As we look back on our 2020 conference, we’re remembering the wise words we heard from environmentalist, Trewin Restorick.
Trewin is the founding CEO of Hubbub, a charity which makes environmental issues fun. It works to bring issues of climate change, carbon footprints and global warming into the public eye in a fun and light-hearted way. He is also the former CEO and founder of independent environmental charity Global Action Plan.
Before starting Global Action Plan, Trewin worked for Friends of the Earth as a Recycling Co-ordinator and, also, Head of Marketing. In these roles, he established the first blue box kerbside recycling scheme in the UK and created Paper Round, an office-based recycling scheme in London, which now has a turnover of £3million.
Our 2020 conference had a real focus on the environment and what we can do as an industry to be more environmentally friendly and aware, so it was great to hear everything Trewin had to say.
He said that young people are particularly aware of the environment and ever since Blue Planet was shown, plastics have been in the public eye and creating more interest than ever before. Food waste is a major issue too. Ninety percent of children in the world are breathing air that does not meet WHO standards.
Trewin said garden centres are in a wonderful position to push for change. They can also help with social isolation issues by creating community links and can promote ways people can reconnect with nature.
He suggested garden centre staff think about collaboration on things such as reducing plastic waste and carbon emissions.
Some of Trewin’s words on social isolation issues and creating communities have become particularly poignant after the pandemic, as more people have realised the importance of gardening. We also all recognise the need to help protect the planet more than ever, and gardening has an important role to play in this.
Garden centres serve communities and have been there for their customers throughout the pandemic. Gardening helps boost physical and mental wellbeing and garden centres have also helped millions of new gardeners by supplying the plants, products and advice they need.