Oh Dear! Life just seems to be running at high speed at present and now behind with all news and thoughts for the Eco Tykes. Also I must admit to being a little bit over whelmed by all the technology and a recent push onto Instagram by our son has made me shakily “take the bull by the horns” and post on my account that was set up ages ago. @ecotykes Please follow.
I have been working on the next set of adventures of the Eco Tykes. The adventure started last November 2017. Talking to Bobert and Angus the piglets on Sanctuary island about Santa’s journey around the Earth on Christmas Eve.
“What happens when Santa and his reindeer especially Rudolf come across a patch of space junk?”
A conference on Sanctuary island would have to be organised inviting Santa and the Easter bunny to discuss the problems of the waste we create when we celebrate at festival times and other occasions.
Then in February just before the Launch of “Fergs and the Eco Tykes” at Edinburgh Zoo, Elon Musk launched a cherry red Tesla Roadster into orbit. Goodness did that cause a stir on Sanctuary Island and a great deal of discussion. If you check on the internet you will find out what was put in the car?
News on global warming created a new character arriving on Sanctuary Island. Petal the Polar Bear. Named after Petal a children’s charity that raises funds specifically for research into childhood cancers on behalf of Cancer Research UK. petalcancer.co.uk. Meeting with Karen Weaving who started Petal Childhood Cancer Research some 17 years ago. Find Petal in “Give the Earth a Hug!” Further adventures of Fergs and the Eco Tykes. Launching end November 2018.
Trips to Hull and The Deep -Education department, also meeting with National Parks Education in the Yorkshire Dales about Fergs and the Tykes. Watch this space.
What a summer we have had great beach walks and removing washed up rubbish along Scottish coast lines and North East coast, England. The plastic problem is so evident and how wonderful to see families taking their children out armed with bags to pick up the rubbish and help to remove.
Holiday in Corfu highlighted a very big problem for a beautiful island. What would the Durrell’s say now if they could see?
A problem that has been brewing for many years and like Blue Planet 2 showed us the problem of mass plastic in the ocean and winning the Impact prize at the NTA. The size of the rubbish piles on the roadside in Corfu is showing the impact our love affair with plastic has had when funding and politics and lack of landfill space also come into play.
Plastic water bottles one of the biggest problems. Visitors told not to drink the water out of the tap. If you start to calculate the number of visitors on the island and the number of water bottles used the answers are mind boggling. Even if the landfills were empty. We really need to invest in finding a solution. When I lived in UAE during 1970s we had a filter on the kitchen top. 2 metal containers. Tap water was put into the top container which had 3 filter “candles” These filtered out, Chlorine, viruses, harmful pathogenic bacteria, parasites, chemical contaminants and other impurities, leaving undisturbed the essential minerals. Making the water potable as it drips into the second container which has a tap to fill up a bottle. Maybe this is an answer -they are still on sale.
Even when we are on holiday relaxing. Do we really need the mermaid swizzle stick in our drinks at the beach!
Countryside walks. More evidence of careless dog owners. As seen in the story of Jenny wren. Fergs and the Eco Tykes Pictures book
The message -if a wren can move her babies pooh from her nest in the drystone walls of the Dales. Why can’t human dog owners remove their pooch’s pooh too!.