Fun and Games at This Year’s Skipton Eco Day
Share Skipton were back again at this year’s Eco Day, an annual event organised by Skipton Rotary Club to raise community awareness of environmental issues and showcase the local groups tackling them head-on.
Family favourites from last year – such as the human fruit machine, pedal-powered smoothie bike and fair-trade café – were joined by new interactive exhibits, sustainability-conscious clothes and toy swaps, and a series of presentations from inspirational guest speakers (including Share Skipton’s very own co-founder, Angela Monaghan!).
Share Skipton’s stand
From our stall at the entrance, visitors were introduced to the concept of a ‘circular economy’, discussed ways to make the most of the things we choose to own, and talked through the environmental, financial and social benefits of borrowing or sharing things that we’d usually have to buy only to use once. There was a lot of interest, with people looking to volunteer and our 300th member sign-up. We even lent out our 600th item that day!
Right alongside was our volunteer-run toy swap! Stocked with community-donated books, board games and playthings that the children had either outgrown or never taken an interest in, attendees were invited to bring their own unwanted items to exchange for something ‘new to them’. Any goods left at the end of the day were then donated on to local charity shops or made permanently available to borrow from the Newmarket Street Library of Things.
Although the swap was only a one-day event, we’d love everyone to take this idea forwards into the rest of the year: consider swapping, lending and borrowing whatever you aren’t using amongst your friend and family groups. Find a bargain while contributing to a good cause by using one of Skipton’s many charity shops, or look up a local rental service if you need something specific for only a short time.
Borrow from the Share Skipton Library of Things »
or Discover rental and second-hand around town »
Speeches and seminars
Away from the busy main hall, 25-minute talks ran throughout the day on a variety of topics.
First, some highlights from Share Skipton’s presentation, “Borrow Don’t Buy! - How sharing can help create a more sustainable Skipton”:
“To tackle the climate emergency, we need to lower carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions NOW. Reducing unnecessary consumption and prolonging the use and longevity of products is critical, because natural resource extraction and manufacturing – including for making new products – account for around 50% of total greenhouse gas produced worldwide. Without change, such emissions are set to increase a further 43% within the next two generations.”
“Libraries of Things have many benefits: borrowing makes common and speciality items more accessible to people of all financial backgrounds; items are shared and used more, so fewer need to be manufactured to begin with; taking something only when you need it means not having dedicate as much space in your home to storage; they’re friendly, welcoming spaces that bring people together to do something positive and practical together: learning from one another, sharing skills, and weaving a stronger community.
For the things we still need to buy, Repair Cafés keep much-loved and useful possessions working longer, cut waste, and save all the materials, resources, and energy needed to make, package, and transport new things.”
“We especially need Volunteer Librarians so we can open for more sessions, and Repairers for our upcoming Repair Cafés. Please spread the word about us too, because increased awareness means people are more likely to acknowledge their own environmental impacts and take action to share and repair.”
Conveniently enough, Cleaner Greener Cononley gave an earlier speech entitled “Recycling and an Intro to the Circular Economy”. Although we don’t have a transcript, you can find our recent Circular Economy article here.
Other insightful speeches included:
“Change for Future Generations” (by Jonelle Yeoman, headteacher at Greatwood School)
“How Local Actions Create Global Environmental Change - The Ripple Effect” (from former Leeds Beckett Professor, Alan Simson PhD)
“How Fair Trade Helps People and the Planet” (Liz Roodhouse of Skipton Fairtrade)
“North Yorkshire Council’s Experience of Retrofitting Homes” (North Yorkshire Council’s Climate Emergency Officer, Fiona Protheroe - see our home energy efficiency tips too!)
Sharing, recycling and economy stalls
Environmental issues are many and varied, none happening in isolation and each tending to have knock-on effects into other areas. So it was great to see such a gathering of knowledgeable and passionate people, all working to bring about positive change in different ways.
North Yorkshire Rotters
When food isn’t used in time or you have leftovers that get thrown away, all the energy, water and land cleared for its production has essentially gone to waste – not to mention your own money. Greenhouse gases are emitted at every stage, its nutrients are lost to landfill, and there’s the (usually plastic) packaging to deal with too.
The North Yorkshire Rotters promote a number of food-centric initiatives that teach us how to do our bit, including LoveFoodHateWaste, home composting and proper recycling practices.
Skipton Fairtrade
The Fairtrade Foundation aims to end exploitation of farmers in developing and low-income countries. By partnering with groups of individual farm owners, businesses and governments, they incentivise fair wages and safe conditions for workers. And when you buy a product featuring the Fairtrade logo, a further percentage of profits goes to helping farmers improve their communities’ quality of life: this can include investing in education, better housing and sustainability projects of their own.
This year’s Eco Day stall highlighted the added pressures that climate change is having on farmers, and what to look for when shopping ethically.
Learn how investing in people relates to sustainability as a whole »
Beyondly
The cloths swap that occupied the far end of the hall this year was arranged by Beyondly, in collaboration with Swadford Street Oxfam.
Beyondly is an environmental consultancy company based just outside Skipton, helping their clients comply with packaging and waste regulations, fulfil carbon reporting requirements, and integrate sustainability into their business strategy, amongst other things. Certified by non-profit network B Lab as meeting ‘high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability’, they also joint-sponsored the entire event together with North Yorkshire Council, and have helped Share Skipton out a lot in the past too.
Incredible Edible Skipton
Incredible Edible is a national network that seeks to turn unused patches of land into fruit and vegetable plots, which anyone can then freely pick exactly what they need from.
The Skipton group has plots and raised beds all across town, and in fact there’s one directly opposite Share Skipton within the grounds of St Andrew’s Church. Even if you have a garden or allotment of your own to work on, it’s still a great way to meet follow gardeners, expand your growing repertoire, and make healthy food choices more accessible to those around you.
Craven College
Students on the college’s catering courses took over the Town Hall café for the day, supplying visitors with fairtrade pastries and buns while gaining valuable practical experience in a real-world setting.
The land-based department was also there, guiding crafting activities and answering questions about their full and part-time courses: forestry, conservation and animal welfare to name just a few. Again, it was a great opportunity for students to interact with a range of organisations and experts in related fields too.
Other exhibits
Thanks again to the Rotary Club for setting all this up - the volunteers at Share Skipton can’t wait to see everyone again at next years event!
Did you know that more than 1 in 4 adults in the UK volunteered last year, and around 1 in 6 volunteer at least once a month?
If you’ve been inspired to take action and help make Skipton a more sharing, sustainable place, visit our Volunteering or Support Us pages to get started. You can also find links to many of the organisations featured here below.
External references and further reading
Share Skipton (Library of Things + Skipton Repair Café) , Skipton Rotary ,
Cleaner Greener Cononley , North Yorkshire Rotters , Skipton Fairtrade , Beyondly , Oxfam , North Yorkshire Council , Incredible Edible , Craven College , Greatwood School , Aire Rivers Trust , Craven Badger Group , The Wilderness , Skipton Town Council , Embsay Nature Reserve , Holme Grown Eastby , Skipton Civic Society , Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust , Hawk and Heath , Yorkshire Beekeepers’ Association , Bradley Environmental Group , Skipton Library , Canal & River Trust , Climate Action Skipton ,
Laughs at Skipton Eco Day (cravenherald.co.uk) , Food Waste Statistics (wastedirect.co.uk) , Volunteering Statistics (gov.uk) , Groups & Organisations (cravenconnect.com)
