The cleaner clootie campaign

Many people choose to interact with sacred sites by leaving clooties - small bits of cloth tied to trees.

Unfortunately these cause problems for wildlife, because small birds can get tangled in them, animals can choke on them, and they can damage the tree that they are tied to.

Clooties on a tree (source: Cleaner Clootie Campaign)

That's why the Cleaner Clootie Campaign was started, to try to get people to use biodegradable clooties. My personal preference would be for people not to leave any kind of clootie, but if you feel you have to, at least use biodegradable fabric. It is more in keeping with the folklore anyway, as the traditional view was that you left a clootie as an offering to take your illness away, and as the clootie rotted away, the illness faded too.

If you want to perform a meaningful service or offering for a sacred site, clean up the litter. 

In the 1990s a group of local Pagans (including me) cleaned out the litter from Nine Wells near Cambridge, and it stayed tidy for years afterwards, because it seems that if people see a tidy site, they don't drop litter.

You could also do the site a favour by removing the clooties that other people have left.

Save our canals

URGENT

Inland Waterways Association News Flash

BRITISH WATERWAYS PROPERTY PORTFOLIO

Sign the petition on the Number 10 website

Did you know that over half the population of this country lives within 5 miles of an inland waterway?

You may also know about the media speculation that the Government intends to include the British Waterways’ property portfolio as a component of the £16bn asset sale.

The Government has made no announcements and is steadfastly refusing to be drawn on the subject.

However, we have good reason to believe that Government is seriously considering taking British Waterways’ assets and selling them in a Treasury ‘fire sale’ to raise cash - a decision will be taken in the next few days.

Selling off its assets would mean that BW would be £85 million short of the £120 million it needs to run the canals and waterways of this country.

That will mean inevitable decay and disrepair and will undoubtedly lead to closure as the organisation contracts to preserve a core network- this impact may include the locks and tow path on a canal or river near to you.

I love walking along canals and seeing the narrow boats going up and down. Canals are also wildlife havens. Don't let them fall into disrepair again.