InterNational Downshifting Week Saturday 19th to Friday 25th April 2008
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New!! Celebrity Support

Keep an eye on this page to see which sparkling eco-celebrities from around the world, support our campaign and find out what their top downshifting tips are!

Are YOU an eco-celebrity? Have you got something green to shout about? Drop us a line and get on the list!

Contact Andrea, our celebrity co-ordinator and tell her what you're doing.

Writer, Broadcaster and GMTV's Green Expert.
Perhaps it's my inner hippy trying to break through, but I find enormous strength and solace in spending some time immersed in nature. A bracing walk in the park, pottering in the garden or simply lying underneath a tree with a good book are wonderful ways of reconnecting with the systems that we are all utterly dependent on. It's all too easy to become disconnected amidst the daily rush of life.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - Try growing something, even if it's only a basil plant or jar of beansprouts for your next salad. It's so much easier to appreciate the full value of food when you've nurtured it from scratch rather than simply unpacked it after a transglobal journey via the supermarket shelf.

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Good Morning, Green Up!

Joanna Yarrow



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Chill out and listen to his 'Sad, Soft Lullaby'.
Paul Roberts
Lead Singer of Soulsec & Former Lead Singer of The Stranglers.
Well I have been doing as much as possible since I was a lad! Took the 'save it' campaign to heart and never looked back. That was a brilliant campaign and why did it not carry on?? I grew up during the late sixties and early seventies when things started getting bad and took a lot of flak for talking to people about '[your] hippy ideas and ideals' including acid rain, battery farming, re-cycling, solar power etc through my youth but it has all come true hasn't it??!! No-one can make us do it we have to just get on and do it - it should not be a fashion either- just an ongoing part of our everyday lives.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - what does it take to turn off anything and everything that is not in use or needed - lights, computers, videos etc etc etc remember how long you have had the hot water on for and turn it off......I check stuff every time I get up to do anything. Only use the car when really necessary - it ain't hard is it? GOOD LUCK.xx

Musician, Producer, Member of Brentford Recycling Action Group and Creator of the annual SonicRecycler event.
The funny thing is when when you take on greener habits you find that the quality of your life actually improves and you can appreciate the downshifted times. Recycling is only one part of the three 'R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, but the biggest 'reduce' you can do it decrease your carbon footprint. This means, as well as using your green recycling bin and composting but also buying more local produce, cutting back on flights and car use, taking public transport, cycling or walking.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and also go local, and walk or cycle. Not only is it good for you, its good for the planet.

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He's making a beautiful noise about going green

Douglas Benford

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Get Wilde and Go Green!
Kim Wilde
Musician, Author and Television Presenter.
Composting not only allows you to reduce the amount of waste you put in your bin but puts goodness back into the earth. Compost items such as vegetable peelings, fruit waste and teabags, but don't put in meats and dairy products, as they will cause pests. If you don't have a garden or you live in an apartment then waste disposal units are a quick and convenient way to dispose of food. They are environmentally friendly as they remove waste through your normal drainage system.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - our supermarket shelves are awash with organic and recycled products so there is no excuse not to use them in the kitchen. Chemicals found in normal household products are harmful to not only you and your home but also pollute plant life and rivers. Look for natural, biodegradable and non-toxic alternative cleaning products.

Writer and Author of "A Women's Guide to Saving the World"
Think like nature: 'cradle to cradle', not in the wasteful and destructive human manner of 'cradle to the grave'. Nature renews, regenerates, reuses EVERYTHING, nothing is wasted. Each time you're tempted to discard or throw something out, ask yourself: 'Where will it go? Will Nature be happy with it? Can it be reabsorbed back into the environment without doing harm? Biological and technological components shouldn't be mixed; nature can't separate them. Complain to manufacturers who combine metals with plastics (like cat/dog food pouches; plastic on the outside, metallic inside, add lead to paint, etc.)
My Top Slow, Green Tip - read the book CRADLE TO CRADLE by William McDonough & Michael Braungart. It's a real eye-opener. Nature will thank you. The bottom line is to realise that we're all One.

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Karen's book is just calling out to be on your shelf!

Karen Eberhardt Shelton

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A true supporter of being kinder to the environment - no, honestly!

Lynsey de Paul
Singer, composer, musician, actor, presenter & producer.
UK bees love clover. Where does clover grow? On our lawns. The bees and many other insects ingest the chemicals sprayed on them to 'week and feed' them and are affected adversely. It is not rocket science to work out why their numbers are dwindling. People who visit my garden tell me it's beautiful. I love gardening, yet my verdant and mature landscaped garden is completely chemical free. I never kill snails or slugs and I never put anything down to deter them. Every day, I feed the birds and squirrels with copious amounts of seeds and nuts. I let clover grow on my lawn and watch the bees buzzing all over it every summer; there is a natural balance.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - if you don't like dandelions, buttercups or clover in your garden, pull them out by hand or dig them up. Allow all the other creatures, no matter how small, to live in and visit your garden. Stop using poison.

Designer and Co-Founder of 'Red or Dead'
"I and the generation coming up behind my age group are part of new movement that is more caring, more understanding , less greedy and more in touch with a new environmental dynamic."
My Top Slow, Green Tip - maintain your ability to balance a hectic lifestyle with being a passionate father.

Wayne Hemingway Supports National Downshifting Week
Ethical, urban designs work

Wayne Hemingway

Gerardine Hemingway Supports National Downshifting Week
3 times won the Street Style Designer of the Year Award

Gerardine Hemingway
Designer - Property, Interiors, Products & Fashion
Our natural habitats are vitally important. Innovative home designs need to ensure local wildlife is protected so it continues to thrive.
My Top Slow, Green Tip -get sustainable with your water consumption and use a Butt (see www.ShackUp.co.uk)!

Writer & TV Presenter of BBC's "No Waste Like Home"
The bees are trying to tell us something as they die... something so small so inconsequential to our daily lives will have great and as yet unforeseen impact upon us. We will mourn them when they are gone, their legacy a mere memory of the goodness of honey upon fresh bread, the fruit trees and flowers no longer pollinated, our world greyer, less fulfilling and more dangerous. Look upon the small and precious things that make our lives rich, the love of children, family and friends, the beauty of wild flowers and the grace of a clear spring morning. Slow down, take a breath and remember what really matters - our relationships to each other and to our exquisite planet.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - challenge yourself to acquire new, practical skills. If you can't bake bread, learn, if you can't sew, learn. Becoming a more self reliant person is the greatest investment you can make for the future. Downshift and breathe more easily.

Penney Poyzer Supports National Downshifting Week
The undisputed Queen of Green

Penney Poyzer

Abi Roberts Supports National Downshifting Week
Britain's very own Bette Midler

Abi Roberts
Stand-up Comedy Talent and Singer
I honestly think it is time for a radical change of perspective. This means changing what we consider to be 'valuable' in life. Climate change is a wake up call not just about carbon emissions but about what we, the human race has become. I predict that having a big car and 'stuff' will be so embarrassing in a few years. Next time you see a bumble bee, remember without our stripy friends we have no more than FOUR years left on this planet we call home....WALK THE WALK!
My Top Slow, Green Tip -take a few minutes to praise the natural world every single day.

Writer, Author & Presenter of BBC's "It's Not Easy Being Green"
InterNational Downshifting Week provides us with a wonderful opportunity to take a long hard look at our lives, and to ask ourselves some searching questions about our home/work balance.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - buy a packet of seeds and have a go at growing something to eat...whether it be herbs on your windowsill, dwarf runner beans in a hanging basket, tomatoes in a container on your patio, or a bed full of squashes in your back garden.

Brigit Strawbridge Supports National Downshifting Week
Inspirational creator of 'The Big Green Idea'

Brigit Strawbridge

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A man who knows when Enough is Enough!
John Naish
Writer, Creator of The Landfill Prize & Author of "Enough: breaking free from a world of more"
In an era where we are all encouraged to help the planet's ecology, it's ironic that so often we don't look to our own personal ecologies first. Our world of ever-escalating workloads and ever-inflating aspirations is causing epidemics of 'personal warming' as well as global warming. There's more stress, depression and burnout resulting from work than ever before. All power to national downshifting week. We really need it.
My Top Slow, Green Tip -In the developed world we’re surrounded by abundances, so let’s focus on appreciating them, rather than rushing hurriedly and harriedly ever onwards. Gratitude is green!

Author of bestselling book, "In Praise of Slow".
"In this fast-forward, turbo-charged world, InterNational Downshifting Week is that rare and precious thing - a moment to pause, catch our breath and think about the big picture. We all need to get back in touch with our inner tortoise, and NDW can be the first step on that journey."
My Top Slow, Green Tip - set aside the time to bake a loaf of bread.

Carl Honore Supports National Downshifting Week
The King of all things slow....

Carl Honoré

Jo Phillips Supports National Downshifting Week
Jo's Morning Show gets the day off to a smiley start
Jo Phillips
BBC Radio Presenter
"I think InterNational Downshifting Week is a great idea. More people should live like Tom and Barbara from The Good Life. Surround yourself with the people, animals and food that you love. Hopefully the tips you read on this site will help you to get off the treadmill."
My Top Slow, Green Tip - spend time with people you love and who give you energy.

Author of "Scenes From a Smallholding" & "More Scenes From a Smallholding" too
"If everybody (that means you!) downshifted in their energy use, and pointless purchasing, by 10% for just one week it would reduce by many thousands of tons the amount of poison we spew over our one and only biosphere. Please support InterNational Downshifting Week as if your life depended on it, because, guess what....?"
My Top Slow, Green Tip - T-shirts yes! T-bags no! Buy loose Fairtrade tea; loose costs half as much as bags, for a start. And it will last twice as long. AND you can experiment with how little tea you actually need to use to make a cuppa that suits you.

Chas Griffin Supports National Downshifting Week
Essential and hysterical reading for any self-sufficiency fan

Chas Griffin

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Eco-songwriting talent
Emre Soyer
Manager/Co-Creator of "In the Morning of a Day"
If we are to act on environmental problems, we ought to do it all together. The effectiveness of individual efforts will be maximized only if we decide and act collectively. We possibly should take a break from the daily details and routines once in a while and think greener, wider, outside of the box.
My Top Slow, Green Tip -Every once in a while, come up with an original, cool and contagious green idea. Then try it and share it.

Writer, Speaker & Founder of Junkk.com
We can and should all try to make do with less. But to compensate it can't hurt to always look for ways to make more of what we've already got. Then share them! That can not only be re:warding but fun... even profitable too! There is gold in them green hills you know! It doesn't always have to be nanny, nag, fine, scare or guilt-trip. It's a wonderful world but we must always remember to try and enjoy every moment we have sharing its wonders.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - So much of what we do seems designed around our cash. I know it's easy to SAY, but try and spare some time to DO. Look at everything set to be wasted and imagine away that it might be avoided. And don't worry if it's just for you. Why not? Saving at home is saving all our futures a bit, too.
Peter Martin Supports National Downshifting Week
A welcome junkk male
Peter Martin

Erica Miner Supports National Downshifting Week
This steamy novelist whoops up a European lather!
Erica Miner
Screenwriter and Author of "Travels With My Lovers"
Environmental issues are the No1 priority of our New Age. This campaign focuses on and highlights how important it is to honor ourselves and our planet by slowing down. By attuning to Mother Earth, we can contemplate how our minds and bodies were meant to be related to Nature. Cosmically, life for us was supposed to be 'Heaven on Earth'. This gives us the perfect time and opportunity to explore that wisdom.
My Top Slow, Green Tip -Walk! Recycle! Take advantage of natural light whenever possible. Think back to a time when we weren't so dependent on man-made products and create your own, how and whenever you can.

Author of parenting guidebook "Diary of a Mother"
InterNational Downshifting Week is a powerful reminder to slow down and green up for a better life. The truth is being fast is not a virtue, but a demand to which we cannot keep pace. We'd all do well to remember Aesop's fable. It's the tortoise who wins in the end.
My Top Slow, Green Tip - excluding the bed time read, find time in the day to sit down with your kids and read a book, or take a trip to the local library and have a little one-on-one reading time there - enjoying life's simple pleasures is priceless!
Christine Louise Hohlbaum Supports National Downshifting Week
Parenting humourist and author
Christine Louise Hohlbaum

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Known as the 'Urban Legend'!
Bill Bradley
Eco-Home Designer featured on Grand Designs
Speaking from personal experience of building two eco houses, I know how hard it can be to find green building products. So many companies have jumped on the green band-wagon and are claiming that their products have the greenest-of-green credentials and it's simply not the case. Carefully sift through technical data to find the greenest options - it's time well spent and your home will feel so much better as result.
My Top Slow, Green Tip -Recycle bottles responsibly! We are selling GLASSeco to some of the country's biggest retailers, leisure companies and property developers - which has to be better than millions of bottles ending up in landfill every week. Cheers!

A bit of simple living could put the smile back on your face.