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The Environmental Justice Foundation At The Big Chill
Come rain or shine the staff and volunteers from The Environmental Justice Foundation were all over the Sunrise field of The Big Chill festival for the first time this year, and what a fantastic success!!As a charity EJF is pretty unique as it makes a direct link between the environment, human rights and social need - it's philosophy is simply that "environmental security is a human right".
The volunteers had their work cut out for them and beyond. Strutting our organic, fairly traded campaign t-shirts down The Big Chill's Ethical Fashion Show catwalk we recruited a staggering 1,100 Big Chillers to support our call to action against the deadly pesticide called Endosulfan - of course, we left a little time for cider guzzling and dancing in the sunshine!
Our call is to end the use of Endosulfan, a chemical used extensively to grow cotton, that is attributed to serious health problems including birth deformities, convulsions and death to farmers and in some cases children all over the globe.
It is already banned in 45 countries and recognised as an extremely dangerous chemical, so EJF thought it was about time to take this issue to the green fields of Eastnor and grab as many festival goers as possible to support the cause and add their weight to the call for a global ban. It is to be decided and hopefully in favour of (with the help of you lovely Big Chillers) at the Stockholm Convention later this year, so keep you posted on our website www.ejfoundation.org .
When taking a break from campaigning we took to the catwalk and screened our new film about the hazardous chemical. It was an instant success, starring the ethical fashion icon Katharine Hamnett and explaining the environmental and human rights ramifications related to our current fashion industry.
So what did we love about our first Big Chill?
Well really, what didn't we love about the festival? The vibe was ultimately sublime, and it was an absolute pleasure to meet everyone there, including the very old naturists who kept popping up behind our stand making straight-faced campaigning quite tough!
So seriously, everyone we met, chatted to, high fived and in some 'happy moments' even hugged, it was great to meet you, it is not always easy raising awareness for such a serious issue but you embraced it one and all and for that we want to send out a massive THANK YOU to all those who got involved.
Hopefully we'll see you again next year!
Written: 4th Sep, 08
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