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Category: Eco Heroes

Eco Hero: Thomas Ball

Matilda Lee | 03.08.11

Thomas Ball is a campaigner through the eye of a camera lens. He ventures to places where extraordinary things are happening and where the planet is under threat - and records the story through the most amazing photography. Thomas funds his campaigning documentary work through providing photography for ethical and sustainable corporates. If you are looking for an inspiring photographer - check out his site.

What inspires you?

My greatest inspiration comes from my late mother and the strength she showed whilst fighting cancer. She showed me that even during the darkest and toughest times one must be thankful for what they have and to cherish family and friends. When I’m caught up in the stresses and strains of work, I think of how she squeezed everything she could out of life and how much she gave to others. Her example has been a continued inspiration to me.

What makes you angry?

The perceived need for perpetual growth. I understand the economic principle behind why we’re supposed to sell more, grow more and buy more, but I am angered that we can’t seem to break the cycle. Why is a seemingly successful company deemed to be failing if they haven’t sold more than they did the year before? It’s not that I want the world to stagnate, but it maddens me that we’re on this treadmill of consumption with very few options to get off it.

If you were Prime Minister, what would be the first thing you'd change?

I would hate to be Prime Minister! I think even the most well meaning individual would find they are fighting against a wall of bureaucracy and the power of vested interests.

In saying that, if I did take up the job I would set up a large innovators fund for renewable energies. There are lots of existing funding structures for companies already, but they are complicated and can be very difficult to access. I’d want to help those with a more radical approach to have the support they need to try out their ideas, and if they work, to get their company off the ground.

I would also bring in a plastic bag levy. It’s a simple piece of legislation that can have big impact. I grew up in Ireland and I remember when the law was introduced there in 2002. It quickly cut their use by over 90%. The revenue raised by the tax could be used to fund research into more biodegradable plastics or other environmental programs.

Can individuals really make a difference?

Yes of course they can!

It obviously helps to be connected and have powerful friends who can change laws, but our actions, no matter how small, can make a difference. Simple things like recycling more, installing a water butt, composting at home and insulating your house; when millions of individuals take these small actions, they add up to make a big difference.

On top of this, we now have a plethora of social media platforms at our fingertips, that we can use to shout about what we’re doing and get others involved. Through blogs, Twitter and Facebook, we can get our viewpoints across, garner support and communicate with like minded individuals faster and easier than at any time in the past. It starts with the individual and grows from there.

What’s more urgent: changing things from the inside or starting a revolution on the outside?

I think it should be a combination of both. We need organised and vocal outside pressure groups combined with strong and inspirational leaders from within. For instance, groups like UK Uncut are doing great work at getting out on the streets to vocalise their discontent at corporate tax evasion, but ultimately their cause needs help from MP’s within government who have the strength and courage to bring about legislation to actually stop it.

What is the best meal you’ve had in your life? Cooked by whom? Eaten with whom?

I’ve been fortunate to eat at some very nice restaurants and have sampled many culinary delights over the years. However, the meal that sticks out in my mind the most is the one my partner cooked for us recently. It was a simple but very tasty quiche and salad. It was one of our first meals where the majority of the ingredients were produced at home. The eggs were kindly supplied by our lovely new chickens Lucy and Ella and all the vegetables came from our garden. It’s hard to beat the taste of food that you know has only traveled a few feet to your plate.

Can you describe a typical work day?

What I love about being freelance is that I rarely have a typical day at work. I thrive on the variety of my work and not knowing exactly what lies around the corner.

One day I can be doing a shoot for a magazine or newspaper, while the next I’m away producing work for one of my own documentaries. When I’m not out with my camera, I generally work from my office at home in North London where I can be found spending hours editing images, applying for funding or doing research for my next personal project.

How do you define success?

When I was younger I would probably have defined success by how much money I earned and the job I had. However, my perspectives have changed since then.

I think a sense of one’s own success should come from being comfortable in your own skin and feeling pride in how you live your life and the work you do. Without meaning to sound trite, I think managing to stay true to yourself and achieving your personal goals are much more important than worrying about how much you earn, the house you live in and the car you drive.

What’s the best advice anyone’s ever given you?

When I was indecisive about moving to London in 2006 to focus my career on photography, my boss at the time told me that “the best decisions are often the hardest to make”. It wasn’t specific advice exactly, but it’s a motto that’s stayed with me and helps me to push myself when I have an option between the easy or the difficult route.

What’s your favourite book or film of late?

My favourite book that I’ve bought recently is The Ruins of Detroit by Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. It’s a disturbingly beautiful set of photographs documenting the decaying urban fabric of this famous American city.

I also recently saw a documentary film at the photo festival Les Rencontres d’Arles by British filmmaker Trisha Ziff called The Mexican Suitcase. It’s about the loss (and eventual rediscovery) of a set of negatives shot by photographers Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David Seymour during the Spanish civil war. I’d highly recommend anyone with an interest in history or photography to go check it out when it comes to the UK.

More information:

Thomas Ball Photographer website

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Eco Hero: Alan Simpson

Matilda Lee | 07.07.11

Alan Simpson is a former Labour MP and now advisor to Friends of the Earth. He is all you can ask for in a campaigner: passionate, inspiring and not afraid to speak out about what he believes in. Here he tells Greenhouse why he left politics, mixing literature and love and the reasons that new nuclear has no place in Britain's energy mix

What inspires you?

The certainty that there is so much more to us (and what could be) than we realise.

What makes you angry?

Those who don't see this.

If you were Prime Minister, what would be the first thing you'd change?

I want to open society up in ways that are both accountable and sustainable, so I suppose that sacking the Treasury, and bringing in some proper economists, is the place to start. Of all the bureaucracies in parliament, the Treasury is the most closed and regressive. Sometimes my only relief came in laughing at economic ideas (taken as truths) that, even as undergraduates we knew were crap. It is a classic example of allowing bright people to race away with absurdities. Too many Treasury policy wonks have a closer personal identification with problems of puberty than poverty. It is a Department that just doesn't get out enough...and which squashes the creative thinking needed to survive the coming crises.

Can individuals really make a difference?

We are entering the Age of Interdependence. Individual actions matter, but only make a real difference when they tie together. Turning a derelict shell into our eco-home was great fun, but left the question "So what about the other 25 million homes in Britain?" There are no individual answers to climate change. We have to collectivise our visions, and inspire each other to act upon a bigger canvas.

What are your views on renewables and nuclear in the UK's energy mix?

Nuclear is to renewables what flatulence is to a social celebration. Actually, flatulence is so much better because it doesn't leave a 1000 year clean up cost. Nuclear is the only energy technology whose costs increase generation by generation, and whose risks no one will insure. The accident at Fukushima and, more importantly, the policy shifts in Germany mean that new nuclear is dead in the water. Only the (highly financed) delusions remain but none of the finance institutions will throw a penny in its lap.
In North Carolina, PV and nuclear grid costs of electricity are already the same. Across europe, PV costs will break even at varying times within the next few years. Already, there are times when Germany gets all its electricity from wind and solar; even before tidal stream, hydro, deep-geothermal and biomethane gas grids get into the renewable energy game.

The Germans are the real game changers. Their policy changes not only break from nuclear, they are breaking the power of 'Big Energy'. Renewable energy is not only helping them decentralise and democratise their energy system, but also to cut their power price rises. Germany will be completely out from nuclear before 2020. We should all follow them. Nuclear has never been economically viable and never affordable. Rather than shell out massive new public subsidies in pursuit of a death wish, we should celebrate its passing, get a life, and get out a bit more.

What do you feel your greatest impact was as an MP? And as an adviser to FOE?

My greatest impact as an MP comes down to 3 choices;
a) the legacy of the Feed-in-Tariff amendments I introduced to the Energy Act 2008, where the cross-party majority of MPs I had put together were going to vote it through, whatever objections the government had

b) the longer term 'raft' of fuel poverty measures secured by the Parliamentary Warm Homes Group that I chaired for 15 years, or

c) the value, to wider campaign movements, of having someone irreverent (and sometimes humorous) in an institution that was always too conformist and cautious.

With Friends of the Earth, I try to bring the same irreverence and optimism. Sometimes it is more appreciated.

What’s more urgent: changing things from the inside or starting a revolution on the outside?

I left parliament because I thought it was intellectually 'out to lunch'. The times we live in require transformational thinking. There is no longer the luxury of a simple inside/outside choice. I left because I wanted the space to work in a different way, but I am happy to work with anyone 'inside' who is no longer prepared to wait around.

What is the best meal you’ve had in your life? Cooked by whom? Eaten with whom?

There are 2 outstanding (vegetarian) meals I have had. One was a sumptuous spread of local foods whilst travelling in Guillin, western China. The other was a simple Christmas Day meal of breads and cheeses on an empty beach in the Marema (Italy). In both cases, it was with my wife and young daughter.

Can you describe a typical work day?

It begins with a clear sense of 5 things I had planned to do, gets overtaken by 10 things I hadn't planned, and ends (if I'm lucky) with 2 exciting thoughts I hadn't expected. 'Cherry on the cake' days also include lots of cuddles and bedtime stories with our daughter.

How do you define success?

Never giving up on your dreams.

What’s the best advice anyone’s ever given you?

It was advice from both my grandad and Tony Benn that all the important changes 'never come from those who wait for permission'.

What’s your favourite book or film of late?

Anyone who hasn't read The Breakwater House, by Pascale Quiviger, will never understand how far you can be transported in a single line or sentence. But you can't recommend an author that you're married to. So my choice is between Philip Pulman's Northern Lights trilogy and Doris Lessing's Canopus in Argos sequence. Pulman gets it by the breathtaking implications of its ending.

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Eco Hero: Dave Hampton

Matilda Lee | 09.06.11

Dave Hampton is the Carbon Coach, who with much wit and charm inspires individuals, businesses and communities to adopt low-carbon living. He is passionate about what he does, living and breathing green issues - as a family man, a business man and a community man. Carbon Dave's Diary, his blog about a carbon-based lifeform in distress, is guaranteed to make you smile

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by wit, humour and other ‘h’ words like humanity, humility, honesty. People that care and people that believe in justice and fairness also inspire me. I am a sports person, (I rowed for GB in the 80’s) and the idea of a ‘level playing field’ is fundamental to my psyche. I’m all for competition, but with proper referees to come down hard on cheating and without a hidden agenda. And I’m not just talking sport of course.

What makes you angry?

I can get obscenely angry about injustice, whether it’s a dodgy ref, an offical who’s been bought, or a corrupt MP. It makes me particularly angry when it’s covered up. When someone is making out to be fair and doing the right thing but underneath the surface they are ‘fixing’ the ‘game’. Or politicians who deceive the people.

If you were Prime Minister, what would be the first thing you'd change?

Ha! I’d probably resign; it’s too big a job. There is a bit of me that would love to be Prime Minister but actually I prefer to lead from within my community, encouraging people to take self-responsibility and support activism. I want people to stop demanding the Prime Minister do something sensible, and just do it!

I’d give a shock exit speech that said don’t believe a word you hear from any PM or the cabinet or anyone in Whitehall. Make up your own minds and stop looking for answers from the state - cause we ain’t got any for you.

Can individuals really make a difference?

Yes, I’d go further and say that it’s only individuals who can ever make a difference. Sounds cheesy – but all my life I’ve been confused when people don’t see that. I think that it is kind of human nature to look outside of us for solutions. Putting the blame and responsibility on others is very common. We can see lots of bad stuff out there, but most of it is a reflection of the bad stuff that’s within us. We need to pacify the terrorist within for example. It’s all about the inner game. Individuals are the only thing that can make a difference. Only we can change ourselves.

What’s more urgent: changing things from the inside or starting a revolution on the outside?

For the last 5 years or so I’d have said that changing things from the inside was more urgent. Although now I’m attracted to the idea of starting a revolution as well. Changing things from the inside is vital, but maybe isn’t working fast enough. If I could change the question, I’d say what’s more important is changing things from the inside,

but what’s more urgent in the meantime is starting some smart revolutions, peaceful revolutions and intelligent revolutions - where you’ve thought through what the political response will be. As an example, I’d point to Tamsin Omond of Climate Rush or Marina Pepper, characters from the upcoming film Just Do It. They are to die for, they’re just brilliant. Actually, to go back to question one, they are people who inspire me.

What is the best meal you’ve had in your life? Cooked by whom? Eaten with whom?

The best meal/s are the ‘picnic’ assortments Jan, my wife of 26 years, gathered together for evenings out together walking riverside (Southbank) during ‘courting’ days in 1983 with a budget bottle of Lambrusco!

Can you describe a typical work day?

Meetings with all the different departments in my company – I’ve got an HR department not very happy when I’m off sick, the managing director is a bit of a pain – but they are all me because I work for myself.

My days are incredibly varied. I’ve blurred the edges between working and living probably further than is comfortable or sensible. One of the things that made me think people needed a Carbon Coach was this idea that people can have two personas. I would chat to people who say, ‘Oh yeah, I agree with you privately, but I can’t possibly agree with you publicly as the chairman of blah, blah.’ I always thought to myself – well no, you are one person. I’ve tried to meld work rest and play into one bundle and to live in integrity with myself.

The last 12 months, there has been less demand for public speaking on climate etc. A couple of years ago I was doing well on the circuit, but much of this dried up, maybe people got fed up with the subject after ‘climate gate’ and all the stupid grandstanding and denial. Now I’m doing more carbon coaching – getting out locally, probably about once a week. The rest of the time, behind a computer screen spending too much time on Twitter and Facebook – I’m still not sure whether that is work or not - but it can unite inspire and connect people – and maybe build movements?

How do you define success?

Being able to look at myself in the mirror and liking what I see.

What’s the best advice anyone’s ever given you?

When my oldest son Tom was born 20 years ago, my boss at the time said ‘you’ll be given lots of advice on how to be a father and a parent. Listen to all of it - and ignore all of it.’ I think that was good advice. The only good advice you are going to get is from your heart.

What’s your favourite book or film of late?

I’ll plump for the works of dear departed Douglas N. Adams - The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy ‘trilogy’ but more especially Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. As for films, I’d go for It’s a Wonderful Life, Field of Dreams, Gladiator, and ‘Up’ perhaps. Although I actually think down is the new up.

Further information:

Carbon Coach website

Dave Hampton on Facebook

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Eco Hero: Maddy Harland

Matilda Lee | 26.05.11

Maddy Harland is the editor of Permaculture Magazine, focused on positive solutions for sustainable living, and which has a thriving readership of 100,000 at a time when print publications are suffering and some are closing. She is a trustee of The Sustainability Centre in Hampshire, a former Naval training centre now restored to nature over many years and transformed into an educational centre and includes a growing area for special needs children, a woodland classroom lovingly created by Ben Law, the woodsmen and a woodland burial site so peaceful that people visit their loved ones and hold campfires/parties to remember them.

What inspires you?

Wonderful people like Polly Higgins, who is currently campaigning for a new international law against ‘ecocide’ that makes corporations and nations accountable for deliberate habitat destruction that affects both people and ecologies on a broad scale. Currently Japanese taxpayers are picking up the bill for Fukushima whilst TEPCO is let off free. This will make companies like TEPCO and BP accountable for their actions and change the face of war: No more napalm or the use of irradiated bombs in the Middle East, for instance. People who are brave in the face of serious difficulty and are honest about their suffering also inspire me. No stiff upper lip! But my greatest inspiration is nature and our planet – we live on an exquisite interdependent world full of marvellous beauty and biodiversity. We are here to enhance this world, not to destroy it.

What makes you angry?

Abuse and inequity in all quarters. I was brought up by Quakers and made we aware of social justice from a young age. I studied English and American Literature at university and was deeply affected by novels like Another Country by Afro-American novelist, James Baldwin. Literature has the capacity to open up new worlds of experience that we usually wouldn’t have access to.

If you were Prime Minister, what would be the first thing you'd change?

I’d stop the ludicrous political bias towards building nuclear power plants that does not account for the financial commitment involved in decommissioning plants and storing waste for generations to come, let alone the carbon costs. I would push through a coherent national, regional and community level renewable energy strategy and take away some of the planning impediments. It amazes me how we are happy to build nuclear power stations on our coasts when we know that climate change will inevitably raise sea levels and at the same time abandon incentives that make installing renewables on an individual and community level viable.

Can individuals really make a difference?

Extraordinary individuals can make a difference but most of us ordinary ones cannot do so on our own. We need to be a ‘communion of subjects’ as Thomas Berry put it and then we can generate change even in small numbers.

What’s more urgent: changing things from the inside or starting a revolution on the outside?

We have to do both. We cannot advocate a change in lifestyle or worldview without doing the work ourselves. People know when we are not genuine. That’s why so many politicians fall on their faces and are unpopular. It would be ludicrous if I promoted permaculture globally and then didn’t practice any aspect of it. And besides, permaculture – a framework for low carbon living that draws together traditional wisdoms and modern technologies and practices – is my joy. I love growing my own food, making rainwater harvesting systems, supporting community-based projects… This is creative, innovative living and is not just ‘green’. I practise it in my own life because it is life-enhancing and I also want to share it with others are widely as possible.

What is the best meal you’ve had in your life? Cooked by whom? Eaten with whom?

I live with two chefs, my husband, Tim, and my daughter, Hayley, who is also a budding food writer so I am spoilt for choice but my favourite of meals is fresh food, some of it foraged, cooked outside as the sun sets over the sea on the north coast of Cornwall. It is shared with friends and family after a wonderful day walking, swimming and surfing, accompanied by a good French or Italian wine. Beautiful scenery, fresh food, well exercised bodies and the warm of friendship is a heady mixture. It makes me very happy.

Can you describe a typical work day?

Cup of tea in bed made by my beloved. Time then to contemplate the day. Quick breakfast, open the greenhouse and cold frames and water plants if needed. If there is time I walk around my permaculture garden and touch the many different fruiting trees and appreciate the wildflowers. Into work by 9 am. At 10 am we have team meeting to plan new projects and meet deadlines. I am very fond of the Permaculture magazine team and have great respect for the commitment they have given our publishing company over the years through thick and thin. I answer a lot of emails. Lately, I have been working on our new Permaculture online magazine, sourcing editorial, posting and promoting it. Every quarter we produce a print version of Permaculture too and I still edit each issue, so I have contact with people all over the world, which is a great inspiration. We also produce books and the occasional DVD. I rarely stop for lunch. I am a Trustee of the charity that runs the Sustainability Centre and have regular meetings and visitors here on site. I try to write something creative every day. I find writing very soothing. I also try to walk, garden or swim. I love being outside. I have recently developed a passion for sailing and kayaking. Sometimes I work until 7 or 8pm at night or go out and give a talk but I still try and connect with my family. I have a husband and two daughters. If push comes to shove they have to come first. I fall into bed with a book and am asleep by 11 pm.

How do you define success?

Certainly not by money, social status or possessions! What is important to me is for us all to express our creativity, follow our dreams, live our vision and try to live within a peaceful and harmonious context, both with people and our planet. I am often surprised by the depth and resourcefulness of many people. I am still learning that what we might see on the outside is not what is within. Never judge!

What’s the best advice anyone’s ever given you?

Sounds schmaltzy but: Live each day as if it is your last; always say sorry if you are in the wrong; tell people you love them; life is precious, never take it for granted, and live to the full.

What’s your favourite book or film of late?

The Biochar Solution by Albert Bates. It sounds dry but it is a veritable romp through the history of South America and the capacity of its indigenous peoples to create ‘black soil’ that sustained their civilizations for over a millennia. It is also all about the relationship between agriculture and the rise and fall of civilizations. Surprisingly, it is written with real literary flair and I appreciate that, being an English graduate. Albert is a permaculturist and so he is very solutions orientated and the greatest aspect of this, his most recent book, is the premise that we can reverse climate change and quickly, but only if we radically adopt low carbon agriculture and get our act together with global emissions. This book gives me hope.

Further information:
www.permaculture.co.uk
www.sustainability-centre.org

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Eco Hero: Kate Andrews

Esther Freeman | 04.03.11

Kate Andrews, and her brother Jamie, are travel enthusiasts who are keen to encourage others to explore the world more sustainably. Set to transform European travel with their train-booking website Loco2, the pair want to show that itchy feet doesn’t have to mean a huge carbon footprint.

How would you describe yourself?
Loco2 is a European rail booking version 2.0, and with a green twist! We want to bring sustainable alternatives to air travel to a wider market and make it easier to book trains across the continent.

What is your mission?
Our goal is to make low carbon travel easier and cheaper, so that more people can make the choice to explore the world in a more sustainable way.

What challenges do you face?
Creating sophisticated rail booking software is a major challenge - we are constantly faced with technical hurdles.

We also face the much more complicated challenge of trying to change behaviours. Reliance on air-travel is endemic in our society. Many people feel that their freedoms are under attack when environmentalists talk about cutting carbon.

What is your biggest achievement?
Personally, my biggest achievement was crossing the Pacific in a 47ft yacht, having had no experience sailing before. And for Loco2, it is being nominated for the Virgin Responsible Tourism Awards 2010. It's good to know that even our modest efforts got a little recognition.

  What green principles do you live by?
I love the Kenyan proverb - The world was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. It’s about recognising the incredible gift we have and looking after it. It's not ours to trash.

Is organic important to you?
Given the choice, everything that passes my lips is organic, local, water responsible, sustainable and unpackaged. 

What one thing do you wish everyone would do?
Fly less of course! 

What would you like to pass on to your children?
Less than 300 parts CO2 per million in the earth's atmosphere. That would be an amazing thing to give to my children though ... and my sunny disposition - which I'm sure is genetic! 

How can we spread the green message?
With quiet persuasion, and superbly presented sustainable alternatives.  

What cheers you up?
Cheesy jokes.  

Who is your Eco Hero and why?
David Attenborough. He has inspired a generation of people - biologists, palaeontologists, ornithologists, conservationists (and numerous other long-wordists) to research, document, celebrate and ultimately conserve the people, places and the environment.

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traincation, jamie andrews, loco2, kate andrews

Eco Hero: Chris Smith

Esther Freeman | 25.02.11

Ecotube founder, Chris Smith, believes the internet is the key to spreading eco-awareness. Through his social media consultancy and Green Marketing forums he advocates change. And if that wasn’t enough he ran as a parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in 2010.

How would you describe yourself?
I’ve recently started referring to myself as a social activist. I don’t like using the word ‘Green’ anymore (the Green Party is an exception!) because I feel it is too vague and is often used deceitfully. A Bodyshop campaign used the term ‘Eco-Aware’ recently, and I prefer that.

What is your mission?
I see myself as an agent for change. I want to simplify the language used by the academics and specialists and make campaigning more accessible to the general public.

What's your next project?
I’m putting on another of my Green Marketing Seminars in March at the Kyocera showroom in London’s West End. This is the third one I’ve organised, looking at ethics, marketing and consumer psychology. We get a very wide mix of participants, from corporates to NGOs, and I see them as a catalyst for open discussion rather than a platform for me to go in with my own agenda.

What’s your greatest achievement?
Giving a speech for the Green Party in front of 500 people!

What green principles do you live by?
I’m very conscious of reducing my impact, within what’s reasonable in a modern society. I’m quite anal about not binning anything that can be re-used, and I collect batteries and lightbulbs. I hate seeing people leave supermarkets with hundreds of carrier bags.

Is organic important to you?
Yes, we put enough toxins in our body every day! I’d rather not buy the supermarket brand organics though, and have been known to sneakily shift the smaller branded products up to the middle shelves where people can see them – little acts of subversion!

What one thing do you wish everyone would do?
I get murderous tendencies when I see people dropping litter.

What would you like to pass on to your children?
I hope the next generation will develop a collective consciousness, and will learn from the mistakes of our generation. I think the internet will help with that.

How can we spread the green message?
By instilling a sense of individual responsibility. We need to counter the message of ‘buy more and you’ll be happy’ by helping to develop a sense of self-awareness about the effect their choices are having.

What cheers you up?
Watching Frasier! Laughing provides the counter-balance...

Who is your Eco Hero and why?
Caroline Lucas is great. She’s one of the few politicians who’s not ego-driven. For her, it’s principles not personalities, and she seems very down-to-earth.

Chris can be contacted at chris@eco-tube.com

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green party, social media, chris smith, eco-tube, green marketing

Eco Hero: Richard Hammond

Esther Freeman | 18.02.11

Richard Hammond is the complete antithesis of his name sake. As founder of the award-winning website, www.greentraveller.co.uk, he has helped make our holidays greener. He is also the travel editor of National Geographic’s Green Magazine supplement and the co-author of Great Escapes – 500 unforgettable travel experiences.

How would you describe yourself? 
Green travel writer and entrepreneur.

What is your mission? 
To publicise the huge variety of options now available for more environmentally friendly holidays. In particular, the thousands of wonderful holidays that can be easily reached overland by train rather than by plane.

What challenges do we face? 
The powerful airline lobby and the prevailing culture (particularly in business) that still regards flying as ‘cool’ and face-to-face meetings as a necessity. It doesn’t help that train fares to Europe can be expensive and difficult to book.

What’s your next project?
We're working on a really exciting project with VisitEngland that is due to launch during Climate Week, 21-27 March.

Your biggest achievement?
 Converting www.greentraveller.co.uk from a blog into a fully-fledged business. The site receives over 40,000 visitors a month, and offers over 250 choices of eco-friendly places to stay. In addition over 25 specialist tour operators offer 1,000 holidays in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe that can all be reached by train.

What green principles do you live by? 
I’m a great believer in prevention rather than cure, so I try to encourage reduced packaging rather than recycling, taking the train rather than offsetting, and so on.

Is organic important to you? 
Eating food that is grown without the use of man-made pesticides has got to be the progressive way forward. But so, too, is choosing seasonal food grown relatively close to home to reduce food miles.

What one thing do you wish everyone would do?
 Check whether it is possible to reach your holiday overland by train. The superfast train service from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel means us Brits are now plugged in to Europe’s high speed rail network. It’s a really pleasurable way to reach many destinations on the continent, and you’d be surprised how far you can get.

What would you like to pass on to your children? 
To pursue what they enjoy and believe in, no matter what other people say – but not to trample over other people to do so and not to be too crushed when (inevitably) things don’t always go their way.

How can we spread the green message?
 By portraying green as the smart, modern, and economically efficient way to live and work.

What cheers you up?
 Arriving by train in the mountains, particularly the trip from Toulouse into the French Pyrenees.

Who is your Eco Hero and why? 
Nicholas Albery, founder of The Institute for Social Inventions and the London-based Saturday Walkers' Club, which encourages people to head off by train for country walks. I never met him, but I’ve used his friendly, no-nonsense walking guides on numerous occasions and it has always struck me that by encouraging people to leave the urban grit and grind for the rural fresh and wild, he must have stirred the environmental consciousness of a great many people.

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eco-holidays, traincation, richard hammond, green travel

Eco Hero: Geetie Singh

Sally Hill | 31.01.11

Geetie Singh was a champion of sustainable and organic food years before others knew it was an issue. After a decade working in the restaurant industry, Geetie opened the Duke of Cambridge in 1998 the first pub to be certified organic. She takes a strong stand on sustainability issues and has led the way in sourcing, provenance and standards. She is now training others to give something back to the community. She is a great host to the Organic Food Awards and is generally a champion of all things organic. She juggles family life and work life, has young children, and is always smiling, approachable and helpful, giving up her time to chat. The Duke of Cambridge created a successful business model that combined delicious food with high environmental and ethical standards. Today it continues to lead the green restaurant business, proving that you can still turn a profit when you commit to sustainability.

www.dukeorganic.co.uk

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organic, soil association, duke of cambridge, geetie singh, pub

Va Va Voom

Anna Shepard | 05.11.10

Dale and Damon with Nemesis

Guest post by green writer Anna Shepard

Forget the myth of hair shirts and worthiness that plagues the green movement. Last night, at Somerset House, it was all glitz and glamour, champagne and canapés, and at the heart of it, one very stylish sports car.

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ecotricity, wind car, renewable energy, dale vince, wind energy, nemesis, damon hill

Eco Hero: Sallyanne Flemons

Sally Hill | 28.10.10

Two years ago, Sallyanne Flemons was appointed the founding editor of daisygreenmagazine.co.uk – a woman’s magazine with an ethical twist. The online magazine now has around 30,000 weekly subscribers and is a leader in its field. Sallyanne is married with two children and lives in Newcastle upon Tyne.