It's Not Easy Being Green
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- This article is about the BBC2 programme. For the popular song performed by Kermit the Frog, see Bein' Green.
| It's Not Easy Being Green | |
|---|---|
 It's Not Easy Being Green title card |
|
| Format | Reality |
| Starring | Dick Strawbridge Brigit Strawbridge |
| Country of origin | UK |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 59 Minutes (episode 1), 29 Minutes (episodes 2-7) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Original run | March 28, 2006 – 16 May 2006 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
It's Not Easy Being Green is a programme on BBC Two, following Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Strawbridge, his wife Brigit, son James, and daughter Charlotte as they move into New House Farm, a 300-year-old listed building in Tywardreath, Cornwall, England from Malvern, Worcestershire.
The series documents the family's attempts to convert the building and garden into a comfortable yet entirely ecologically friendly place to live. The show is perhaps unique in that the family does not want great sacrifices in achieving their goal, and Dick Strawbridge says “I don't want to wear a hemp shirt and hairy knickers, I want a 21st-century lifestyle with a coffee machine”.[1]
In the series they receive advice from permaculture expert Patrick Whitefield and green auditor Donnachadh McCarthy. They are also helped by friends Jim Milner and Anda Phillips as well as at points a small army of friends and relatives.
A book entitled ‘It's Not Easy Being Green: One Family's Journey Towards Eco-Friendly Living’ ISBN 0-563-49346-1 by Dick Strawbridge has been released to accompany the series.
The series is currently in its second season, focusing on the Strawbridges' helping others to achieve their eco-friendly goals, rather than on their own residence.
The series takes its title from the first line of the song "Bein' Green" (most famously associated with Kermit the Frog).
[edit] Episodes
| # | Original airdate | Production code | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 March 2006 | - | |||
| The family move into the house, and, with the help of friends - beer-guzzling students - and local businesses, they plant crops, re-tile the roof, and construct a wooden aqueduct from a stream to a water wheel, which it is hoped will provide enough energy to power the lights of the house. | |||||
| 2 | 4 April 2006 | - | |||
| A greenhouse is erected with a unique heatsink designed by Dick and made from recycled bottle glass to keep it warm and the family acquire two pigs, ominously named "Christmas" and "New Year". | |||||
| 3 | 11 April 2006 | - | |||
| Dick attaches a generator to the water wheel that powers all the lights in the house and the family enjoys a bumper first harvest. | |||||
| 4 | 18 April 2006 | - | |||
| Heating distribution system is installed to help a spread the warmth from to efficient wood burning stoves to the rest of the house and to clear the house of damp. Dick and Jim make biodiesel from chip fat. | |||||
| 5 | 2 May 2006 | - | |||
| 6 | 9 May 2006 | - | |||
| 7 | 16 May 2006 | - | |||
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ O'Connell, Sanjida. "Living the eco-life in Cornwall", The Independent Online Edition, March 20, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
