Personal Blog of Ellen MacArthur

I walked through the town of Newport on the Isle of Wight today, really fancying an apple. I would have thought that in a high street that would be quite a straightforward thing to find, but it appears not. I was even tempted by an apple logo on a clothes shop!

It made me realise just how much things have changed in the modern towns of today, in that you can’t always find the essentials.

Maybe I don’t know Newport well enough, but it would appear as if I needed a car to get my apple this lunchtime.

I settled for some dried apple instead!

Ellen

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!

Here is a flattering shot of a couple of blonds working away with a few tubes of silicone! Rudi and Rhys who provide the onshore support to our sailing team kindly took on the job of sealing all the gaps they could find around our windows today. We had already attempted to bubble wrap the draughtiest bits – but here was their attempt to go one step further. It didn’t even disrupt work too much and we have already been able to switch off some radiators! Thanks Guys…. Here’s to a draught-free January!

Waste, waste and more waste!! Today really had us thinking in the office when a group of us went to island waste on the isle of wight to see what happens to all of our rubbish on the island, and where it ends up?

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I was sitting in a busy cafe the other day full of commuters. I made a few interesting observations… One was that you could have your drink in a mug which in my opinion always tastes a bit better anyway, and certainly as the winter draws in it makes you think of being back at home after working outside, holding the sides of a mug with your cold hands to warm them up again.

Also available in the same cafe were disposable cups and just watching the number which were being collected from the tables in one cafe, in one hour was incredible.. My mind boggled as I day-dreamed of just how many cups that was, when multiplied by every cafe in the world just how many stadiums must be filled on an hourly, or is it on a minute basis!?

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