We went for a walk tonight around the local area. During the walk the Scouts were to complete the following tasks:
- On a walk through your local community with your Patrol, identify and record 10 ways in which your local community could be more environmentally friendly
- On a hike or camp with your Patrol or with other Scouts, examine the good and bad effects of man on the surrounding environment. Discuss the impact of this and include suggestions for any actions that could be taken to remedy the bad effects.
The walk took a little longer than expected so some of the discussions planned for tonight will need to be completed on a future date.
10 Ways The Local Community Could be More Environmentally Friendly:
- Tidy up – lots of litter and shopping carts dumped in the local area
- Use LED street lamps where possible
- Plant more trees
- Turn off lights that are not needed
- Use solar panels where possible
- Use natural hedges instead of walls
- Use materials that allow water to drain through paths and car parks
- Add filters to the storm drain outflows to stop rubbish getting in to the waterways
- Diesel busses replaced with gas, electrical or hybrid models
- More recycle bins, almost all bins were general rubbish only
Some good things that were noted down:
- Runaway Bay shopping centre has a small community garden around the back.
- Sports centre fields make use of the old rubbish dump land
- Ambulance station uses hedges rather than walls
- Sports fields already using LED lights
- Solar panels present on some buildings
A few negative points:
- Irrigation system around the back of Runaway Bay Shopping Centre is broken, and as such there were no plants living in may areas. This system could either be fixed or local plants put in, ones that are suited to the local environment and climate as is.
- Lots of lights were pointing upwards, producing light pollution. This negatively impacts wildlife, and is a waste of energy too. Lights should be replaced with downwards pointing where possible, and more efficient lighting used such as LED where possible. Unnecessary lights should be turned off. It was noted that the lights in the car park of the sport centre were turned off.
Next week we will be going over your ideas for proficiency badges, patrol activities and hikes. Everyone was also asked to look up uses for methane gas, which is being produced under the sports fields at Runaway Bay.
