Environmentalist Nyree Ambarchian reveals a scheme where you can learn green skills for free.
Almost all of us are guilty of accumulating more stuff than we need. A recent clear out of my loft revealed no less than seven unwanted (and unloved) cuddly toys, three old MP3 players, a plastic box full of old work uniforms, an electronic photo frame, and a box of Christmas decorations which has seen five festive seasons come and go without seeing the light of day. It was like the generation game conveyor belt, during a particularly bad economic slump.
I’m not even sure how I even managed to acquire so much! One thing’s for sure, we all seem to love stuff. But is this constant desire for new things and culture of almost pathological hoarding leaving the planet stuffed?
I was amazed to discover that there is a greater weight of ants on planet Earth than humans. But while ants pass unnoticed because their activities are part of natural cycles, we are crashing around destroying those natural cycles to make our stuff. In total the average person in the ‘developed world’ consumes 120lb – that’s eight stone – of resources every day. I didn’t work those stats out for myself – they come from a recently published book by Julie Hill called ‘The Secret Life of Stuff’.
The book is full of lots of fascinating statistics. For example, did you know the average Brit gets through 110 loo rolls a year? Or that if you cycle for a mile and replenish your energy with a cheeseburger, that burger will be responsible for carbon emissions of about 260 grams – roughly the same as if you had driven a car instead?
There are also interesting revelations about everyday products – from our morning cup of Columbian coffee to our South Korean-made trainers, or the weird metals in mobile phones to what happens to Styrofoam cups.
The book traces the environmental impact of the consumer decisions most of us make without thinking. You can’t help but marvel at the complexity of modern, globalised commerce, while simultaneously being horrified by it. It may be less painful than the Tuberculosis rife in Britain in centuries past, but we’re suffering from a very modern form of consumption today.
We’re hoping Julie is going to come to Peterborough for a book signing as part of a Trashion Show event being held by PECT and City College Peterborough. Towards the end of the book, she talks about an imaginary near future when people work less but play more, earn less but laugh more, shop less and make more things themselves.
That’s certainly the ethos behind the Greeniversity scheme where you can learn ‘green skills’ for free. Different classes are held every week on a variety of sustainable subjects, and the teachers are all other local people keen to share their skills.
If you fancy learning how to ‘make do and mend’, how to grow your own food, fix a bike puncture, knit, re-fashion charity shop clothes, make decorations out of rubbish, or even insulate your loft check out www.greeniversity.org.uk
After all, we could all do with a little more quality of life and perhaps, a few less possessions.
Nyree Ambarchian is Marketing and Communications Manager
at the Peterborough Environment City Trust based at The Green House, 1st Floor, 4-6 Cowgate, Peterborough, PE1 1NA.
Almost all of us are guilty of accumulating more stuff than we need. A recent clear out of my loft revealed no less than seven unwanted (and unloved) cuddly toys, three old MP3 players, a plastic box full of old work uniforms, an electronic photo frame, and a box of Christmas decorations which has seen five festive seasons come and go without seeing the light of day. It was like the generation game conveyor belt, during a particularly bad economic slump.
