Eden Project and the Centre for alternative technology

[red]

engage witter mode


we went to visit the Eden Project the other week - its fairly close to us- and its a great experience - and as a home educator - its a wonderful resouce - where else can you see vanilla pods growing, a farming set up typical of the tropics, tamarind, cardamon, cork exotic fruit, cola beans, cocoa beans, and coffee plants etc etc all in a couple of hours.
What galls me is that they sell it a a 'green' experience. and there is a lot of information about recycling and carbon footprints, a big scuplture made of throw away items, and loos flushed with rainwater - but erm...... its a couple of seriously huge greenhouses.. being heated to tropical temperatures.. in Cornwall!! that can't be very eco-friendly?
Then they do things like show you the plastic chair you are sitting on in the cafe is made out of the recycled plastic cups they give your drinks in. yay.. or.. wait a minute.. why are you handing out plastic cups in the first place? what is wrong with washing things? and how many new chairs do they actually need?
The shop s full of posh recycled items and African sculptures..and a decided lack of products that could go down well.. such as soapnuts.. or alternative cleaning products
Last year we visited CAT - which is totally different - for start they are not doing the big garden thing, so its not fair to compare, however they are alot more serious about the environmentally friendly items such as a solar powered phone box. and that makes me realise how little Eden are doing - and they could do alot more if they want that green image they crave. at CAT we picked up alot of good ideas and had our eyes opened to alot of our bad habits. But - the people there did regard us as visitors as a bit of a pain - it was clear to me that they had come to live here for a bit for the experience, work their keep.. visitors got in the way. For example I was walking to the composting loo - interested to try it...(you know did it smell was it ok etc) when a member of staff shot out of the shop and barged in front of me... ok..

but the shop was great - they did leaflets on various projects you might want to repeat at home, had a good range of alternative cleaning products etc - again lacking at Eden...

/wittering session

[Millymollymandy]

For me the Eden Project was one great big sweaty horrible full of people tourist experience. Never, ever again! If there was anything green about the place I didn't notice - too many people, and it was only June! Can't imagine what it would be like in the school holidays. We couldn't wait to get out of there.

[Shirley]

Why not feedback to both places - things will only change if people make comments.

I've never been to either - but would like to go to both.

I'm hoping to go to Findhorn this year - it's a bit closer to me.

[red]

For me the Eden Project was one great big sweaty horrible full of people tourist experience. Never, ever again! If there was anything green about the place I didn't notice - too many people, and it was only June! Can't imagine what it would be like in the school holidays. We couldn't wait to get out of there.

February during school term is the better option!

[Kev]

I agree with you Red, When I went to the eden project. The next couple of days after the visit i was thinking to myself, I wonder just how green that place is. Like you said its a tropical environment In Cornwall!!!, Thats got to take some heating.
Definitely the best time to go is during the colder months and if possible when all the kids are at school. During school holidays and especially during the summer months I do what most the locals do here and just stay at home. Unfortunately for people that have got youngsters in school the only time to go and see places is when they are on there holidays. Only advice i can give is avoid the roads.

[Dendrobium]

I agree with you Red too! I found the whole eden experiance both great and frustrating, but for different reasons. I liked the ethos behind it and the education aspect, it had a great 'feel good factor' too. However I was frustrated at the lack of info on the plants in the houses. Maybe it's because I'm more used to tropcial gardens and collections, but only a few places seemed to have an odd label telling you what you were looking at! At one point I had to point out some ephphitic plants growing by a waterfall and explain to the people I was with why they were there - an opportunity to educate about how rainforests work the eden people seemed to have missed.