Introducing…The Big Green Picnic!
- Posted on 18th January, 08
- in At Work, Sustainability, island of wight
- No Tags
Last night Katie (our media manager), Joss (our editorial/web content manager) and Fiona (our sustainability manager) and I headed off on the bus to a meeting to launch an event called ‘The Big Green Picnic’ which will be held on the Isle of Wight on the 24th and 25th May.
The event is being organised by the Isle of Wight Council and is about getting people from all over the island to come for a fun, family event which will help to inform them about what the island has to offer and how to live in a more sustainable and less wasteful way. It’s also a great opportunity for the Council to talk about what they are doing at their end!
What was nice about yesterday evening was that it was about discussing and learning and brainstorming. There are evidently all sorts of people here who are already working towards making the island more sustainable and who are really excited about being part of a bigger campaign.
There was a real range of people there, from people importing ecologically friendly products, to organic T-shirts made in carbon neutral factories in India. It’s really great stuff.
Lynn Clarke, the Community Liaison Officer at Island Waste, whom we met on our visit there (see earlier blog) was saying that she had already been involved with events trying to get people to be more conscious of their waste, and these dated back 10 years! It would seem that the Island had a carbon footprint analysis done in 1999, which provides a great and probably rare comparison!
We also met Zoë Moore who has been instrumental in setting up sustainable practices at Vestas and has helped them to gain a range of accreditations and awards. She has also found funds for a project getting solar panels on schools, both here and in India through a sort of twinning arrangement. Well done, Zoë!
Joe Duckworth and David Pugh at the Council spoke well and came across as very committed. The mere fact that they are getting the picnic off the ground and running is fantastic. It’s good to see that a large part of the effort is in making the island a better place generally. So all in all, a really interesting event - and more importantly, an event with a lot of enthusiasm and commitment about it!
Let’s go!
In the spirit of solo round the world endurance journeys, might I draw your attention to this attempt on the solo cycle record which is now drawing to its completion. Mark Beaumont from Scotland looks likely to knock over 76 days off the current record for circumnavigation of the globe by manpower alone.
http://www.artemisworldcycle.com
http://www.geobloggingwithmark.blogspot.com