They say all publicity is good publicity. Well, maybe. We haven’t really sought too much publicity for Project Dirt so far, but today we are glad to report we had our first ‘interview’! Well, I guess that’s what it was, because it involved a rather large microphone and plenty of nervous laughter from Mark. But it also involved a jovial BBC sound technician from Tooting, bacon sarnies and three cups of tea. This was all in aid of a podcast, which will go out on the ‘City Bumpkin’ blog: details of which we’ll upload when it’s published.

We were also thrilled (but somewhat surprised) to find we’d had our first mention in the national press… the Guardian no less. I’m trying to keep Mark’s head from exploding though; we’ll be needing that in the next few weeks, as we gear up to raise funds to take the site further and wider!

But it’s not just us hitting the headlines; our groups are too! Food Up Front has had regular media appearances, with Kate and Seb virtually household names across most of the UK. And it seems like we’re all moving in increasingly high circles… Sue from Hyde Farm CAN in Balham played host to the Prime Minister just the other week to show him some really simple home energy solutions; you can see that film clip here.

Picture this. Friday morning, 4th July. Three guys sitting round a kitchen table, putting the world to rights… there I was thinking it was really quite normal.  Mark and I had invited Seb from the fantastic Food Up Front project for a breakfast meeting. Under a bit of pressure from Mark to produce a full-English (with […]

Whilst we enjoy a weekly dose of Kevin McCloud’s dulcet tones gushing about the latest eco-friendly house design, it seems just as important, if not quite as sexy, to take a look a little closer to home and work out what to do with our existing inefficient housing stock.  Homes account for almost a third […]

 
Let’s start by saying that I’m not a morning person. At all.
On Wednesday morning this week, I got myself up at 5am to meet a friend that I’d not seen for a good few years (come to think of it, it may have been more than 10 years). We were at school together and I […]

The pilot site’s up and running (on time - unbelievably) … which is a culmination of a busy few weeks for the dirt team. Tom’s insisted on calling it the “Beta” site … which apparently is the techy’s cooler way of saying it’s not the final site …!??? It would be good to get your […]

Today is the day when thousands of you girls get down on one knee and ask your boyfriend to make her the happiest woman alive!  (dream on, Mark!)
 
But there’s another unique and interesting feature of the 29th Feb. Every four years, bosses up and down the land get an extra day of labour from their […]

Who’s paying the real cost of supermarket price wars?  That’s the question Action Aid want us to consider. We’re fully behind their ‘Who Pays?’ campaign, not least because our resident techy, Doug “did I tell you I’m getting married?” Fusebox, helped to make their website. And whilst it’s not a purely environmental agenda, it rings […]

This week Blackpool City Council announced the sale of its famous illuminations. I went to see them whilst on a work trip to Blackpool (yes, I know, the high life!) and despite the pouring rain, it was quite an impressive sight.  But it did get me thinking about the carbon emissions of such a massive […]

Things are beginning to roll on Project Dirt. We’ve been focusing our efforts in two areas … both could be very exciting.
Wandsworth Borough Council
Last Friday we met the Mayor of Wandsworth. By 10:15 we were sitting down in an oak panelled office, scoffing on digestives, drinking tea (with saucers) and enthusing about Project Dirt. We […]

Free energy saving light bulbs this weekend – in exchange for conventional bulbs at B&Q and British Gas London stores. This is a big step. It’s a statement, it’s a practical project and it shows how far sustainability has moved up the agenda. If I’d told you 2 years ago this would happen in Jan […]