Action Briefing Feb 2006 - Mar 2006
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Editors' Column

The New Year has brought an influx of new volunteers, campaigners, tenants, supporters and friends to the Warehouse and to Birmingham Friends of the Earth.

New Groups
We have started the year with new campaigning and awareness-raising sub-groups looking at recycling and transport, which will hopefully soon be followed by Bio-diversity and Corporate Accountability. The Big Ask, Friends of the Earth's climate campaign, goes from strength to strength as we continue to collect postcards urging our MPs to sign up to supporting 3 per cent year-on-year cuts in carbon dioxide emissions.

The cold has not kept people away, and with more people turning up to our Monday Night Meetings, we hope to continue the year with focused activities around environmental concerns. In the next few months look out for Fair Trade Fortnight, Recycling Awareness in Schools and Workplaces, and the end to the consultation of Birmingham Airport's draft Master Plan.

Next Steps
Dedicated volunteers have enabled us to carry out specific research on areas such as Recycling levels in Birmingham, and even more recently looking to the redevelopment of New Street Station. We will be looking to see what green technology could and should be used in this development.

Staying informed in the planning process remains a priority for us; as we try and stay informed with developments throughout Birmingham we realise we cannot have our fingers in every pie, but we must try and influence where we can. Power Up will be a great opportunity to learn what our role is and what it could be in all these areas.

We look forward to finding out what is next for us, but as we're feeling positive from the New Year - Things can only get better . . .

Maud Grainger and Karen Leach