SOLIHULL is set to turn Green as a host of events and activities take place to tackle climate change and protect nature.
Solihull Council is supporting the Great Big Green Week – the UK’s biggest-ever celebration of community action on climate change, which sees more than a quarter of a million people get involved each year.
Now in its fourth year, this year’s event takes place from Saturday, June 8 to June 16 with the theme Let’s swap together for good, encouraging people across the UK to make sustainable swaps in their everyday life.
Swaps may include swapping unwanted clothes to help reduce waste and lower the environmental impact of purchasing new clothing, swapping travelling by car to a bike or walking to help cut carbon emissions, or swapping a drafty home for an energy efficient home by retrofitting measures such as insulation or double/triple glazed windows.
In support of Bike Week, which coincides with the Great Big Green Week, the event will also provide an opportunity for businesses to sign up to free electric-assisted cargo bike trials to help their organisation promote carbon reduction and active travel.
Residents and organisations are encouraged to get involved in the week-long celebration and share their sustainable swaps on social media by using the hashtag #GBGWSolihull.
Community-led events and activities taking place during Great Big Green Week include:
- Solihull Repair Café, Sunday June 9, from 10am to noon at the Happy Heart Café, Richmond Road in Solihull where residents can swap skills and broken items to help breathe new life into unwanted or damaged possessions.
- The Retrofit Journey to Energy Efficient Homes online workshop on Tuesday, June 11, from noon to 12.30pm, hosted by Solihull Council and Act on Energy on Microsoft Teams.
- Count Your Carbon online workshop for schools on Tuesday, June 11, from 3.45pm to 4.30pm, hosted by Solihull Council and Let’s Go Zero on Microsoft Teams
- Knowle Green Fair in Wednesday June 12 from 7pm to 9pm, at Knowle Parish Church, High Street in Knowle. A free drop-in event showcasing easy sustainable swaps to help you make good environmental choices in your everyday life, with a variety of ideas from easy household swaps to travel, gardening, fashion, and home.
- Solihull Council retrofit stall and e-cargo bike trials on Thursday, June 13, from 10am to 4pm at The Core Library. A free drop-in event to chat to Solihull Council and partners Act on Energy on how to make energy efficiency upgrades to your home as well as other sustainable practices, joined at 11am-2pm by e-cargo bike trials for businesses.
Councillor Andy Mackiewicz, cabinet member for Climate Change and Planning, said: “Great Big Green Week is a fantastic opportunity for residents and organisations in Solihull to play their part in tackling climate change and make a difference.
“There are many ways to get involved, either by joining one of the events taking place, setting up your own event, or making your own sustainable swaps in everyday life.
“Together, we all need to adapt our lifestyles and behaviours wherever possible to live more sustainably and reach our target of becoming a net zero carbon emission borough by 2041.”
