On Saturday I attended Forbury Fever, which despite the rain had quite a good turnout and I managed to chat to a number of people at various stalls throughout the day. All in all it was still a fun day - although I did have a massive umbrella!
First port of call was the bandstand to sign Reading's Climate Change Pledge. In Reading we are quite lucky that all the major parties supported this motion as it went through council, and in fact we asked for the finances to be reviewed so as it would remain fully funded, and not just be 'some nice words'.
The pledge itself asks you to accept:
- Climate Change is a reality and primarily man made
- Climate Change has wide ranging impacts on our environment, health, economy and well-being
- Climate Change is everyone’s issue and I can get involved to reduce emissions
... and within the following year to get involved and do at least 5 of the things to reduce your carbon foot print.
You too can sign the Pledge here. See my complete pledge over on my personal blog here. 
I and Cllr Epps (our PPC) also spoke to the guys at the Friends of the Earth stall. They had an example of a working hydrogen fuel cell which was hooked up to a toy car (that interested me if no one else). They were also persuading residents to ask their councils to "get serious about carbon dioxide" - although Reading is starting to get their act together on this, but there is still a very long way to go!
We also spoke to the people from Commonwheels car club, who have a number of cars which members can use on a pay-as-you-go basis. Currently they have Cars located on Kings Road near Cemetery Junction and at the new housing development Kennet Island in the south of Reading. I, and my ward collegues, seriously think this scheme needs to be extended throughout Reading. We would like a number of cars dotted arround the Addington road/Erleigh road area - as this could be popular with the student population, convincing them not to bring their cars into Reading. This is a great scheme that clear needs more support for RBC!
I also had some very interesting discussions with Thames Valley Energy about what Reading could be doing to maximise its recycling and use its food waste streams to generate electricity. The technology may be still in development but I am convinced we should be fermenting this waste and using the methanol/ethanol in fuel cells to power things like street lights or a some of our buildings in town.
Interestingly, if you are considering getting a solar PV cell or a windturbine installed onto your house, Reading based Photon Energy were offering just that. Unfortunately, to save money solar PV cells are of a standarised size and shape, and in many cases planning permission would have to be sort before even thinking about buying!
Before we left it seemed only right to check out the food at Chan Cham ;)
Over all it was a fantastic day - despite the damp - and I think all who attended felt the same way.
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