News Item

Bootle cares about climate change

The organisers of Bootle’s second Climate Action Festival which focused on actions the local community can take to help save the planet has been hailed as a major success.

The organisers at social enterprise Regenerus say they were ‘absolutely thrilled’ that this year more than 450 people attended the festival at Salt & Tar in Bootle town centre, twice as many as the inaugural event in 2022.

“It was great to see so many people from Bootle wanting to do their bit to fight climate change,” said Ruth Livesey of Regenerus.

The wide variety of organisations exhibiting at the event put the spotlight on all the small things local residents can do to help tackle climate issues.

For example Asda’s Community Champions showed how to reduce food waste, while elsewhere visitors could watch worms working away to make rich compost with food scraps, courtesy of Compost Works.

The Canal & River Trust were also at the festival, alongside B4Biodiversity who explained the role of bees in our ecosystem, and the importance of protecting and increasing biodiversity to address climate change.

Meanwhile staff from Alchemic Kitchen showed everyone how to cook up a tasty vegetarian soup, which everyone enjoyed with a slice of herby flatbread.

The ingredients of the soup included produce which the Taking Root in Bootle community gardening team had ‘gleaned’ just the day before, collecting surplus and unwanted vegetables from a local farm. Over 60 people took away the recipe and ingredients in a bag to have a go at making the soup at home.

Lots of free gifts were on offer at the festival including both indoor and outdoor plants to encourage everyone to get growing, brought along by Taking Root and Sefton Council’s Natural Alternatives. Adding to the selection, visitors also brought cuttings of their own along to take part in the plant and seed swap, and everyone could have a go at potting up their own cuttings with the Taking Root team.

Elsewhere the focus was on steps we can all take to reduce, reuse and recycle. Plastic Tactics demonstrated how we can make beautiful things out of waste plastic, while Veolia explained all about recycling across Liverpool City Region.

Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority helped us to understand more about zero waste and the circular economy, while Sefton Council’s Affordable Warmth Team were on hand with advice about how to reduce our energy use.

Sadly, we still see lots of litter on the streets of Bootle, but we did our bit on the day with a canal clean-up co-ordinated by Bootle Canoe & Activities Club. Crosby Wombles were joined by VIP guests Great Uncle Bulgaria and Orinoco from Wombles Operations who took charge of a litter pick on dry land.

Asthma + Lung UK also attended the festival to tell us more about the impact of poor air quality, whilst Sefton Council’s Active Walks Sefton team encouraged us all to do a bit more walking, and maybe join an organised walk as part of their Wellbeing Walk programme.

Organisers Regenerus stress that the festival would not have happened without the support of the Linacre Ward elected members at Sefton Council, who are committed to promoting key messages about the role of environmental action in addressing climate change.

Ruth Livesey from Regenerus said: “It has been such a fabulous day, jollied along with live music from ukele band the Quay Notes. We danced in the sunshine, had lots of fun and got involved in some great conversations, whilst learning a little bit more about what we can all do as individuals to make a difference.”