After a week of events to mark World Water Day we came to
the day itself and what better way of celebrating the very ‘staff of life’ than
to mount an exhibition on that subject? Consequently, the Guildhall Yard played
host to a whole day designed to inform and educate a wide variety of people in
the City.
With such a broad canvas as “water” one had to narrow the
field slightly and so under the banner of ‘Taking
Control of Your Environment’ the three key focus areas were: using water
wisely; what not to put down your drain and plastic in rivers and oceans. All
very topical areas with the latter particularly building on the previous
evenings WET 10 lecture (see Blog No 101). Each topic is a subject in itself
and so there was plenty going on in the Yard. Space does not allow for details
of all the stands, exhibitions, speeches and demonstrations but further
information can be found on the Company website – www.waterconservators.org – search
for “Review of Recent Events”. It is well worth reading.
The day started early with the Fleet Warden and myself
on-site in the Yard by 07:30 as the various exhibits started to arrive. First
in was the Company’s Magic Tap (see picture) which had been driven down from
Coventry that morning. As a key feature of the exhibition it was great to see
it arrive in one piece and it wasn’t long before the tank had been filled and
the Tap turned on. Magic!
This was quickly followed by vehicles from Thames Water, a
delivery of a bale of recyclable plastic from Viridor and a whole plethora of
stands and displays. We even had hot food stalls (all plastic free of course!)
to feed the hundreds of visitors we were expecting. It was a very busy few
hours.
But before we knew it the Sheriffs party comprising of the
Sheriff the Hon Liz Green accompanied by her Consort Peter arrived by red taxi
to open the event. After the opening speech by the Sheriff I had the privilege
of welcoming all those in attendance which included dozens of very enthusiastic
local school children, many armed with their hand-made albatrosses (from
recycled materials) and I encouraged them to learn as much as possible from the
displays. Richard Aylard, Director at Thames Water gave a very graphic
demonstration of the solubility of toilet tissue paper (very) versus wet-wipes
(highly in-soluble) and was assisted in this task by the school children.
Finally, Nathalie Parker, Head of Hugh Myddelton School gave guests a
fascinating overview of the type of initiatives her staff and pupils were
engaged in to respect the environment. All very ‘on-message’.
The Magic Tap continued to draw the crowds and as it did so
the Sheriff and I toured the stands and spoke to as many people as possible.
There was a real sense of community in the Yard and everyone, expert or
lay-person, could relate to the theme of the day. Water is a scarce commodity
and we must respect and use it carefully.
After the second showing of the Thames Partnership video ‘Living Thames’ in the Crypt, it was time
to say farewell. The stalls packed up and the vehicles departed leaving what
was earlier a very busy space, peaceful once more. It had been an amazing day
and we all set off homeward to a very well-earned rest.
The list of those to thank for an event like this is endless
and space does not allow – you all know who you are. But our Fleet Warden Rob
Casey does need a special mention for all his hard work as Project Manager,
without which none of this would have been possible. Thank you, Rob. Brilliant!
No comments:
Post a Comment