Tuesday 30 October 2007

The sun always shines on Chooseday

Well, it did today, anyway. This morning, on a gloriously sunny day, I hopped on the bus into the centre of town, to support the launch of Chooseday.

Chooseday was the brain child of a team including Joshua Hart and Chris Sunderland (pictured here with me). The idea is simple: On Tuesday ( see what they've done?! Chooseday?!) leave your car at home. Do something different to help the environment.

I think the idea is a winner. There are few things more depressing for an aspirant Green than standing at the bottom of the mountain of the 'Green Ideal', in a state of repentant despair because you suspect you will never ascend to the saintly heights of those who have thrown away the car keys, live in a solar-powered eco-hut, eat nothing but the produce of their back garden, and power their carbon-light lives by their own waste products. And the product of that kind of despair born of a sense of hopeless inadequacy, is to feel that you are an irredeemable Green-sinner and not to do anything green at all.

But Chooseday doesn't ask too much. It only asks that you change your way of life in some small but significant way, one day a week. It's ok, say the organisers of Chooseday, if you have to use your car occasionally. ( Not ideal, but don't get het up about it.) Just do what you can each Tuesday. And if everyone does the same, we will all see just how much difference a collective effort can make. Imagine a Bristol of no cars, just one day a week. Great things start with small steps. So go to their website and learn how you can help make a difference.

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