiding organisations through their sustainability journey. They aim to help businesses achieve net zero by accounting for their carbon emissions, promoting a circular economy approach and by embracing the Sustainable Development Goals. This is done with a focus on renewable energy and water efficiency.

8. LESS UK

LESS UK is a not for profit Community Interest Company established in 2007 to help residents live more sustainably. Their vision is to create strong communities in Lancashire that are resilient to climate change. They give support to individuals through courses in sustainable living, supporting them to meet both their needs and to address climate change.

9. Lancaster District Food Poverty Alliance (LDFPA)

The Lancaster District Food Poverty Alliance advocate and implement changes in the local area that contribute towards reducing the number of people in food poverty. They also carry out research to identify the optimal redistribution networks for leftover food and food waste in Lancashire, promoting the circular economy. They also offer training relating to cooking on a money, energy and time budget.

10. Phoebe Hanson

Phoebe Hanson is a politics student at Lancaster who is involved with fighting the climate crisis via education. She helped to coordinate Mock COP26 and also supporting the UK Department for Education to convene a joint event at COP26 to further advance climate education. She is a firm believer in helping future generations to have the tools to tackle the climate crisis and works hard to help the movement in any way she can.

I hope you found these examples interesting and that their ideas and approaches make you think about the many ways that sustainability can be achieved. It is important that we all make an effort to contribute to tackling climate in our everyday lives, and these people and organisations can offer some inspiration into doing so.

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The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.