New Leaf is helping to make life greener in Alresford.

New Leaf is helping to make life greener in Alresford, near Winchester. New Leaf started in May 2019 when we realised that many members of our community felt we should be doing more to help the environment. The New Leaf Facebook group was born, and membership continued to grow as the year progressed.

We quickly found that identifying where to start, where to focus our efforts and how to make positive changes isn’t always easy. Individuals were sharing local knowledge of recycling schemes and the efforts local companies are making to offer more sustainable services, but we identified a need for all this information to be gathered in one place, making it easier for those trying to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.

We identified a need for all local knowledge on sustainable best practices to be collated in one place - a website.

A local marketing agency, Forum Media and Design, stepped up and generously offered their skills and expertise to help build a website, and a core group worked in their spare time to research, write and provide the content. We launched the site this month, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The intention was to create an information hub, packed with useful tips and advice on the lifestyle changes that can help tackle climate change. The site has directories detailing what you can reuse, recycle and repair (as well as how and where) and information on the efforts local companies are making to offer more sustainable services. We are continuing to add information to the site and we know it will keep evolving.

New Leaf has a bright future!

New Leaf is in the process of becoming a charity, and we are looking to the future with positivity. There are countless opportunities for a group like ours. We plan to run awareness campaigns, work with schools and businesses, run and support several projects - one of which will be a tree planting campaign - and enable our members to take the steps required to make our community more sustainable.

We invite everyone to use the website, join our Facebook group and share local news, events, and initiatives.

If 2019 was the year the world awoke to the threat of climate change, then this is the year we must turn over a New Leaf and act with 2020 vision.

Imogen Oxley & Samantha Dalling

www.newleafalresford.org

Search Facebook for ‘New Leaf’ or go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/newleafalresford/?ref=share and look out for the logo!