Mary Reid

Kingston Green Fair is always full of unusual and delightful surprises. At its heart it is a "celebration of sustainability" - everything is powered by wind, sun or bicycle. It takes place every year on the Spring Bank Holiday beside the Thames in Canbury Gardens.

After an early shower, which had us all running for the Green Homes Exhibition tent, the weather was kind today.

Among the many fascinating stalls my attention was drawn to two of them. The lead story in today's Independent was about biodegradable bottles that you can throw into the compost heap when empty, and the first stall I saw was one selling the Belu bottles. So I bought one, of course.

Then later I came across Freecycle.  A simple idea - post details of any goods you don't want on the website and browse through for items you could give a home to.  Everything is free.  It is a win-win-win concept: clear out the things you no longer need, find things you want, keep goods out of landfill. The Kingston Freecycle group already has over 200 members.

Kingston's Green Fair was one of the first of its kind, nineteen years ago, and has inspired many other events across the country. This year it is the official preview preview event for London's Annual Green Festival.