Terry asked for a post holiday report on the Eden Project following on from this post. We’ve decided not to go next week since it gets really busy in summer, but here’s some stuff from last time.
Eden project is place to explore plants in their natural environment. There are two biotherms, one temperate, one tropical, that allow you to see virtually every type plant you can think of.
But there’s a wider theme to the place. The project believes that we need to take care of the environment to survive and it’s full of information on just how important plants are to us – and our impact on them and the worlds’ future. It may sound po-faced, but it’s all done with an optimistic charm that’s hard to resist.
From queue jumping…
…to the free seeds with every t-shirt in the gift shop.
From the wee man….
…..to the parking guide when you arrive.
The whole place is peppered with little ideas that make the same point.
In there own words ‘we simply have to find ways to tread more lightly on this planet we share’.
They’ve got their own little Book of Ideas that’s both charming and thought provoking:
‘The amazonian ‘Diesel Tree’ can produce 220 litres of sap per day. The sap is so similar to diesel fuel that it can power truck engines’.
‘Bottled water costs twice as much as petrol, three times as much as milk and ten thousand times more than tap water. Tap water is perfectly safe to drink and you’ve already paid for it’
‘Computers in the future may weight no more than 1.5 tonnes’ Popular Mechanics forecast 1959.
If you get the chance to visit, it’s worth it, just avoid going in summer.
NORTHERN PLANNER 
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