Greenpeace, Skaters and tattoos at the Big Chill

Last week for the third time this summer I packed my tent and wellies and headed off to another festival with Greenpeace, this time the Big Chill in Herefordshire.

This was my first time at the Big Chill and was one of the more enjoyable things I’ve done with Greenpeace over the last few years. I guess it’s in the name, but the whole thing was really chilled out and ended up having some great times hanging out with other volunteers and fundraisers.The site is amazing, it’s in a valley with lakes and trees and even if the hills did get a bit much when staggering back to the tent at the end of night, they did offer some incredible views of the site and the surrounding area. What’s more aside from a few showers the weather was pretty good and managed to get away without having to wear wellies.

The main feature this year was the FSC skateramp that we’ve been running for the last few years at Glastonbury (here’s a video of the ramp at this year’s festival) with our friends from Heathensk8 and Third Foot.

As expected I was not brought along for my skateboarding talents but was part of the campaign team who were talking to people about Detox. The campaign focuses on the use of toxic chemicals in China that are been dumped into rivers and lakes, with devastating consequences for both wildlife and people. These chemicals are used in the manufacturing of shoes and clothes which are then sold by amougst others Nike and Adidas, although it has to be pointed out that it is not their factories who are doing the dirty work, but their suppliers. Both Nike and Adidas are making moves into the skateboarding world and having the ramp was a good way of reaching out to some of people who buy their products and getting them onboard.

In addition to petition cards we had waterbased (non-toxic) tattoos, that as expected went down extremely well with the public and will hopefully mean we’ll get more such things at future events.

So anyone thinking about volunteering for Greenpeace at a festival next year I can strongly recommend going for the Big Chill, especially as the Cider Bus is also there and is cheaper than at Glastonbury!