Footprint Friends

Earth Summit 2008

Swampy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:18:00 GMT

Earth Summit 2008

I have just returned home after attending The Earth Summit 2008 at the O2 stadium organised by Study Experiences. It was a 2 day event with some thought provoking and inspirational presentations. I have come away feeling even more determined to ensure young people understand the consequences of inaction and the opportunity they have now to be part of and instrumental to the decision making process for a sustainable future.

The key focus of the summit was:

“Climate Change and sustainable development: Adaptation and Mitigation.”

Day 1 was all about the science of Climate Change and the presenters did not hold their punches on the situation we are in and the challenges we all face. The clear message is that we have already caused the planet to warm and that even if we took immediate action to reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere right now, today - we cannot avoid the damage we have caused so far and we will have to learn to adapt to it. Underlying that stark reality however is that if we carry on avoiding the problem and continue to pollute our atmosphere with excessive green house gas, the consequences will likely be beyond what we can adapt to and will more likely be catastrophic for life on earth. We have just a few years to influence our future – and our voice has never been so important in giving a living things a chance for survival.

Guest Speakers included:

Dr Mark McCarthy
Donnachadh McCarthy
Professor Bill McGuire – Author of SEVEN YEARS TO SAVE THE PLANET

Day 2 was in the main about the voice of the audience. It began with a talk by Steve Fuller of EDF energy about innovations and the development of renewable energies.

Then there were some great presentations from students including our own Climate Change Champions Adam and Patrick.

An amazing 2 days in the broadest sense of the word.

I’ll post a movie soon to give you a better idea.

Climate Change Conference sends out ripples

richard — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:17:00 GMT

We were invited to the SUS Schools Climate Change Conference in the New Forest, Hampshire we had many conversations with young people about all sorts of issues from local transport to food in schools.

The day started in a very impressive council chamber where all the seats had their own microphone so people can join in the debate. Can you imagine a microphone in front of you with a button on it to talk waiting for the conference to start...

... exactly all the students were pressing the button and enjoying hearing their voice.

Then we had an amazing and very privileged presentation from Alan Lovell which is based on the inconvenient truth. Alan is one of very few people who have been trained by Al Gore himself to present his lecture.

We then had groups come and paint their feet and engage in debate about the environment. You can see the photos in the gallery.

Ed Miliband is the new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and he needs to hear your voice. We videoed your comments and here is the result. If you want to have yoursay add it to this post and we will send it on the Ed.

GetGreenGo

Swampy — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:39:00 GMT

Congratulations to all of the 2008 GetGreenGo™ Champions!

Announcing the winners of GetGreenGo™ 2008. It was a real privilege to work with BSI on this project and be a judge. The day of the awards at Old Trafford was very exciting - something I will never forget.

Primary School winners

1st Prize: Pilling St John's CofE School, Pilling, Lancashire
2nd Prize: New York Primary School, New York, Tyne and Wear
3rd Prize: St. Dominic Savio Catholic Primary School, Reading, Berkshire

Secondary School winners

1st Prize: Norham Community Technology College, North Shields, Tyne and Wear
2nd Prize: Kingussie High School, Kingussie, Kingussie, Inverness-shire
3rd Prize: Macmillan Academy, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire

Highly Commended:

Kippax North Junior, Kippax, Leeds

All seven finalist schools attended the GetGreenGo™ Awards ceremony on the 22nd September 2008 hosted at Old Trafford to receive their prizes. Each school went home with a fabulous trophy made of recycled acrylic and mobile phones, a certificate and a cheque to put towards a future sustainability project of their choosing.

Keep visiting this site to find out more about the plans for GetGreenGo™ 2009!

Keep safe on Bonfire night

FootprintFriend — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:22:00 GMT

Have fun on Bonfire night but make sure you keep safe.

Has anyone found any eco friendly fireworks?

Make sure that if you are having a bonfire in your garden that there are no Hedgehogs or other wildlife before lighting them.

Let us know if you have done anything environmentally friendly

Belated Happy Halloween

FootprintFriend — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 15:12:00 GMT

We hope you had a great Halloween!

Did you go out Trick or Treating?
Did you do anything that was environmentally friendly with your costume?

Please don't throw out your pumpkin, make sure if you have a compost heap that you put it onto that.
Make sure you take out the candle first

Let us know what you did for halloween.

Web site update

FootprintFriend — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:51:00 GMT

Hi everyone, you may have noticed a slight change on our site: www.footprintfriends.com.

We have now changed the front part of the site to look like the forums. We upgraded the forums not so long ago and have been working on upgrading the rest of the site since.

You may find some fun things to play with, let us know if you find them

We hope you like the new update, we will be adding mroe features very soon.

If there is anything you would like to see on the site let us know in the forums.

Have fun and happy posting!

Wellies, Hitting my head against a brick wall no more and Superheroes!

Mad as a Hatter — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:45:00 GMT

Hi, Adam here- wanted to just keep you up to speed with my environmental campaigning/journey / whatever else it could be called. There's 3 real parts to this blog- My Visit to the Fens, Progress on School's Eco Garden (Finally!) and This Saturday's visit to Cambridge.So that's why this blog's divided into 3 mini blogs, or just because I've just been studying French- le trois blogs mini ! My Visit to the Great Fen Project. (The Wellies part of the title) To be honest, I did...(read more)

The VALUE of nature

Swampy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 09:16:00 GMT

The money markets are in crisis, and our world leaders are running around
like headless chickens trying to fix the problem – there is distrust
between financial institutions because they have all been tainted by greed
and easy gain – they have forgotten how to do an honest deal and so for
their own safety they are not doing any deals at all. Pouring money at
this problem may work - but, has money ever bought trust?

And what is money anyway? Where do all the billions that are wiped off the
stock market end up; a black hole? Is money real?

Well OK I did not do well in economics BUT I can’t help but wonder at the
way the world puts a value on things and how overnight the ‘value’ can be
wiped away by the ebb and flow of an invisible tide of money. Well, the
tide has turned and money levels are low. Now here’s an interesting
thought, in reality the numbers on the money traders computer screens
reflect nothing more than ‘confidence’ and we are all in a spin because of
how sure or confident traders are of a safe bet – how they feel about
their ability to second guess the potential value of shares. In the
constant pursuit of easy gain, the markets are massaged by rumour and
speculation so are these manipulated values ever real? My head hurts at
this point.

A tree is real. It will grow and provide more value than the space it
stands in. You can believe in a tree.

Our forests work hard at the ‘essential’ task of carbon management and
cleaning our ‘vital’ water and they do this for free with a multitude of
value added services gifted to other life forms that live with them. But
do we value them for what they do? If we did, our headlines would read
slightly differently.

In the news on Friday – tucked away and not in the headlines I read…The
global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than
through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.
It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5
trillion.

The EU study is an attempt to indicate that the loss and decline in nature
represents REAL lost value that overshadows the crisis in the financial
system. So how did this value get calculated… Well when FREE essential and
vital service providers are taken away, we have to find other ways of
getting those services – we have to create/build replacements in order to
survive and in doing this a monetary value will develop.

Speaking to BBC News on the fringes of the congress, study leader Pavan
Sukhdev emphasised that the cost of natural decline dwarfs losses on the
financial markets.

"It's not only greater but it's also continuous, it's been happening every
year, year after year," he told BBC News.
"So whereas Wall Street by various calculations has to date lost, within
the financial sector, $1-$1.5 trillion, the reality is that at today's
rate we are losing natural capital at least between $2-$5 trillion every
year."

Forest losses are real – it is not a rumour. Nature is precious, life
giving and free. Surely, to those who depend on nature to survive (that’s
all of us folks), the value is obvious and so great it would be
immeasurable – BUT if putting a monetary value on it shakes politicians
awake and into action, brilliant. If this value creates trust among world
leaders to work together in conserving our natural world, we are saved!

Lastly, some food for thought what if we traded in trees as carbon
management systems… confidence in value would be high, forests would be
protected and farmed, our respect for nature would return, environmental
science would boom, our ability to design with new materials would be
challenged, we would seek to learn more about the world that sustains us
(we may even get smarter!!) and... money would be worth the paper it’s
printed on.

The Physchological Benefits of Apples

Mad as a Hatter — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:53:00 GMT

One day I will get into the habit of writing regular, normal blogs, but now I'll just stick to my sporadic off the wall type ones! Apples. We all know the benefits of eating fruit, and of a healthy lifestyle, and I'm sure that we've all heard the "5 a day" slogan many, many times before. So thankfully I'm not going to harp on about that. Neither am I going to write some kind of New Scientist Style article on a new chemical endorphin found in apples. Actually, I'm talking...(read more)

Calling All Surrey Schools!

GreenFrog — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 19:17:00 GMT

Please excuse me... A brief interlude for Surrey people....

We all know that we need to get the word out there. We've got to get in schools, and tell people just what's going on. And then we've got to tell them what to do about it. (And then they've got to do it...)

(Of course, that is pretty much the story of changing what we do.)

So here's a plan. If you go to school in Surrey, and just happen to be want someone to speak about climate change, I'd be very willing to lend a hand. I'd love to do assemblies, talk in lessons, do talks, etc. etc. as the Climate Change Champion for the South East. So if you're interested, check with your teacher and get back to me!

Together, we can solve this global crisis.

p.s. Good luck working on climate change in your school!

War Effort

GreenFrog — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:34:00 GMT

The Second World War took place in an extraordinarily intense five years. Almost unbelievably, the whole breadth of society became focussed on one desperate ambition, united by shared thoughts, passions and a simple love of freedom. For many everyday people, this demanded that they lay down their life. In a blunt sentence, never before in human history had such a show of international bravery and personal courage been so raw and heartfelt as in that epoch-making straggle of years. Against the powers and tragedies of the age, society became - for a fleeting moment at least - of one dream, spectacularly important and overridingly crucial.

Now, just over the brink of the millenium, could it be that we have entered the next global war? Could it be that we have that same desperate straggle of years, that one dream, that unifying ambition? Are we a world at war?

Here's the picture. 2015 will probably be a defining moment in the battle against climate change. Seriously. We might have just seven years left in which to peak emissions. After 2015, we must be declining. If we fail to do that, we risk a 2*C rise in temperature, after which climate change could spiral out of control.

When I discovered this, I felt empty. Frankly, it's dangerously easy to feel despondent. But if we all think we're too small to be any meaningful part of the solution (and there very much is a solution), then we're not going to get anywhere. When one individual objects to driving, flying, switches off the lights, refuses standby, cuts down on meat and gets on a bike, they are part of a worldwide war effort. And yes, I do think we're at war. And it's a war we can win.

We are at war with climate change.

This is actually a tremendously exciting fact. Look at this. We've achieved the kind of communal effort necessary before. And in a mere five years. And as if this wasn't encouragement enough, this time, the sacrifices we're being asked to made look tiny and simple compared to the sacrifices made by those in the '40s. This is a crisis we know we can challenge.

Being part of a war effort doesn't mean an end to fun. It doesn't mean we lose out on having a great time. If anything, it means we'll be making a better world, and that is fantastic.

And that's why we've got to keep on fighting.

Patrick.

I'm Back! Part 1 Featuring Cake, Celebs, Hitting My Head Against A Rather Stubborn Brick Wall

Mad as a Hatter — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:10:00 GMT

OK, I'm sorry. I've done something that's very rare for me...kept quiet. But I'm back, and hopefully going to tell all about my latest exploits.(Well, I say latest- but this starts in May and ends in August- so this can only be classed as latest if you can call news from the last 4 months "latest"?! lol Firstly, there was Sustainability East , a great event designed to celebrate Sustainability East's 10th Anniversary, and their renaming (they were previously known as...(read more)

I'm Back! Part 2 Featuring Celebration and Jubilation, A Stint of College Talks and Unpaid Labour

Mad as a Hatter — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:00:00 GMT

This is the 2nd part of my "I'm Back" Blog- Check out "I'm Back! Part 1 *Featuring Cake, Celebs and Hitting my Head Against a Rather Stubborn Brick Wall" for the first. Celebration and Jubilation This year was my school's 50th Anniversary, and to celebrate, we held a fayre on our school field, with motorcycle display teams, vintage cars and live music. I thought this would be a brilliant event to get Footprint Friends along to. So after a couple of conversations with...(read more)

Human Nature- Pippa's project

HumanNature — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:45:00 GMT

HUMAN NATURE

A project to raise awareness about the devastating effects of climate change

Starting point- The general understanding of Climate Change

Most people realise that by pumping out CO₂we are contributing to the greenhouse effect and global warming. It is understood that this warming of the Earth, by a few degrees, could cause the ice caps to melt, and therefore the sea levels to rise. This is about as far as the public knowledge goes.

Aim

To raise awareness of how a small rise in temperature- a few degrees- affects the world as a whole. This includes all the predicted repercussions of climate change-

· Floods

· Droughts and famine

· Tornadoes

· Destruction of ecosystems

· Disappearance of the Gulf Stream etc.

I want to display this in such a way that no-one can misunderstand, and no-one can forget the scale of the problems we face.

The Climate Change message Action Plan

I am going to incorporate my climate change plan into my A2 art installation (designs below), which focuses on environmental issues; namely the conservation of the rainforest, renewable energy and reducing waste.

This installation will be viewed by my school community, and I am going to get them involved in the process of creating it.

Currently I am creating a series of collages highlighting the worlds diminishing resources. I am going to ask classes from year 8 to design an A6 tag each, showing their beliefs about recycling and energy conservation. I will attach all the tags onto the collage, so the thoughts and ideas can be shared with the rest of the school.

As far as possible my installation will be made of recycled materials- bottles, plastic bags, crisp packets etc. I have made a 3D model of a girl, who is placed in the forest. She represents the activities of human kind, which affect the balance of ecosystems all across the globe. I will have vines hanging around her, suspended from the roof, so it feels like you are in a real jungle. I am basing the ‘vegetation’ on the jungle I worked in, on my Operation Wallacea trip to Honduras last summer. I might add some real ferns, to add to the textures and experience.

The aim of this 3D installation is to invigorate the senses and involve the community. People remember the facts if they are involved in the process.

The pinnacle of the display is my Climate Change globe. I am in the process of making it. Currently it is a white sphere, made of recycled paper, about 0.5m in circumference. Next I will outline the continents in black, creating a blank canvas of the Earth. I will then start my research into which areas of the world will be affected by climate change, specifically a temperature increase of 3 degrees. Which places will flood? Where will ecosystems disappear? Who will starve?

Each effect will be given a colour, and each place will be mapped on the globe. Once the effects are mapped, the globe will be suspended and the colour key added to the suspending rope. The resulting globe will therefore show clearly the extent of climate change on the Earth. This visual representation should stick in the minds of any who see it, and should give them a better understanding of the difficulties to come. I ask you:

What is the likelihood that the finished globe contains a patch of white?

The Solutions

To reduce our carbon footprint we have to adjust our perceptions of consumerism - we cannot continue consuming without considering the consequences. Everything we buy has a carbon footprint attached to it, from food miles to aeroplane tickets. I believe that the basic way to minimise your carbon footprint is to-

Reduce- buy or consume what you need, not what you want. If you don’t buy as much you are less likely to waste what you have got.

Reuse- get the most out of your purchases. Fix things, so you get more use out of them.

Recycle- materials can be changed into something new instead of going to landfill or incineration

Renewable- get your energy from a renewable source, such as Ecotricity.

Responsible- conserve the Earth’s resources e.g. switch off the light when you leave the room or holiday in Britain, rather than abroad.

Regional- Support local projects, organisations and businesses which promote low-carbon living. Farmers markets decrease food miles, and support the local economy.

These solutions will make up the foundation of my installation, so that my school community gets the message - in order to combat climate change you have to act to reduce your carbon footprint. Every individual can make a difference and help to create a sustainable future for us all.

Here are some photos of the finished project-

I did a couple of assemblies to my school, explaining the installation and the effects of climate change- the globe was completely covered by the way. The response was extremely positive, and the teachers even started taking notice. I also showed the project to the Comenius group, which encourages environmental action across Europe. I showed visitors from Greece, Poland, France, Malta what I had been doing, so hopefully I have inspired them to go back to their schools and try something similar.

This was only my entry project, and since then I have finished my A-levels and left Rugby High School, so now my new project will be based in my local area and community. I will keep this blog updated from now on, so you can see what else I've been doing.

Cheerio, and keep striving for a sustainable future!!

Pippa

Username and Password are CaSE SensITIVE!!

richard — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:45:00 GMT

We are constantly upgrading the site to make it more fun with more features and enhanced security.

If you are having issues logging on to the forum please note that your username and password are case sensitive (LikE THis)

If you are unable to log on please click on this link to recover your password

Sorry for any confusion.

Happy posting!!!!

Footprint Friends Site update

richard — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:52:00 GMT

Hi Everyone!!

You will notice that we have released a new look to your website - we hope you like it.

There are many new features for you which we are constantly adding to. Have you seen the new "Dashboard" section?

There may be some bits and pieces that need to be fixed - we will iron them out as quickly as possible

If you have any ocmments please add them to the bottom of this blog.

or email them to feet@footprintfriends.com

Let's Lobby the Seventh Name...

GreenFrog — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:57:00 GMT

Ok. Let's get one thing straight. There are, to quote Friends of the Earth, only seven people who can really tackle climate change. Seven. I've seen their list. Of course all the regulars are there - the president of the States, the president of China, our own prime minister. The list saunters happily on. But the seventh name is perhaps the most interesting. It's an un-heard-of, a Z-lister, a Don't Know Who That Is And Don't Particularly Want To kind of name. And yet it's stuck on the end of such an illustrious list. Perhaps I'd better elaborate.

I’ve been thinking more and more about that last figure. And, surprisingly, the conclusions are surprising (unsurprisingly). If they were to change, the effect would be, quite unequivocally, of groundbreaking significance. With them on board, climate change could be tackled head-on, with uncompromising resolution. That single person can do so much. Bizarrely, this absolute nobody is absolutely crucial. And yet they’ve been overlooked.

This guy could change the world. He could overhaul politics, revolutionise shopping, force industrial change... pretty much anything I’ve thought of, he’s got the power. He’s superhuman. He’s basically his own shade of green.

And then I thought a bit more (and that is surprising). We need to lobby this guy. We have to get him on our side. It would be the equivalent of getting the Man in the Moon to make the Moon go the other way round the Earth. Just hopefully without all the tides messing up. Simply put, this is big.

So what on Earth is stopping him? If his peers are capable of dragging a three-and-a-half-thousand kilometre wide rock out of orbit (and I’m telling you they are), why can’t he speak out on climate change?

Such formidable heroes of our planet should not be taken lightly. So who is it? If we get them to change, we can work wonders. If we get them to change, we can rethink the green movement from the ground up. If we get them to change, we are almost unstoppable.

Ok. I give in. You see, for fear of sounding like some kind of painfully-clichéd agony aunt, there’s a little superhuman in all of us. That seventh name is You.

4 - An Update...

Climate Action! — Fri, 23 May 2008 10:29:00 GMT

I haven't written a blog for a while, so I thought I would give a quick update on what has been happening. I've been busy with exam revision and am currently in the midst of doing exams which will all be over on June 18th !

In my first blog I mentioned what events I would be planning with my £1000. I purchased a solar powered complete weather station which has now been installed and is now providing updated information on the local climate conditions which we can now compare and monitor over time. The device is wireless and feeds information through sensors powered by sunlight. There are four main things that it records information for: temperature, humidity, wind speed and rainfall, but it can also record air pressure etc. as well as providing weather forecast data. The station has been working well and I am now hoping to get the information fed live onto the school website so we can have up to the minute data and logging tools available. Surprisingly the station works well even with only limited sunlight so it should work well through even the winter months.

The other main part of my project is the environmental garden. Work has already begun on it and the opening and launch date has been set for Wednesday 25th June. The garden is to be called "Queen Elizabeth's School Environmental Awareness Garden" and will include a pond ecosystem as well as lots of self sustaining plants that don't require much water and can grow regardless of their position in sunlight. Apart from the obvious 'green credential' is has by being a garden, the plan is to incorporate themes of 'Reduce, Reuse, Recycle' by using things like solar powered lights and pond pumps, water butts and recycled materials.

Catch up soon...

Akhil

Another chance meeting...

richard — Wed, 14 May 2008 15:17:00 GMT

I am sat on a train on my way back from London after collecting all of the donations from the Think 08 Ball – a massive, huge, monstrous, tremendous thank you to everyone who donated!

If you would still like to donate to the Footprint Friends Foundation please go to the donate page; all donations are gratefully received.

I want to tell you briefly about my journey up to London and another chance meeting with more amazing people – this kind of follows on from my last blog.

When you sit on a train there are many different types of people some that want to talk and some that don’t. I was sat at a table with 2 other people and they didn’t appear to want to talk much.

On the table next to me were two ladies and they were deep in conversation about issues of sustainability and in particular work with many different charities. It was most interesting so I had to butt in. We talked for the rest of the journey about all sorts of things including the launch of the Footprint Friends foundation and how it was the nominated charity partner for Think 08. I also mentioned that FootprintFriends.com had been mentioned in an article in today’s Guardian and I showed them a copy.

Then the lady who had been sat quietly next to me perked up and said that she had just read the article in the Guardian and offered us her copy – very kind, I thought and amazing that she had read about Footprint Friends! Then she had to get off as it was her stop.

We carried on our conversations… then as we arrived at London Waterloo and were exchanging details when another lady, who had been listening in, was so intrigued buy our conversations that she also gave us her details!!!

SO my point is that form just one train ride and making that first step it is possible to form new friendships and you just never know who you will be talking to next.

I will follow up with the people in this blog and I will let you know what happens.

JOIN THE GLOBAL DEBATE…

£21,000 Raised and in the NEWS!

Swampy — Wed, 14 May 2008 10:53:00 GMT

Hi to All Footprint Friends,

Been a while since I’ve posted a Blog … must try harder …

All I can say at the moment is ‘WOW,’ what an amazing few days we have had.

Over the bank holiday (May 1st – 4th ) we were at the Oracle shopping centre in Reading meeting with people, painting feet and introducing the Footprint Friends web site. It was a bit surreal really, as busy shoppers rushed by laden with bags and boxes our little patch of blue tarpaulin was like a different world with people sat around painting designs on feet and hands talking about the environment. We met up with some great people who were genuinely excited to have found us at Reading. It was also a delight for us when Shirley – Climate Change Champion for the South West came to lend a hand (foot!!) and take part in our exhibition – thanks Shirley .

Then … no sooner had we packed up from Reading, we were packing the van again to head off to London Excel for the Think 08 show which was over 7-8th May.

On the first day of the show we were joined by VIP Members from Itchen College and Wildern School who were all given special permission to wander around the exhibition and interview exhibitors on film (looking forward to seeing the finished result.) There are also some photo’s in the Gallery. THEN on the evening of the 7th we all headed off to Canary Warf where Footprint Friends was the charitable beneficiary of the Think Ball and our VIP’s had the challenging task of helping with the fund raising. Two very brave VIP’s (Tom and Michelle from Wildern school) were interviewed on stage – they were simply fantastic. You can read the comments about the event in my posts which can be found under: We THINK! 2008 in London.

WE RAISED £21,000!!!!!!!!!! This money will go into the Footprint Friends Foundation which will be a fund to enable you guys to implement your best eco ideas – more information about this will follow soon.

THEN, (today) we appeared in an article in the Guardian – Check it out at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/14/ethicalliving.climatechange

What’s next I ask myself… we have all started something special and with your continued support, determination, and dedication to making a difference – I think it will be amazing what we can achieve.

Blog the Second...

Saving The World. — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:16:00 GMT

My account of the Climate Change Champion's announcement (On the 20th February...quite a while ago, sorry)

I arrived in London on 20th February not knowing what to expect. The tube journey seemed to take forever (after I had started counting stations when we missed our first stop, not my fault I hasten to add). We got there, arriving at the hotel I remember thinking, I’ll be able to relax a bit now (that’s what jinxed it). "We’re going to the sky lounge for some tea" Adam (the boss, essentially) told us. He managed to say two bad words, according to me, in one sentence (tea – yuck! - and sky – I had seen this hotel and was under no misconceptions) so I asked a stupid question. "Where’s that?" "Thirtieth floor", the top.2 ....Oh..... (imagine a look of shock/imminent death, that was me) Relax? I’d be lucky.

The lift was jerky. Then there were steps. The second set of stairs was optional, guess which I chose. We had lunch, a quite enjoyable one considering how high up we were; I suppose the altitude makes you hungrier. Kate came in (media, lots of phone calls!) and gave us sheets. "Interviews" Ah... no pressure then...I had the first one. Back into the jerky lift :-) . Considering the phones didn’t work for ages and I was recovering from altitude sickness the interviews went quite well. Although after listening to my radio interview, I realize the random laughter was quite weird.

I also had to go for a television interview, so I put on my smart jacket and we walked to a green next to the houses of parliament. The interview took about 5 minutes and I believed it was the best so far, apart from the parts where I trail off a bit towards the end (and knowing my luck, no prizes for guessing which part actually got aired for 5 seconds). We spent a while in a juice bar, waiting for the others so we could walk to Downing Street. I was there with Pippa (East Midlands) and Adam (not the boss, East of England), they had had TV interviews also. When the others arrived we all (quite a big group) walked to Number 10. We had pictures outside with Joan Ruddock (‘Parliamentary Under Secretary – Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste’ – and there was me thinking ‘Climate Change Champion for the South West’ was a bit of a mouthful!). See picture:

We walked inside, up the spiral stairs with the pictures of previous Prime Ministers lining the walls. Tony Blair was there, grinning at us from the top. I was looking round frantically, I have to remember all this so I can tell everyone, my immediate thought after that was...it’s very yellow. We were offered tea and kitkats (my dad managed to embarrass me by saying rather loudly "the tea isn’t too bad in this place" – the ‘head’ of the UK, hmmm). We walked through into a room with pillars (possibly called the pillared room, can’t think why...) and sat at a table. Gordon Brown was supposed to answer our questions but he was late due to a speech so Joan Ruddock answered them.

I asked ‘Why say yes to nuclear power when renewable energy is much less expensive, much less dangerous and there is much more of it?’ and she told me some excuses like “Renewable is more expensive if it’s large scale, like the severn barrage” and "We need to create a mix of the two" (Yes, so we are doing something about the Climate Change problem but adding to the future’s problem of nuclear poisoning – don’t get me started on nuclear). After her deflection of questions, we waited for Gordon Brown to come. After a wait he emerged, "Hello" (loud voice, arms open, big smile) and started to talk to us, which he wasn’t supposed to do (tut-tut). We had our pictures taken with him (lucky me... that turned out well) while we were talking about our entries with him (I have decided that I can’t smile AND talk AND think). We sat down again and he spoke to us about an island he had visited off the coast of Australia that was at a big risk from sea level rise.

Jess (North West) read her speech to him and wished him happy birthday on all of our behalves. He asked us about what was the most important aspect to reduce and what our events would be (hang on; I thought we were supposed to ask the questions). Thanking us for coming he departed for another appointment that I forget. We had a quick tour of the house, there was a door that went nowhere just so the room was equal (when we were doing symmetry in houses in my history lesson I was tempted to go "well, when I went to number 10..." but I thought it might be a bit showy!) We retrieved our cameras, had a few more pictures and interviews outside the door and then we had free time in London for two hours!

My father and I decided to go to the Houses of Lords and Commons. After another security check (we had one before entering number 10) we were allowed through, in the House of Commons about ten people were debating five words on the European constitution, I nearly fell asleep and we went out when I started to have a coughing fit (I blame the dust). The House of Lords was more ornate and people were arguing about Northern Rock, but I succumbed to coughing again. We walked back to the hotel, it was cold and I only had my smart jacket on, it is not very good at keeping me warm.

We had a posh dinner at the hotel on a rather lower floor, second (We were sleeping on fifth so I got used to jerky lift after a while). We had a talk from Karen Ford who runs footprintfriends.com the site on which the Climate Change Champions are being hosted, aimed at getting young people talking about Climate Change. We received footprint friends poster packs and Adam gave us cagoules for our boat trip (Now that’s a good story). After sneaking a second chocolate yummy raspberry thing we went back up the jerky lift to our room, watched torchwood (didn’t make any sense cause I don’t watch it – I have no TV*) and went to sleep.

*FAQ . What’s not having a television like? Very Peaceful (although my dad has one, he tapes the essentials like Dr Who, My family and Have I Got News For You.)

P.S. This wasn’t exaggerated THAT much. The altitude was OK, but I guess it’s easy to say that afterwards. (Here’s a random fact - I love mountains, just hate tall buildings, I just mistrust the manmade structures...I don’t know how I’d feel about Silbury Hill.)

Shirley 2008

You'll never guess who I bumped into...

richard — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:30:00 GMT

Its amazing how peoples paths cross.

I was lying in my dentists chair and I was telling him about Footprint Friends - just imagine that for a second. I had my mouth wide open and was babbling, with passion, about our website. Some how he understood me and was very interested in our site.

He went on to tell me that his daughter was a film producer and has worked closely with Al Gore and that she specialises in producing documentaries about environmental issues!

It would be great to have her on our site and involve her in our debate! May be get some inside info!!!

Then today I was explaining about Footprint Friends to a man who turned out to be a scientist who is actively involved in developing the hydrogen fuel cell! Now that is cool! (I think - not too sure about its complete life cycle)

I was told that it is currently possible to run a lap top computer on a Hydrogen fuel cell and that it will not be too long until it is available on the shelves! You heard it here first.

I wonder who I will meet tomorrow?

Footprint Friends

Earth Summit 2008

Climate Change Conference sends out ripples

GetGreenGo

Congratulations to all of the 2008 GetGreenGo™ Champions!

Primary School winners

Secondary School winners

Highly Commended:

Keep safe on Bonfire night

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Web site update

Wellies, Hitting my head against a brick wall no more and Superheroes!

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War Effort

I'm Back! Part 1 *Featuring Cake, Celebs, Hitting My Head Against A Rather Stubborn Brick Wall*

I'm Back! Part 2 *Featuring Celebration and Jubilation, A Stint of College Talks and Unpaid Labour*

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Username and Password are CaSE SensITIVE!!

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4 - An Update...

Another chance meeting...

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Blog the Second...

You'll never guess who I bumped into...

I'm Back! Part 1 Featuring Cake, Celebs, Hitting My Head Against A Rather Stubborn Brick Wall

I'm Back! Part 2 Featuring Celebration and Jubilation, A Stint of College Talks and Unpaid Labour