Young volunteers will be especially welcome at the Friends of Foots Cray Meadows work day on Saturday (July 18). In January Bexley Council planted 1,000 new young trees and the Friends need help to re-mulch them and clear litter, along a stretch of meadows from Penny Farthing Bridge to Harenc School. People should wear long-sleeved tops and long trousers. the work will last about two-and-a-half hours. Meet at the wildlife and information centre in the meadows car park off Rectory Lane, Foots Cray, at 10am or call Margaret Dodd on 07874 217186.

The recent hot sunny weather brought worsening air quality to Bexley. Ozone levels were raised, but the worst problem was the very high level of PM10 particulates, tiny particles of soot which, when breathed in, get lodged in the lungs. The monitoring station in Manor Road, Erith, an area which contains many homes as well as industrial and waste management companies, recorded very high levels of PM10s over several days at the end of June.

London On Tap, a campaign by Thames Water to encourage Londoners to ask for tap water as a greener alternative to bottled water, has won the responsible marketing and innovation award at the annual Business in the Community (BITC) awards for excellence. Launched in February 2008, the campaign was backed by London Mayor Boris Johnson and many top London restaurants, bars, hotels and environmental groups. Similar campaigns are now being run across Europe. The award came in the same week as the company’s tap water was rated the best quality UK water.

A kettle with an ‘eco-switch’ enables you to do your bit for the environment while still enjoying a cuppa. When set to the 85 degree setting it helps save up to 24 per cent of the energy which is traditionally used when boiling a kettle. It can also be used to boil the water at full temperature by flicking the switch back again. The ecolectric jug kettle is made by Morphy Richards.

London Wildlife Trust is sponsoring the urban wildlife category in the British Wildlife Photography Awards. Both professional and amateur photographers are invited to submit pictures of Britain’s natural and urban environments. There's a prize fund of up to £14,300 and the overall winner will get £5,000. There are also a young photographer and school, youth or community prizes. The images that get judges’ commendations will form part of a series of nationwide exhibitions. Entries must be in by July 31. Go to bwpawards.org

Efforts to get people to cut their use of plastic bags is proving an uphill struggle. Research by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, shows while 45 per cent of shoppers say they have bought a bag for life, only 12 per cent use one regularly. The average shopper gets through 13,000 bags in a lifetime. Now many people are saying it is time the Government banned free bags and introduced a 15p