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

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 look quite stupid. There I was, in the middle of the Cambridgeshire Fens, surrounded by wardens and officials who had been sensible and worn wax jackets, jumpers and waterproofs. Yet I was in a hoody- a multicoloured one at that, and wearing a jacket I'd tastefully decorated with badges as well as wearing my usual jeans- not exactly brilliant country wear- especially when it was deadly cold and threatening to rain. But I was wearing wellies- that was a start I suppose. I was in the Fens to see the Great Fen Project- a Project aiming to link 2 historic reserves to combat climate change, encourage biodiversity, and bring about numerous other benefits that would cause me serious hand ache to write.

But how can linking two reserves combat climate change? Basically, as the areas between the reserves are used for farming, the top layer of peat is destroyed, or sold and then used- this release the stored CO2 that's in the peat, and so the Fens become a Carbon source rather than carbon store. Transforming the farmland into nature reserve means the fenland can return to its natural state and in affect "reabsorb" carbon- as well as be a great place for nature. I was met at the reserve by the chief reserve warden- Alan,- Woodwalton Reserve was nicknamed "Alan's Garden" He was really passionate about the project and knew each bit of the reserve back to front, from the flora and fauna- fungi to moths... Also there was Shaun Thomas, Natural England's Regional Director for the East of England, and it was really interesting talking to him on most climate subjects, from biodiversity to biofuel. After a look at where the project will take place, and a visit to the historic "bungalow" on site- a real gem of a building, full of info about the fens, the Rotschild family who founded the reserve (one of England's oldest), and original furniture and school's artwork, I was interviewed by BBC Anglia, BBC Essex and BBC Cambridgeshire, spreading the word about this inspirational project. Finally, I had a trip around the Fens in the Argo, a kind of environmentally friendly tank, visiting hides and nature havens, as well as watching them drain the ditches and streams- necessary but smelly! Overall a really exciting , interesting and inspiring day! Thanks to Natural England, The Great Fen Project, COI who helped organise it and all those at Woodwalton Fen! - If you want to find out more about the project visit- http://www.greatfen.org.uk/

 Progress on School's Eco Garden (the "hitting my head against a brick wall no more" part of the title)

Woo! Good news since my last eco garden update! No longer doom or gloom on the fact that my £1,000 prize fund project is going nowhere- school's now got a new finance manager who's taking lead of the project, lots of teachers have volunteered, letters are being written, plans being made and things are progressing at a bullet speed rate. If anyone can think of any ideas for this eco garden- starting off as fruit/veg/herb/food! patch, they'd be gratefully received- (or even if you can donate any tools, or recommend people to get in touch with- I'd love footprintfriend's input!. As usual, I look/ plan way ahead- and a drama group is being set up- not many people at the moment, but loads of ideas and hopefully a bit of "persuading" will get some of them to come- as before any ideas/advice gratefully received- any angle on climate change that could be involved- art/drama/music wise- thanks! I know only a short bit- but just wanted to update you all on the good news- and a bit of asking for your ideas- just leave a comment if you have any- don't worry, I always read them!

 Saturday's Visit to Cambridge- Cut Your Carbon (the "Superheroes" part of the title)

 This Saturday (11th October) I went to Cambridge, to attend an event for superheroes. Yes, there I was, looking at a yellow clad caped man, as well as people from Cut Your Carbon with Supermanesque tops on, and lifesize cut-outs of ordinary people in superhero costumes. I was at Cut Your Carbon, a program run by EEDA (the East of England Development Agency), which give grants to communites to go green, as well as getting them to conduct collective carbon footprints and offering advice and tips to "cut their carbon!". All you needed to do was get your community together- (there is no definition for community in the competition, so it could be a church group, sports club, parents group etc- up to you), put your proposal to show how youcan make your community greener and how this would filter into you cvommunity, also brining it together and you're there- you're entry is added and you then get judged by a panel of judges. I feel this blog is getting a trifle long now- so I won't give details of the entire event, but hopefully I can summarise in these bullet points (much easier than composing long sentences when you've just been doing coursework!)

- Met Dave Hampton- The Carbon Coach- he spoke at the vent, and was really fun- using CO2 balloons, jokes and laughter to put his message across

- Met Richard Ellis-Chairman of  EEDA- we had a really interesting conversation on the changing nature of communities

- I spoke- poor people- seemed to go down well- hopefully inspiring!

- I took part in a carbon speed dating session - Basically where people have 3 minutes to ask "experts- I was one of them hence the inverted commas!" questions - I was asked on a variety of points- from how to create engaging drama to approaching the enviornmental aspect from different angles

- Finally, I attended a talk on carbon calculators, the downfalls of some and the reason why they vary- it depends on what they ask, if they factor in the UK industry and the maths they use- it changes constantly!

Once again, a brilliant day, met loads of inspiring people and came back with renewed vigour- if yuo want to check out Dave, the Carbon Coach visit http://www.carboncoach.com/- or for Cut Your Carbon- www.cutyourcarbon.org.uk!

That's all for me , methinks, so I wish you a proactive week (or month, however long it takes me to write my next blog), and that's tatty bye from me!