Prince Charles's Sustainability Garden Party

On Tuesday John and I headed to the gardens at Clarence House to have tea with Prince Charles. Well not quite. The Prince of Wales opened up his gardens for a 12 day Garden Party as part of his Start initiative, hosting an intriguing mix of exhibitions, interactive displays and live performances by comedians, musicians and speakers, aimed to raise awareness about how we can lead more sustainable lives.

Entering the Garden Party at Clarence House. Photo: Anouk van den Eijnde

The Prince of Wales said: "I am delighted to be able to welcome visitors into my gardens, and those of my immediate neighbours, for this exciting festival. We have a fantastic team of talented curators who are helping us create an event which will, I hope, be both fun and informative. This festival is just one way in which Start can help to demonstrate how we can all make a difference, however big or small the steps we take."

An installation by B&Q encourage you to insulate your loft with sheep's wool. Photo: Anouk van den EijndeWe marvelled at the fruit and veg garden, learned about organic gardening, enjoyed B&Q's Sheep on a ladder display to encourage us to insulate our lofts, pedalled to power Global Action Plan's laptop and listened attentively to David Attenborough speak about biodiversity and sustainability.

Overland travel is at the heart of what greentraveller is all about, so when we spotted Eurostar's 'High Speed Theatre' tent, we rushed to find out more. The interior had a range of computers where you could book discounted Eurostar tickets (25% off if you booked that day). Some screens displayed information about their 'Tread Lightly' and 'Cut a Quarter' campaigns, the former highlighting their commitment to cutting CO2 emissions by 35% per traveller journey by 2012 and the latter a website helping users to cut a quarter of their own emissions with helpful lifestyle tips and actions.

Euostar's own high speed theatre tent, showcasing four minute performances about some of their exciting destinations. Photo: Anouk van den Eijnde

A map showing all the exciting European destinations Eurostar travels to. Photo: Anouk van den EijndeAnd now the theatre bit. Every 15 minutes, actors played out the journey to exciting European destinations (Paris, Amsterdam, Cologne and Avignon) by Eurostar. For the Amsterdam sketch, a school teacher is taking her students on a school trip and questionning them about the environmental benefits of taking the train. For the Paris one, you experience the journey through different passengers' eyes: a mother with her young child is happy because the journey is quick and her son won't lose patience, a 20-something fashionista can't quite believe that in just over two hours she's be at Paris Fashion Week, and an intellectual writer-type can't wait to explore the bohemian city by bicycle (on Velib perhaps?)

Overall a very entertaining way to convey the all-round benefits of train travel - convenient city to city transport, a pleasureable way to travel, and the low carbon alternative to flying.

The Garden Party takes place from September 8 - 19 at Clarence House in London. For more information visit: www.startgardenparty.co.uk