South Hams Friends of the Earth

With the backing of the Mayor of Totnes, South Hams Friends of the Earth is today launching its Green Christmas Campaign.

To encourage us all to do our bit for the environment, South Hams FOE is running its highly successful ‘Christmas pledge’ for a second year. The campaign asks people to commit to ten simple actions that can make Christmas a more environmentally-friendly time of the year whilst still, of course, having fun. The pledge includes actions to recycle, use local shops and save energy over the Christmas period and into the New Year.

As with last year, some great prizes are available to lucky winners, including local food hampers, restaurant vouchers, books and festive treats all of which have been donated by local shops and businesses. Over 80 pledges were signed in 2006, with the pledge being widely supported by people across the South Hams, including Totnes constituency MP Anthony Steen and the whole of Ivybridge Town Council.

Launching this year’s campaign, Totnes Mayor Cllr. David Horsburgh said:

‘’I think the Friends of the Earth pledge is an excellent way of alerting people to the shocking amount of unnecessary waste we produced as a nation each Christmas. We could all do a bit more to reduce waste, whether it is packaging or energy, as well as buying food and gifts locally. I am an avid supporter of Fair Trade and buy locally whenever I can but, now I have signed the pledge, I have given myself the challenge of doing a little bit better this year’’.

Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Pam Barnes, said: ‘’I recycle Christmas cards by turning them into gift tags for the following year, and we use the local recycling facilities for paper, bottles and plastic of course. We are lucky to live in a part of the country where we have some wonderful local produce and Totnes has such a unique array of shops I can always find the presents I am looking for in town – especially with the Christmas late night shopping evenings coming up’’.

FOE Committee Member, Ian Blackwell, who is co-ordinating the Green Xmas Campaign said: ‘‘The response from local people last year was fantastic – but we should be able to top 100 pledges this year. We have a great range of prizes, like last year, all donated by local businesses and shops. We are very pleased that Cllr. David Horsburgh and Deputy Mayor Cllr. Pam Barnes are the first to sign the pledge in Totnes. The pledge benefits Friends of the Earth because it helps raise our profile and boost membership, but of course the real reason for doing it is to encourage people to do their bit towards reducing waste, supporting local businesses and tackling climate change. Christmas can be green and still be great fun.’

The South Hams FOE pledges are available from all the libraries in the South Hams, the Transition Town Totnes Office, Ivybridge Town Council offices, Totnes Tourist Information Centre or can be download below.

Click H E R E to download the Christmas 2007 Pledge Leaflet as a PDF.