Services
Climate Change and Ecological Emergency
Useful websites to help you reduce your carbon footprint:
- Teignbridge Climate Hub
- ourplaceourplanet.org
- Green Tips | Pages | WWF (worldwildlife.org)
- 50 simple ways to make your life greener | Environment | The Guardian
- 51+ Simple and Easy Ways to Go Green This Year – Conserve Energy Future (conserve-energy-future.com)
- applyforleap.org.uk
In 2019, Moretonhampstead Parish Council and the Development trust both signed an emergency declaration, agreeing to take urgent action on climate change. Together, we have devised a Carbon Plan for Moretonhampstead to display what progress we are making to reduce our carbon emissions and help make Moretonhampstead a more sustainable town.
In 2022, the Climate and Emergency Working Group developed a Directory of Local Organisations involved in the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
Waste Silage Wrap in East Dartmoor Report
There is huge global concern about plastics in the environment. Every year millions of tonnes of plastic waste leak into aquatic ecosystems, polluting lakes, rivers and seas. Plastic pollution can alter habitats and natural processes, reducing ecosystems’ ability to adapt to climate change, affecting food production capabilities and social well-being.
Moretonhampstead is a small, rural parish (~ 1,700 people) in Dartmoor National Park. Community litter picks in the vicinity found that the main source of plastic waste found in hedgerows, around the countryside and roadside was silage wrap.
In 2021 Moretonhampstead Parish Council secured funding from Teignbridge District Council’s Tidy Teignbridge Local Area Clean-up Fund for Moretonhampstead Development Trust to carry out independent research to regulate into the source, management and regulation of agricultural plastic waste used to wrap silage.
The research study gathered evidence from farmers and land managers who use plastic to make silage in order to understand the challenges faced in managing it. He also investigated the current regulatory framework for agricultural waste and its enforcement.
The study found that despite there being regulations in place for the storage and disposal of agricultural plastics, there are significant challenges for farmers with the costs and logistics of managing the waste. It found there were gaps in how regulation is enforced, and a lack of guidance on how to manage waste silage wrap effectively.
It makes recommendations for what could be done by farmers, individuals and interested groups to help to minimise waste silage wrap entering the environment.
Although this study was carried out in a small area of Dartmoor, it can be anticipated that similar problems occur anywhere that silage wrap is used in farming.