Poems, short stories, activities, festivals and customs

Christmas Cracker Making Workshop

Upcycled crackers – crackers for life!

The zero-waste movement is seemingly the antithesis of Christmas – a time of huge consumption and over-indulgence. But far from being for the Seasonal Scrooge, buying more consciously at Christmas means all of the joy of the feast without the guilt of chucking huge amounts of leftovers in the (compost) bin and adding to the mountains of rubbish once celebrations are over.

Christmas dinner would not be the same without a cracker to pull – but don’t despair that you have to go without in order to be green or ecological – help is at hand! Christmas crackers don’t have to be bad.
Come and learn how to make your own sustainable reusable Christmas crackers – crackers for a lifetime. The DIY Christmas cracker route involves cardboard toilet roll inserts and rolling them in a fabric of your choice. Fill with a handwritten joke and gift and tie with a ribbon at each end.

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Join our Eco Billingshurst Carnival Procession

Grandparents, parents & children sharing ‘The Future We Want’ at Billingshurst Carnival

Come and join our ‘The Future We Want’ Billingshurst Carnival Procession

This is your invitation to come, have fun and share your greener living message with our Sussex Green Living carnival procession. For a second year running we are taking a procession in the Billingshurst carnival, run by the Billingshurst Rotary on Sunday 24th June.  Last year about 30 local people of all ages and two eco vehicles joined us, learn more here. This years Rotary theme is Heroes and Villains, our theme is The Future We Want – Greener Living! Read more

​Horsham Repair Cafe – saving energy & Christmas lights!

Press release

Do you dread turning on your Christmas tree lights? The festive season can be an expensive and wasteful time of year and so often those Christmas tree lights don’t work! Well if that is the case, do not despair, the Horsham Repair Cafe can help.

On 2nd December at the Quaker Meeting House, Worthing Road, Horsham there will be a team of experts ready, willing and able to fix Christmas lights, flashing Christmas jumpers, small electrical appliances, computers, iphones, ipads, tablets, clothing repairs and much more.   Read more

26 eco-friendly Christmas tips

Pedro ChristmasWe’ve got some great tips to help you enjoy Christmas, so you can spoil yourself and your loved ones without spoiling the planet.

Here’s a uniquely seasonal paradox. Is it possible to buy a truly green Christmas tree? Artificial trees aren’t biodegradable and need enormous amounts of energy to manufacture. So it may come as a surprise that buying a real tree is not necessarily a greener option. Read more

Quirky Quintessential English event – Floral Fringe Fair 2016

The Floral Fringe Fair 2016 is taking place on the weekend of June 4th/5th at Knepp Castle, Shipley, Nr Horsham, West Sx RH13 8LJ  from 10.30 am to 5pm both days.  The fair is quirky and eclectic. It has a wildlife theme but also a vintage twist. The fair specializes in quality stalls from Sussex, Surrey, Kent and Hampshire and stallholders who have actually made what they sell and so are able to talk with first hand knowledge about their product. Read more

Reasons to grow your own food

With the prices going right through the roof and the changes in how food is handled, this is a great time to work on growing your own vegetables, herbs and spices with some creative gardening work. If this is something you are considering or maybe something you did in the past you should know a few reasons first, such as the following:

Great tasting food Read more

Get this event into your diary…Into the Trees

September 3rd and 4th 2016

 ‘What a wonderful day getting back to nature.

A festival without all the fuss and noise of the others, but more to entertain, enthral and amaze’

From the folk behind the award winning Elderflower Fields Festival and the innovative Schools Without Walls programme comes the second instalment of Into The Trees. Read more

True cost of Christmas

Beautiful second hand paper.

All our presents are wrapped with last years wrapping paper, stunning.

Christmas is a really exciting and fun time of year, however it is a horrendously wasteful time. We eat far too much food and spend vast sums of money, but we don’t have to indulge in such a wasteful celebration. This blog explains ways of reducing the amount of waste you create, ways to save money and shows some shocking statistics about the toll Christmas has on the environment.  Read more

Limiting waste in the festive season

With Christmas just around the corner, it seems like a good time to have a think about the ways in which we can all limit the waste that we create in this excessively consumerist season.

Whilst we don’t all want to turn into Ebenezer Scrooge, there are more than a few ways in which Read more

William Penn Christmas Fayre

Green Christmas presents

William Penn Primary School Christmas Fayre

Press release……On Thursday 12th November from 6:30pm until 8:30pm a feast of festive treats awaits at William Penn School’s Christmas Fayre in Coolham!  Experience an uplifting evening of unfettered shopping from our assortment of sparkling stalls to get you in the Christmas spirit at the UK’s only Quaker Primary School. 

 

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Elderflower Fields Family Festival 22-25 May

Elderflower Fields Festival is a magical weekend of adventure, discovery and inspiration. Set in the heart of the beautiful Sussex countryside, Pippingford Park in Ashdown Forest its the perfect location to escape for the May Bank Holiday.  As well as a stunning natural camping location the weekend promises eclectic music, fantastic activities for kids, and great local food & drink. Read more

Summer Pow Wow at the William Penn

PRESS RELEASE……

Summer Pow Wow

Horsham, West Sussex, 18th May 2015. Gather your friends and family together and join the William Penn Primary School tribe in a traditional Native American Indian themed summer fete. All are welcome to this very special Summer Pow Wow at the Coolham based school where there is something for everyone to enjoy! Read more

Sun and Moon Family festival

Sun and Moon – The family wellbeing Festival

So festival time is coming up and the hard core festival goers will be digging out their tents and wellies, but this year there’s a new festival, and they’re promising no wellies are needed!

The festival, called Sun and Moon, is a wellbeing festival, based in Plumpton College, Read more

Go Wildlife Spotting With The ARC Explorer App!

Looking for something to do over Easter? Why not try going on a wildlife walk around Arun and Rother with the ARC Explorer app!

The ARC Explorer app (and website) is a fun and engaging way for people of all ages to experience and explore the Arun and Rother rivers and surrounding countryside in West Sussex, and learn about the wildlife of the area. Read more

Quirky Quintessential Englishness at its’ Best!

The Floral Fringe Fair 2015 is taking place on the weekend of 30th and 31st May 2015 at Knepp Castle, Shipley, Nr Horsham, West Sussex RH13 8LJ from 10.30 am to 5pm both days. Please note, this is NOT the bank holiday weekend! The fair is quirky and eclectic. It has a wildlife theme but also a vintage twist.

 

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Worthing Spring Seed exchange and more

Come and join us, we are taking our Green Stand to the Transition Town Worthing Spring Sow, Grow and Seed Swap event on Saturday 14th February 12.30pm – 4pm. There will be lots to see and do for the whole family including:

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Rescue your Christmas waste!

Christmas is an exciting time of year, especially for little people, however it is also a very wasteful time of year. The recycling bins tend to be overflowing (at best) and the household waste bins equally full.  Here is one idea for reducing the waste in your recycling bin……

 

 

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12 Green Days of Christmas

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love said to me

“I’m glad we bought a fresh turkey, and a proper Christmas tree”.

On the 2nd day of Christmas much laughter could be heard, Read more

Explore the South Downs by bus

A new way to explore the South East, the Discovery ticket, has officially just been launched in the South Downs for the summer 2014, giving families the freedom and flexibility to hop on and off all buses in the National Park throughout the day,

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Wild Green Play sessions

Children outsideGetting children outside and away from gadgets and gizmos can be a challenging. Yet physical activities, engaging with nature and play have been proven to be essential for positively influencing our health and well-being.

During the school holidays Sussex Green Living run wild green play sessions or wild green walk and talks for families.

 

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Easter Wild Green Play Session

Easter trailDate: Friday 11th April 1.30pm until about 4pm

Venue: Pear Tree Farm, West Chiltington Lane, Coneyhurst, Near Billingshurst, RH14 9DP – home of Natural Nurture Children’s nursery.

Sussex Green Living are running an Easter Wild Green Play session thanks to Pear Tree Farm who are kindly allowing us to run wild on their beautiful farm. Read more

The Family Festival for 2014!

Family Festival Sussex

Elderflower Fields Festival

23rd 26th May 2014

With a wet winter behind us and the arrival of the spring, now is the time to get this great event in your diary. Elderflower Fields Festival is an idyllic way to spend the weekend with the entire family.  Super Early Bird tickets are all sold out although there are still Early Bird offers available for a limited time only. Read more

Have Fun and Protect the Planet With Some Upcycled Garden Magic!

tyre recyclingThe days are getting longer, the grass is getting greener, ladybirds and butterflies are coming out of hiding and temperatures are slowly getting warmer. It’s that time of year again, spring! It’s a time for resolutions, good deeds and most of all renewal, so what better way to start off the new year than with some positive upcycling in the garden? Read more

Spring Seed Swap, Sow, Grow & Food Fair

garden peasTransition Worthing’s (5th) Spring Seed Swap, Sow, Grow & Food fair at Oak Grove College, Worthing.

Date: 8th February    Time: 12.00 – 16.00 hrs.

Sussex Green Living’s 100% recycled stand, Pedro and his recycled robots will be there, playing green games and giving ideas as to how people can lead a greener life. Read more

Alternative ways to stay warm this winter

As we bid farewell to the warming comforts of mulled wine and mince pies, we move into what is turning out to be the wettest and windiest New Year’s months. With the weather looking to stay as dreary and cold for the foreseeable weeks and months ahead, we are still faced with the burden of keeping our homes heated.

Learn how to stay warm and save money…..

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