Canons House Community Garden is a shared green space in the heart of Mitcham, overseen by Sustainable Merton and brought to life by the people and groups who use it. The garden is home to a variety of projects, each with its own character. St Peter and Paul’s Catholic Primary School tends a wildflower meadow, Focus41 (a local mental health charity) grows seasonal vegetables and Friends of Canons House, alongside Cricket Green School pupils, grow and care for garden beds full

Halloween can create a surprising amount of waste, from single-use costumes to uneaten pumpkins and disposable decorations. The good news is that you do not need weeks of planning to make better choices. If you are sorting costumes, sweets or pumpkins at the last minute, these simple swaps can still help you cut waste, save money and keep the celebrations fun. A few reusable decorations can make a doorstep feel festive without creating extra waste. 1. Use what you already hav

As the days get shorter and temperatures begin to drop, a little preparation now can help your garden weather the winter, support local wildlife and burst back to life in spring. Autumn is a wonderful time to get outdoors and prepare your garden for the colder months. But getting ready for winter doesn't mean clearing everything away and making every corner neat and tidy. In fact, leaving a little more for nature can make a real difference to the wildlife that shares our outd

We were proud to take part in Merton Pride 2026, marching alongside our local community - and doing our bit to keep the route cleaner and greener by litter picking along the way! Morden Hall Park looked fantastic decorated with reusable bunting made by our Preloved Studio volunteers, and we were delighted to gift Merton Plus a handmade Pride banner which can be reused year after year. As a Community Ally, we're working with Merton Plus and local partners, including our friend

Photo: Love Wimbledon and Rosy Addison-Dunne On 19 September, our Greener Living Pop-Up Market came to Wimbledon Quarter for Love Wimbledon's Sustainable September bringing greener choices, local creativity and practical inspiration into the heart of Wimbledon. From brilliant local makers and sustainable businesses to our busy Repair Café, it was fantastic to see people shopping, repairing, reusing and discovering new ways to live a little greener. With 20 sellers and plent

Looking for simple ways to live more sustainably this September? We’ve got three great opportunities to help you reuse, repair and rethink — all while meeting like-minded people and having fun! As part of Love Wimbledon’s Sustainable September, Sustainable Merton is bringing a series of practical, creative and community-focused activities to Wimbledon Quarter. 👗 Refresh your wardrobe at our Clothes Swap Saturday 12 September | Wimbledon Quarter Fancy a wardrobe refresh witho

Download our Pride Guide 🏳️‍🌈 We’re proud to be a Community Ally and key supporter of Merton Pride and to be working alongside the team and local volunteers to help make Merton Pride the greenest Pride in London. Pride is a time to celebrate, come together and be ourselves - and there are lots of simple things we can all do to make the celebrations kinder to our planet too. Small changes can make a big difference. By travelling sustainably, reducing waste, reusing what we h

A huge congratulations to Annemarie Pallister, who has been crowned the winner of the Voters’ Choice Award for the Crafting the Wandle exhibition at Canons House! Annemarie’s beautiful slow-stitched panel captured the most votes from visitors to the exhibition, earning her a fantastic prize: a free short course of up to 10 weeks at Merton College, of her choice. Annemarie’s work was a wonderful example of the creativity and craftsmanship showcased throughout Crafting the Wand

Following the success of our previous Greener Living Pop-Up Markets, Sustainable Merton is delighted to invite small, local sustainable businesses to apply for a stall at our next event. Taking place at Wimbledon Quarter on Saturday 19 September, 10am–5pm, the market brings together independent businesses and shoppers who share a passion for sustainability, ethical products and greener living. Whether you create handmade goods, refill products, eco-friendly homeware, sustaina

2027 marks Sustainable Merton’s 20th anniversary - a chance to celebrate everything we’ve achieved together, and to design how we look and show up for the next 20 years. To do this, we’re looking for volunteers to help us deliver a year of anniversary celebrations (Part 1), and refresh our brand for the future (Part 2). You can apply for one or both parts! Part 1: Celebrate 20 Years We need help across 5 areas: Anniversary Brand - Design a logo, graphics, and templates for th

Last month, 91 streets across Merton took part in Sustainable Merton's second Community Planting Weekend of the year, bringing neighbours together to transform local spaces and create more vibrant, nature-friendly neighbourhoods. Together, residents planted over 1,500 plants in tree pits, verges and front gardens, helping to make our streets greener, more biodiverse and more welcoming for both people and wildlife. 🌻 From colourful front gardens to shared planting spaces outs

Our Community Fridge continues to go from strength to strength, supporting more local people than ever before. 6,500kg of Surplus Food Rescued Every Month Although we reduced our opening sessions from three days a week to two in April 2025, demand has continued to grow. Thanks to the dedication of our volunteers and the generosity of our community, we now rescue an average of 6,500kg of surplus food every month, helping to reduce food waste while providing essential support t

At Sustainable Merton, we believe in the power of nature to foster connection and wellbeing. As a long-term member of Merton Dementia Action Alliance, we are working locally to help make Merton dementia inclusive. Recently, we’ve been spending time at Merton Memory Hub, Mitcham. Our collaboration began in the autumn when we planted daffodil bulbs together. This spring, we returned to add wildflower seeds to the raised beds, and it was wonderful to see the daffodils in full bl

Clive volunteers at our Community Fridge – he calls out queue numbers to help staff be heard over the noise of the room. He is a kind, no-nonsense man who wants to help others avoid the difficulties he’s faced: “if I can use my bad experiences to inform someone else, it makes my relationship with that bad experience better”. Clive first found the fridge after his sister signed him up – he didn’t feel he could ask for help. He worked as a building surveyor and supported his ki

It’s the end of an era at Morden Hall Park — thank you to the National Trust for hosting us over many years. Sustainable Merton now has a new postal address: c/o Canons House and Grounds, 19 Madeira Rd, Mitcham, CR4 4HD — a beautiful Grade II listed building, home to our Preloved Studio, Repair Café, and Canons Community Garden. Our work continues as usual, with the team working remotely and across project sites borough-wide. While we don’t have a public office, you’re very w

It’s Repair Week! This year we have been exploring how we can build a world of repair at a local and national level, with a repair panel discussion in Wimbledon and our popular The Wheel Repair Cafe in Mitcham.

What’s a better bargain than the January sales, and better for the planet? Community clothes swaps of course!

Pollards Hill residents have taken meaningful steps to shape a greener and more connected future for their estate through the weRpollards project. Building on the success of the waste and recycling awareness campaign they helped create and drive over the past 2 years, the community-led group, supported by Sustainable Merton and Moat Housing, has spent recent months reflecting, planning, and setting out clear ideas to improve life on the estate. New bin stickers promoting bett

Every November, the familiar wave begins: inboxes fill with “unmissable” deals, retailers shout about “once-a-year savings,” and the pressure mounts to buy, buy, buy. Black Friday has become a global shopping frenzy — but at what cost? If we’re spending money on items we don’t need, just because they’re discounted, we’re not saving — we’re consuming more, wasting more, and feeding a cycle that harms both our wallets and our planet. A Better Way Forward: Buying Less, Buying T

You may have heard about Microsoft’s switch to the Windows 11 operating system, and an end to support for the Windows 10 system, but why does this matter?