The Go Green team all bring their strengths to the organisation of Great Big Green Week. Haringey Green Party’s co-chair Pamela Harling (a member of the team) has been campaigning on environmental issues in Haringey for over twenty years. She is particularly focussed on growing projects, community energy and raising awareness of climate issues. She is a volunteer at the Wolves Lane food growing hub and helps coordinate the Growing in Haringey network, opens her home to talk to people about the energy efficiency measures that she has taken in her own house and last year assisted Lordship Hub café get solar panels on its roof.
She says “I am especially enthusiastic about being part of the Go Green team because it is reaching out to communities in the borough that don’t necessarily have the time or energy to go to meetings about climate change. We can all do a bit to take action to tackle this challenge if we know what to do and see our neighbours making changes. Maybe walking or cycling to get around, growing some of our own food, recycling more effectively or making our homes more energy efficient. Also coming together to do things makes our actions stronger.”
Great Big Green Week and London Climate Action Week
Over the last three years a group of volunteers have run a series of events in Haringey around Great Big Green Week (a national event coordinated by the Climate Coalition) and London Climate Action Week (run by the Mayor of London). The Great Big Green Week is the UK’s biggest ever celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. In 2023, Great Big Green Week will take place between 10th – 18th June. London Climate Action Week also happens at the end of June this year, so the plan is to hold events for Go Green June in Haringey.
The events held last year included family bike rides, tours of local energy efficient homes, clothes and toy swaps, wellbeing workshops, a look at environmental projects in Ghana, active travel, a green fashion show, energy advice and community gardening.
So what’s the idea and does it work? Every year, people come together to unleash a wave of support for action to protect the planet. Tens of thousands of people in every corner of the country celebrate the heartfelt, brave, everyday actions being taken to stand up for nature and fight climate change. One of the Green Party’s core values is that the success of a society cannot be measured by narrow economic indicators, but should take account of factors affecting the quality of life for all people: personal freedom, social equity, health, happiness and human fulfilment. So taking action together to tackle the big challenges of biodiversity loss and global warming and making decisions at local level gives us hope for the future.
Community Energy in Haringey
Did you know that Haringey has a community energy company? Its called en10ergy, as its based in postcode N10, and it owns four solar arrays on Fortismere School, Woodside School, Muswell Hill Methodist Church and Marks and Spencer in Muswell Hill. The company board members are all volunteers. The school arrays were financed with community share offers and almost all of the shares are owned by Haringey residents. Most of the electricity generated is sold at a discounted price to the managers of the buildings the solar panels sit on. The profit made by the company is ploughed back into events that raise awareness of climate change, sustainability and energy efficiency issues. It also supports local projects to reduce carbon emissions in the borough.
The Green Party campaigns for polices that will reduce demand for energy (by insulating homes for example), and reduce the UK’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy production. The more renewable energy the UK generates by wind, sun and water the more control it has over the price and security of supply.