NEWS: An Eco-Hero speaks

Whether or not Tracey Smith, she of National Downshifting Week fame, wins the title of Eco-Hero from ITV or not she remains an Eco-Hero to us.

She sent me a press release about the Eco Hero Awards and National Downshifting Week UK, which takes place Saturday 22nd to Friday 28th April 2006 (The US NDW will be Sat 24th to Fri 30th June - get in touch US green bloggers to lend a hand).

Even though I know much of her press release will appear elsewhere I applaud her efforts to green our world more than enough to give her the CityHippy mike whenever she wants it. So Tracey...take it away.

East London Gal Tells the Nation to 'Slow Down and Green Up'.

Writer/ broadcaster Tracey Smith, born 40 years ago in our fair capital, ditched the hustle and bustle of city life back in 2002, to tow a more self-sufficient line instead.

Following the arrival of her children, she became one of a growing number of work at home parents and freelanced, writing about Downshifting and Sustainable Living.

Everyday life offered all the inspiration she needed and Tracey explored everything from growing a little fruit and veg, keeping chickens (ex-battery of course), cooking from scratch using locally sourced ingredients, organic/fair-trade/free-range, managing on a limited budget and just about everything else from stress-free sex, to charity shop chic.

Then she had another 'baby' as National Downshifting Week was born. This followed letters and contacts from all over the world, quoting the 'same flavour' problems, eg. "We've got the cars, the big house, the money, but no time to enjoy them, or our life - help!"

The campaign, with it's 'dip your toes in' suggestions, offered a focus for those disenchanted with the material life, guiding them towards simpler, happier living. Interestingly enough, her research also showed this demographic willing and ready to embrace a few green issues too, often for the first time.

Once they had clawed back a few pockets of time by downshifting their time and/or finance commitments, they found the space to think about recycling and composting.

By turning the heating down and lights and taps off, they created a double-edged, great result for their purse and the planet.

Now, her worthy project has caught the attention of our national media.

ITV have confirmed her a finalist for Britain's Eco-Hero Award. Their correspondent Mark Austin made a short film with Tracey last week, to be aired early this week on the 10.30pm national news. In it, Mark captured her motivation for encouraging sustainable behaviour.

With 5 finalists in total (and 4 of them men) Tracey is flying the flag for green London and women everywhere who want to see positive change in the years ahead. She commented, "The true eco-heroes are the ones who start making energy saving changes today".

We here at CityHippy wish her luck with the award and offer our support for National Downshifting Week for more details.

One of my favourite CityHippy-esque quotes from Tracey:

We need to ditch the guilt for what we are NOT doing and start feeling good about what we ARE doing!

Namaste

Al

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