Hundreds of Team Green Britain school children, Olympians and celebrities will today feedback their personal pledges and contributions for the environment in a symbolic and collective gesture for tackling climate change to remain a key focus for the future.
Topping the list of British school kids’ promises for the future are turning off computers and video games at night, encouraging parents to recycle more and walking to school more frequently. Team Green Britain celebrity ambassador, Danielle Lineker, also added her pledge to cut back on plastic shopping bags, the amount of football watched on TV at home as well as time in the shower.
The hundreds of promises from across the country will be displayed on the back of environmentally friendly pedal-bikes and cycled into London where they will be presented to Greg Barker MP, Minister of State for DECC to mark the second annual Green Britain Day, created by London 2012 sustainability partner, EDF Energy.
Greg Barker MP comments "I’m thrilled to join Lauren, Danielle and Jamelia, as they go green to celebrate EDF Energy’s Green Britain Day. The work that they’ve done is testament to the simple and effective changes we can all make to save both energy and money.
Reducing our carbon footprints will make a positive difference to both the environment and our energy bills. Even small changes in our daily lives can add up to big differences so today I am happy to be supporting Team Green Britain."
Other messages illustrating cross-party support include:
"As well as being a fantastic sporting event the London Olympics are a great opportunity to inspire our communities across the UK into action. Climate change is the biggest challenge the world faces and even the smallest changes to our daily lives can add up to a big difference. I encourage everyone to do something green for the team by joining Team Green Britain." – Ed Milliband MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change.
"I welcome the second annual Green Britain Day and I hope that everyone uses it as an inspiration to start saving energy and tackle climate change. It is fantastic to see these events across the country encouraging people to reduce their carbon footprint." - Don Foster, Liberal Democrat MP
The delivery and signing of the green union flags on pedal bikes will be followed by an action packed Green Britain Day consisting of Team Green Britain community events at 12 shopping centres or outdoor spaces across the country with fun activities related to food, home and travel for thousands of people to enjoy.
Hundreds of schools will also be planting trees to ensure a lasting legacy for their environment in the future and dream bikes designed by celebrities will be auctioned off online and at the London Transport Museum for charity to demonstrate the benefits of low carbon travel. The day then kicks off a whole summer of inspiring activities from the Big Lunch to EcoTeams training events bringing friends, families and communities together to tackle climate change collectively in a fun, engaging and inspiring way.
Last year’s inaugural Green Britain Day drove membership of Team Green Britain into the hundreds of thousands and over 800 schools across the country pledged to hold events involving local communities to celebrate the day and learn how they can reduce their individual carbon footprints by up to 20%, with potential savings of up to £166* per year on energy bills, as a result.
Eva Eisenschimmel, Chief Operating Officer, EDF Energy says: "We can only tackle climate change effectively by working together as a team. As the UK’s largest producer of low carbon electricity and London 2012’s first sustainability partner, EDF Energy has kicked off the second Team Green Britain to bring people together to reduce Britain’s carbon footprint.
Following the success of Green Britain Day in 2009, we’re once again using the power of the Games to inspire employees, our customers and all those interested, to save money and save energy. We believe that Green Britain Day and Team Green Britain will provide more schools and communities with the inspiration, the knowledge and the support they need to change today for a lower carbon tomorrow.
The pledges and promises from Team Green Britain school kids, celebrities and Olympians today shows just how people can make simple changes that will reduce their carbon footprint in ways which are better for them and the environment. We want everyone to get involved too by signing up to be a part of the Team at www.teamgreenbritain.org".
Green Britain Day was founded by EDF Energy, the UK’s largest producer of low carbon electricity, together with partners London 2012 and two leading environmental organisations, the Eden Project and Global Action Plan. It signals the launch of a fun-filled summer of inspirational events, bringing communities together to think and act greener. Throughout the summer, the Team Green Britain celebrity ambassadors and a number of Olympic and Paralympic athletes will be lending their support and getting involved with events across the UK.
Tim Smit, Chief Executive (and co-founder) of the Eden Project, commented: "The Eden Project is backing Team Green Britain because we believe in celebrating the small cultural changes that people are happy to make, but that collectively make a big difference. Green Britain Day is like a metaphorical New Year’s Day, to give people the chance to say, 'OK, it’s just one day; we’ll turn our lights off.' Once people have done it one day, they'll think, why not do it every day?"
Other celebrity, London 2012 and Olympian promises and signatures for a greener future include:
-Jamelia, singer and songwriter promises to offset her regular commute between London and Birmingham by getting on her bike more often
-Lauren Laverne, broadcaster, is going back to the ‘Good Life’ by growing her own vegetables
-Olympic Gold Medallist, Andrew Simpson pledged to use his car less and walk or use his bike instead
-Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games pledges to use more locally sourced produce and grow his own vegetables
For more information contact: www.teamgreenbritain.org
As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.
Your complete source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
