The Book of Rubbish Ideas

The Eco-Rally Drivers

Morning all!

Yes, I know, long time no natter, well, I’ve been up to my ears talking rubbish!

I’ve been doing lots of Lit Fests which are great fun and doing talks around the country on ways to cut the crud out of your life and save yourself a fortune in the process (by the way, if you’re interested in booking me, click here).

And today, I’m about to pack my bag and head to Brighton beach!

On Monday, I’m driving with a delightful handful of planet-loving celebs in the Eco-Rally 2009 (get me, the little ‘Z’ lister!)…

Here’s the crack from the Ec0-Rally website.

Revolve is delighted to announce a partnership this year with What Car? magazine and the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership. Together, we three entities will organise a green motoring day consisting of a conference (hosted by LowCVP), a green car awards ceremony (hosted by What Car?) and Revolve’s Eco-Rally on Monday, 8 June 2009.

Our Eco-Rally will once again flip the Veteran Car Run on its head and have a handful of great, green celebrities driving from Brighton’s seafront to the waterfront at London’s City Hall. The finish is timed to coincide with the conclusion of the LowCVP conference, and before the start of the WhatCar? Green Awards ceremony.

Forty vehicles will be on display at City Hall, half of which are are taking part in this year’s Eco-Rally. 90% are from the world’s major car brands and many of the cars and/or components are designed and built in Britain. The remainder are British innovation firms.

Highlights

* The first four-seater electric cars available in Britain (including the Mitsubishi iMIEV, runner-up for 2009 World Green Car*)

* The UK’s first electric taxi (Allied Vehicles).

* The Tesla Roadster (often referred to as “the world’s first serious electric car”)

* Park + Power’s vehicle recharging station

* Nissan’s fifth-generation fuel cell prototype vehicle<

* ITM Power, Europe’s largest electrolyser and fuel cell company will attempt to make the entire journey in their bi-fuel hydrogen ICE car

* Cleartec Auto Stop & Go technology

* The most affordable hybrid family car yet.

* The most powerful and most environmentally-friendly Exige that Lotus has ever built.

* The winner of the What Car? Green Awards

* The 2009 winner of the World Car Design award*

* Six of the top ten finalists in 2009 World Green car awards*

* A new, greener version of the 2008 World Green Car winner (BMW 116d)*

* A municipal rubbish truck that “runs on rubbish” (Gasrec’s biomethane-powered truck)

Drivers Include

# Baron Bassam of Brighton (Chief Whip at the House of Lords)

# Zac Goldsmith

# Oliver Heath

# Carl Honore

# Sean Hughes

# Jenny Jones AM (Green Party)

# Robert Llewellyn

# Penney Poyzer

# Tracey Smith

# Lucy Siegle

# John Surtees

# Iwan Tukalo (ex international rugby player)

# Quentin Willson

# Paul Zenon

And there you have it.

My mission, to highlight the importance of the emerging green vehicle market and to get more people car sharing too!

I’m ‘possibly’ down to drive the Lotus Elise (if I can shoehorn my rear into the squidgy seat), which runs on ‘Rubbish’…and it’s a possibility we might end up on GMTV and the nightly news bulletins too, so keep a look out.

Stay well rubbish chums,

More soon,

Trace x