March 2009
Here's the latest from the land of Otesha. As ever we'd love to hear your feedback, especially if you've got anything you'd like to see in future newsletters, do let us know. Have a merry March.
Turn On Turn Off
Creeping about creating cycle paths The folk farming our flowers
Sign up and switch off
Earth Hour- a cheesey name for global phenomenom and a great idea. For one hour on the last Saturday of March, at 8:30pm local time, individuals, businesses and communities are invited to switch off their lights (and any other appliances they can do without). Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007, where it was a massive success with 2.2 million people taking part.
In 2008, 50 million people in 370 cities and towns, in over 35 countries, participated in Earth Hour, proving that they want to see immediate and global action on climate change. The lights even went out on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Colosseum in Rome and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square.
For one hour on Saturday 28th March at 8.30pm local time, individuals, businesses and communities will turn their lights off. The aim this year is to get 1 billion people in 1000 cities to take part. We'll start here.
Two hundred and forty two cities (and counting), including London, Edinburgh and Preston, have committed to take part in Earth Hour. Sign up to take part in Earth Hour, then tell you friends, tell your school/ collge/ uni/ work, and ask the shops and businesses near you to turn off their lights on Saturday 28th March. Enjoy the darkness. Be part of a big dark thing.
It's the environment, stupid
The Age of Stupid is a film about climate change, oil, war, politics, consumerism and human stupidity. Pete Postlethwaite does the fiction bit as the archivist, looking back at documentary footage from 2007 from a much changed 2055 and regretting our collective stupidity.
The documentary bit follows an 82-year old French mountain guide; an entrepreneur starting a low-cost airline in India ("How many people can afford a one rupee fare? I would imagine every single Indian can. Your rickshaw driver can, you know, servants can."); a former Shell oil man who rescued 100 people after Hurricane Katrina (oil "smells so much like money it's just beautiful"); a Nigerian woman struggling to live in Shell's most profitable oil region ("Every day they take our oil they go. No good roads. No school. No lights. No water to drink. No food. No hope"); two Iraqi refugee kids trying to find their brother; and a windfarm developer fighting the infuriating anti windfarm lobby in England ("How the heck are we meant to persuade people in India and China to develop in a more sustainable way when we're not even prepared to accept the odd windfarm in the landscape?"). The Age of Stupid poses the question ‘Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?'. Seize that chance.
The film is hosting the world' first completely eco-friendly 'People's Premiere' on 15th March, followed by a nationwide release on March 20th. Get down there on the opening weekend, since the number of seats warmed will determine the scale of distribution for the rest of its cinematic adventure.
How do we love the 2009 cycle tours? Let us count the ways...
1. Join us in June and July as we make our way around the wild, wonderful coast of Wales. You can expect beautiful beaches, crashing coastline, green, leafy cycle paths, undulating hills and a learning day or three at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Howies (the ethical clothing company) and a permaculture farm. Plus, really, really friendly Welsh people.
2. Or go for an exciting mix of the rural and urban on our Northern Soul tour. We like to call it the rurban tour. Make your way through the beautiful Welsh countryside before living it large in Liverpool (the capital of culture dontcha know?) and then meandering along the Mersey to Manchester. The icing on the cake is a tour through the amazing landscape of Derbyshire, where you can eat Bakewell tarts and pretend you are in a Jane Austen novel. Oh yeah, and you'll be doing the play and learning stuff too.
These are but 2 of the 4 tours we're doing this summer. See where the later tours are going or apply to join a tour here.
Reverse Graffiti
British artist Paul Curtis, aka Moose, creates reverse graffiti. Using environmentally friendly cleaning products, Moose cleans dirty from public spaces to make the image, painting in cleanliness if you will. Not only does Moose create public art, he also draws attention to the pollution that dominates many of our public spaces.
This is legal graffiti. As Moose says, "no one owns the dirt" and each surface is eventually cleaned entirely of both the images and the dirt. Projects include an anti-gun campaign commissioned by the metropolitan police, which created artworks at locations of high gun crime in London. Further afield, in San Francisco's Broadway Tunnel, Moose cleaned a mural of indigenous flora. Watch a (three minute) film about this one here.
A word from our sponsors
Actually that'll be a group of 2008 Wild West cycle tour members, who've formed their very own Otesha offshoot. They urge you to come take part in the Norwich Sustainable Living Festival!
Interested in high jinks on the high street? Like a bit of tomfoolery? 'Appy with a little bit of am-dram? Then Roll up! Roll Up!
From the 22nd- 31st May 2009 the FIRST Norwich and Norfolk Sustainable living festival will be taking place. The Otesha Project will be performing street theatre and running fun workshops as part of the festival, and we need volunteers - the more the merrier! If you want to know more, then come along to an informal meeting: Where: The Rumsey Wells, Norwich When: Tuesday the 10th of March 6:00pm onwards. If you can't make the meeting but want to join in, email Georgie.
And finally
This month we will mostly be going to one of the 182 events around the UK in happening in celebration of International Women's Day.
Jo, Hanna & Liz
The Otesha Project UK
www.otesha.org.uk
p.s. If you enjoyed the knitted bus, or are interested in transient graffiti, see Knitta's latest offering.