Chelsea Flower Show 2021
Veolia Sponsors Garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2021
Veolia is proud to sponsor the Birmingham City Council display at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.
The 2021 display showcases how we can all make a small or large change to help improve the environment for future generations.
Developing ideas first seen in Baroness Floella Benjamin’s garden in 2019, the Veolia-sponsored display gives examples of how to make a positive environmental difference in your own home, garden or the community you live in.
The display also raises awareness of sustainable energy sources and looks at how these initiatives can be scaled up or down to fit all scenarios.
It has traditional seasonal bedding, with all the plants produced or maintained at Birmingham City Council’s nurseries.
The key themes of the display are summarised as follows:
The Natural Environment
There are 22 million residential gardens in the UK, they are unique spaces that could do so much for the environment. Gardens are especially important in cities where they provide much needed habitats for wildlife, an opportunity for you to grow your own food and places to relax and be social. On a larger scale parks provide space for all those without their own garden. In Birmingham there are over 600 parks and open spaces. Gardens and parks could be used to in our response to climate change, providing green transport networks, plants to help filter the air and the sustainable management of water.
Sustainable Energy
Although using the power of the sun to produce electricity has been around since the mid-1800s, the technology has really improved over the last 20 years. Solar farms have been on the increase and now an estimated 825,000 homes have solar panels filtered to them. There is plenty of room for improvement as this is only 2.8 per cent of homes, with 6 per cent of the UK’s energy produced from solar sources. Solar power can be used at various levels from large solar farms down to personal power banks that can be used anywhere. he display also shows the benefits of wind power which again can be on a large scale or for a small garden.
Green Travel
The display highlights the benefits of cycling and the increasing use of electric vehicles. Increasing the use of green travel will have a direct impact on air quality, this is especially important to large cities such as Birmingham. Every year air pollution contributes to the premature deaths of up to 1,000 people in Birmingham through conditions such as cancer, heart and lung disease. To improve air quality within the city, Birmingham introduced a Clean Air Zone on 1 June 2021, charging owners of the most high-polluting vehicles to drive within certain parts of the city centre, unless they have an exemption. Find out more on Brum Breathes' website.
Home Improvements
The display looks at the home and garden to suggest ways you can make a difference. Smart Meters, the move to LED lights, having house plants, installing small scale sustainable energy solutions, recycling and installing green roofs. There are many benefits of a green roof, these include providing insulation, providing habitats for birds and insects, helping towards urban air quality and reducing noise pollution, helping to cool urban environments in the process. Green roofs can be on a large scale or can be fitted to sheds or outside bin stores.
Water
The display looks at the use of water. From water harvesting from buildings to water bore holes, the display will follow the flow of water down rivers to the sea where a number of turbines use the power of water to produce electricity. The display looks at the importance of sustainable drainage systems that can be used to collect and reuse water.
Well done to Birmingham City Council team of landsdcapers!
To read the original article please visit: Birmingham wins ninth Gold at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2021
- 18th October 2021
