Archives for Health and Environment - Page 4
Government Greenwash
Kent Barker argues our environment and our health are being sacrificed as we move out of lockdown and out of the EU. Everyone seems to agree on one thing: virtually…
Enhance Your Environment
Free to enter urban design competition Should buildings mimic their surroundings or should they be distinctive and challenge us visually? Hastings Urban Design Group (HUDG) is running two competitions seeking…
Take The Slow Ways
‘Slow Ways’ is an innovative project to create a network of walking routes connecting all of Great Britain’s towns and villages using existing ; During lockdown 700 volunteers from across…
Better Things Are Electric
As we emerge from lockdown it seems consumer buying habits are irrevocably altered, in particular an increased demand for home ; Typically these involve a van bringing shopping and takeaway…
Gardening
Outdoor Therapy for mind, body and soul There’s currently a lot of ‘buzz’ about gardening and the health and well-being benefits of just being in the great outdoors. Gardeners have…
Flight of the GM Superbee
By Kent Barker At the start of each spring, Britain’s 44,000 beekeepers peer anxiously at the entrances to their hives. Are bees flying freely in and out? Have the colonies…
Mixed Messages On Mowing
Hastings Council has been accused of confused priorities following their recent support of ‘No Mow May’ – a national campaign asking people not to cut their lawns in order to…
Space Invader
Walk under the cliffs at Glynde Gap or Cliff End and you’ll encounter a wall of picturesque flowers, the exotically named Hottentot Fig. A non-native species, once popular in ornamental…
Breaths of Fresh Air
Walking Local Green And Pleasant Lands We all know exercise is important, but six weeks into lockdown your customary trek around the block might be becoming boring? On calm days…
End of Life Care in Disarray
Brian Bostock is responsible for end of life and complex care patients over a large part of Kent. Palliative Care Service End of life care is an emotional rollercoaster for…
Spring Hibernation
How local green groups are coping with lockdown We have a wealth of environmental and wildlife groups in and around Hastings, mainly comprised of volunteers. At this time of the…
Friends of Hastings Country Park
HIP spoke – at a safe distance – to Michael Moor, FoHCP chairperson and asked how the group is doing day to day. He told us: “The Country Park Nature…
Strandliners: ‘Cleaner rivers, cleaner seas’
Spokesperson Andy Dinsdale told HIP: “As projects are cancelled for the foreseeable future, we’re striving to keep an online presence. There’s no formal coastal monitoring of plastic pollution, just reports…
Hope For The Environment
Clean air One immediate affect of the virus lockdown is a cleaner atmosphere. “Air quality has started to improve in many UK cities, mirroring what has been seen in other…
Covid-19 – The Known Unknowns
Kent Barker asks if UK’s East Sussex ‘patient-zero’ shifts the expected Coronavirus epidemic peak. And considers other confusing ; When should we expect the epidemic to peak? The government suggests…
Power To Our Elbows
Brexit and climate emergency are on the back burner. Our attention has been redirected. Some of us have gone from elbow greetings to complete isolation. Bombarded by scary stories and…
We All Breathe The Same Air…
The government announced the ban on the sale of wet wood and coal but Katy Kiteley from Stova chimney services explains that it’s been badly reported. Wood burners and multi-fuel…
MILTON TRAGER: The Man Who Defragmented Minds
Milton Trager created a healing modality sometimes described as ‘psychophysical integration therapy’, but don’t let that put you off! Trager began his work with polio patients and went on to…
Spring Cleaning Hastings and St. Leonards
Austerity may have a negative impact on our quality of life but it can also revive community spirit and co-operation. In an earlier article, HIP met the guerrilla gardeners maintaining…
Rare Plant Thrives
Dumortier’s Liverwort is thriving since Hastings Borough Council (HBC) took back management of Fairlight Place Farm in the Country Park. Colin Fitzgerald, lead councillor for parks and open spaces said:…
Wild Ponies Return
A herd of five Exmoor ponies will be returned to Hastings Country Park nature reserve this February. They form part of a mixed grazing system at the Park and, together…
HIP Environmental News
Council protects nature reserves Colin Fitzgerald, lead member for the Environment said: “Hastings Borough Council has protected the very best wildlife areas in the town by declaring them Local Nature…
Reflexology Feet Feat Is ‘Toetally’ Sensual
Neil del Strother talks us through his first reflexology appointment. The word ‘sensuality’ sums up my experience of Reflexology treatment, I had no idea my feet were quite so sensitive. …
A Light Bulb Moment
How to recycle them? – HIP tries to shed some light on the question “Can light bulbs be recycled?” asked a HIP reader? An awful lot of defective bulbs are…
What To Do With Hard-to-Recycle Items
TerraCycle offers free recycling programmes funded by brands, manufacturers, and retailers to help collect hard-to-recycle waste. There are local Terracycle collection boxes – earning charity donations – in the following…
Small Is Beautiful – And Cheaper
Kent Barker looks at the cars most responsible for greenhouse gasses and particulates, and discovers that leaving the EU means manufacturers may have to take gas-guzzlers off the forecourt. Are…
Don’t Miss Energy Awareness Week
Energise Sussex Coast (ESC) is organising a week of free energy awareness activities between 20th-27th ; “Many people are considering how to save energy in the home, whether that’s because…
Better Things Are Electric
A power-assisted bike proves miles easier Situated on National Cycle Route 2 Hastings is a good place for cycling with a dedicated but shared use seafront path and a flat…
New Cycle Routes St Leonards
East Sussex County Council and Hastings Borough Council are currently working on a walking and cycling strategy for Hastings and St Leonards. An ESCC spokesman said: “Cycling and walking have…
Merry Recycling
At Xmas and New Year people typically generate 30% more recycling than usual. Here’s how to ensure you do so correctly. Hastings residents can take Christmas Trees to the Harmers…
Ditch The Wrapping, And Get Naked This Xmas
A survey, conducted by Hastings Adventure Golf to launch its ‘Naked Christmas’ campaign encouraging the reduction of packaging and wrapping, claims the majority of Hastings adults would prefer to receive…
Environmental Update
News of the Natural World Seawater quality Water collected from Pelham Beach and tested by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has been rated ‘sufficient’ – the…
Fighting the sugar epidemic
In HIP 138 Ben Bruges examined our addiction to sugar. Here he explores what’s being done to combat its impact. The intergovernmental Office for Economic Cooperation and Development says the…
Clothes On For Shiatsu Oblivion
By Neil del Strother The proof of the massage is in the kneading. At least it certainly seems that way with shiatsu, as my massage commenced with the lengthy kneading…
Gardening Guerrillas And Biophiles
Some lucky Hastings residents have been waking up to see flowers springing up in streets where once there were only weeds. Guerrilla Gardeners have arrived. These activists have been appearing…
Invisible Disabilities
1: Sunflower lanyard For people with hidden disabilities, going on holiday can be difficult. Being in a busy environment with hundreds of other passengers may leave them feeling overwhelmed and…
Why Do We ‘Treat’ Our Children With A Dangerous Drug?
Ben Bruges examines our addiction to sugar In Hastings we have a problem with obesity. Just over one in four Reception year children are overweight or obese, rising to one…
Does Hastings Need A Tourist Tax?
Might Hastings benefit from taxing holidaymakers? Bath, where visitors are equally essential to the local economy, has recently lobbied unsuccessfully to be able to make such charges. In contrast the…
Are You Suffering From Eco-Anxiety?
By Alison Hooper Recently I received an email from Patient Access asking if I’m suffering from eco-anxiety and suggesting two ways to alleviate this increasingly common form of depression: talking…
What Is SoS?
Sustainability on Sea is (SOS) a community festival held over nine days - organised by the community for the community to promote a sustainable future. From the Car Free Day…