BGI

News: RSPB BIG SCHOOLS’ BIRDWATCH - 19th to 30th January, 2009

2008-12-28T13:20:00Z

The Big Schools' Birdwatch is a free activity for schools and youth groups (brownies, scouts etc) throughout the UK, which is run every year in January and February by the RSPB. By observing the birds that visit your school grounds you will be helping them monitor UK bird numbers. In 2008, over 45,000 UK school children stuck black paper with eye-slits on classroom windows, put up bird posters, borrowed binoculars, made bird feeders out of old plastic bottles, and told them about which birds they spotted in their school grounds.

News: Micro-Hydro continues to prosper despite the Credit Crunch

2008-12-20T20:54:00Z

Hydroelectricity accounts for half of the renewable energy produced in this country. Yet, in all of the publicity surrounding climate change, it is wind and offshore renewables that are highlighted. Hydroelectricity never gets a mention. Yet there is an untapped potential for hydroelectricity that exists almost in every river in this country which is being overlooked by the government and potential investors. That untapped potential drove the early stages of the industrial revolution and the infrastructure is still there.

News: International Small Wind conference comes to the UK

2008-12-20T17:42:01Z

In 2009 the UK will play host to BRE and BWEA's inaugural international conference, for a technology which is seeing unprecedented market growth the world over. Two days of seminars, workshops, demonstrations, educational sessions and networking opportunities will bring all constituents of the global sector together with focus given to renewable energy policy, international markets, technology awareness, technical research, and educational issues.

Newsletter: January 2009

2008-12-17T19:40:01Z

Blog: Bus to visit Worcestershire

2008-12-14T19:09:00Z

Well, I'm delighted to announce that we have our first confirmed Big Green Bus booking for 2009!!!! By spring next year, I expect booking confirmations will be coming in thick and fast, but this one's very exciting because it's the first!

Worcestershire County Council have agreed to fund the bus for a three day eco-festival at Bishops Wood Centre in Stourport-on-Severn. The event will run in a similar way to the one we attended at Bradford on Avon this October; the first two days will be for schools and on the third day the centre will host a Big Green Eco-Festival for all comers! The dates are 2nd, 3rd and 4th July, so if you live anywhere in the West Midlands, please put the 4th July 2009 in your diary and come along to see us! (You can have a look at the centre by clicking on this link http://worcestershire.whub.org.uk/home/wcc-edu-bishops-wood.htm.)

Also, for those of you living on the South Coast, I hope I'm not tempting fate by saying that The Big Green Bus will be in the Bournemouth/Poole area from around 15th to 24th May 2009. I have been talking with Bournemouth and Poole Borough Councils, who are in the process of planning an amazing series of green events during May and we hope that the bus will be a major part of the initiative. This series of events will commence with me doing a talk for The Dorset Humanists on Friday 15th May. I'll write more about this when I have confirmation.

We have been inundated with enquiries for bookings for 2009 and are in the process of putting together a tour plan to make sure we cover the events we attend in the most sustainable way possible. I am looking for sponsors to help fund the bus so that it can attend as many events as possible, from small primary school ‘green days' to giant 3-day county shows. We'll have more details about the kind of sponsorship we're looking for on the website in the New Year.

I think councils often get a hard time for not doing enough, but I have to say that in my dealings with Worcestershire, Bournemouth and Poole, I have been bowled over by the dedicated and passionate attitude of individuals working to promote sustainability within the councils. The individuals I have met are absolutely determined to do everything they can to get the green message across to businesses and residents in their towns and counties... so there's hope for us yet!

News: The Fruits of Conversation - art for sustainability and biodiversity!

2008-12-02T20:05:00Z

Modern art is often criticised for not being in touch with the everyday person in the street and the things that matter to them, but this is certainly not the case with a new exhibition running from 8th to 20th December called 'The Fruits of Conversation', artist Alan Warburton's biggest project to date. The exhibition is the culmination of work that began at harvest-time in an historic kitchen orchard...

News: National Tree Week 2008 - 26th November - 7th December

2008-11-20T22:12:00Z

National Tree Week is a great chance for communities to do something positive for their local treescape. Each year, Tree Council member organisations such as voluntary bodies and local authorities, up to 200 schools and community groups, our 8,000 Tree Wardens and many others, support the initiative by setting up fun, worthwhile and accessible events, inspiring upward of a quarter of a million people to get their hands dirty and together plant around million trees.

Newsletter: December 2008

2008-11-19T21:39:00Z

Blog: Breaking news …

2008-11-18T22:14:00Z

I had a call today from Bob Gillespie at Thamesdown Transport to say that he has found a replacement engine for the bus! Bob has put me in touch with Oxford based ‘Gardner Enthusiast', (http://www.gardner-enthusiast.com) who are going to supply us with a fully reconditioned engine, that Thamesdown Transport will then fit for us. Both companies are very generously going to do the work for us at cost price and we will have an 18 month guarantee on the engine.

We are still working on ways to try and run the bus mainly on recycled vegetable oil and biodiesel, but I'll leave Mike to explain that as I haven't (yet) fully grasped the whys and wherefores of heating the vegetable oil before it can be used on cold winter days.

Once the bus is up and running we are going to drive it (very carefully!) down to Cornwall, where it will spend the winter in hibernation whilst we work on fund raising for next year's tour.

Blog: Mending engines and 2009

2008-10-28T18:25:00Z

Goodness me ... it's been nearly three weeks since we took the bus to the Bradford on Avon event and I'm still buzzing with the excitement of it all! Having said that, I wouldn't describe looking for a replacement engine as ‘exciting'. ‘Interesting' perhaps, but not ‘exciting'.

Having considered a number of second hand Gardner engines for sale on the internet (a huge thank you to Keith for all the time he spent searching for them for us) and having spoken a few times with Bob at Thamesdown Transport in Swindon, I have pretty much decided to go for a fully reconditioned engine. This will obviously cost more, but it will come with a guarantee which I think is probably the most sensible way forward.

Engines aside, now is the time for us to concentrate on planning the 2009 bus tour and looking for ways to fund it. The costs involved in getting the bus out to an event are considerable. We need to cover driver and staff wages, fuel, various insurances, project managing, office admin and much more besides. Obviously this means we have to charge a booking fee. However, I really want to be able to reach schools and small communities who are unable to raise the full booking costs, so I'm exploring grant funding, looking at ways to attract donations, and talking with appropriate organisations about sponsorship/partnerships. There are lots of exciting opportunities for partnerships and it's great to discover that so many businesses, organisations and individuals are striving to achieve the same goals. It's so important for everyone to begin to work together as collectively we're bound to be greater than the sum of our parts!

As well as working on the 2009 tour plan and funding, we are doing lots of research to try and find new and exciting ways to demonstrate green living. So, with that in mind, I'm off to visit ‘Vegetable Kingdom' at the Organic Gardens in Ryton today! I'm hoping to come back with loads of new ideas for ways to inspire children to grow vegetables...and maybe some new varieties of seeds to grow myself!

News: The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy

2008-10-27T17:06:00Z

28th October is the final day for UK expressions of interest to be submitted for The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy (UK schools have until December). For those not familiar with the awards, they look to reward and publicise inspirational and innovative sustainable energy projects both here and around the world, with winners receiving GBP30,000 in prize money for project development.

News: New Sustainable Food Award launches

2008-10-27T11:43:00Z

To further the green agenda and to celebrate the achievements of the sustainable food movement, the Sustainable City Awards have launched a new category: Sustainable Food, which will focus on sustainable catering. In association with Sustain, the green food campaigners, this new category is open to all London based catering organisations, who pride themselves on reducing their impact on the environment and improving the health and wellbeing of their staff. Such catering organisations include restaurants, schools, hospitals and events caterers.

News: The Big Green Gathering 2009

2008-10-25T12:34:00Z

The exciting news is that the very popular Big Green Gathering is back for 2009! What is it? The Big Green Gathering is a five-day camping event which is currently located in the Mendip Hills in Somerset. It has grown out of the original Green Gatherings of the 1980s and the Green Fields of Glastonbury Music Festival. It has developed organically in response to a desire from people within the green movement for a festival that was focused on Green issues...

News: RSPB Feed the Birds 25th & 26th October 2008

2008-10-24T12:22:00Z

It's RSPB Feed the Birds weekend. There are events up and down the country but the most important one could be in your back garden! BGI and RSPB volunteer Fiona wants YOU to get involved...

News: The Big Switch Off - 24th October 2008

2008-10-23T07:01:00Z

This year's Switch It Off campaign has now been announced with the Big Switch Off scheduled for Friday 24 October from 4.30-6.30pm. This is the third year of the campaign, which began in 2006, and has grown year on year. Primarily an event in Warwickshire, why not join in anyway...