What’s the secret to having better mental health and well-being, a firmer grip on the work/life balance in favour of ‘life’ and more money in your pocket? “Embracing a little downshifting”, replies Tracey Smith, founder of InterNational Downshifting Week, a non-profit awareness campaign in its 7th year - Saturday 23-Friday 29 April 2011.
„Downshifting‟ is a social behavior in which individuals live simpler lives to escape from the rat race of obsessive materialism and to reduce the stress, overtime, and psychological expense that may accompany it, rather focusing on life goals of personal fulfillment and relationship building instead of the all-consuming pursuit of economic success.
Visit Tracey’s talks and demo’s during Tuesday 19 to Friday 29 April as she completes a whistlestop tour of the UK covering Devon, Cornwall, Bristol, Hampshire, Yorkshire, Scotland, Essex, Cumbria, Suffolk, Cambridge, Kent and Hampshire. She’ll visit key eco-personalities and established & aspiring downshifters taking part in convivial „Knit Ins‟ for her Community Blanket Project. She‟ll be in Kent on Friday 28th April at the sustainable conference & event venue Pines Calyx.
„The Community Blankets Project‟ will pull together threads and people of all ages, all backgrounds, creeds, colours and sex…it even transcends the barriers of spoken language and has the common purpose of turning rubbish into a resource and keeping the vulnerable souls and respected elders in our communities, warm…and it’s all done by a bit of coordinated, convivial, collective knitting and sewing. So please come along, bring your unwanted wool and a couple of pairs of knitting needles!
Now before you run off proclaiming, “I can‟t knit for toffee” please read on.....
Knitting, sewing and repairing clothes and other fabrics are sadly flailing skill sets, but not in sustainable living circles. By taking part, you’ll be helping to bridge the knowledge gap and pass on this important and very enjoyable pastime and skill, and directly helping people in your immediate community in one fell swoop.
The Community Blanket consists of 18x10 inch squares sewn together to form a pocketed blanket that will have been made with wool sourced from the community (charity shops, old sweaters unravelled), knitted by the community and distributed to vulnerable souls in the community before the chilly season sets in; a perfect example of an inter-generational, skill-sharing event and she’s hoping for 2011 blankets in all.
Why knitting? Well, downshifters are thrifty by their very nature and they give a positive embrace to living with less by being incredibly resourceful. They are also helping to resurrect some of the old skills crucial for a bit of self-sufficiency, including mending and making.
Tracey has been a specialist writer/broadcaster on sustainable living and downshifting for over a decade, interacting with literally tens of thousands of actual/aspiring downshifters from all over the world. She has first-hand experience of their follies, foibles and fabulous successes and is almost evangelical in encouraging people to dip their toes into a bit of simple, green living, proclaiming the benefits can be felt in many aspects of our daily lives; it can even improve activities between the sheets!
Tracey will be checking in with Jason’s Breakfast Show on Taunton’s AppleFM every morning, as well as chatting with local BBC Radio stations across the country as she travels the UK.
Visit Pines Calyx on Thursday 28th April, 3-5pm where Tracey will be on the last leg of her Downshifting Tour. This is a free event, all are welcome, hear her talk about Downshifting, share your knitting skills and pay it forward with a Community Blanket.
Notes: Tracey Smith is founder of InterNational Downshifting Week, author of the bestselling Book of Rubbish Ideas, an eco-columnist for The Green Parent and journalist/broadcaster on many aspects of downshifting/simple, green living, predominantly for UK media. She presents and produces her own weekly radio show and is a regular on BBC Somerset. Three years ago, Tracey was made an Honorary Fellow of The Royal Society of Arts for her book and work promoting sustainable living at grassroots. She’s a very uplifting, optimistic green speaker on the circuit and is currently in development of a series on Downshifting for British and American TV.
The Pines Calyx is far more than a conference centre and events venue. It acts as the centre point of an emergent Centre for Sustainable Living and a hub for sustainable enterprise in Kent, with activities and projects centred around the emerging low carbon economy and include building low carbon communities, sustainable projects and environmental education.
Contact: For high res jpeg images, quotes and to arrange interviews, contact Tracey Smith directly on tracey@downshiftingweek.com / 07817 156 391, or contact Sue Jueno – hello@mygreendirectory.info / 01634 322153.
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