Going green in a field
11 August 2008
The green camp is organised by the south west TUC and is held on the three days prior to the annual Tolpuddle festival in Dorset.
It is an opportunity for trade unionists to learn about the trade union response to the greatest challenge facing the planet – climate change.
I was one of six PCS activists who attended. There were about 30 on the Open College accredited course, from a range of unions including Unite, Unison, GMB, FBU, UCU and the NUS.
The course began with a walk through the village of Tolpuddle with Nigel Costley from south west TUC. He pointed out the historic landmarks in the village, including the tree where the martyrs met, and James Hammett's grave in the churchyard.
Our next stop was Tolpuddle village hall. If any of us needed a reminder of the urgency of action required on climate change, we soon had it with a showing of David Attenborough's excellent BBC documentary.
This sets out clearly the science behind the problem and the reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that are necessary if we stand any chance of stabilising the climate.
It's a tall target – the latest science says we have 10 years at most to stop global emissions rising and begin the transition to a low-carbon future.
Cut consumption, cut emissions
Back in our classroom, which was a yurt in the festival field, we set about discussing the issues and drawing up plans for our own workplaces.
The best thing about attending events with other union members is the ideas and inspiration you give each other.
Various members of the group presented research and gave examples of great actions they had taken.
For example, PCS reps at HMRC in Wales have formed their own green forum with regular meetings to share ideas and keep each other informed.
In other organisations, green travel plans were being introduced that would prevent flying for business trips to locations in Europe, while elsewhere we heard of schemes to reduce energy consumption.
We were fortunate enough to have members of a new south west TUC project team recently funded to work with unions in the south west on green issues.
They used the course as a sounding board for ideas. Activist in the south west who want to get assistance greening their workplace, should email southwest@tuc.org.uk or call 0117 947 0521.
We finished off the course by drawing up action plans to take back to our workplaces. My own plan includes removing all the inefficient, energy-intensive, polluting desktop printers from my office and using the cleaner efficient network printers instead.
For more ideas about greening the workplace, visit the green pages of this website, or try taking a TUC course on the environment – details are on the Unionlearn website.
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