Londoners are growing their own food, exploring ways to harvest rainwater, thinking about what plants they grow in their garden. I notice this from the number of London hits to my blog . People living in the capital are interested in adapting to climate change in their homes and gardens.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson is keen to tap into this wave of London climate change enthusiasm by launching an interactive site/http://www.london.gov.uk/climatechange/ allows you to post practical ways to combat climate change. as explained by the publicity:
“A pioneering approach to public consultation by a government organisation in the UK, exploiting the expanding use of social media to enable far more people to easily participate in the development of policy making. The site enables people to upload ideas, give their views and vote on the other proposals including those contained in the Mayor’s own climate strategies.”
Being involved with policy making sounds ambitious but it does appear to be a great online tool for Londoners to exchange suggestions of dealing with the consequences of climate change in the capital. The slide show talks about 11 of the last 13 summers being the hottest on record and provides frightening stats that highlight how the SE England could have 40% less rainfall in July and 25% more rainfall in January by 2080. Just think what that will do to our gardens?
It is simple to use and divides the ideas into bite size chunks which I believe is the best way to educate individuals about the rather massive issue of climate change. Drought, floods, heatwaves and energy use are all equally important issues for Londoners but it is easier to make small changes.
I have just created a profile offering some ideas from Climate Change Gardening .A number of celebrities have already posted their suggestions. Emma Thompson is one name I noticed and the guru of the gardening world, Alan Titchmarsh is rumoured to be in touch with this new initiative.
Like him or loathe him, Boris has a way of getting Londoners to engage and this exchange of information about climate change is innovative and inviting.
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