Acton Great Big Green Week in June

By combining our actions we will have a huge impact. We now we urgently need politicians to step up and play their part.

Help us show to politicians why it’s time for them to commit to urgent action to tackle climate change, protect nature and support the hardest hit around the world.

Acton Big Green Week Events

During this Acton Great Big Green week and surrounding area, we have some great events to inspire you to swap today to make a better tomorrow:

• Saturday 8 June , Brentford Fabric swap & Green Fair, St Paul’s Church, Brentford, TW8 0PN. From 10am – 1pm. Fun activities to help you swap just one thing to save the planet. There will be a fabric swap so come along and swap your fabric stash for a perfect pre-loved piece and avoid the temptation to buy new fabric (we all know it’s hard!).
• Monday 10 June: GoodGym Helping Hands Unload deliveries for South Ealing Community Food Cupboard (SECFC) Goodgym is a local organisation that gets you fit while doing good. Join them on this activity at the SECFC that provides free food that would have gone to waste. Find out more about Goodgym Ealing
• Tuesday 11 June: Clothes Mend and Natter at West Ealing Library, Melbourne Avenue, Ealing, W13 9BT. From 1 pm-3pm. Ealing Repair Cafe asks for a small donation of £3 to cover costs. More at Great Big Green Week
• Tuesday 11 June: GoodGym Litter pick in Acton Goodgym is a local organisation that gets you fit while doing good. Join Goodgym Ealing on this activity in Ealing Broadway to run over to Holy Family Catholic Primary School in Acton to help clear the path leading to the Park Royal station. All paces and abilities welcome on the run or you can walk if you prefer! Sign up
• Wednesday 12 June: Acton Market Reduce and Recycle Information Hub from 10.30am to 2pm. Come along to see where you can where you can Recycle and Reuse your items. ActForEaling Cut the crap display will be there to view that takes a critical look at our lifestyles and shows what we can do to reduce our waste and its impact. Ealing Repair Cafe will teach you how to mend and fix your clothes. More at Great Big Green Week
• Wednesday 12 June: Clothes Mend and Natter at ActOne, 2 pm- 4 pm, ActOne Café & Cinema, 119 – 121 High Street, Acton, W3 6NA, We ask you to support the ActOne café by buying refreshments from the café and not bringing from outside and also a small donation, £3 for the session to cover costs of equipment and expenses.** Sewing machine available for fixing seams and suitable mends. More at Great Big Green Week
• Thursday 13 June: Wilding screening at ActOne, ActOne Café & Cinema, 119 – 121 High Street, Acton, W3 6NA at 6.30 pm. Real story of a young couple that bets on nature for the future of their four-hundred-year-old estate. They set the land back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. Book here
• Friday 14 June: Acton Tiny Forest Discovery Day, Trinity Way, Acton London, W3 7JD from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm. Explore your local Tiny Forest in Acton from 3-6 pm. Enjoy fun family-friendly activities, connect with nature, share food and meet other members of the community. Booking essential. Book here
• Saturday 15 June, The Big Clean Up, St Marys Church, The Mount, W3 9NW. From 9.30am. Come and help clear the grounds of St Marys Church Litter pick around the church area and grounds. To volunteer email  market@actionwestlondon.org.uk

If you have an event you would like to add to the list, please comment below or email us at market@actionwestlondon.org.uk and we will add it to the list.

Get Swapping together

To get you started Mary, Reduce and Recycle hub Manager has these swaps. What will you swap this Great Big Green week?

1. Repair your clothes instead of buying new lots of great advice and upcoming sessions from Ealing Repair Cafehttps://ealingrepaircafe.org/guides-and-tips/
2. Buy preloved instead new clothes: Sustainability Fashion Weeks 10 reasons on buying second hand. There are so many options now, local great Charity shops, online with ebay, Vinted and DePop
3. Book swap: Get a book at the book swap at Central Acton station.
4. Support Hammersmith Library of things: Swap to hiring instead of buying household items you use infrequently. Anything from a carpet steamer to a sewing machine you can borrow for a day or a week. See their website for the full list of things you can borrow.
5. Help out and get fit with Ealing Good Gym: Swap your indoor gym for the good gym. They help community groups and arrange group runs for people to get fit. (They also deliver our leaflets for the Reduce and Recycle hub so we love them!)

For further ideas on what to swap for Acton Great Big Green Week, go to ActForEaling 10 steps for a greener Ealing.

The Great Big Green Week is also an opportunity to show how much climate change and nature matter ahead of the General Election on 4th July. Take action for Great Big Green week by:

• Engage with your parliamentary candidates during Big Green week
• Share your swaps. Tell your story on social media and post using the hashtag #SwapTogether – or, you can add your swap directly by filling out the Great Big Green week form.
• Put up the Great Big Green Week Poster to show that you want to see action for people, climate and nature.
• Make sure to invite candidates to your Great Big Green events.
• Watch and Share the Great Big Green week Film

Waste Hierarchy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Great Big Green week is just the start on what we can all do together. Another way we can swap is look at the Waste Hierarchy and pop along to Acton Market Reduce and Recycle hub on Saturday 6 July for more ideas, inspiration and get involved.

The hierarchy starts with the most preferred option to avoid or reduce waste. It ends with the least sustainable option for waste to put it into landfill.

• REFUSE: Choose items with less or no packaging, such as unwrapped fruit and veg. Bring your reusable bags shopping and say no disposable bags offered.
• REDUCE: Reduce your general consumption. Don’t impulse buy!⁠
• RECLAIM: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure!
• REUSE, REPAIR & REPURPOSE: Fix it or repurpose it rather than throwing it away.⁠ Avoid single use items by bringing a reusable cup, spork and bag.
• RECYCLE: Choose products that has recyclable packaging.
• RECOVER: Recover waste in the form of composting or energy. Waste to energy is the process of incinerating non-recyclable waste to produce electricity. Composting or biodigesters is another method we use to recover waste and a natural life cycle. Composting is one of nature’s way to recycle and turns organic wastes into nutrient-rich food for plants. Biodigesters do this on an industrial scale.

So come along to the Reduce and Recycle hub at Acton Market on the first Saturday of the month. Next date is 6 July and further hubs listed on our Events page.