Come along to our garden centre this Sunday, 24th April and see what Changes You can make to a Greener Life
To quote Mark Twain “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it”. Well, when it comes to our climate the unfortunate truth is that as a species, humans are very much changing what is normal in terms of weather pattern – but unfortunately not is a planned or positive way.
The talk will cover 5 practical ways the next generation can be encouraged to live a more sustainable life
#1 Compost Your Food Waste and green Garden waste
Food waste accounts for 8% of global carbon emissions, compared to only a little over 2% by the airline industry. So, reduce food waste by shopping regularly and buying only what you need. Apart from minimising waste, ensure you divert food and garden waste from landfill to compost. Composting is easy, effective and turns a waste product into something useful which can be used to enrich soil or grown organic vegetables
#2 Chickens - Convert Food Waste into Eggs
This is most likely the most fun and rewarding thing you can do your back garden. Chickens are inexpensive to buy, a 6 month ago ready to lay hen costs just €15 and a chicken coop large enough for 4 hens is available for only €100. Although the chicken you see in the supermarket is only about 7 weeks ago, hens have a life expectancy of 7-10 years and will happily give you an egg a day for the first 5-7 years.
#3 Grow Your Own Vegetables
Growing and eating seasonable herbs, salads and vegetables is a great way to pass a skill onto your kids, save money and learn to live in harmony with the natural cycle of nature. There is no need to worry about air miles when dig spuds in your own back garden. By investing in glass houses you can extend the salad season to almost 12 months a year, and allows you serve up new potatoes for Christmas dinner
#4 Grow Irish Wildflower Seeds (Biodiversity Mix)
Encourage wildlife especially bees into your garden by dedicating a section of your garden or your locality to native Irish wildflowers. Not alone this this support bio-diversity but brings a wonderful splash of colour to your garden and saves on a huge amount of labour involved in needlessly cutting the lawn every week when a wild flower meadow will thrive and flower until well into the autumn.
#5 Teach your Children to choose the path less trodden
Actions speak louder than words, so reflect and make the green decision before mindlessly jumping on a zero-carbon tax flight to spend the weekend in Spain. Don’t default to opposing allocating road space to promote walking, cycling and public transport. Don’t allow yourself to believe global warming is not happening or demand that someone changes their ways so you can continue as before. Actions have consequences and people must at least try to lead by example and speak up even when it is hard.
To Celebrate Earth Day 2022 we are running a series of events over the coming weekend
This year Earth Day falls on Friday April 22nd and it is a great opportunity for businesses & individuals to come together to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Earth Day was first held in April 1970 but with each passing year the event has gathered momentum & followers.
The theme for 2022 is Invest In Our Planet
So why not come along to Solas this weekend to see what changes we can all make in our day to day lives to support environmental protection. We hope that we can inspire and encourage everyone to make small steps towards a more sustainable life style
Schedule for the weekend
Saturday 23rd
Litter picking with Portarlington Tidy Towns
Solas & The Garden Shop are teaming up with Laois County Council & Portarlington Tidy Towns for a litter pick up around Portarlington
This annual event has proven very successful with tens of tonnes of rubbish collected each year
We would like to extend of thanks to everyone who takes part each year in this event
This year, after the clean all volunteers are welcome back to Solas for tea & cake
Sunday 24th
Talk about sustainable living with David Maher
Children’s Craft activities: 'I love Earth'
Free Face painting
Tree Planting Demonstration
Competition give away:!!! Plant a tree and tag us on social media, Prize for the best photo: Native Irish Tree from our Garden Centre
Music, On Sunday in our foodcourt: Stacey Dooley Soprano from Durrow
We are making changes too
- Our coffee keepcups are due to arrive this week, which will allow us to offer our customer a chance to move away from disposable cups
- Phase II of our solar panel installation is due to commence in late May 2022
- This week we are starting to grow our own herbs on site for use in our foodcourt. Only recycled materials will be used in the making of these herb planters! Pictures to Follow!!
- We are now giving away FREE Used coffee grinds to customers in our foodcourt, Ideal for mulching flower beds & keeping slugs at bay. See in store for details !!
- We are changing the way our coffee is delivered, this will cut down on packaging waste. Stay tuned for more!!
This Sunday from 2pm in association with Sahara BBQs we are running an alfresco taste experience
Come along & sample BBQ food
Learn from our expert on all things Al fresco
This is a free event and a great opportunity to learn all about How to BBQ, what tools to use, what best to cook
Our demo will start at 2pm , On Sunday the 3rd April
Location: Solas Eco Garden Centre, Food Court
Other Events on the Day:
- Live DJ from 3 -5pm
- Free food samples
- Face painting From 3 O'clock
- BBQ menu for the public to buy from 3-5
