Residents of Sunderland sow seeds of promise
30 July, 2023
Pledges planted by Sunderland residents to reduce their carbon footprint and make the city greener and cleaner are beginning to bloom.
Hundreds of Sunderland residents pledged during the city's second Ecofest event in October last year, to make one small change to reduce their carbon footprint.
Titled 'Plant A Pledge', pledges made during the event included everything from switching off lights to turning down thermostats, recycling more and reducing water usage.
The pledges were then written on seeded paper containing varieties of environment-enhancing wildflowers, such as poppies, daisies and cornflowers.
Now Summer has arrived, the pledges made at the event are beginning to bloom, thanks to the work of Sunderland City Council's Low Carbon Team and community groups and organisations from across the city.
Sites that have planted pledges include Back On The Map in Hendon, Just Let Your Soul Grow in Fulwell, Elemore Country Park in Hetton, Kayll Road Library in Pallion and Washington Mind in Washington.
Further pledges have also been made by staff, the public and volunteers at each of the planting sites over recent weeks. The pledges have been planted at the sites by teams including gardening volunteers, adults with learning disabilities, grandparents and their young grandchildren.
Sue Burnell, Peer Community Connector at Washington Mind, said: "Our Life House Community Garden provides our café with a self-sustaining food source but also works to improve our natural spaces; increasing local biodiversity, ecosystem services and carbon sinks whilst providing a space for our communities to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
"We are pleased to be working with other partners in the city as part of the Plant A Pledge Project, and we are keen to do our part to improve our local environment while supporting global environmental issues like the biodiversity crisis.
"It has been inspiring to see the number of ideas that our service users and members of the public have pledged to do."
Jennie from Just Let Your Soul Grow added; "This project has allowed for some brilliant conversations to be had between the children, young people and volunteers at Just Let Your Soul Grow. As a Community Interest Company we are invested in raising awareness around climate change and how people can take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Often this can feel incredibly overwhelming as an individual act, this project has shown how small achievable pledges contribute to collective community action. No-one is too young to make a difference!"
The aim of the project is to encourage all residents from across the city to do their bit to improve biodiversity across the city, be it planting native plants and trees that support enhance and create habitats for a range of species or increasing the number of green spaces in urban areas.
The soil the Council has provided for the planters and pots is recycled soil from Barley Mow Park. Recent renovations to the park's landscaping created an excess of soil which the Council utilised as part of the project. The planting efforts have also been supplemented with locally grown lavender and chamomile seeds supplied by Just Let Your Soul Grow in Fulwell.
The Sunderland Ecofest for 2024 will be held at Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens on Saturday 5th October, where residents can take part in fun and interactive activities, whilst also learning about climate change and how we can all help protect the environment. The event will commence at 10am until 3pm - more details will be shared later this summer.
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