Facing up to climate change

Environment reporters, Tan Parsons and Hannah Crown focus on two local businesses who are finding they must adapt to survive.

KAREN Howard owns La Ruche in Loughton, where she has sold European fashions for 16 years.

And she admits this has been one of her toughest trading years.

She said: "I've had to adjust to the impact of climate change. When I started out there were definite seasons, but over the years I've noticed a gradual difference. Summer lasts longer and winter tends to be milder, so it's getting much harder to judge what stock I will need and when I will be able to sell it."

Karen says her job is trickier than that of men's fashion retailers.

She explained: "Men are generally less fussy and will often wear the same type of clothes all year round regardless of weather. But when a woman is invited to a party or plans a holiday, the first thing she thinks about is what she's going to wear."

For clothes retailers, the autumn season is like Christmas to other shops because the fabrics used in heavier winter clothing are more expensive than lighter summer clothes, so retailers stand to make more money at that time of year.

The problem is that Karen must order much of her stock at least six to eight months in advance.

Karen said: "For me it's a real gamble and I have had to be quite tough to cope with the changes. Some suppliers are a slow to catch on to how the industry is being affected and I have found myself having arguments with suppliers."

This year she held back on the number of winter items she bought and is glad.

She said: "I know lots of other clothes retailers who bought a regular amount of winter stock and they have struggled to shift it."

To adjust to demand, Karen branched out into all-season garments like thin wools, but she feels these materials lend themselves to unexciting products.

In warmer weather women opt for different colours.

Karen said: "On warm days people want to wear lighter colours instead of traditional darker winter tones, so I've started buying from a Spanish supplier. ."

For the last five years Karen has tracked every sale on a computer programme so she can map out buying trends among her customers. Without the hard evidence she would not have been able to persuade her suppliers to be more flexible.

But despite the difficulties she has faced, Karen does not think of climate change as something that will eventually scupper her livelihood.

She said: "I feel the actions of humans must have an effect on the environment - especially with countries like China developing their industrial capabilities now, and I don't remember all the weather disasters we get routinely these days when I was a child. As a retailer I see it as a challenge to find new ways to stay successful."

Heavier rainfall in winter and summer droughts are proving to be a major challenge for gardeners ... especially those growing organic produce.

Take, for example, OrganicLea, a co-operative set up in 2001 by a group of gardening enthusiasts at a once-derelict allotment site in Chingford.

Their ethos is that "more food can and should be grown locally, in London", while the workload and profits are shared between local gardeners.

Fresh organic fruit and vegetables grown by OrganicLea are on sale weekly at the local Hornbeam Environmental Centre.

Clare Joy, 34, of St James's Street, Walthamstow, is a gardener and stallholder for the association. She says climate change has become apparent in the past two years.

Growers are wondering if they should transplant seedlings outside earlier, though they might be killed by frost.

At the same time, it is possible to cultivate more Mediterranean varieties of vegetables. Pumpkins can be harvested in October or November instead of September.

If these can be classed as positives, a negative side is increased unpredictability.

Earth-purifying earthworms get flooded out in heavy downpours, while confused animals emerge earlier from hibernation.

Fewer frosts mean garden pests such as slugs and aphids are not killed off, and breed faster in the increased temperatures. Predators such as the harlequin ladybird present new problems.

Clare emphasised the role that modern eating habits play: "One of the causes of climate change is the crazy global food system where we're eating more fruit and vegetables out of season that need to be transported around the world."

Added Clare: "We have to change the way we garden. We are in a time of change. It means we have to be better at observing nature's patterns, minimising our waste, keeping the soil healthy and storing essential resources such as rainwater."