The plan


Welcome to our team:

Freya and Olly Baraclough (aged 10)

Heather and Lente Robinson (aged 8 and 11)

Philine Van Der Heide and Kristina High (their mothers - age unspecified..)

We're planning to cycle from Farr, near Inverness, to Holyrood to show our commitment to sustainable travel and to raise public awareness on the need to live sustainably. We'll be starting on the 17th July and travelling 25-35 miles per day, aiming to arrive in Edinburgh on the 23rd July. 

In doing this journey we want to share these four messages with people:

- We have to reduce unsustainable travel. Not only are we increasing the rate of climate change by producing greenhouse gases, we're also using up precious resources in the world by making vehicles and roads, and road and airport infrastructure are impinging on wild habitats. Please think twice before using your car or travelling by plane - if there's a more sustainable option you'll help make a world of difference by using it.

- Reduce waste. Reduce and reuse are the most important of the three R's. Not only does waste have to go somewhere - and much of our waste will take centuries to degrade (if at all), but all our disposables and broken goods used precious world resources from fragile environments in their production. We'll be picking litter on our journey to at least take some disposables away from wild habitats.

- Eat local food. We have access to basically whatever food we want, but we forget how it came to our plates. Try to think about what went into producing the food you eat - if rainforests are being destroyed to produce the food that feeds the cows to produce the beef you put on your plate then try to find something more sustainable. There's plenty of good food out there that doesn't cost the Earth! We'll try to eat local food as much as we can on our journey.

- Look after our environment. We need a diverse range of plants and trees to support a diverse range of tiny and bigger animals that help support a diverse range of plants and trees (etc) and maintain a stable climate which supports all of them. The way humans have been living has resulted in a massive loss of wild habitats, with a loss of species diversity, which ultimately affects what food we can grow. We want to support ventures like Trees for Life that are seeking to bring diversity back - it's the only way that humans will survive as a species.

Ultimately, the message is:

SAVE OUR PLANET, SAVE OUR FUTURE

We have arranged to meet MSPs on our journey because there needs to be a stronger move from the people who are in positions of leadership to make it easier for individuals to live sustainably, and because children deserve to be heard when their future is at stake. And we will deliver our message to Holyrood.

Kristina

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