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Meet the Green Guerillas
Pimp My Pot Plant
Nicola Awford is a 23-year-old, who helps out film producers, David and Kathy Rose in Clapham but will soon work with the Foreign Office. A self-confessed homeless "vagabond", Nicola hops from pillar to post looking for a place to kip. When she's not pimping in out plant pots of course. How and why did you get involved with CATE?
Mark Watson rented a spare room off me during the Edinburgh festival in 2004 and we've been friends ever since. He replied to my advert which read something like 'lovely room available for a lovely person'.
Can comedy change the world (or, at least, the climate)?
Oh, absolutely.
Why is it only girls who are helping CATE?
This isn't totally true. A mutual friend of Mark and I has just written a pop song called Crap At The Environment. His band are called The Popsocks. And plenty of people pimping plant pots are boys and, of course, CATE was set up by one.
Carry On Carriers
Cathryn Skerry, 24, lives in East London, where she is a social therapist in a medium secure psychiatric hospital.
How and why did you get involved, Catherine?
"Because it just sounded like such a fantastic opportunity to do something good for the world. I've always been interested in environmental issues and I've done my own little things like turning off lights and reusing bags - nothing that would actually change the world. I read about CATE on MySpace and it just sounded so fun because there was no pressure to do anything other than try and be a bit better. I wanted to do that little bit more so I set up 'Carry on Carriers', because the carrier bags issue really grinds my gears. Plastic bags just seem such an easy thing to avoid, such a simple problem for shops and the government to fix but everyone's being a bit half-arsed about it!"
Can comedy change the world (or, at least, the climate)?
"Completely. It can raise public awareness and make certain issues more accessible which can change the public's attitude. Most people just switch off when MP's talk. But they listen if someone's going to make them laugh, and they remember it and tell other people (of course I'm talking about decent comedy here - rubbish comedy will also make people switch off). History has shown that comedians can have a huge impact in raising political awareness - topical comedians such as Bill Hicks or programmes such as Spitting Image have educated a generation. And education is the way to change the world and ultimately the climate."
TED
Lily Dumont, 23, a burlesque performer and "self-righteous little madam," is practically evangelical about the [reusable 'tampon'] mooncup.
How and why did you get involved, Lily?
"I went to see the first few hours of Mark Watson's original 24-hour marathon show and became accidentally embroiled in the saga by getting set up on a date with Tim Key. I shan't recount the whole soap opera, but Mark and I kept in touch, hung out, and remained mates. We both write, perform, act and generally arse about so... I'm expecting his first born to be called Lily. And if it's a girl, well... I don't know."
Would you still help CATE if you didn't know Mark?
"I'd still do this, but in a more low-key way. I'm good at icky, dirty environmentalism and am glad to spread this to people who are less icky... but I'm not doing this for the kudos. Except if CATE gets on Richard and Judy..."
Can comedy change the world (or, at least, the climate)?
"Well, I think it certainly helps. People feel more able to access things and less intimidated if it's offered in a humourous way. It's non-threatening and fun, for the most part. I do burlesque which can address some very strong cultural/political/gender issues, but as it's done through a satirical way who can take [the] implied nudity too seriously? People appreciate [CATE] without feeling like they're back at school, being bullied into participation. In fact, I recently heard about one of my old sociology lecturers forming a comedic performance group to perform at conferences... so it's clearly a vehicle that is used to convey serious messages."
Green Feet Disco
Miriam Miler, 25, a website administrator for the Civil Service, Miriam has organized a green-theme club night in North London, where she also lives. Planned for June 29, there will be prizes for the best recycled outfit and even a special green cocktail.
For more info, email: catedisco@gmail.com
Directions
to Green Feet Disco
How and why did you get involved, Miriam?
"I wanted to get involved because I've seen Mark's stand-up many times now and his enthusiasm can be rather infectious. I admire the fact that he's using that enthusiasm to build up a community of people with a specific aim of doing things to help the planet, so I wanted to be a part of that and hopefully spread a little more enthusiasm around."
What spurred on the idea of a disco?
I was on the bus with my friend Clare "Wear Me I Used To Be Something Else" Nightingale and we were discussing her idea of recycled fashion; something that will soon have it's own CATE project in the form of a flickr photo community. From there I suggested the idea of an event to show off some of these strange and wonderful outfits and the idea of a clubnight for CATE members was born.
Can comedy change the world (or, at least, the climate)?
"It may not seem as though one individual can make much of a difference but Mark is one individual and this project has already gathered quite a lot of steam under his guidance.
"I think that one of the biggest problems environmental causes have is that everyone assumes they can't make an improvement on their own and so they never try. It's quite a common thing to hear dismissive sentiments such as 'big businesses need to start the way' but to me, the important thing is that people are at least prepared to try - I think that's the best way for anything to get done whether you're an individual, a community or a business."
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