I attended the UK Premier of ‘Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari Maathai’ from the Green Belt Movement.  Taking Root tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights, and defend democracy.

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) was founded in 1977 by Wangari Maathai (Nobel Laureate 2004). Green Belt Movement’s approach is based on the premise that truly sustainable development can only take place through recognizing the link between the environment, democracy, and peace.

Through its holistic approach to development, Green Belt Movement addresses the underlying causes of poverty and environmental degradation at the grassroots level. Green Belt Movement programmes use a ten-step development model that mobilizes communities to take action in their local environments. As a result over 40 million trees have been planted and hundreds of thousands of women in rural Kenya have lifted their families out of poverty.

I recommend seeing the film as it a true inspiration to all environmental campaigners. I believe it’s available on DVD at takingrootfilm.com/purchase.htm

The Green Awards Best Green Campaigner category is for those sorts of individuals. See www.greenawards.co.uk/categories_x_16/categories_x_16/best_green_campaigner_award We’re looking for any campaigner who has set a goal or campaign target, has set about achieving it and can explain what they were able to achieve against the odds. Campaigns can be as local as your street, school, college or company or may involve a town, city, borough or even a national campaign.

The Campaigner of the Year will be the individual who is judged to have been most creative in getting results for their chosen issue, regardless of the size of the campaign or the budget.

Wangari Maathai became the first environmentalist and the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She overcame unimaginable obstacles that most of us never experience in daily life and yet still maintained a vision and reached into the consciousness of ordinary people to empower themselves to protect the environment and in doing so alleviate poverty. I think one thing I took from last night was the thought that no matter how big the problem is we face we can all make a difference and we should never just sit back through apathy when we hear of environmental degradation happening in other parts of the world such as the destruction of the forests. Because ultimately the planet will survive but the human race might not be quick enough to adapt to the changes that lay ahead because of the effects of global warming and climate change. We need to be focussed on our own survival and we need inspirational leaders to engage the mass consciousness. According to Wangari Maathai’s,Oslo, 10 December 2004, ”In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other.”

To enter the Best Green Campaigner Category visit: www.greenawards.co.uk/categories_x_16/categories_x_16/best_green_campaigner_award

For more information on the Green Belt Movement who is an Institutional partner for this year’s Green Awards visit:  www.greenbeltmovement.org

I noticed a recent promotion where The Energy Saving Trust and the Imperial War Museum have teamed up to promote the ‘Wartime Spirit Campaign’ to encourage people to learn from the past how to reduce waste and save energy.

It all sounds very idealistic but as a nation we’re so institutionalised in luxury and the satisfying of all our immediate desires and wants that any lesser existence would seem inconceivable.

Personally I would love to grow my own vegetables but without land and being time poor it seems like an alien concept and very idealistic. Certainly this is the case whilst living in the inner sanctum of the urban metropolis where open space is a premium to say the least.

Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: “We are certainly not advocating a return to rationing or indeed enforced personal daily allowances. However if we could adopt just a few of the practices used during the war, such as recycling bath water for watering plants, then it would go a long way towards saving energy and reducing our carbon footprint.” I do quite like the idea of using the bath water on the plants although capturing the water from the shower might prove a little more difficult. I can’t in fact remember the last time I had a bath but I guess a lot of people still do. However,  I do remember fondly sharing baths with my siblings whist growing up to save on energy and time. In fact I know sharing a bath is one of the hot tips in the ‘We Are What We Do’ series of tips, although preferably with someone you love. See http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/actiontracker/action.php?action=8

Interestingly, research conducted by the Energy Saving Trust – which provides free advice to consumers on reducing their carbon emissions and works with retailers, builders and industry to increase the availability of energy efficient products – suggests the British public might not be averse to a bit of enforced frugality. I think the recession is fast forwarding this situation as a matter of necessity and that’s probably what people need to influence their behaviour patterns.

As part of the joint campaign, the Imperial War Museum has put together a number of examples of how wartime initiatives can be adapted for the modern world, including ‘make do and mend’, ‘is your journey really necessary?’ and ‘save fuel for battle’.

From a marketing point of view it’s fascinating to see the language used and the call to actions used in these advertising campaigns during the war prior to mass market communications and the overload of insidious messages we experience today through spam. I wonder how effective these posters were in engaging people and contributing to behaviour change compared to today’s multi-million pound integrated campaigns?