The greening of literature – the Hay environmental agenda

There are 31 exhibitors at the Guardian Hay Festival and these include several environment / organic food / fair trade stands such as the ‘Gaia Exhibition’, the ‘Global Action Plan’, information on environmental and ethical forms of investment as well as eco-buildings and solar energy collectors. The festival is launched with a series of discussions on sustainability. These so-called ‘greenprint’ events are sponsored by UNESCO and include discussions on global food supply chains, forced migration due to climate change and energy and freshwater supply. They are also used to launch the Welsh sustainable development scheme, Anthony Giddens’ new book on The Politics of Climate Change and The Guardian’s ‘Blueprint for a Safer Planet’. The greening is carried over to the food served – all organic – the goods traded – all fair – and the waste managed – and recycled. If you happened to be a traveller from far-away lands and the Hay Literature Festival were one of your first stops, you might almost be seduced into believing that Britain were among the greenest, most sustainable and fairest countries that have ever existed. This is, of course, a skewed picture of reality and the festival rather presents its vision of Britain rather than reality. The latter is characterized by poor building insulation, old-fashioned bath tubs, the absence – within cities and residential areas – of recycling bins, an over-reliance on the car, and a very low proportion of electrified railway tracks.