At last we have bees on the crocuses and frogspawn in the ponds. The Cherry Plums are our first fruit trees in blossom and aren’t quite there yet, but Spring is definitely springing. Even the Runner Ducks seem to have got the message and look like they might start laying again. I’m in a panic today because of the reseeding work we have to do in a new annual wildflower area, which still needs chain harrowing – the downside of using pigs as rotavators, I suppose…                                                                               

Wetland plants have been the big feature on my blog recently, following the recent DEFRA led campaign to increase people’s awareness of some of the really nasty invasive non-natives you can still buy. I’ve been amazed to discover how difficult it is for folk to find decent native plants, and how easy it is to buy the thugs – either by design or accident. Yuk. I’ve fallen on my feet somewhat with our own supplier, Gower Wildflowers, who are top quality people selling top quality plants.

Developments on the website have been encouraging. Visitor numbers continue to build and all the metrics I’m supposed to be looking at are improving. I’ve been generating some traffic into the site via Facebook (I feel 30 years younger etc.), where we now have an embryonic page. Another garden designer who I’m much taken with has found his way onto the site; Phil Brown is a high class landscape architect whose ethos I thoroughly approve of. I hope we can shunt some work his way.

I’m getting my show schedule sorted out for this year. I think I’ll do Archie’s eco area at the Bath and West Show and the plant fair at Cottesbrooke Hall with my corporate hat on in June, and the Malvern Spring Show, Chelsea, and Gamefair as a punter. Things kick off with the Spring Bee Convention at Stoneleigh in April – always interesting. Not forgetting of course my Bullbeggar Cider sales engagements at the Yarlington and Lamyatt fetes…

In the meantime we are working on some exciting projects which I’m sworn to secrecy about, but I’ve got everything crossed one or two might just come off.

Habitat Aid Ltd. is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

BUILDING WITH RAMMED EARTH AND CHALK A two-day course

This hands-on course is for those who want to learn how to build with earth or chalk and should be of value to designers too.

22 – 23 May 2010 (Saturday – Sunday)

Earthship Brighton, Stanmer Park, Brighton BN1 9PZ

www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

PRUNING OLD FRUIT TREES A two-day course

Hands-on course that teaches how to improve the health and productivity of old fruit trees by appropriate pruning.
Course 1:  Saturday 15 – Sunday 16 January 2011

Course 2: Tuesday 18 – Wednesday 19 January 2011

Stanmer Park, Brighton BN1 9PZ

www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES – A PERMACULTURE DESIGN COURSE

This course looks at how we can design human ‘ecosystems’, working collaboratively with one another to care for the planet and ourselves.

January – May 2011 13 weekend days, dates to be confirmed.

Earthship Brighton, Stanmer Park, Brighton BN1 9PZ and locations in and around Brighton

www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Doesn’t time fly by – its February newsletter time already!We’ve realised that the Kent County Fair is on in just 10 weeks time, so do book in with us soon – we will have to stop taking bookings at the end of March!
We’ve spent a bit of time this month putting more information up on the website, so you can understand more about the events we run and whether they are right for you. We’ve also come across a few offers which we thought you might like.  We don’t want to turn this newsletter into a sales machine, but occasionally we will pass something on to you if we think you’ll like it.  We’ve also come up with some ideas for those of you who love what we do, but can’t make our events – have a look and see what you think.
Email vicky@theecovillage.co.uk if you would like more information on anything in this newsletter.

Anyway – here’s what is in this week….

• Can’t Exhibit? How you can have a presence at The EcoVillage
  Organic Babychange and Feed Area – your chance to get your product out there!
  Sponsorship Opportunities
  Offers from The EcoVillage: Book of Green, Kent Profile Magazine and Trolley-Dollys
  Our Latest Exhibitors
  Recommend a business and receive a £10 voucher
  Green News Updates
  Our events! A quick reminder on the Kent County Show, South of England Show and the Kent County Fair.

CAN’T EXHIBIT?
We have had a number of discussions with some you about The EcoVillage, and have found that while some of you are really keen to be involved with The EcoVillage, you can’t exhibit with us for a variety of reasons such as other commitments, lack of budget or lack of staff availability.

So we thought we’d come up with some alternatives for you:

Info Distribution
We like our EcoVillage Information Point to be truly informative for visitors to The EcoVillage.  So we will take on up to 10 companies whose leaflets or material we will give away during our three EcoVillage Shows this year. Remember it does not have to be paper based! There are many ways of getting your web address or information across, the more inventive, the more likely people will pick up and remember you!

The cost will be £50 for a minimum of 1000 giveaways over the three events in May, June and July.  If we run out then we will contact you in good time and request more. Deadline for delivery of your material is 30th March.

Competition Entries
We like to run a survey at our events which gives us some insight to how the visitors like The EcoVillage, and their attitudes to green issues.  We like to incentivise visitors to fill in our questionnaires by offering competition prizes.  We will also include the competition in our EcoVillage Guide for people to fill out and send back to us.

If you think you have a prize which we could use do let us know! In return we will acknowledge your company name and web address on our Show Guide competition page.  We will set up a page for the competition on the website for electronic answers, which we will have your logo on.

Advertise in one of our EcoVillage Show Guides
We have quarter, half and full page advertising opportunities within our EcoVillage Show Guides.  We will be giving about 8,000 Show Guides out at both Kent County Show and South of England Show.  Rates start from just £70 for a quarter page advert. Deadline for submission of artwork is 30th April.

Web Adverts
We are currently updating our website so that we can take banner adverts.  If this is of interest to you, then please let us know and we will send you the information once we’re ready to launch!

ORGANIC BABY CHANGE AND FEED AREA
We are running an Organic Baby Change and Feed Area in conjunction with Kidz Organic clothing again at the Kent County Show, following its success last year.  If you have products which you would like to get out to families with young children, we are looking for companies to provide samples for use in the Baby Area. Please email us for further details: info@theecovillage.co.uk

SPONSORSHIP
We have a number of sponsorship opportunities available, such as polo shirts and jackets for our EcoVillage Messengers, the EcoVillage Showguide, the Baby Zone or why not become our headline sponsor? We are looking for a key sponsor to work with over the next 3 years on the EcoVillage area at all of our Shows.  If you are interested in any of these ideas, call Vicky on 01227 271261

RECOMMEND US AND RECEIVE A £10 VOUCHER
If you know of a green, ethical or sustainable business and you think they might want to exhibit with us, please send us their details, and yours.  If they take a stand with us at one of our 2010 events then you will receive a £10 gift voucher or £10 off your own exhibition stand.  Email vicky@theecovillage.co.uk

OUR LATEST EXHIBITORS
Welcome to Herbal Haven, Rustic Summerhouse Company, Sun Save, Space Shuffle, Lean Machines, Charity Bank, Protect Kent, Energy Savings Trust, Natures Home, Hidsons SEAT EcoMotive, English Oak, Lambs Bricks, Greased Lightening Cycles, Maro Foods, Lean Machines, Mil-Tek, Solar Advanced Systems, Daisy Chain Baby, and of course our Picnic Area Sponsor for both Kent County and South of England Shows, Riverford Organics.  Eternal Energy, Wild Thing Wildlfe Consultants and Animal Days Out have now booked into all three EcoVillage events, earning a 20% discount on The EcoVillage at The Kent County Fair.

OFFERS FROM THE ECOVILLAGE

Book of Green are offering 5% discount to EcoVillage newsletter readers.
The Book of Green is the most comprehensive, multimedia marketing tool for green businesses, available in paperback (60,000 copies), online and now as an iPhone app!

Book of Green is being given out at the South of England and Kent County Show this year free to visitor, and is also available in WHSmiths, Borders, The Eden Project, Bricks & Bread and many independent Eco Stores and Retailers.  To take advantage of this offer, you must click on the links below:

Basic Listing (£33.25) – click here

Advert (from £99.75 for 1/8th page) – click here

ZPM is offering 15% off Trolley-Dolly and 3 or 5Bagz.  We love these bags so much we asked them if we could promote them.  Trolley Dolley is a great idea – one stylish bag holds enough shopping bags for a major family shop – great for everyone who is fed up with a car boot full of reuseable bags!

3 or 5Bagz are a neat and compact solution for a small shop, tucking perfectly into briefcase, handbag or glove compartment.

Order online at www.zpm.com and enter promotional code ecvill15 to get 15% off the retail price!

Kent Profile Magazine is offering discounts on all advertising for their April/May or June/July issue.
The EcoVillage has worked with Kent Profile for the last couple of years, seeking to promote green business in Kent.  The EcoVillage will be being featured in Kent Profile in the run up to the Kent shows.  Kent Profile have been strong supporter of The EcoVillage since our first show three years ago. It is distributed free all over Kent. For more information go to www.kentprofile.com

15% on a 1/8th page
20% off for 1/4 page
30% off for 1/2 page
40% off for full page

To claim your discount, call Rex Cooper on 01444 831512 and quote EcoVillage

LATEST GREEN NEWS

Kent County Show going back to its farming roots

Battery recycling points now in shops

Boots, KFC, McDonalds ignore rainforest destruction survey

Farmers’ markets, coops and repair shops will seed the new economy

OUR EVENTS:KENT COUNTY FAIR 2010
A relatively new event on the circuit, this years event promises to be bigger and better than ever.  Held on 1 – 3 May it is nice and early in the season and promises to give a great start to the summer season for businesses exhibiting there. The EcoVillage will be there with its usual mix of business, demonstrations and information – all delivered within our highly visible EcoVillage area and managed for you by the team who will look after you right the way through. The Kent County Fair is held at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood.

As ever, your presence at this event will also give you links from our website as well as your 25 word description being put up on site.  We will also include any of your news on our website, and advertise your presence on facebook and twitter

SOUTH OF ENGLAND & KENT COUNTY SHOWS – A QUICK REMINDER
South of England Show is held at Ardingly on 10 – 12th June and attracts almost 85,000 visitors.  The EcoVillage will have 2500 sq m of space and over 80 exhibitors, all dedicated green and ethical business, including cookery demos from Riverford Organic.

The Kent County Show is held at the Detling Show Ground on 16 – 18th July and attracts over 80,000 visitors.  The EcoVillage will be sited on 7500 sq m of space with over 100 exhibitors, and a large picnic area sponsored by Riverford Organic Veg, who will be providing cookery demonstrations as well as great organic food from Riverford on the Move.

The CEW beauty awards sponsored by Boots on the 22^nd February will be judged by the members of the association following a showcase at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria London.

Natural Empathy will be represented in 4 categories with 3 key products, namely ‘Everybody’ luxury hand and body lotion, Shea Luxury body butter, Care and Repair signature moisturiser for men and will also compete in the ‘best new brand’ section.

The Directors of this family owned natural skincare brand, Beverley Stuckey, Madelaine Stuckey and Philip Stuckey will represent the business personally along with experienced beauty therapist Valerie Baldwin.

We hope to see some of our fellow Ethical Junction members there but it is worth remembering that it is a ticket do!

Info from alice@cewuk.co.uk

Natural Empathy is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The Ecovillage would like to help support fellow EJ members to promote their baby products at our Ecovillage at The Kent County Show, Maidstone, Kent from 16th-18th July 2010.

This year we will be expanding our baby changing & fed facility within the show and wanted to offer the opportunity for baby product supplies to showcase their products through samples available for mums and dads at the baby change & fed area.

The show runs over 3 days and based on last years figures expects to see around 90,000 visitors many of which are families with children.

If you are interested in providing free samples please email us at info@theecovillage.co.uk alternaltively send us any proposals, literature, queries etc to:

The EcoVillage, PO Box 293, Whitstable, Kent CT5 9AN.

For further information on The EcoVillage please visit www.theecovillage.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you. Many thanks.

The EcoVillage is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

For further information about the events we are running this year, go to www.theecovillage.co.uk If you would prefer to speak to us, we are more than happy to help, call 01227 271261 and ask for Vicky or email vicky@theecovillage.co.uk

The Kent County Fair 1st – 3rd May 2010
The Kent County Fair is a great family day out, with over 15,000 visitors attracted in 2009.  This year’s fair will feature a Garden Zone, Extreme Zone and tank and quad bike rides, as well as our own EcoVillage area, with space for over 50 exhibitors and demonstrators.  The Kent County Fair will be held at The Hop Farm, Paddock Wood

EcoVillage Guide Prices:
Space starts from £118 for x 2m x 2m space within a marquee

Kent County Fair Information:
See www.thehopfarm.co.uk for more information on the venue.
The Hop Farm Family Park, Paddock wood, Tonbridge, Kent TN12 6PY

The South of England Show 10^th – 12^th June 2010

The EcoVillage will be making its debut at the South of England Show in 2010 with over 100 exhibitors and a picnic area sponsored by Riverford Organic Veg.  The South of England Show attracts over 80,000 visitors over a 3 day period

EcoVillage Guide Prices:
£255 for a 3×2m space within a large marquee
£210 for a 4 x 4m outdoor pitch

South of England Show Information:
For more information on the South of England Show, go to www.seas.org.uk 
The South of England Showground, Selsfield Road, Ardingly, Haywards Heath RH17 6TL

The Kent County Show 16^th -18^th July 2010
The Kent County Show, this year, will feature over 100 exhibitors within almost 7000 sq m of space, making it one of the largest exhibition areas within the Show. We’re pleased to announce sponsorship of our Picnic Area by Riverford Organic who will be carrying out cookery demonstrations aimed at making cooking from scratch easier. Riverford on the Move will be serving freshly cooked organic food all day, all served in biodegradable packaging. We will have larger organic baby feed and change area for visitors following its success last year. The Kent County Show attracted more than 80,000 visitors last year.

EcoVillage Guide Prices:
£190 for a 2 x 2m space inside large marquee
£222 for a 3 x 2m outdoor pitch

Kent County Show Information
See www.kentshowground.co.uk for more information about the Show.
Kent Showground, Detling, nr. Maidstone, Kent. ME14 3JF 

The EcoVillage is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

The Kent based event organiser, The EcoVillage, now in its third year, has grown from strength to strength. Founded in 2008 with a single annual event, The EcoVillage is now organising 3 events and potentially adding another date for 2010. 

The EcoVillage will exhibit at The South of England Show, The Kent County Show and The Kent County Fair. The idea behind The EcoVillage is for it to sit within large scale mainstream events and helps organisations promote green products, services and initiatives to the widest possible audience.  Each area will feature ‘green’ exhibitors, interactive displays, demonstrations and picnic areas.

 Victoria Whitlock, The EcoVillage Director, said:

“We believed that people wanted to become more environmental friendly but found the information out there overwhelming. Our aim was to make it easy for people to live a greener life. Bringing together a wide range of exhibitors gives the public a chance to speak to companies face to face”

 The EcoVillage has built up a loyal group of exhibitors. A regular is the organic food company, Riverford Organics, who this year will sponsor the food areas both at The Kent County Show and The South of England Show.

 If you would like to become part of The EcoVillage at any of the show mention please call Victoria Whitlock 01227 271261 or visit the website at www.theecovillage.co.uk. 

Further information

The EcoVillage is a brand concept delivered by Sust Ltd. Sust Ltd is a sustainable business consultancy. Its aim is to help organisations grow and develop in a sustainable way whilst minimising their impact on the environment.

Sust developed The EcoVillage to help organisations promote green products, services and initiatives. The EcoVillage is designed to sit within large-scale mainstream events in order to promote greener living to the widest possible audience.

Events calendar 2010:

1-3^rd May 2010 – The Kent County Fair, The Hops Farm, Paddock Hill, Kent

10-12^th June 2010 -The South Of England Show, Ardingly, West Sussex

17-19^th July 2010 – The Kent County Show, Nr Maidstone, Kent (3^rd year)

Company Contact Details:

Victoria Whitlock, Sust Ltd/ The EcoVillage, Po Box 293, Whitstable, Kent CT5 9AN. Tel: 01227 271261.

For more information go to www.theecovillage.co.uk

Visit us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=79436921655

The EcoVillage is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Learn about green roofs and how to build them.

24-25 April 2010

www.brightonpermaculture.org.uk

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

Learn how to propagate fruit trees by grafting on this practical course.
14 August 2010

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more

How to grow fruit, nuts, salads and perennial vegetables as a low maintenance, highly productive garden ecosystem. Includes a site visit.
Course 1: 26-27 June 2010
Course 2: 3-4 July 2010

Brighton Permaculture Trust is an active member of Ethical Junction, learn more