A DARTMOOR village could become the greenest in the country, following the launch of an innovative new project. Belstone, which is home to around 250 people, has volunteered to take part in the exciting ?Green Village? initiative to see how life there can become more sustainable. The project has been developed by villagers and local environmental charity Westden. The implementation of the project could also be recorded by a film company for a television documentary. Westden hopes this would give a high profile to the project, which might then provide a model from which others can learn and replicate both in the UK and overseas. A steering group of eight villagers has been set up and the first step will be a survey to find out how people live in the village and what practical changes they would like to see for their community and lifestyles. Westden project manager Oz Osborne said: ?It has never been done before. We are pioneering something that hopefully will be taken up across the UK.? Mr Osborne said when the charity had put the proposal to the village, there had been a good response: ?We were pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming support from the meeting, although obviously there was some dissent. ?To be sustainable a society needs to take into account those who come after us. We can all do something ? it is up to us whether we choose to or not. ?Living sustainably could include buying local or organic food, car-sharing or insulating the house. ?There are many small and rewarding things we can do and the Green Village project will see what a difference a community l Continued on page 11
