Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust discuss how you can make changes to help the environment

With so much negative news about climate change impacts, habitat destruction, massive forest fires and river pollution incidents, it can sometimes be overwhelming for those of us that care about our planet and our local patch.

One of the best ways to help combat sadness and anxiety at the state of our environment is to do something positive yourself.

It can be tempting to throw up your hands in despair and feel that there is little you can do, or to assume that your efforts won’t make a difference, but they will – and you’ll feel better too.

The range of ways in which you can do your bit means that there are options to suit everyone whatever your age, abilities or where you live. You could try to change your lifestyle – perhaps altering your shopping habits to reduce your carbon footprint or better support local farmers and producers. You could reduce your energy consumption which will also reduce your bills – another ‘win-win’.

All of these are worth considering, but in my view, if you really want to feel better about your contribution, there’s nothing better than getting involved with groups taking action in your community.

The range of options is almost endless, from joining a climate action group lobbying for reduced reliance on fossil fuels or more support to help people heat their homes sustainably; to getting involved in community food growing or joining a litter picking group to help take damaging materials such as plastics off our streets and out of our hedgerows.

Many local councils have volunteer ranger groups that help support the management in local parks and others have roles such as volunteer tree wardens.

Charities like us also have regular volunteer sessions on nature reserves as do local ‘Friends of’ groups at sites such as Scone and Devon Park and the Trent Vale Trail, or Farndon Residents Environment Group.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust also has local groups that organise activities throughout the year enabling people to enjoy and find out more about local wildlife - from guided walks and reserve open days to slide talks.

If you’re looking for something to do on your own or with family and friends, citizen science can a be great way to start taking action for nature. Great examples include RSPBs Big Garden Bird Watch, Butterfly Conservation's Great Butterfly Count and Woodland Trust's Nature’s Calendar scheme.

If you want something more hands-on, why not join a local toad crossing group – where you can literally help threatened toads across the road – such as the one run by the amazing Margaret Cooper in Oxton.

To showcase what’s happening locally and to inspire even more action we’ve established the Wilder Nottinghamshire Network.

The range of initiatives is very broad, from groups growing locally harvested tree seeds, to volunteers hand-weeding pavements to prevent the need for weed killer spraying on their streets. This variety and spread makes the network a great place to start if looking for something to do locally.

It’s also worth keeping an eye out for local fundraising events to support local environmental groups. One I always look out for is the annual coffee morning organised by Margaret Cooper to raise funds to cover the costs of closing Oxton’s Beanford Lane so that toad patrollers can focus on Blind Lane nearby.

Margaret and her team have saved generations of toads and if you live locally, I’d thoroughly recommend heading over for coffee and cake or making a donation. The Coffee morning will be held on Saturday April 5 between 10am and 12noon at Home FarmHouse, Main Street, Oxton. To discuss donating towards the road closure contact Margaret on 0115 965 2948