The royal tour stops in Bristol and witnesses the Start of something truly special

HRH Prince Charles has got his national tour underway and launched his new initiative designed to help people switch to lifestyles that are healthier for people and easier on the planet. Frustrated with the environmental movement’s historic tendency to tell people to stop flying/ driving/ consuming, Start is all about motivating people to make changes for positive reasons.

Growing vegetables is great for the environment AND healthier; cycling to work releases no CO2 (apart from what you breathe out) AND will add years to your life; getting involved in our communities can have cascading positive effects from the individual out to social networks and help shift society towards the sustainable future we urgently need to secure.

The launch of Start is highly significant for its sister campaign, Mayday. For 3 years business has come together in a non-competitive space to share sustainability solutions. This process has helped some companies become more confident that offering fully sustainable products and services is within their grasp. As consumers become activated to make sustainable choices these leading companies are where they will go to spend their pounds.

It is against this exciting backdrop of national dot joining that I headed to Bristol to witness the official opening of the south West’s Start Living Advice Centre. It has to be said that for the crowds of overexcited spectators the importance of linking demand and supply side sustainability initiatives seemed at best secondary to the thrill of the arrival of the royal party.

We arrived at Cabot Circus at the start of the day and the place was already humming in preparation. Brass being polished, bands setting up, the route being walked through and even a choir stand being built!

Months of preparation, blended into hours of finishing touches into seconds of final checks and suddenly it is ground rush; the moment upon us. To gasps of delight the royal motorcade swept in complete with its team of daredevil outriders.

Bristol’s pipers and drummers sounded out a rousing volley as the royal party disembarked and crowds surged forwards and surrounded the group as they made their way into the shopping centre. People seemed genuinely amazed with the friendliness of HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. They mingled with the crowds (sometimes 8 deep) chatting freely and for a brief moment it did cross my mind that this intimacy could be risky but then I became aware of the ever vigilant presence of the Special Branch officers who seem to be everywhere at once whilst communicating with each other via a complex, impregnable code of facial expressions (backed up with the occasional words into their sleeves).

Business in the Communities’ Peaches Golding, who is also the Sherriff of Bristol, was on hand to guide HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of York through the assortment of exhibitors. There were a range of sustainable initiatives to be inspected put forward from the impressive web of organizations that makes Bristol a serious contender to be a Sustainable City; from cyclists from the cycling charity Sustrans to B and Q’s impressive One Planet range of products that can help green homes. There were times it seemed impossible but the party made its way through the crowds in the grand arcade and round to the escalators up to where the incredible local choir lifted the roof off with inspiring gospel anthems.

This certainly is a shopping centre with a difference! You can still come and buy things; but there is now also the possibility to visit and do something different. The Start Living Advice Centre has now opened its doors to HRH Prince Charles, Bristol’s VIPs and us... the humble consumer.

However, the shoppers that come into the advice centre are in for a surprise. The realization is that everyday people, making their daily purchases, drive the economy, and therefore determine its environmental impacts. Every pound we spend is a vote cast, for a product, and a way of life. The exhibitions in Cabot Circus is all about empowering  the consumer as an agent of change by showing how our choices make the world of difference.

Finally we made it to the shop where many local sustainability initiatives had gathered to present their means for how people can start their journey to sustainability. For some it is through starting eating differently for some it is growing fruit and vegtables and for others in is active transport. Put together these diverse lifestyle changes offer a route to a healthier life and a happier planet a combinations which appeals to the Prince, and it clear that others are catching on; not least the major brands that have come together to support this positive agenda.

This is the first time that big high street brands have come together in an attempt to nudge consumer choices towards sustainability. This is surely a watershed moment. The urgency of radically changing the course of our society is no longer solely the position of environmentalists and scientists. It has hit the mainstream. The tipping point is upon us. It is ‘all change’ on our collective train journey. The next stop is sustainability... and Mayday businesses are leading the way!