Inspirational Exhibition

Recently, I was speaking at the UK Aware exhibition. This event, aimed at people who enjoy modern living but want to move to a greener lifestyle, was founded last year, by Danny and Jodie, to inspire us all in our green choices. Last year’s event was in London and this year’s, much bigger event, was down the road in Olympia, Hammersmith. They plan to take the exhibition around the country so that everyone can have easier access.

Alongside the exhibitors, there were seminars on a range of green topics: from greening your business and investments; to simple steps for greener choices and how acting locally helps the global issues.

I chaired what for me was a very interesting topic, a session on travel without the CO₂. There were many challenging questions from the floor which kept the panel on their toes. It was clear from the discussion that although people as individuals could make a real difference in their travel choices, it was also very important to ensure that governments, at all levels, in all their decision making, keep climate change at the centre of their thinking. For instance, where we build new houses, shops and offices makes a huge difference to a need to travel for decades to come. As ever, there was limited time but the people in the crowded hall spilled out afterwards to continue their conversations.

I took the opportunity to look around all the new electric vehicles on offer, most of which have ETA breakdown as standard, and also have a chat with the distributors.

I then went around the whole exhibition and the range on offer was very wide. There was definitely something for everyone: from the first-time green consumer to the dyed-in-the-wool campaigner and from the hard-boiled investor to those that follow their own path with Gaia.

I hope to see you there next time.