Anybody visiting Blackpool would struggle to recognise anything of any environmental value but it isn't through lack of effort by their public relations department. You'd think you were entering a satellite of the Machynlleth Centre for Alternative Technology .
Take Blackpool's Illuminations, its biggest tourist attraction the switching on of which the Blackpool Gazette claims 100,000 people attended. One of the first tableaux the visitor to the 'lights' will see is The Green Machine.
This, by its own definition, is a 34m tableau entirely lit by 24v LED lamps which reduces power consumption by 82%.
Five photo voltaic solar panels charge five sets of batteries during the day to power the tableau at night.
Very commendable!
But at 34m (112ft) The Green Machine is just a tiny part of the five miles of light pollution produced in the name of tourism every year. It was first launched in 2006, three years ago, during which time there has been no visible progress in rolling out the sustainable technology it boasts to the rest of the spectacle. It could be asserted that it is positioned at the start of a north/south journey through the lights in order to exaggerate the environmental credentials.
But as can be seen from the images below, there is more than just the environmental boasts of the technology worthy of scrutiny. What exactly is this Green Machine trying to say? The message is totally incoherent - it's as if a focus group comprising of kindergarten kids was asked what they thought of when they heard the words 'environmental bullshit'.
What on earth have vitamins A, B, C, D and E (extinghuished) got to do with the environment? Fruit and Veg, Carbohydrates? Dairy? Fish? All cobbled together with pointless buzz words like Hazardous Waste and 100% Recyclable.
The total result is a dazzling fountain of hogwash.
3rd October 2009
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