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Welcome to our March newsletter, containing all the latest news and updates from across West Sussex.
Food Waste Action Week takes place from 17 to 23 March 2025, helping you to not only reduce your waste at home, but also the emissions associated with food waste.
Research suggests that 18 million tonnes of CO2 are generated by UK homes from wasted food and drink, which feeds climate change. In West Sussex, around a third of the average rubbish bin is food waste - most of which can have been avoided.
This year Food Waste Action Week is encouraging us to buy loose fruit and vegetables. This allows us to only buy what we need, meaning we can cut waste and reduce our use of packaging.
Reducing your food waste can also help to save you money. On average, wasted food costs £20 per person per month - or £80 for a family of four.
Talk with your family and friends about switching to buying loose - by shopping smarter and storing food correctly, we can make a real impact. Read our media release.
 Climate change and working towards net zero is influencing how goods and services are produced, delivered, and consumed. How businesses and local areas adapt to the green economy will have a strong bearing on their future resilience and performance.
This week we adopted a new Economic Strategy which has an ambition to ‘boost green innovation, enhance natural capital, and support the transition to net zero’.
You can read more about the new ten-year economic strategy on our website.
 Our Library Service celebrates its 100 year birthday this year, marking a centenary of helping residents read, learn, and come together in what are now vibrant community spaces with exciting events and activities for everyone. Book borrowing in libraries is free of charge and means they can be read multiple times by lots of different people, making it not only kind to your purse but also to the planet!
Over the last year, several of our library buildings have become even greener with solar panels, heat pumps, and other measures to reduce their carbon emissions. We are also encouraging people to borrow environment-themed books by adding West Sussex Climate Action stickers to them.
Russell Allen, Head of Libraries and Heritage, said: “Public libraries are one of the original sustainability initiatives, and this year we celebrate 100 years of West Sussex communities sharing books and other resources for common good. Our residents make 3 million loans from our libraries each year; reading great stories, discovering new information and learning new skills, and all the while making really good use of our shared resources.”
Find out more about our estate decarbonisation programme in our Climate Action and Adaption Plan.
 We're been recognised by the Department for Transport, Active Travel England (ATE), and others for making sustainable travel safer and easier. Advantages to choosing to travel 'actively' are numerous and include increased fitness levels, reduced carbon emissions and air pollution, cheaper journeys and other environmental benefits.
Our recent achievements include attaining Level 1 Capability status from ATE, securing £2.35m for new infrastructure, and the Mobilityways Commute Zero Hero Award for our Active Travel Strategy. Combined with our School Streets program aimed at reducing traffic to make the space outside school gates safer, we are creating a future for travel in West Sussex where the decision to use a sustainable transport option is an easy one to make.
These initiatives compliment our Climate Action and Adaption Plan and our developing policies to encourage and enable staff to adopt more sustainable travel choices.
- From April 1 2025, Recycling Centres across West Sussex will switch to their extended spring/summer opening hours. To visit any of the Recycling Centres you will need to book an appointment online.
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Give your views in a public survey about our draft Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, the survey will remain open until 21 March.
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The RSPB, which manages Pagham Harbour Local Nature Reserve on our behalf, has successfully secured funding in partnership with the Downs to the Sea project to deliver a vital wetland restoration scheme. The Ferry Pool Wetlands Project will deliver an enhanced system of pools and watercourses for the benefit of breeding and wintering birds, lagoon biodiversity and the visiting public to help secure this strategically important wetland against the increasing impact of climate change.
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Take a look at our Let’s Go! Net Zero initiative to find out what local businesses are doing to be more sustainable. Find them on LinkedIn for information, free advice and local events.
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Arun & Chichester Citizens Advice along with Citizens Advice 1066 are joining together for their online Net Zero Conference on 29 April 2025 10am to 1pm for those interested in delivering energy advice with a climate change perspective. Book your place.
If you have any queries, or want to share or celebrate local climate action, please email us at climatechange@westsussex.gov.uk.
Join our community of climate champions by adding a new map pin to our Community Climate Action Map.
If you know someone else who will be interested in reading this newsletter, please forward it so they can sign up using the link below.
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