This year’s UK Organic Food Festival – now in its ninth year – looks set to be the biggest and best yet.

Running on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th September at Bristol Harbour, the festival will be the highlight of the Soil Association’s Organic Fortnight.

The Organic Food Festival isn’t just about food, though.

It’s a real celebration of all things organic and natural.

This year there will be recession-busting cookery demonstrations, a unique Kids’ Taste Tent (where the kids get to do the tasting, rather than the other way round), live music, a winter vegetable planting masterclass and even seminars on how to set up urban gardening communities. Here’s where you can find the schedule of events at the Organic Food Festival.

There will be the usual much-loved collection of companies who share a common, ecological philosophy, along with new names who are doing their bit for the environment. It’s a chance for you to meet the people behind your favourite brands, do some serious shopping and snap up a bargain, along the way.

This year’s exhibitor list sees the return of some of my favourites, including:

• Gartner Organic Wool (you have to pop along and see the amazing range of natural colours this guy’s sheep produce. And he’s really friendly!)
• Spiezia skincare, who not only do amazing work with getting our cosmetics to be 100% organic, but also do some great things in their local community – ask them – they’ll probably blush…
• Andy and Dave Hamilton from Self-sufficient-ish. They’re a fab duo who have done so much to promote growing-your-own. Andy and I used to share a double-page spread in the now-defunct Tastes of Britain magazine, so I’m looking forward to finally getting to meet him! He knows his stuff!
• Abaca Organics are the only company in the UK producing certified organic mattresses – pop along and meet them if you fancy a lie down and a fascinating natter!
• You might also want to visit the Soil Association stand, to talk to them about their work as a charity and consider becoming a member – there are usually lots of goodies for those who join on the day – plus free entry into the Festival for members old and new.

In total there are over 150 other companies, all excited about the chance to meet directly with their customers.

You’ll find organic cleaning products, organic bedding, organic clothing, more food than you could reasonably even sniff in a day and even an organic beer tent and bar…

It’ll be the fourth time I’ve been to the Organic Food Festival and I’m glad they’ve shifted it by a week this year, so I don’t have to miss my friend’s wedding on the 5th – just kidding …

If any of you are in the area and fancy going along, how about telling everyone via the comments box and maybe we could arrange to meet up?

I’m really looking forward to it.

When is a horsedrawn cart a symbol of modernity?  When is it used by the environmental action group Climate Rush in their drive to galvanise the British public in support of climate change politics.

During September, the same innovative and daring activist group that shut down Heathrow Terminal 1 with an Edwardian tea party and a string quartet will be taking to the roads of South West England to entertain, educate and stimulate the public.  The said horses and carts will be equipped with solar panels and wind turbines and accompanied by Climate Suffragettes in period dress walking, riding and bicycling besides the carts.

The group intends to engage the public on vital environmental issues during the countdown to the Copenhagen climate talks in December. Climate Rush has focused its campaign on the inadequacies of current UK climate policy.

It is unfortunately the case that politicians are highly unlikely to take the action that is needed unless they feel that the British public will support it at the ballot box, and therefore action at the grassroots is important. We all need to take action, whether through forming local groups, talking to friends about the issues or lobbying our MPs to show that we take the issues seriously.

Activism has suffered from a poor image, but Climate Rush aim to make activism fun and imaginative, to reflect a need to get more young people involved and to capture the imagination of the public. Their rapid growth indicates that they have struck a chord with many, and indeed non-violent direct action has an honourable history. History teaches that mass movements have enormous power to trigger change, even in the face of resistance from the elite. Climate Rush deliberately model themselves on the Suffragettes in their campaign for women’s rights, and there are also echoes of similar campaigns, such as Gandhi’s non-violent fight to end the British Raj in India.

One of the problems that environmentalists face that the Suffragettes and Gandhi’s followers did not was engaging with a public that is bombarded with different opportunities and distractions. Therefore it is all the more important that activism is perceived as fun and relevant. It should also help to counteract the sense of powerlessness that psychologists cite as a major impediment to public action.

If you would like more information about Climate Rush’s roadshow in September, or just how you can get involved, please visit the website www.climaterush.co.uk.

Plans are going well for The Great Big Green Wedding Fayre, taking place in Liverpool on September 5/6th.

We can’t believe the wealth of different green businesses that have jumped on board, everything from peddle powered rickshaws to recycled jewellery, vintage tea parties to classical musicians!

We have also been pleasantly surprised by a number of traditional wedding suppliers who have been keen to find out what they need to do to ‘Go green’.

I spoke to a reporter recently who asked if the event would be “All hemp dresses and veggie food?” Well, as a matter of fact we wouldn’t say no to a hemp dress and we do have a veggie caterer- but the great variety of alternative things that will be going on are giving the event a festival feel and I defy any ‘mainstream’ bride not to get the urge to break the mould and go for the fun of being peddled to the ceremony or the romance of a night under canvas, or indeed the bargains to be had at in charity shop bridal section!

A wedding celebration or civil partnership should express your unique view of the world  – not conform to what is expected, too often couples seem to follow an unspoken rule book when it comes to their own special day.

We green girls already know this, but we urge you to share this idea with your friends: Try something a little different for once!

The Great Big Green Wedding Fayre takes place at Crosby Hall Educational Trust, Liverpool on 5/6th September.

Highlights include a catwalk show courtesy of Oxfam Bridal; complimentary tea & cakes; live music; free pamper sessions with The Bodyshop at Home; the chance to win some great green hampers from friends like Lovelula; presentations by Katie Fewings from Ethical Weddings and Greg Valerio from CRED jewellery AND a green goody bag to take home (plus the odd rickshaw ride!)

Tickets cost 6.00
Please reserve yours by contacting Jemma
jemma@biggreenwedding.co.uk or tel: 07824 860 682

www.biggreenwedding.co.uk

Now autumn is in sight I thought it would be a good time to share upcoming green events for the next few months…

Ludlow Green Festival

29th and 30th August – Ludlow, Shropshire, UK
A weekend festival of stalls, music and activities to raise awareness about the environmental challenges facing us all.
Find out more about Ludlow Green Festival

Llanfyllin Workhouse Green Fayre

29th and 30th August – Llanfyllin, Wales, UK
A family friendly weekend with green arts, crafts and music.
Find out more about the Green Fayre at Llanfyllin Workhouse

The Great Big Green Wedding Fair

5th and 6th September – Liverpool, UK
For eco couples looking for ethical and green wedding traders
Find out more about the Great Big Green Wedding Fayre

Ozone Day 2009

16th September – International
Led by the United Nations Environment Programme. The theme this year is “Universal participation: Ozone protection unifies the world”
Find out more about Ozone Day

Eco-Fest 2009

19th – 20th September – Derby, UK
Raising awareness about environmental issues in a fun two day family festival.
Find out more about Derby Eco-Fest 2009

Tree-Athlon 2009

19th September – London, UK
27th September – Leeds, UK
4th October- Manchester, UK
Join in the 5km fun run to raise funds to plant trees in the cities.
Find out more about Tree-Athlon

Festival of Life

26th September – London, UK
Workshops, stalls, music, talks and activities to promote healthy living for the body and planet
Find out more about Festival of Life

Big Green Home Show

23rd – 25th October – Swindon, UK
For self-builders and home-improvers to find out how to make their homes more sustainable.
Find out more about the Big Green Home Show

More Local Events

For many more dates for localised events throughout the UK visit the following websites:
Greenfinder
Ecological Living
Green Events – London

I’ve worked with The WILD Foundation for almost 3 years and one major thing that I have noticed in that time is the power of face-to-face interactions to effect change in the environmental space. The internet has given us all incredible tools for communication, but I think it’s important to never forget the power of many minds all gathering in one spot.  This is when real progress is made! I believe face-to-face formal and informal interactions have powers that all of our digital communication tools cannot yet rival. This is one of the main reasons why I am so excited to be a part of WILD9 this fall. It will be my first World Wilderness Congress, and I’ve heard so much about the accomplishments and interactions that have taken place at each of the previous 8 Congress.  WILD9 promises to be unique, interesting, interactive and a huge success for wilderness world-wide!

WILD9, the 9th World Wilderness Congress will convene in Merida, Mexico from 6-13 November 2009, in the heart of the Mayan world.  Having convened 8 times on 5 continents, WILD9 will be the first ever WWC in Latin America.  Many of the world’s leading conservation experts, politicians, academics, corporations, artists, native peoples, students and many others will gather to debate and act upon the most urgent environmental issues of our time such as climate change, water and more.  Some of the top confirmed presenters are Dr. Jane Goodall, Russell Mittermeier (President of Conservation International), the Indian economist Pavan Sukdev and Stephan Harding, an expert on Gaia theory.

Among its rigorous conservation objectives, WILD9 is slated to be the largest gathering of conservation photography ever in Latin America, with participation from many of the top conservation photographers around the world.  I’ve had the pleasure of featuring some of these talented photographers on our blog over the past year, and you can check out some of their photos here. Each day the plenary sessions will feature keynote presentation from top-level conservation photographers including: James Balog, Art Wolfe, Thomas Mangelson, David Doubiliet and Nick Nichols.  Many other members of the International League of Conservation Photographers will be in attendance, participating in and leading workshops, seminars and panels discussions.

The WILD9 program is filled with exciting presentations, workshops, local excursions and training sessions and there are many major conservation objectives including new wilderness designations, the first international agreement on wilderness and more! Registration is open to the public and special discount apply for delegates from certain regions, students and for those who are able to register prior to 1 August.  Looking forward to seeing you in Merida!

Article by by Emily Loose

Emily Loose is the Director of Communications for The WILD Foundation. She can be contacted there, or found on Twitter @WILDfoundation.

If you’re a green blogger and haven’t heard about this meetup, where have you been?

This is the first, hopefully of many, meetups hosted by Al Tepper of ooffoo, Natural Collection and Ethical Superstore (and the well loved City Hippy of course).

The event will take place on 8th June in London with special guest Nick Aster from TriplePundit.com (previously of TreeHugger and MotherJones) and there will even be a special prize for one particularly wordy guest.

Want to find out more? Then visit the Green Blogger Meetup page on Facebook. Do let Al know if you’re planning on going along, so he can keep up with numbers.

Some of the Green Girls Gloabl and Green Guys Global folk might see you there!

Recent warmer days and sunshine tell us that the summer is nearly here. A time for festivals, fairs and outdoor fun. So here’s a round up of a few summer events coming up this year…

The Green Roadshow

Between May and August at a variety of venues in the UK
A travelling circus with green themed entertainment and activities
www.greenroadshow.co.uk

Nottingham Greenweeks

From 23rd May to 14th June at lots of locations in Nottinghamshire
All kinds of activities and events including workshops, stalls, seed swaps and art & music festivals
www.greenweeks.org

Veggie Pride UK

16th May – Birmingham
A celebration of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles with stalls, entertainment and activities.
www.veganmidlands.org.uk

National Vegetarian Week

18th – 24th May – UK wide
Events throughout the UK celebrating vegetarianism
See the Vegetarian Society website for listings

Sustainability live!

19th May – Birmingham
A business exhibition and networking event
www.sustainabilitylive.com

Sustainable Events Summit

22nd May – London
How to make your events more sustainable
www.sustainableeventssummit.com

GreenFest

14th June – West London
Music, stalls and fun for kids. Bring a picnic!
www.greenfest.org.uk

theKey.to

1st – 4th July – Berlin
An international event for green fashion, sustainable lifestyle & culture
www.thekey.to

EcoVillage at the Kent County Show

17th – 19th July – Kent
Entertainment and information on living a greener life.
www.theecovillage.co.uk

Big Green Gathering

29th July – 2nd August – Somerset
5 days of music, crafts, food, markets and more
www.big-green-gathering.com

Some of the events listed above come to us courtesy of the fabulous Greenfinder, by our very own Green Girl Kate. For more UK events throughout the year keep in touch with Greenfinder’s events listings.

If you’re involved in organising an eco event let us know about it and we’ll share it here on GGG.

Yesterday saw the start of London Fashion Week and I am oh so sad not to be going. For now I have to be content with keeping up to date with things online at www.londonfashionweek.co.uk

If you are going though be sure to check out estethica, the green fashion exhibition now in its fifth season.

It’s really amazing to learn how popular this part of the event has become in such a massive mainstream show. There are over 30 green fashion labels exhibiting this year and the British Fashion Council are happy to report even more labels joining in 2009.

London Fashion Week are also collaborating with the BBC’s Thread in their Stylesearch competion to find the UK’s most ethical dressers. The four finalists will be taking part in a task to find the ultimate winner who will assist the stylist at the Thread fashion show – lucky thing!

Check out the competition entries on the Thread website and you might see a familiar face!

Grand Designs LIVE

The Grand Designs LIVE event in Birmingham (UK) this year will be featuring several seminars focusing on environmentally friendly building and design.

Running from 10th to 12th October these seminars will include talks on reducing the negative environmental impact on self-builds, the eco credentials of prefabricated houses and furnishing your home with eco interiors.

In fact friend of Green Girls Global and Treehugger editor Leonora Oppenheim will be speaking in the ‘Best Eco Footprint Forward’ debate.

For more details visit the Grand Designs LIVE website

The Big Debate Birmingham

Another eco event in Birmingham this Autumn is The Big Debate organised by Birmingham City University.

The debate on 15th September ‘Young leaders or green saviours?‘ considers the issues faced by up and coming managers in implementing green strategies in the workplace.

Visit The Big Debate Birmingham website for more details.

Earthwatch Lecture – Shrinking Habitats, Species Survival.

Thursday 16th October, 7.00pm-8.30pm, at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR, UK.

Dr. Dawn Scott & Dr. Rich Reading will give two talks on Earthwatch projects, ‘South Africa’s Brown Hyenas’ and ‘Wildlife of the Mongolian Steppe’, species in the one case often unfairly maligned, and in the other, sadly under- researched.

By ticket only – free to Earthwatch supporters, otherwise a small donation is requested on the door.

Contact the Earthwatch Europe Events Department on +44 (0) 1865 318856. Email: events@earthwatch.org.uk.

http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/get_involved/events08/habitats

Earthwatch Debate: Irreplaceable – the World’s Most Invaluable Species

Thursday 20th November, 7.00pm-9.00pm, at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR.

The ever-popular and thought-provoking Earthwatch Debate this year focuses on the world’s most irreplaceable species – choose between bees, bats, fungi, plankton and primates (but not man!), championed by leaders in their field.

Chair – Andrea Catherwood, TV broadcaster & independent film producer

Speakers for the evening:

• Bats – Dr. Kate Jones, the Zoological Society of London
• Bees – Dr. George McGavin, Honorary Research Associate, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
• Fungi – Prof. Lynne Boddy, Cardiff School of Biosciences
• Plankton – Prof. David Thomas, School of Ocean Sciences, University of Bangor
• Primates – Ian Redmond OBE, Chairman of the Ape Alliance

Doors open at 6.00pm (cash bar); debate to be followed by a second cash bar, 9.00-9.30pm.

Entrance free to Earthwatch supporters; otherwise a small donation will be requested on the door. Optional buffet supper, 9.00-10.30 – supper tickets £25.00

For tickets and more information, please contact the Earthwatch Europe Events Department on (01865) 318856; events@earthwatch.org.uk

http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/get_involved/events08/debate