Catch up on all the climate news with Daisy Page.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent on Climate, live on KMTV.
00:17I'm Daisy Page and in this show we discuss all the things related to environmental issues
00:21in the county.
00:22How is climate change impacting Kent?
00:24What are communities in the county doing to tackle it?
00:27And how can you help at home?
00:29Each week we'll be taking a deep dive into a new environmental issue in the county and
00:33I'll be joined by expert guests.
00:36First tonight, let's start off with what you can do in your own gardens to help local wildlife
00:40and the ecosystems around us.
00:42From native plants to bug hotels, I sat down with Ellen Tout who works for the Kent Wildlife
00:47Trust WildAbout Gardens programme to learn more about how we can adapt our gardens to
00:52be more eco-friendly.
00:53Thank you for joining us today Ellen, so what are some ways people can make their gardens
00:58more environmentally friendly?
01:01So I work for Kent Wildlife Trust's WildAbout Gardens programme and we do lots of events
01:08and outreach talking to people about exactly that and there's so many things that you can
01:15do.
01:16One of the most important is introducing water to your garden.
01:21People tend to think of ponds but actually if you can just have a small dish of water
01:26or a bird bath, something like that, it's a brilliant resource.
01:31It's not just used by birds, hedgehogs, amphibians, even bees will go and visit water, so even
01:37if you can introduce just a small dish of water that's brilliant.
01:42I'd also say just like stepping back a little bit, so wildlife-friendly gardens, they don't
01:48have to be messy but just tidying a little bit less, like letting nature step in a bit
01:54more for us rather than us coming in wanting to introduce chemicals or cut things back
02:00really quickly or planting things that just don't work in our environment, so gardening
02:06a bit more relaxed.
02:08I think it's really interesting that you say that it doesn't need to be messy because sometimes
02:13I'm an avid gardener myself and always trying to look at ways to make my garden more eco-friendly
02:17and sometimes I catch myself going oh I'll just chop that down and when you inspect it
02:21a little bit closer you can see all the critters living in there and I'm like oh maybe I'll
02:24just leave it because clearly it's attracting lots of that wildlife there, so I think that's
02:28a really important message you just said there.
02:31Do you think it's important to try and make efforts, even if it's just little efforts,
02:35to make your space eco-friendly?
02:36Yeah, so our gardens actually cover more land across all of the UK than nature reserves
02:44do, so if you think of it like that, like even if you have a small garden, when they
02:49all add up, if we were all making like small changes, that can have a huge difference.
02:55I think some people just maybe don't have the time or the interest in gardening or think
03:00like does it really matter, but if we were all doing just a little bit it makes a huge
03:05difference and I think with the climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis it's becoming
03:12more and more important for us to make the most of green spaces like that that we have
03:17got.
03:18Yeah, and I suppose it's going back to the little things that you mentioned, like just
03:21putting out a little plate or bowl of water as well, so little steps there that we can
03:26start making.
03:28Should people be focusing on adding more native plants and flowers in their gardens because
03:32obviously it's getting to garden season, we're going to want to be planting plants, but should
03:36we be looking at what type of plants we're putting into our garden?
03:40Yeah, so that's a question we quite often get asked.
03:45I think it's a complicated one, partly the answer is yes, more native plants would be
03:52great, that's because insects have a relationship already with those plants, they can be larval
04:02food plants as well as being great for pollinators and well adapted to our environment, so yes
04:08would be the answer, but also you want to enjoy your garden, so if you've got a flower
04:14that you love, still plant it, I don't think we should be so hard and fast with the rules.
04:20And also non-native plants are great because lots of them flower now, or they flower in
04:26October, November when our natives are sort of calming down a lot, so it's good to have
04:32that diversity really, so introducing natives, like there's some that people tend to love
04:39anyway, things like forget-me-not, foxgloves, primulas, things like that are native so they're
04:47great to introduce, but also just having that diversity of plant types and structures and
04:55flowering time is really great, so that you're covering all bases, but also making your garden
05:01somewhere that you love, so introducing things that you are going to get joy from as well.
05:07Yeah I've got a couple of foxgloves in my garden and I always see the bees
05:11sitting there for ages and it's just so fascinating just to take that time and just
05:15appreciate not only the flower but the nature that it's attracting as well. Kind of talking
05:20about bugs, obviously gardening we think about that, but it's always great to get the younger
05:26ones out into the garden and have a bit of fun. Do you think bug hotels are a good way of doing
05:31this and how does it help ecosystems in our gardens? Yeah the bug hotels I think are so
05:38popular now, you often see them in especially public gardens because I think they're
05:45a really good way for people to engage with that, quite a fun creative step into
05:51wildlife-friendly gardening and I think they're great from that perspective. I guess you kind
05:57of want to be making sure you're positioning them right and you're using materials that are
06:03going to be beneficial. I was reading some research recently that bee hotels you want
06:09high enough up off of the ground that they're not going to get predated, whereas bug hotels
06:13on the ground. So it's things like that that often garden centres and places sell things
06:19that look quite pretty but you want to try and position them in the right place and look after
06:25them if they need cleaning out at all and things like that. But I think it's a really nice way for
06:31people to be creative and also upcycle things in their gardens. I've seen lots of gardeners now
06:37doing like pyramids with bug wands, someone was calling them, which is quite fun. You could also
06:44try things like dead hedges which have similar benefits but you also get birds, maybe hedgehogs,
06:51things like that using those as well. Now it's time for this week's creature feature.
06:56This week's creature may spark some debate as we switched out fur for leaves and legs for roots.
07:02They stand tall and grow seeds that may make you reminisce about your childhood.
07:06Well have you guessed it? If not, let's take a closer look. With roots for legs and branches
07:10for arms, the sycamore tree can live up to 400 years and can grow to 35 metres tall.
07:16They produce big green leaves that change colour in autumn and winged seeds called samaras but you
07:21may remember them from your childhood as helicopters. These provide food for animals
07:25such as bees, caterpillars and birds. The dense foliage is popular among blackbirds and robins
07:30as nesting sites and provide shelter for many small mammals and bats. Sycamore trees have been
07:35admired by many cultures throughout history such as in ancient Greece, Norse mythology and
07:40Christianity for their beauty, strength and longevity. The timber is commonly used for
07:44furniture and kitchenware as it is hard and strong with a fine grain making it great for
07:49carving. One sycamore tree in particular was very popular among hikers and tourists.
07:53The sycamore tree in Northumberland National Park stood along Hadrian's Wall and was an iconic
07:58landmark standing for nearly 200 years before it was felled by an act of vandalism in September
08:032023. Once the trees reach maturity they are extremely resilient against wind, air pollution,
08:09cold weather and exposure. Because of this they are typically planted around parks, streets and
08:14can even be used along the coastline as windbreaks. Now as spring nears we are starting to see spring
08:21blooms popping up all across the county. It's a chance to take in the beauty of flowers and
08:26the importance of looking after the environment, especially here in the Garden of England. Well
08:31to find the best ways to look after our flowers this spring Isabel Miller caught up with Anthony
08:36Brown, a fifth generation florist based in Gillingham to get all his tips and tricks.
08:41Okay for cut flowers the most important thing to do is to when you receive cut flowers to make sure
08:50that you adhere to the care instructions that's supplied with them, namely that they are recuts
08:56before they're put into fresh water, that the vase or the receptacle that they're being put into
09:02is the right size and height for them so that they can't droop and that you use the flower food
09:09accordingly and that you change the water regularly so that you get optimum use of the
09:15blooms. And with plants, sorry go on. Well no I was just going to say March is such a beautiful
09:24time for flowers, what sort of things should we be thinking about at this time of year when it
09:28comes to flowers and planting? Okay so with cut flowers all the spring flowers are available at
09:36the moment so ranunculus, tulips, daffodils, stocks are available as well, iris so lots and
09:44lots of spring flowers around as bulbs as well as cut flowers and we're then moving into so lots and
09:51lots of colour and lots and lots of perfume around in those particular flowers and then as we move
09:58further into deeper spring you'll get more of the unusual types of flowers where they like the warmth
10:05of sort of mild heat rather than the coldness around so lots and lots of warm colours, gerberas,
10:12roses, lilies, carnations. And what flowers are common to see in Kent? Maybe there are some rare
10:20ones that we can see? Lavender fields are in abundance in northwest Kent during the latter
10:28part of spring so that's a nice trip out and similarly daffodils there's lots and lots of
10:35field grown daffodils around that you can go and pick your own or you can go in and buy off the shelf.
10:43And why do you think people should buy flowers especially at this time of year? I guess it kind
10:48of just makes your day waking up and seeing some flowers in your home maybe? Definitely I mean
10:55flowers have been a gift or a token since Adam and Eve's time so they are probably the most
11:03used item that is to express a sense of giving to people whether that's the joy from cradle to grave
11:13really so the joy of receiving flowers always tends to change the emotion of the day so
11:21for someone that is unwell or a bereavement or sympathy, a newborn, weddings, it covers a whole
11:30thing from cradle to grave so to receive flowers or a plant at any time of the year is wonderful.
11:39It's time for a break. Coming up we'll see how myself and Etta Lee took on the challenge to
11:43reduce our food scraps and we'll hear how the people of Rochester reduce their waste.
11:48All that and more we'll see you very soon.
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15:05Hello and welcome back to Kent on Climate live on KMTV. Now this week is food waste action week
15:11which is the UK's biggest annual food waste reduction campaign. It is estimated that food
15:16waste contributes around eight to ten percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. Well to
15:22tackle their food waste myself and Etta Lee took on the challenge to reduce our food scraps.
15:28Around 9.52 million tons of food is wasted every year in the UK. Approximately 67 percent of this
15:37could have been eaten and all this food waste costs households around 14 billion pounds.
15:44But what can we do at home to be more zero waste? Well to find out a little bit more both Daisy and
15:51I made a spaghetti bolognese and tried to produce as little food waste as possible. First I pilled
15:57and chopped all my veg. Instead of binning the scraps I popped them into a container.
16:08These scraps can later be used to create a homemade vegetable stock. Additionally the carrot
16:13peels can be roasted in the oven with a little bit of salt and oil to create tasty carrot crisps.
16:20Next I browned off my mints then added all the veg.
16:24After I added both the prosciutto and the tinned tomatoes. Although both in a carton and a tin
16:31I made sure both containers could be recycled.
16:38So
16:45something that does pair really nicely with spaghetti bolognese is garlic bread and to
16:50keep my food waste low I'm using this stale baguette to make some homemade garlic bread.
16:56To make the garlic bread I just combined some butter, garlic and mixed herbs.
17:00Again any scraps that came from the garlic I popped into my vegetable stock container.
17:12Finally I served everything up with some spaghetti
17:16and that's how I made my zero waste spaghetti bolognese.
17:23Today I'm going to be making a vegetarian version of this pasta.
17:27So far I'm just using ingredients that I've already got in my cupboards like pasta
17:31and I've been to the stores just to buy the ingredients that I need.
17:34Purchasing loose items helps me reduce my waste as I will not have any spare left over
17:39and using ingredients stored in containers help less shelf life meaning they can be
17:43used again at a later date. First let's prep and see what waste we have left over.
18:07For my garlic I will not use all the cloves so I am using this container to keep it in
18:11good condition until it's next used. Our food is now prepped but we now have
18:20a bowl of food waste as well so how can we dispose of this correctly?
18:24In my kitchen I have two bins, one for general food waste where I put food items such as meats
18:29and dairies and the second bin is for my compost. Sorting through my food scraps I am looking to
18:35see if there's anything that can be reused such as these seeds which can be planted.
18:40All these food scraps are safe to go into my compost.
18:45Layering my food waste with brown material such as dead leaves helps the waste to decompose into
18:50soil which can be used for my garden. When cooking I use all the ingredients even when cooking for
18:56one as I can store the leftovers into containers and have meals prepared for those times when I
19:01don't feel like cooking.
19:16Daisy Page for KMTV and Etalee Reynolds for KMTV.
19:22Now let's talk a little bit more about combining student life and food waste reduction
19:27with Etalee Reynolds. Thank you for joining me today. So how did you find making that bolognese
19:31while trying to be obviously environmentally conscious?
19:35Well I actually found it really interesting. I wouldn't say it was difficult, I wouldn't say it
19:40was hard or anything. It was actually really interesting learning what to do with all the
19:45scraps and making my own vegetable stock. I used to think that vegetable stock you had to use the
19:51actual veg itself, not the scraps or the peels. So it was interesting to learn that any waste
19:57that came from that I could use to make my vegetable stock.
20:00So what are you actually going to use your vegetable stock for as well? Do you know yet?
20:06Probably a plethora of things. If I ever make any soups I like to throw a bit of stock in to
20:10give it flavour. If I make another bolognese, especially a vegetarian one, I definitely add
20:15a little bit of stock because it just helps bring a bit more flavour to the dishes. So really this
20:20stock can be used in a variety of different dishes.
20:23Yeah and as we mentioned just say you are a student. So how did you find obviously trying
20:27to reduce your waste at being a student? Did it have its challenges?
20:32I think actually having a specific food waste bin and a place to dispose of certain scraps is quite
20:39difficult as a student. On university campus when I was living there, there wasn't a food waste bin
20:46and a lot of, I've lived in two houses since then and neither of them have come with like food
20:51waste bins. So it is quite difficult to kind of environmentally friendly get rid of these scraps
20:59because yeah I just I don't think it's as accessible to students as it is to other people.
21:05See I'm quite lucky because obviously I've got my bins here which I've been talking about this
21:09morning. I've got obviously a compost bin because I've got compost outside and I've got my general
21:13food waste bin which I use that bag for there. So I have like a few different ways to try and
21:19reduce my methods. But what has been your favourite method of reducing food waste?
21:24So I think my favourite one is for peels and scraps of things like carrots and potatoes.
21:29If you just put a little bit of oil, a little bit of salt, put them in the oven,
21:33you get these like little vegetable crisps and it's really fun to make and as well you know it
21:38saves me a bit of money because I don't have to buy extra snacks because I'm making them all at home
21:43and they taste really good as well. They're really nice and it's just a fun way to kind of use every
21:50bit of the potato or the carrot. It's really good. And really quickly do you think as a student
21:56yourself it is there's a good way of reusing food scraps? Is it easy for students to incorporate
22:01this into their student life? I think it is definitely easy because all of these methods
22:05literally take 5-10 minutes. You're chucking something in the oven, you're chucking something
22:09into a little tub to create a stock. They're really simple and quick ways that students can
22:15be a bit more food waste conscious. Well thank you for joining us on the sofa today. We have
22:20been speaking to the people on the streets of Rochester as well to see how they reduce their
22:24food waste. How much food waste do you think is wasted by households on average a year?
22:30A great considerable lot. Wasted per year? Tons. Five? I remember when I was a student
22:40there were news stories about people being arrested for rooting through bins of food that's
22:46just been thrown out that is going to waste anyway and I get furious when you see bakeries or chain
22:52stores or whatever that have unused product at the end of the day that the staff just can't take
22:56can't sell it anymore just go eat it. In a year oh I'd probably say it's about 350-400 kilos maybe.
23:03People would be shocked and quite disturbed by the amount of food that we...
23:09Well it's actually 6.6 million tons does that shock you? No no no because I imagined it would
23:17be even more. No I know you've got to let me know. Yeah I'm not surprised. Does that shock you? No
23:21it doesn't. I know how wasteful my own household is. That's a lot of food waste. I think you know
23:26my own family's guilty of it as well. We always do our monthly or weekly shop with the best
23:30intentions and then it's too easy to reach for the phone and grab Uber Eats. I think you know
23:36there's a lot to be done with that. Now I've seen the rubbish outside my neighbour's houses.
23:39As individuals I think we could probably plan a little bit better. Hopefully we could batch cook
23:44more. It's not fun and it's not great and it's not going to do anyone's mental health any good
23:49because I think that's probably what people need more than ever right now. So at the moment maybe
23:54the time's not great but there's stuff that you could do, there's stuff that we could do.
23:59I'm not really sure what it is though. Now from global emissions to a rooster being rescued and
24:04a brown bear who underwent a brain surgery waking from his first semi-hibernation. It's time for
24:09this week's Kent Climate Roundup. Adam Tasker of Kent RSPCA rescued a cockerel from a waterlogged
24:16field off of the A21 near Tunbridge. After responding to a report Adam found the cockerel
24:22trapped under an upturned bread trolley hidden by tar balling. Hovis affectionately named by Adam
24:27sported a damaged tail and numerous abrasions and sores. Fortunately for Hovis he was taken
24:33into RSPCA's emergency boarding where he not only became popular among staff but made a full recovery.
24:39He now resides in a free-range field with a few feathered friends to keep in company.
24:44Whilst Adam is pleased to hear of Hovis's rehabilitation he shares that the percentage
24:49of abandoned pets in the first month of this year has risen a concerning 34%.
24:53He urges those who are struggling with animal care to contact animal welfare charities.
24:58Now the first brown bear to undergo brain surgery has emerged from his semi-hibernation.
25:03Bucky the three-year-old underwent the life-saving procedure due to fluid on his brain which was
25:08believed to be causing his seizures. The Wildwood Trust near Canterbury said he is looking brilliant
25:13happy and healthy. He lost around 30kg during his first sleep however it is thought that this was
25:19because he grew during his sleep which took a lot of energy. And now in national news the UK's
25:25greenhouse gas emissions have fell to the lowest levels since 1872 last year. The climate and energy
25:30website analyzes the preliminary government energy data. The search found that the country's
25:35planet warming emissions fell by 3.6% to 371 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024.
25:44This has come after efforts to reduce emissions such as the drop in demand for oil and gas and
25:49a nearly 40% rise in electric vehicles on the road. However in order to attain its 2035 and 2050
25:56climate goals Carbon Brief states the UK would need to further cut emissions on a larger scale
26:01than they did in 2024. That's all we have time for in this week's episode of Kent on Climate.
26:07We'll be back next week with another episode discussing more matters relevant to environmental
26:12issues in the county. In the meantime you can keep up to date on all climate related issues in Kent
26:18by visiting our website kmtv.co.uk or you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X by searching
26:26KMTV Kent. I'll see you soon for the time being but have a very lovely evening and goodbye.
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