Hello dear readers, July is here and so too is the new Voice for Arran! There has been so much to include in this issue – it feels like the island is bursting with things to do this month – it has very nearly become the 2nd (it may even now be the 2nd, which in the Voice’s relatively long history is probably a first)!
The month begins with a lovely literary event at Hillcrest in Whiting Bay, followed next week by a fascinating talk on Arran’s Bird Life at the Heritage Museum. You can continue to immerse yourself in the natural world with the events the NTS rangers have planned, with sessions on Moths and Meadows and the underwater world of ponds. Then there are exhibitions, theatre workshops, and film nights to be enjoyed, and an incredible evening of Flamenco with the Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company.
Aside from all the summery activity, we have a range of varied and interesting pieces. In an extensive article on Electronic Waste, Sally Campbell raises a critical and currently overlooked topic (one I had not considered, or even imagined, to this degree). She reports that “Humans across the globe generated an estimated 57.4 million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) in 2021 alone, an amount greater than the weight of the Great Wall of China.” Further, the energy used for digital services is responsible for up to 3.8% of global greenhouse gases which is more, apparently, than international air traffic. While moves are being made to advance recycling plants, with these eye-watering figures and the relentless pressure for new things that our consumer society demands, the question it seems that we urgently need to address is “How can we begin to green our digital future?”
Turning my attention to some of the other articles in this issue, and to the ‘wealth’ that is already here in our ‘back gardens’, feels reassuring. For while they do not provide solutions to the vast problem of e-waste, the pieces do show alternatives to this consumer driven predicament (and I write this as a ‘good’ tech citizen!). So we hear from Simon Ross-Gill, Director of the Arran Pioneer Project, who reports on the progress of the community gardens that have been established across Arran over the last few years. Reflecting on the fragility of food supply chains, and all that the volunteers have achieved, he says, “We know that we can have Arran grown strawberries and tatties and tomatoes and kale and cabbages…that we can have blueberries and carrots and pumpkins…and asparagus and peas and beans and rainbow chard…and that we don’t need to ship this produce in from overseas.”
Perhaps it is Peter Finlay’s piece, A Surprise for Breakfast!, that captures this natural abundance most vividly, as well as a faith he identifies that is needed if we are to realise it. He describes his morning outlook in recent weeks, of goldfinches feeding on the seed heads of the long grasses in his unmown lawn. Watching the scene as he tucks into his cereal, the birds tucking into theirs, he remarks that this is “The wealth we could all have so near at hand if only we could trust what near-at-hand could give us.”
We are taking a break next month, but look forward to joining you again in September. In the meantime we hope that wherever you are you may find ways to connect to, in Peter’s words, “Some of the wonder of our planet alive on our doorstep. Or at least through a kitchen window.” Wishing you all a lovely summer, Elsa
