Early this month, Greenrock launched its new Healthy Harvest Bermuda initiative. As a charity focused on raising awareness of sustainability issues, Greenrock looks not only at environmental concerns, but also at those that affect sustainable development. The health of the nation is part of that.

In January 2003, a Royal Gazette article reported that 57 percent of Bermudians were overweight. This is a level comparable to Scotland’s population, often cited as Europe’s most obese people! Our diabetes rates are also sky high. It is clear we need to educate ourselves about what we eat, rather than relying on a doctor to fix us and on insurance to pay for our treatment. We need to take responsibility for our own bodies and what we put into them, so we can avoid sickness in the first place.

The Department of Energy tells us that every kilowatt hour of electricity generated in Bermuda pumps 751 grams of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere. This amounted to approximately 6.5 metric tons of CO2 per residential customer in 2007 (see the 2009 Energy Green Paper).

With this in mind, to my husband’s frequent irritation, I constantly try to reduce the electricity demands of our large and complicated household. His irritation is generated by my failed experiments (he never notices the successful ones).

One much-discussed issue in the last few months is how to manage waste. Not theoretical waste – wasted energy, wasted time – or even something more topical like wasted assets, but actual physical waste: bottles, paper, old computers, old food, stuff we are actively trying to get out the door.

Most companies are doing their best to dispose of waste in an environmentally friendly manner. Almost all companies have separate recycling bins. Many companies collect so many used phone books that the resultant stack could almost be a work of art or a feat of engineering. A lot of companies also try to find ways to give away or reuse old computers, monitors and cell phones to abate the embarrassment of electronic superfluity that seems to collect around most of us these days. However, disposing of things in an environmentally friendly way, particularly in Bermuda, is not easy.

There’s more to ‘greening’ your diet than just eating more vegetables.

Recently there has been a revival of those motherly words of wisdom from childhood: ‘Eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day.’ It seems that what began with Atkins and South Beach fad dieting has blossomed into a true health-food revolution in Bermuda. Amidst the abundance of unhealthy, fast-food options available to the local consumer, there is a growing prevalence of healthier food alternatives derived from a simple nutritional maxim: go as natural as possible.

Somersfield Academy invited the Greenrock School Roadshow to visit during their environment day celebrations in June. This school is already a leader in promoting environmental awareness, but they needed and wanted more support to keep up this mindset.

The Roadshow crew arrived thinking it would be the usual assembly-style presentation. This time was different. The Somersfield students were giving their own presentations on the importance of being aware of the dangers of certain plastic water bottles and the consumerism attitude we have so quickly adopted when it comes to buying bottled water. They were also discussing green labels and what they actually mean. In short, the Roadshow crew had a lot to learn from them. How refreshing!

Greenrock’s Green Office initiative is continuing to generate interest with presentations to or discussions with six companies in the last few months, and interest expressed by four more.  Validus Re, Catlin (which was also a lead sponsor of Earth Hour Bermuda), Friesenbruch-Meyer and Coldwell Banker have all taken steps to make their offices more environmentally friendly. Bendell Design, the Bermuda National Trust, Partner Re, Rego-Sotheby’s and the Accountant General’s office have asked for Greenrock’s support to start thinking about a ‘greener’ office.

Calculating baselines and setting targets is important in business, and is just as critical when trying to change the culture of an office. The Green Office project encourages companies to establish baselines for areas of consumption, such as paper use, electricity use and water use. Improvement over time can then be measured against these baselines.

The Greenrock School Roadshow team has been busy so far in 2009, visiting a wide variety of groups ranging from afterschool programmes and school assemblies to PTA meetings. The show, which promotes sustainable development and sustainable living, has received an enthusiastic welcome at all its stops.