Coping with severe weather Summer 2012

What a wet one!

We have coped with rain and mud before but never on this scale.  During the summer it was not just the volume of rain but the fact that it rained nearly every day that caused so many problems.  The previous wet year was 2007 where torrential downpours caused flooding all down the Severn Valley from Worcester to Gloucester, but there were several days of sunshine between the rain showers and this allowed everything to drain and dry out.  This time there really wasn’t much of a let up – it was relentless.

We have the good fortune to have the most beautiful of fields with a large variety of unusual trees and shrubs, but we also have the misfortune to have a heavy clay surface that doesn’t drain well.  Despite careful management of wheeled traffic it wasn’t long before the major walkways were getting churned up.  We knew we were in for a wet summer and that the problem would not go away of its own accord so it was a question of how best do we manage the situation.  We pride ourselves on our flexibility and being able to adapt to whatever nature throws at us so this was just a challenge to rise to.

Our first solution during set up was to make a ring road round the village green area with coconut matting. We called it the ‘M25’ and made everyone use it and walking on grass nearby was forbidden.  This worked really well and the site stayed relatively green and mud free. The most heavily trodden area was treated to a walkway of pallets, and the obvious name for this was ‘cross-rail’.  We extended the coconut matting to the other major paths and this worked until the first conference when the shear numbers of people walking on the matting drove it into the mud underneath.  More pallets were ordered from the ever benificent plant nursery next door and more walkways were made until all the major paths were covered by over 200 pallets and coconut matting.  The site still retained charm but of a different sort than before.  We carried on hosting conferences despite the weather.

Some of our delegates found the situation more difficult than they expected but picked up on the ‘Dunkirk spirit’ of our volunteers and had a positive experience. There were moments when we thought perhaps we should cancel the events but that seemed like giving up and a bit of a cop out.  It would also have ruined our 100% record of delivering our service of outdoor events.  It is something we are proud of.

There are also other considerations.  The extremes of weather we are now experiencing

The River Teme burst its banks – again

are being caused by climate change – probably man-made or at least with human factors exacerbating the problem.  According to even the most optimistic expert, the situation is likely to get more extreme. The River Teme has burst its banks 3 times during the last 5 summers, something it only previously did occasionally during winter. If we had decided to give up and give in now – how are we going to manage to cope with greater extremes in the future? We are all going to have to find new ways of living, operating and adjusting to the unfolding situation. Flexibility, cooperation and strength of character coupled with a can-do approach is going to become ever more important over the next few years.

You would think that being outdoors in all that rain day after day would have caused severe depression amongst our volunteer workforce.  While there were times when some of us were fed up, the majority seemed to thrive on it.  There was a strong community spirit that bound us altogether and carried us through.  Our volunteers were amazing, often getting covered in mud and doing horrible messy, wet jobs to keep things going, but still smiling.  They even wrote and performed a song about it called ‘It rained’  If you click on this link you can see what life was like for the volunteers during set up and the wonderful smiling faces.  Thanks to Tom of Norfolk for the filming and to Tom of Wood for the song.

Despite having coped well this summer we really do hope that next year we will have a dry summer!

 

The only feasible fashion for summer 2012

Summer at Green and Away

Site Preparations

Our first conference is still a month away but the preparation for the summer season is revving up now.  Next week the early birds will be on site to get the essential infrastructure ready for the volunteers arriving on 21/22 June.  The empty field will start to fill with people and equipment until we have built Green and Away in time to host the first event on 6th July.

Erecting the bar

In all it takes about 3 weeks to build the site up with about 70 structures, plus plumbing, electrics, toilets and everything else necessary to make life comfortable for our delegate guests.  We pride ourselves in providing a high standard on the site.  Too many people have been put off camping in Britain by the weather but we want to show people, that living under canvas can be a comfortable and enjoyable experience whatever the weather.  We don’t go in for the hair shirt approach to life – we would rather aim for the luxurious!  If it does rain, then there are umbrellas at the exits from every structure, coconut matting walkways are laid to avoid mud and drying facilities available for the wet kit.  We can even provide spare wellies for those who forget to bring them! There is plenty of undercover space so no-one needs to sit out in the rain, nor does one need to cower in a a tiny tent where you can’t sit upright!  We are planning for a long, dry summer but you can never be sure so we have a plan B for wet weather.

Our luxury rent-a-tent accommodation

We take a long time to build the site because we put in so many finishing touches, it’s the attention to detail that is important.  Our guests can feel the care and concern we have for their well being and start to relax possibly in a way that they don’t at other venues.  The feedback we get is that we provide a great place for a conference, people enjoy themselves and want to come back.

Improvements

We want Green and Away to be the best there is so we listen to what our customers say.  There are somethings we can’t change because of being outdoors or because of following our environmental ethos, but being tented means we are very flexible.  We can move things, build them differently, add bits on or take bits away.

This spring we have continued a refurbishment for our composting toilets that started last year.  We have a new department called Hospitality and Housekeeping to provide a more integrated service to delegates. And it will be our first year of hosting a Woodworker In Residence who will be available to provide workshops and demonstrations of woodworking skills.

Come and visit

Green and Away is the ideal place for a summer conference and we would like share it with more people.  Using our site is also a way of showing your commitment to CSR.  We will be hosting a Private View on Tuesday 10th July to show conference organisers what we can offer.  Please get in touch with us for more details. Email info@greenandaway.org

Some of the G&A team celebrating a successful season

Green and Away – Far Away!

Green and Away has been getting increasingly international over the last 5 years or so.  It is not unusual for us to have volunteers from over 10 countries in a season and this has largely been due to using a wonderful organisation called HelpX.  This gives us plenty of great volunteers and lots of new friends too.

Treking in the high mountains of Sinai to build a dam

However we are about to spread our tendrils a bit further next week when three members of the team go to Sinai, Egypt to work on a water conservation project with the Bedouin.  Rosa, Diana and Helen will fly out to Sharm El Sheik (yes we know this isn’t very green or sustainable but please read on), join up with 5 members of the Beshara School and then travel up to the mountains near St Katherine’s where they will be hosted by and work alongside the Bedouin to build a small dam.

The Jebilya people have been maintaining gardens in the high mountains ever since the monastery of St Katherine’s was built around 600AD, the produce fed their families and the monks.  They grow almonds, peaches, pomegranates, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, beans, herbs and much more.  The Jebeliya have a justified reputation as master gardeners. Over the last 10 years the meagre rainfall in this desert area has all but stopped, the wells have been running dry and many of the gardens, which have been the bedouins’ cultural home, have been abandoned.  The situation has been exacerbated by the massive growth in tourism and the large water-guzzling hotels along the coast from Sharm El Sheik.  To service these hotels, ground water is pumped out and piped to hotels where it is used not just for essential things like drinking and cooking, but also to enable green lawns to grow, fountains to flow and huge swimming pools to sit evaporating in the hot dry air.  Most tourists visiting Sharm have no idea that they are visiting a desert area or what that means and are quite happy to continue they Northern European relationship with water, which is to take it for granted.  The contrast of this lifestyle with that of the Bedouin who make every last drop count is very disturbing.

It is thought that the use of all this ground water around Sharm is lowering the water table over all of South Sinai and the Bedouin are struggling as their wells run dry, their gardens die, and one of their means of survival disappears.

Ziri Dam completed by Concordia College USA

The Makhad Trust has been working with the Bedouin for the last 10 years to help restore their gardens and bring some water back by deepening wells and building small stone dams to hold back the brief intermittent rains allowing the water to permeate the water table locally.  The dams are making a huge difference with more Bedouin reclaiming their ancestral gardens and giving a much-needed income from the garden produce.

There are now 12 dams in the high mountains and Rosa, Diana and Helen will be helping to build Gwoona Dam.  As a result of this dam about 30 gardens below will benefit and the owners will be able to plant lots of fruit and nut trees.   The gardens are inaccessible by road and all supplies have to go by camel so the knock-on effects of this programme are  that it allows the Bedouin to go back to a more sustainable lifestyle.

We will be hosted by the Bedouin during the whole trip and the money we spend goes straight into the local economy.  This is not just sustainable tourism, but we will be leaving behind a legacy that could help 30 Bedouin families or 200 people, and our carbon footprint will be partially offset by trees that grow as a result.

However we are not just being altruistic, the Bedouin have a lot to teach us about living in

Bedouin camp

harmony with the world and the landscapes are stunningly beautiful.  This is truly the journey of a lifetime and to be recommended to everyone.

We will post a report on our return.

Sustainable Practices and Environmental Audits

This summer we plan to carry out an environmental audit and to assess our carbon footprint.  We don’t expect this to be a straightforward business as most of the parameters are designed with buildings in mind, not tents.  We are very fortunate to be offered some expertise from one of our supporters who works at an environmental consultancy which will be a great help.

When we started Green and Away every aspect of the project was considered from a sustainable angle, from the food, to the toilets, to heating the showers.  The criterea has always been that we make the least environmental impact we possibly could.  However if you are a prospective organiser looking for a venue, the guidelines for choosing an eco-conference centre ask, amongst other things, to check if grey water is being used to flush toilets.  We don’t use grey water for toilets as we have composting toilets not flush ones.  This means our water usage is much lower but we are also not causing energy use outside

A G&A composting toilet

our conference centre, normally used in disposing of the sewage, and we should have plus marks for producing a compost that can fertilise trees therefore giving a net gain!  We don’t use disposable plates, cups and cutlery, we use second hand ones we have bought from a car boot sale thereby lengthening the life of the utensiles and reducing the embodied energy per item per year of use.  We wash everything by hand so no electricity is used and we heat the water with solar power when the sun shines or wood if it doesn’t – both carbon neutral systems.  We do encourage the use of public transport although country buses are notoriously few and far between.  Some conference organisers arrange a mini bus pick up from the station which enables more people to use public transport.

The problem with standards is that they have to have arbitary fixed boundaries around the business.  This means that one is not really taking in the cradle to grave impacts of each system in use.  For example the embodied energy used in solar panels along with the implications of mining precious minerals could mean that the units are very carbon hungry in their manufacture but very sustainable in producing electricity.  So how easy it is to compare solar electricity with a coal-fired power station electricity?

Some years ago, one of the executives of an environmental organisation was taken to task for driving a ‘gas guzzling volvo’ as this did not seem to fit with the image of sustainability he was trying to portray.  His answer was that his volvo was over 15 years old and had at least another 10 years of life left in it.  If it is run to the end of its life and one takes the embodied energy of manufacture plus fuel used into account, a volvo looks quite sustainable.  What is not sustainable is buying a new car every two years and scrapping them when they are only four years old for some relatively minor damage.  It is quite a shock walking round a car reclamation pound and seeing how many quite new vehicles are being broken up because they have a pranged wing.

Solar Hot Water heater

Our culture of replacement over repair and trading up for the next new model is making far more demands on the earth’s resources than is sustainable.  We really need to lift our viewpoint from what is immediately in front of us and see our activities in the context of the wider world view.  Not everything that looks green is green and not everything that looks consumerist is a problem. Ultimately we need to rethink how and what we use, how we can extend the life of useful things by repairing them.

A brand new Eco-conference centre filled with sustainable gadgets may look attractively green but how can that compare with Green and Away’s recycled, repaired, low tech, low impact approach?  We will have to see what our carbon footprint shows us and if this is a meaningful tool for measuring sustainability.

 

Keeping the Environmental Flag Flying

Last week Friends of the Earth held a big party to celebrate 40 years of activism for the environmental cause.  For a relatively small organization, Friends of the Earth has an impressive legacy. Through their more than 40-year history, they have provided crucial leadership in fights resulting in landmark environmental laws, precedent-setting legal victories and the exposure of political malfeasance and corporate greed. FOE was one of the earliest organisations to champion the environmental cause, and inspired people around the world to set up their own environmental organisations.  In the early days their staff and supporters were radical and unsual people who were brave enough to stand up for the Earth and against those doing their best to destroy it.  Back then there were few people who believed there was a problem and refused to acknowledge one when presented with the facts.  Now FOE is an international organisation and only a minority of self-interested people dispute the justice of their campaigns.

Another organisation which was right at the forefront of the environmental movement, in fact even before FOE, is Resurgence.  This organisation started as a magazine back in 1966 and grew out of the peace and anti-nuclear movement.  It took on its current guise  in 1973 when Satish Kumar took over as editor.  He has guided it over the years to become “ — a magazine for people who care about the environment, enjoy reading, relish new ideas and are looking for inspiration on sustainable living. ‘  Readers of Resurgence magazine have been people who care passionately about the earth and what happens to it and all its inhabitants. Next year will be the 50th anniversary of Resurgence Magazine.

Both organisations have, in their own small or not so small, ways made a huge difference to the way people think and to the acceptance that we have to take responsibility for what we do on and with the Earth.  Although governments are not doing everything needed to protect the environment and the earth, they are aware that this is one of them most important issues that face us today, partly because of activities by these organisations.  The environmental movement is a force for change and it is happening.

Green and Away has been one of the many other voices for change.  For 21 years we have been hosting conferences and inspiring people to take more notice of the environment and to do something about it.  FOE campaigns, Resurgence informs and Green and Away leads by example.  We have been supporting green and environmental organisations all of our existence, have hosted Resurgence for the last fourteen years and FOE on five occasions.  It is vital for people to meet and come together in order to make things happen.  What better place to be pushing forward the green agenda than at the ultimate environmentally sustainable conference centre?

The environmental movement has a lot to celebrate but we are all to aware that there is still so much to do.  Convincing people that there is a problem was a huge task and one that has mostly been achieved.  Now the challenge is to find another way to live that is more sustainable as well as a better quality of life so that people will happily change.  This new way will not be rooted in money and possessions but in community and relationship.  It is only when we care and our hearts are engaged with each other and the earth that we are happy to live a different and sustainable life. The rewards for living this way cannot be measured in monitory terms like GDP, but they could be measured in well being or Gross National Happiness as they do in Bhutan.  Every summer those of us who live and work at Green and Away find that we are living this way and we aim to enable others to do the same.

The Crew 2011

 

Recommendations from past interns

We thought it would be helpful to have a few words of encouragement from past interns for those people wondering whether to apply or not, and what we got was brilliant testamonials about how valuable the experience was. Read on…

“I arrived on day one to the unspoilt rural paradise, the long lush grass beneath my feet and the people who would make the next 2 months so special. Peter, Helen and the rest of the gang are so knowledgeable about not only the Green and Away project, but about sustainability and green debates on a wider scale. The summer passed with many informative discussions with a range of influential “Greenies”, opening my mind to new perspective as well as learning about the eco-life that Green and Away demonstrates so well. From fresh, locally produced foods to solar, wind and fire power, composting toilets, alternative building and usefully reusing anything available, Green and Away certainly practices what it preaches! It is still, three years later the only place I have known to do this with such commitment. The experiences and knowledge I gained at Green and Away have certainly benefited me when finding related jobs as well as influencing my long term dreams!”

Sofia Yarwood (UK) 2009

 “I spent the summer of 2009 for seven weeks with Green and Away as an intern. I was assigned to the kitchen and I enjoyed it very much. I learnt so many things regarding sustainable and healthy cooking. I worked as the kitchen manager helping run the field kitchen which was producing three meals for around 35 crew members each day, plus additional catering for around 130 delegates at each of five conferences of two days each. My work included menu planning, stock control, food ordering, health and hygiene awareness, managing staff and volunteers and rotas as well as cooking. I enjoyed the time I spent there so much and I kept volunteering the following year. I feel like I am a member of the G&A family.”

Yilmaz  A. (Turkey) 2009

 “I can honestly say that the time I spent as an intern with Green and Away was one of my best summers yet! As an intern we got to witness G&A from set-up, through functioning as a conference centre, to take-down at the end. During set-up I found myself leading little construction teams. Completing the various (and often puzzling) structures was hugely satisfying. Whilst the site was running, I spent my time between the office and the kitchen. In the office I got an idea of how the organisation operates and in the kitchen I got to experience being a kitchen manager. I learnt a lot from each of these posts.

It’s hard to say what I enjoyed most about G&A. It was fantastic to spend so much time outdoors in beautiful surroundings and I loved the sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. But I think what I liked best was the real sense of community and being able to enjoy simple pleasures with a wonderful group of people. I hope to go back soon!”

Becky Piggot (UK) 2009

“As a graduate student studying international environmental policy, I chose to intern at Green and Away to gain an outside perspective on how others around this world take on environmental issues. While at Green and Away, I learned valuable skills in sustainable food practices, alternative energy, volunteer management and organizational structure. I also greatly enjoyed the ‘afternoon chats’ from the trustees, which covered interesting topics like building dams for tribal communities in Sinai, alternative medicine and hydrogen automobiles. These skills and lessons were very tangible as they dictated your daily routine while on site.  My time at Green and Away has helped me live a happy and healthy life, as well as prepared me for a career in community-based environmental activism. Most importantly, I met amazing people who still continue to inspire me from a distance.”

Sarah Gilliam, (U.S.A) 2010

“Through being a kitchen manager intern at Green & Away 2010, I gained important skills and lasting friendships. Right from the start of the application process I was kept in the loop by the management team, and that continued until the end of site takedown when we left the site we had found it. I learnt more than I could have ever expected from my experiences there, particularly in terms of personal growth and development. I’m so happy to be part of the Green & Away family, and I plan to return for a third time this summer!”

Bryony Ridge (UK) 2010

 “Green and Away is perfect for potential interns who want responsibility with a strong support network around them, as they are expected to work hard and autonomously yet there is always somebody there to help you if you need it. Regular mentor sessions ensure that you are never out of your depth and allow you to track your career and personal development. But, it’s not only work! You will meet a fantastic array of people from all different walks of life and live in a truly unique community that teaches you more than any office ever could.”

Miriam Al-Sayed (UK) 2011

 “As the maintenance intern for Green and Away I learnt a great deal of practical and organisational skills, how an organisation is run and how to organise a group. I made some good friends, got to do a range of things that I’ve never tried before such as carpentry, and to top it all off I got as much free tasty food as you could eat three times a day!

I was shown the ropes (quite literally) by Peter Lang as to how to carry out my job and received some excellent training, regularly working with the other interns as a team. It was an experience I greatly enjoyed and would highly recommend it as a highly informative great experience.”

Gordon Moran (UK) 2011

Thank you to all the past 20 interns for all your hard work and dedication.  We couldn’t have done it without you.

If you know of anyone who would like to follow in the footsteps of Gordon, Sophie, Yilmaz, Miriam, Sarah, Bryony or Becky, please show them the Internships page of our website for more information.

 

Passing on our environmental expertise

In the next few days Green and Away will be advertising for 7 people to come and join our management team on an internship.  As a voluntary organisation, where even those in charge can’t always spare 8 weeks of their summer to come and help run Green and Away we have had to find a way to plug the gaps.  For the last 3 years we have run our internship programme to offer the opportunity of learning many new skills to young people who are keen to find work in the charity or environmental sector. In just two months the interns learn about event management, people management, commodity supply, maintenance, food, cooking, health, renewable energy, and lots more.

The catering interns manage a field kitchen producing up to 200 meals three times a day, plus bread and cakes, while coordinating a staff of 20 people.  For a 20 year old whose previous experience was helping out in the local pub when on holiday from university, this is a big ask but one that Bryony rose to magnificently.

The office interns have to give an introductory brief every one of the 100 or so volunteers who come through our gate during the course of the summer, arrange social events for the volunteers, liaise with conference organisers, keep track of all people movements on site and carry out various projects as well as the day-to-day task of keeping a large organisation running.  Emily and Frances had the additional task of acting as PA to the coordinator and they coped wonderfully.

The maintenance interns are responsible for the integrity of more than 50 assorted structures, the solar and wind power, solar hot water system and a collection of willing handymen.  Gordon was more used to a lecture theatre and studying Anthropology than keeping all our spares and repairs sorted plus care-taking the site but he did a brilliant job.

The deal for our interns is that they work for nothing, the same as the rest of our staff of volunteers and trustees, but they get all food, a tent if they need one, an intense training period, lots of responsibility and mentoring from the coordinator.  In addition we provide an education program aimed at widening their knowledge of the environmental sector and send them away with a full report and reference for future employers.  For some it is a baptism by fire and they do things they never thought they could.

Green and Away has benefitted enormously from these wonderful people and they have made strong friendships with each other and other volunteers.  It has certainly show us that the calibre of graduates is not only excellent but what amazing young people they are.

Applications are due in by 23 March for interviews on 14/15 April.  If you know of anyone who might be interested and internship with us please direct them to the Internships page of our website.

Being an environmentally sustainable, eco conference venue

Green and Away was founded over 20 years ago when being green, eco or sustainable was something that only sandle-wearing bearded hippies understood or did.  Now most businesses are looking to improve their environmental and CSR credentials by assessing their environmental impact and trying to minimize it.

Whereas most businesses have had to scale down their environmental impact, Green and Away has never had to.  We started from the humble beginnings of a few tents and a tap in a field, and have grown organically in harmony with the sites we use. Because the aim was to be sustainable, sustainability and low impact eco technology have been a central feature of our existence.  Over the years we have grown and incorporated eco technology where we can.  We power the site with solar panels and wind turbines and heat water with solar and waste wood.  We have always looked at ways to keep our carbon footprint as low as possible.  We were charging a carbon offset fee for car drivers and calling it a tree fee right from the beginning.  This income from car drivers has paid for planting trees on the sites we have used and elsewhere.

We have always aspired to being the most sustainable conference centre anywhere and we think we are. We have sustainable policies for travel and transport, food and drink, buying equipment, composting, water use, and sewage. What really helps in being green is having very little money!  Lack of finance makes one look for resources that are re-used, recycled, reinvented, borrowed, second-hand or from nature. In the early days there was no way of measuring this but now there are ways to work out ones carbon footprint so  this summer to find out what it is.  However, are there standards that will help us assess the environmental impact of our crockery collection bought from car boot sales?  Or for the acquiring of donated old velvet curtains for seating? No doubt there are ways of measuring the use of grey water to flush eco toilets but what about when there is no water usage in composting toilets?  It will be an interesting project to carry out and we look forward to the results and hopefully a clear green conscience.

Hello from Green and Away

Welcome to the Green and Away blog.

This is where you can find out the latest news about Green and Away and what a great  sustainable eco-venue can offer to organisations and businesses.

Organisations such as Friends of the Earth, The National Trust, Sustrans, New Economics Foundation and Resurgence have all held conferences with us, some coming back every year. Our unique venue is only open for a few summer months so to experience the ultimate in sustainable conferencing you need to book soon.

Volunteers for Green and Away can find out what is happening on our Facebook page

For summer 2012 we are offering our facilities to smaller groups (around 15 to 20) for team meetings, seminars, training, Away Days and team building events. Our quirky meeting spaces are just the places for creative thinking and research has shown that the more unique a venue is for meetings and conferences, the better your delegates remember information given to them.  What about a cosy yurt for your next seminar or the strawbale sitting room?  We look forward to meeting you!