Green Lifestyle: everyone does it differently, but how? is the topic of the roundtable or discussion series that started in April within the framework of the Gödöllő Climate Club.
Each time a different topic is in the focus of the discussion to which we invite local guests from Gödöllő. After a roundtable discussion the audience can join the debate. Our purpose is to encourage everyone to share their experiences or opinions as well as to strengthen the 'green' community in the town.
The main subject of the first occasion was green lifestyle itself. Our guests were Gabriella Révész, eco-architect, chairman of the Strawbuilders Association; Csaba Laurán, CEO of the Hotel Queen Elisabeth (and also a founding member of the Climate Club) and Edina Vadovics, founder of the Gödöllő Climate Club and president of GreenDependent. They all talked about their motivation for leading a green lifestyle, the challenges they face and the success stories they experienced. The audience also shared great ideas and there was a lot of discussion especially about local green shopping possibilities . After the club, we made a list about the green shopping places in and around Gödöllő (e.g. organic box schemes and an organic stall at the market, local producers at the market, shops where it is possible to shop in your own containers, zero-waste shopping, etc.).
On the second occasion, ENERGISE Living Lab participants, Zsuzsa Varga and Judit Kecskés were our guests. Kristóf Vadovics representing GreenDependent and ENERGISE Living Lab programme reported about the results of the research and disproved a common misbelief: households’ energy consumption means the third of all consumption, that means that we can do a lot through changing our everyday behaviour and achieving personal energy savings against global climate change. Both Judit and Zsuzsa are experienced in green living; nevertheless, they were able to realize energy savings during the programme. The most important conclusion of this meeting was the important role small communities play in helping to lead a green lifestyle.
The third Green Lifestyle club will be held in July around the topic of organic food. Our guests will be Mária Berkes and Matthew Hayes, local organic farmers and Dr. Adrienne Varga, university researcher, who studies the nutrient content of organic food as compared to conventionally grown produce. After the roundtable discussion we will cook together in a cauldron in the garden of House of Civil Communities Gödöllő using seasonal produce provided by the two growers
After a short summer holiday, we will continue the programme in autumn. Our planned topics include
- households’ energy savings via investments (e.g. insulation, using renewable energy, building low-energy houses),
- waste reduction and zero waste living,
- green education in Gödöllő, and
- green and ethical living.
Edina Mihály, GreenDependent