It’s go for Green Day

Aylsham’s first Green Day was opened by local author Patrick Barkham, president of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust and Guardian writer, on Sunday 25 September.

Organised by ACE (Aylsham Climate Emergency), the event, in the Market Place and Town Hall, introduced ways to be eco-friendly to local residents. As well as hosting music, street food and activities for children, environmental groups and local businesses hoped to pass on the message that we can all help to clean up the planet.

Patrick Barkham opening Aylsham Green Day.
Picture courtesy DAVID MITCHELL

Mr Barkham said: “It is wonderful to see Aylsham thriving as a community and a lovely place to live, and taking action to raise awareness of the climate crisis. There are so many positive things going on in the area as we all seek to live more sustainably, and I am honoured to support the town’s first ever Green Day. It is going to be a lot of fun.”

ACE was created after Aylsham Town Council declared a climate emergency late 2021. Its goal is to work towards making the town carbon neutral by 2030, and Green Day is the start of what ACE hopes will be a packed programme of events and activities aimed at creating a greener, cleaner world.

Henry Layte, owner of the newly-opened Aylsham branch of the Book Hive,  sponsored a fact-finding mission for the under-10 with book token prizes.

At the event, a pledge tree was featured where visitors made their own personal promises about how they intend to reduce, reuse, repair and recycle. Also on offer was a map of great cycle routes around Aylsham, a key to where anything from bras to used water filters can be dropped off for recycling, and community litter-picking projects.

With increasing public anxiety about rocketing energy bills, a timely addition to ACE’s arsenal is a newly-purchased thermal imaging camera which can show householders where heat is escaping from their home – a great way to help make our houses more energy efficient.