1) Many of the answers to that question are highly visible around the village. Starting with the Village Hall roof! As long ago as July 2011 some far sighted citizens provided generous loans (since repaid) for 21 solar panels to generate clean, fossil free energy. To date this has given the village a total of 44,000 kWh hours of free electricity, equal to an annual value of well over £2,000.

Furthermore, this has saved no less than 23 tons of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere by the burning of  fossil fuels.

 

2) Also highly visible is our own Recycling Centre at a central point in the village, by the bus shelter. The SSI group members established this facility at the start of 2021, and a team of volunteers has sustained it throughout the Covid pandemic to the present time. The items handled range from used light bulbs, used batteries and used printer cartridges (for which we obtain payments which go to the Myton Hospice charity).

The key waste material is the highly polluting “soft plastic”. We work in collaboration with the Shipston Co-op, to whom we take at least 3 full sacks of plastic film each week! They then supply it to a specialist factory which turns this unpleasant waste into useful things such as park benches, road building material and so on. Absolutely none of it is wasted or sent to landfill.

We estimate that, since the beginning, Stretton has saved at least 1,000kg of soft plastic film from ending up in landfill or the oceans.

 

3) Electric Vehicle charging point. Some very hard work by a member of the SSI Group, Russell Anderson, obtained a valuable grant from Warwickshire County. As a result we are now way ahead of many small villages in being able to provide EV charging as the move to clean electric vehicles gathers pace. The facility can be found in the Village Hall car park.

 

4) The Stretton Milk Fridge. For over two years now the milk fridge has been providing villagers with a 24/7 supply of delicious fresh Cotswolds milk, both full and semi-skimmed. Critically the milk comes in recyclable glass bottles, which are returned to a local dairy, steam cleaned and sent out again and again. We estimate  that over the last two years this has substituted at least 10,000 “one trip” supermarket plastic milk bottles. 

Also available at the milk fridge are locally produced free range eggs, again helping local business and cutting down on 'food miles'.

The milk fridge is currently managed by Geri Hunting and Gilly West.

 

5) We monitor spillages of sewage from the Severn Trent Stretton sewage farm. Please get involved if you are appalled by the activities of the water companies! Contact Dave Passingham for further information at davepassingham@hotmail.com.

 

6) “Stretton Share” Rather than having to go and buy something you are only going to use once or twice, wouldn't it make sense for the environment to just borrow it from someone else in the village? Well, in Stretton you can! There is an extensive list of useful items which villagers are willing to lend out. For more information please contact Izzi at ihazelwood@hotmail.com.

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7) Action against “Food Miles”. We have compiled an extensive list of all the good healthy food products produced within a circa 5 mile radius for Stretton. Known as Shop Local it not only saves large amounts of carbon emitting transport, but also sustains local businesses and employment. The list of local suppliers can be seen on the Stretton Shop Local page.

 

8) Sustainability at the Village Hall. Recently a lot of vision and effort has been put into improving the superb facilities at Stretton's Village Hall – to the benefit of both the community and the many people who hire it. A substantial grant has now been secured to carry out large scale Village Hall insulation work. Building contractors are being asked to quote, and it is expected that the work will get going shortly.