Doing Our Bit

Hello, I'm Georgia Stokes & I am joint Coordinator of Northfield Ecocentre.

I've worked for a few charities in my career & one of the phrases people (friends, family or strangers) use most when they know you work for a charity is 'I'm doing my bit'.

Before I started work at the Ecocentre I thought I was 'doing my bit' for the environment. My husband & I have always used public transport & walked alot rather than driving, especially for long journeys. Before our son was born we invested in a set of real nappies to avoid waste & save precious resources. We recycle & have a compost bin. Almost all of our clothes & household furniture come from charity shops. It's been a long time since I went shopping on the high street & I don't think I could pay those prices now. We have always looked at where our food comes from & try to buy organic, fair-trade food where possible.

If I'm honest though I think we always knew there was more we could be doing, the rest just seemed more difficult so we kept putting it off.

Since working at the Ecocentre I have realised we don't need to be doing it on our own. There are many people we can learn from who are willing to share their own experiences that can help us. With their inspiration & help my husband & I are taking bigger & bolder steps.

I now get my organic vegetables delivered weekly to my door. I know I am eating more seasonally, and that no fertilisers - one of the biggest carbon producers in all our lifestyles - have been used. However, my husband & I have decided to go a step further & have just created a magnificent vegetable patch in our garden & we are going to have a go at growing our own. It has been great fun & good exercise getting it ready, and our son has thoroughly enjoyed helping us do it (while getting completely mucky).

We are now planning to get rid of our car & have got ourselves some bikes. We monitor our energy consumption & look for ways to reduce it, this does save us money too which is great. We have learnt so much already.

Through the Ecocentre I have met & been inspired by so many people who are all taking action to reduce their impact on our environment, in their own ways. They are 'doing their bit' already but are constantly seeking new ways to do more. Working together, sharing our knowledge, ideas & experiences we can all do that bit more. This I think has been my biggest lesson so far.