The last 12 months have continued to demonstrate there is still much to be done to protect the ongoing habitability of our planet.  The cost of living crisis continues, with inflation in the UK higher than in the rest of the developing countries meaning we all need to work together and share hints and tips more than ever.

Collaborations and call outs

• We ran an event in October, repeated in partnership with the Civic society on how to save your pounds and the planet which created some good dialogue with the attendees.
  • In June were asked to share some of these ideas at the Mayors Civic Service at the church which was well received.
• Simone has stepped down from representing Sustainable Newport in the Telford Plastic Free communities taskforce, although Susanne has stayed engaged representing Hollinswood primary
• Sustainable Newport was represented at the Climate Change partnership by Cath Edwards, and Susanne has also been making an impact by representing Hollinswood primary
• Simone continues to be co-opted as a representative of Sustainable Newport into the Newport Town Council “Leisure and Environment Committee”.  This is giving greater visibility of the work we do for the community, and the Council has now allocated a budget line item to support sustainable activities, which helped secure the new Tetrapak bin, and which we’re targeting a new thermal imaging camera for use this winter
• In December we held our first “People Planet Pint” event
• We have had increased collaborations with the Newport events CIC which is supporting all local events including the Carnival, Food Frenzy and Christmas lights switch on who we look forward to partnering with for all Newport events.  The goal is to make the 2024 Carnival free of Single Use Cups and Pints.
  • We invested in new signage for our stand at the events to make us easier to find and share our message at all events
• Jane and Sandra started a collaboration last year with Roots Stafford, Collecting “Hard to Recycle” waste from the Newport Library and taking it to Stafford as a bulk delivery on the 3^rd Saturday of each month.  The awareness raised around the lack of local recycling helped us work with the Town Council and fire service to install a new Tetrapak bin researched by Jon at the fire station thanks to the coordination by Cath.  This is a great win for our team and town and will greatly reduce the amount of recycling our members take on.
  • This new scheme has been featured in the current guildhall display for Plastic Free July
• In June, Jon was invited to lead a discussion at the All about Newport “Business Doing Business event” which Simone supported
• In June we also helped support the Newport Safari Sale, by promoting it on Social Media and via our mailing list
• Finally, at the beginning of July we were invited to be part of the Pride in Your High street event to help spread awareness of the work we do.

Our work aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals

As a group, we have continued to support our 3 priority United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) as part of the decade of action, and help to spread awareness of this important framework and any related activities.  The #DecadeOfAction runs up to 2030.

• SDG 12:  Responsible consumption and production:  Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns – awareness and support of groups and activities which align
  • Sustainable Newport “Cups and Pints”
    • Cup Scheme
      • Offered for use at the Food Frenzy and Carnival
        • 460 Cups out in the community and 512 in stock
      • Of our 300 Silicon lids to go with our cups we have
        • 59 in the community, 241 in stock
      • Sadly we no longer have any business’s offering the cups on a permanent basis due to lack of returns and business closures
    • Pint Scheme: 
      • Of our reusable cups and pints we have
        • 438 Pints out in the community and 462 in stock
        • 43 ½ pints in the community and 257 in stock
  • Promotion and support of the Refill Scheme
    • 30 Water Refill points available in and around Newport
    • 5 Reusable Cup locations
    • 1 Plastic Free shopping location
  • Promotion of “Newport Safari Sale”
  • In December we ran our first Christmas Jumper swap/give away at the Christmas Lights turn on which was championed by Heather, alongside a giveaway of Christmas vouchers designed by Sandra’s daughter Lucy
    • Lucy also created voucher for both Mothers Day and Fathers Day which we gave away at the library and events
  • We also held our most successful pass it on event in January
• SDG 13:  Climate action:  Take urgent action to combat climate change and it’s impacts (includes Plastics due to fossil fuel) – Partnerships and communication
  • As above, promotion of the Refill Scheme
  • Promotion of “Plastic Free July” including the current display in the Guildhall Window
  • Energy saving talk
• SDG 15:  Life on Land:  Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss – promoting events which support these areas
  • Promotion and support “No Mow May”

Summary

I want to give a big thank you to all the committee and supporters for continuing to support our work and share the work we’re doing.  Here’s hoping that the next year will highlight more opportunities to improve the sustainability of our town.

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