University of Reading - Show us your Stripes.
How are you feeling this morning? Did storm Eunice destroy your greenhouse, or polytunnel or spread your plastic for miles. London and the South East had the first red warning for wind ever yesterday, and with dramatic pictures of giant trees falling over, and the roof ripped off the Millenium dome/ O2 arena. You can tell that is was a dramatic and powerful storm. But it wasn’t a once in a lifetime storm….
This colour chart is a graphical representation of the warming climate here in Europe over the last 100 years (Source, University of Reading - show us your stripes) and as we continue to warm our planet we can expect more extreme weather conditions to happen. How does that make you feel as a flower farmer?
Destroyed polytunnnels and ruined crops are not minor inconveniences. How are you going to mitigate for these events when they happen?
We’ve had a sustainability module in our The Business of Growing flowers course since it started, but this year we’ve upped our learning about climate matters that effect us as growers, and what we can do to help.
I’m 2 weeks in to a Carbon Litaracy course, and I’ve been learning a whole range of sobering facts. But one of the things that I have found out is that although more than 75% of us are worried about Climate change effects, (A larger proportion of women and young people) Less than 8% of us are likely to say anything about it. Less than 8% of us are likely to tell people what we’re doing to reduce our impact, and, until a lot more of us say what we’re doing (studies say we need to get to 25% speaking out before things get changed) climate matters that effect all of us are going to keep being further down agendas of those in power than they should be.
So, my challenge to you is to be one of the 8%, and this storm gives you a perfect opportunity.
To tell people about what you are doing to be more sustainable, you don’t need to write a series of posts, you don’t need to know all the facts yet, you don’t need to preach or feel that you shouldn’t be mentioning this in your Social media, you need to tell people how you feel, and why you feel that, and what small things you are doing to try and be the change.
Tell your customers and your friends on social media one thing you’ve changed and one things you will be changing this season, and start a conversation, - Be the 8%, now, and lets get up to 25% as soon as possible so we stand a chance of changing things
The more people see that they are not the only one that’s a bit worried about this climate change stuff. That degrees of global warming, don’t just mean a milder spring, and that it’s us and our children that in danger, not the Planet itself, the more is likely to get done.
Over to you.
#climatematters #windyweather #stormeustice