Green Guardian: Our Ambassadors

All of our previous year’s winners of the Green Guardian awards, since their launch in 2006, are fantastic ambassadors not just for the project but for the environmental movement across south London. Here, in their own words, you can find out a little bit more about some of them and what they have been up to since winning their award. Hopefully this will inspire and encourage you to keep up all of your efforts to protect the world that we live in and give you some fantastic ideas which you may be able to adopt into your day to day life.

Since becoming a climate change champion, I have continued to endeavour to develop initiatives that will involve more people to take action now. In particular the efforts to bring about a strong global voice that will engage more young people to take firm action has always been seen as a ‘must.’ It is without any doubt that there is a need for ‘us’ the young generation of today to understand the causes of climate change and become fully involved in developing lasting solutions to protect our environment.

This year, through the British Council, I have continued to work with climate change champions around the world. Together we have shared ideas, worked on projects and have voiced across our findings at numerous conferences held in London such as the latest Anglo-French. More recently, in July, representing the youth of the UK, I met with other international climate change champions in Stuttgart, Germany for the UNESCO festival (an event involving 500 youth representatives from 46 different countries). Through identifying the problems that each country face due to climate change, mutual agreement to probable solutions was made to formulate the ‘Stuttgart’ declaration. This declaration has now passed on to other prominent leaders around the world. Basically the statement covers what we expect from policy makers, the business and scientific community and individuals.

Here on the home front, my work within other schools continues in setting up workshops and other key themed events. Through working together it is hoped that many schools will be ‘sustainable schools’ by 2020.

Recently, I’ve also become involved in a new project ‘Transition Epsom.’

Working with so many inspiring people, we hope to bring about significant changes to achieve a sustainable living town.

This November, on the topic of climate change, I’ll be speaking for the youth of the UK at the Environment Agency Annual Conference. Again, it will be a chance to remind our leaders that without common understanding and strict regulations at local, regional, national, and international levels, the commitment by individuals like us will be in vain. The collective voice, that echoes throughout the world, ‘it’s time for decision makers to take action, quickly and with determination.’

Des has spent over 25 years campaigning on environmental issues and is an artist constructing kinetic assemblages that have been exhibited in galleries around the country.

His most recent work was shown in the courtyard of Tate Modern as part of their Long Weekend with ‘The House of Fairy Tales’.

In 2006 he became the South London Green Guardian’s first Green Champion competing against 5 south west London boroughs.

He co-founded Kingston Green Fair, Britain’s largest one day environmental event with 10,000 attendees that ran successfully for 21 years.

He started the Save the World Club in 1986 empowering people to be involved in environmental issues using his bicycle powered puppet displays. His travelling environmental show, the Amazing Cycle Powered Answer to Everything Machine has been seen by over 250,000 people and Des still donates his performance fees to Save The World Club which is now an award winning charity.

His charity now creates and installs local mosaic murals as a community activity using reclaimed ceramic tiles converting graffiti covered areas into beautiful art projects.

He started the Green Police at Glastonbury Festival in 1988 to encourage revellers to be eco conscious in their partying, and performs a three minute eco-rap which is shown on the main stages between acts. Green Police now take part in other environmental awareness schemes for example educating freshers at universities on their environmental responsibilities.

He has written several environmental poems and released CDs which he performs as his alter-ego “Professor Kayoss”

He is an eco activist often seen on demos and actions from Newbury to Heathrow with his bicycle eco-displays such as his 12 foot wingspan flapping over his head with their relevant messages.

He has been active with *Critical Mass* celebrating cycling in London for 12 years and recently won a high court case enabling the monthly ride to continue without restriction.

He is an active freegan and rescues many items before they are buried in landfill, much of which he shares through the local Freecycle network.

He is a member of Transition Towns Kingston and LETS, a local exchange trading scheme.

www.savetheworldclub.org

Since winning the award I have co-organised a Swap Shop with a group of other Masters students at Kingston University for all staff and students. We took in just under 300 items for donation, had 50 swappers attend the event, and re-homed two thirds of the clothes and accessories, leaving 100 items to be donated to local charities.

I have also organised a clean up volunteer day at Kingston Environment Centre (Dec 08)

I co-organise the Freshers Green fayre (08) - an alternative student Freshers Fayre including free in-disposable goodies, Fairtrade cafe courtesy of St Pauls Church, a second life sale, and a space for local community groups to set up stalls to advertise to new KU students

I am a volunteer for gardening/permaculture/food growing projects in and around South London. My favourite at the moment is Abundance which is part of Project Dirt in Brixton.

I also support the Transition Towns movement and attend events.

In February this year I organised a great Fairtrade Fortnight. We took part in the world record for 24 hour Fairtrade banana eating and Kingston Uni staff and students ate 2000 in 12 hours! We also held an evening discussion open to the Kingston Community where our guests where two cocoa producers from Ghana. This was very special.

I am nearing the end of my MSc degree which I am studying part time at Kingston University in Environmental Sustainable Development with Management Studies.

I am a new trustee for Save The World Club, a Kingston based charity which combines arts and craft, youth work, and environmental issues. I worked as a Green Police member for them at Glastonbury 2007 and 2008.

I am also a member of the newly formed Kingston Environment Group which is examining the Local Area Agreement target to reduce the Ecological Footprint of Royal Borough of Kingston

This year, Kingston University won the Higher Education national Green Gown Award in the Halls Of Residence Category for our 'End Of Term Donations Scheme', and project which I have been overseeing for the last three years, and which my colleague Renata Rez Project Managed this summer. The scheme allows students who are moving out of halls for the summer to donate their unwanted 'stuff' to our scheme, where we sort it, and local charities can collect it from us for free. Last year we re-used over 5 tonnes worth of student 'stuff' in the local community of Kingston. 'Stuff' includes clothes, books, kitchenware etc.

Since Hounslow Council introduced their enhanced doorstep recycling service we put no bags out at all for landfill.

Often, when we do have a little food waste to put out, the bin is sometimes not emptied as it is so light!!

We no longer need to make occasional visits to Hounslow Recycling Centre with a builders hoist bag full of non compostable pruning’s, as the Council now collect green “waste” every fortnight!!

Our household litter bins have cardboard (reused packaging) compartments to divide them into three for paper, cardboard and plastic.

The house is now insulated underneath, which meant us crawling under the floor boards; we completed it just in time for the cold winter!

Our old VW Polo has now been replaced with a more eco friendly Smart car!!

The Council planted trees in our road this spring, and anticipating a hot summer we created flyers for our neighbours incorporating the Hounslow letter drop literature, encouraging all of us to help keep them alive with our grey water.

Barbara has become a mentor for her colleagues concerning sustainability since we won the award.

We extended our car share initiative for the six month rehearsal period of William’s involvement in the gang show, including taking him and other children to the theatre for their run of performances.

When in self catering accommodation on holiday, where certain items can’t be recycled in the area such as plastic and foil, these are brought back home for the Hounslow recycling service.

Since November 2008, George has:

- Attended Transition Towns Network international conference – and (with a friend) have now registered Transition Hackbridge as a project on the TT website. Had separate meetings with EcoLocal and Bioregional to ensure that launching this project would complement and not duplicate the work of EcoLocal and One Planet Living / Sustainable Hackbridge. Due to attend TT training in early October. www.transitiontowns.org

- A trustee and steering committee member of a national charity Christian Ecology Link offering insights into ecology and the environment to Christians across the UK by providing speakers, including events, writing literature / resources and networks. Currently leading the launch of “Churches in Transition” project to support members and churches who are involved (or wish to be involved) in their local Transition Towns initiatives. www.christian-ecology.org.uk

- Set up an EcoCell home group in my local church – and launched Eco-congregation project – to enable our church to be more environmentally aware in all its activities. Also write a green column in bi-monthly newsletter which also goes to 13 other local churches www.ecocongregation.org

- Activist in Sutton & Croydon Green Party – currently considering launching campaign against incinerators.

- Have become a Good Energy “Pioneer” – helping to spread the word of the benefits of changing to an energy supplier who provides 100% renewable electricity. www.goodenergy.co.uk

- Changed bank to Co-operative Bank – which has the best ethical and environmental investment record www.co-operativebank.co.uk

- Started subscription for The Ecologist magazine. www.theecologist.org

- Added 3 new raised beds at the allotment (now has fifteen 10’ x 4’ beds!)

– and planted a third apple tree in garden.

Contact by e-mail only please g.dow@tiscali.co.uk

Since I won the Green Guardian award, I have been writing a Green Column for the Spring Park Residents Association, month publication SPAN (Spring Park Activities News). I test Green products and then give reviews in the column. In the last issue we had a competition for reader to win a set of EcoWashing Machine Balls which were donated by a local shop keeper. A lot of people contact me after reading about the products and are happy to buy them once they know that they actually work.

I attend local community events, last year I discovered that Croydon Council had obtained a quantity of Cotton shopping bags. So I contacted them and then my son Sam and I attended the Millers Pond Family Day and gave them out to anyone who attended the event with a plastic shopping bag to promote the idea of reusing your shopping bags. A year later people I still see people using them.

I have also started a Community Group called Shirley Supporting Charities (at Christmas) that runs an Annual Small Charity Christmas Fair and Charity Plant sale.

With Grow Your Own being so popular this year our plant sale was very successful and made a lot of money for local charities.

Achieving both the Hounslow and then the Regional South West London Green Business Awards was just fantastic and has since provided the company with a real commercial boost. The initial recognition provided us with invaluable publicity, and we also took the opportunity to display the ‘winner’s’ logo across our vehicle fleet and on our website, both providing additional exposure that has resulted in greater awareness of our company and new commercial opportunities as a result.

In terms of our environmental objectives, 2008 was really the year of great change and improvement in our recycling efforts, and the recognition by Green Guardian has in many ways acted as a major springboard and inspiration for us going on to achieve both the ISO 14001 accreditation, and most recently our inclusion in this year’s Sunday Times Green List. Our focus as a business is now firmly on maintaining an efficient and effective environmental management system that seeks to become less wasteful as well as being very good at responsibly recycling the waste we do create.

Environmental management is now a key part of our company credentials, and we are looking to launch a “closed loop” recycling service based on our ability to provide display and graphic products that, once finished with, can be collected and recycled through our waste streams and reconstituted into new substrates and materials for us to use again and again with potentially the same customers.

See http://www.octink.com/about/environment/

Please contact Mike Freely on mike.freely@octink.com

Firstly, we wish to say how fantastic it was to become Winner of the Green Guardian award for Croydon. Having worked hard since 2005 to implement and then improve on our environmental measures, receiving this recognition was a huge pat on the back for us and an incentive to raise the bar!

ITC’s Green Team continues to meet regularly and have made the following progress:

- Working with Seltrans we implemented a company travel plan to direct our staff and visitors to use the ‘greenest‘ form of transport available. We installed a more secure cycle rack and issued new, more specific directives to our staff on business travel. Our CO2 emissions have reduced by 43.24% based on the same period last year.

- January saw the addition of recycle boxes for plastic, card and food waste in our offices, and directives to our project sites reduced waste by reducing materials purchased and improved re-use and recycling methods.

- In March, our buyer began sourcing materials from local companies, which will contribute to the reduction in CO2 emissions.

- Our community /charity efforts have been rewarded with the birth of Archie, our first guide dog puppy, and we hope to shortly be able to sponsor a second puppy through various events this summer. ITC volunteers assisted with the Christmas Lisa Thaxter gift wrapping service, and plans are afoot to participate in a local BTCV project.

Finally, we continue to ensure all our staff, clients and subcontractors are aware of our efforts through our bi-monthly newsletters, emails and announcements.

What I have been up to since 2007

I have two kids and getting their respective schools to become more environmentally friendly is not an easy thing. Although both schools are now registered on the British Gas scheme, Generation Green, their priorities obviously lay elsewhere. I wish climate change and the environment were regarded as so important that they were an integral part of all curricular activities. It is just so crucial to inform children and give them the awareness and tools to take positive habits now. Moreover, kids can be very influential when they want to and that’s another good way to reach the parents too!

At work, I have shown my usual and unavoidable enthusiasm in the subject which now means I work quite closely with the Sustainability Strategy Manager. His new sustainability strategy is an impressive read with some exciting plans in store for staff and residents. I started implementing a number of measures to increase awareness and deliver information and support to residents through a variety of projects, including ’growing your own’, composting, the collection of grey water and supporting a residents association in their efforts.

Closer to home my intention now is to apply for Food up Front membership and to possibly become a rep for them in the area. For the first time in years, I have been able to put on the table some reasonably big salads and tomatoes which my daughter and I have cultivated in our tiny and quite shady garden. She finds nothing more exciting than picking those up! I believe that 'growing your own' is a fantastic way of coming back to the basics, providing info and that it could benefit a group of neighbours in many ways with an increased sense of community, an opportunity to get the kids involved in gardening and healthier eating for everyone.

Other than that, I’ve tried to keep myself informed and inspired through newspapers and other medias.