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We are a small charity with big ideas and ambitions…With a practical, holistic and creative approach to education The Sustainability Centre offers achievable ways in which people can make their lives healthier, greener more ethical and sustainable.
We practice and promote sustainability as a process of making decisions which balance economic, social and environmental factors for positive benefit. Sustainability is about treating the Earth as if we intend to stay. It means living in the best way that we can. We manage our site, charity and activities to demonstrate, develop and promote knowledge, skills, technologies and lifestyles that improve people’s quality of life without damaging the local and global environment. |
The South Downs Green Fair
This is an event organised and run in-house by the staff and volunteers of The Sustainability Centre. We do our very best to ensure that the event showcases and supports our values, mission and ethos. This means that we think carefully about what we do and how we do it and year on year try to improve what we offer to our visitors. We acknowledge that we are not perfect but we are working on it.
We have introduced a Green Charter for ourselves, stallholders and people coming to the event. We ask for your support in making it happen.
We have introduced a Green Charter for ourselves, stallholders and people coming to the event. We ask for your support in making it happen.
Activities
Activities provided for children by the Sustainability Centre support our values and ethos. Use recycled or re-usable resources. We provide them free of charge because we want everyone to learn and have fun. Our bushcraft demonstrations and activities aimed at adults are provided by our own staff and volunteers, are fun and give an insight into activities that we offer on our courses and for visiting schools. We have a number of demonstrators on stands throughout the site showcasing local crafts, low tech, low impact solutions, building materials. Many offer hands-on and have-a-go activities.
talks
Every year we are delighted that we are able to attract some inspiring and interesting speakers, bringing their stories, perspective and inspiration to us all.
recycling and waste
We aim to be a minimal waste event limiting the amount of rubbish that goes to landfill and the amount of recycled materials too. This means we have improved our recycling facilities around the site – making it colourful and interesting as well as informative. We ask stall holders to be mindful of the rubbish they generate. We are happy for recyclable items to be included in our re-cycling. Any landfill waste will need to be taken away by the stallholder.
Transport
We acknowledge that we are not on a public transport route – being a remote and rural location. You can help keep this a low carbon event by lift sharing/walking or cycling. Some groups will be organising minibuses and coaches from nearby towns. Use our facebook page to make your connections.
loos
We have three compost loos on site - if you have never tried one – let this be a first! The loos in our buildings are low flush and all the waste is dealt with on site by our own Wetland Eco Treatment system, returning the water to the acquifer once is has been purified. Any additional loos that we hire in will be the best we can get in terms of eco-performance and comfort. We are trying to find compost loos to hire this year.
Charter for Stall holders
We plan to make a few changes to improve our information to stall holders and caterers to ensure the quality/provenance of their produce and that they deal with their own waste in a responsible way. We will ask questions about the products and services they want to bring to the event. We will ask them to complete a questionnaire about their products and services and we will give each stall a rating so that people can see at a glance what they are offering.
We will only invite caterers who support our ethos – local, organic, wholesome and ethically sourced ingredients, fairtrade products are a must. We will not allow caterers to cut corners by using low quality products (those with low or bad environmental credentials) No Nestle/Heinz/CocaCola allowed.
We will only invite caterers who support our ethos – local, organic, wholesome and ethically sourced ingredients, fairtrade products are a must. We will not allow caterers to cut corners by using low quality products (those with low or bad environmental credentials) No Nestle/Heinz/CocaCola allowed.
Think Packaging
We ask all stall holders to think low waste when choosing products and packaging. Also to use recyclable materials for any disposables rather than plastic or non biodegradable. Be mindful of the rubbish generated. We are happy for recyclable items to be included in our on-site re-cycling. Any landfill waste will need to be taken away by the stallholder. If you are selling products please favour Fair-trade, locally sourced, organic or handmade.
