Earth Day Market 2023

The Canny Cycle, in partnership with The Earth Day Market, invited over 100 cyclists to join a 6 mile cycle around a pre-marked, marshalled, off-road route. The route was scenic and designed for all different abilities. Entire families joined in the fun, spotting people fishing and swimming in the Tay on their journey. Guests were able to trial an E-bike and take a look at the cargo-bike which is perfect for transporting items and making deliveries. Dr Bike fixed bikes and sold refurbished bikes on the day.

Founded in 2016, Wasted Degrees is owned by two local brothers, Conall and Jack Low, both former pupils of Pitlochry High School and Breadalbane Academy. The brewery produces craft beer from its 100% renewables powered brewhouse in Blair Atholl, Highland Perthshire. Underpinned by a strong sense of social & environmental responsibility, the brothers are both very driven by the impact they can have on their home region, doing what they can for the local community. Wasted Degrees makes a concerted effort to reduce the 'food miles' in its supply chain, championing local produce. It’s clearly about more than just the beer for them. Having recently invested in a new canning line, the brewery is set to save 101 tonnes of carbon equivalents from its environmental footprint in the next five years, a saving realised by moving away from glass bottles to infinitely recyclable aluminium cans. Coupled with exporting for the first time in late-2022, Wasted Degrees is a rising star that's proudly flying the Perthshire flag at home and abroad. Their carbon conscious operating model has recently seen the brewery shortlisted as a finalist in the Sustainable Business award category at the UK's largest beer and brewing trade event, the only Scottish brewery shortlisted.

Flowers by the Brae is florist, supplying Scottish grown flowers focusing on seasonality and sustainable practices. The stall was full of most beautiful rununculus that took centre stage in the bunches she made up for the Earth Day market.

"It was a great market full of businesses who try to go the extra mile when it comes to sustainability and it was a pleasure to be asked along and to fly the flag for home grown flowers." - Laura, Flowers by the Brae

Pitlochry Garden Share are a community food growing organisation and will turn 1 year old on the 1st of May. Last year with a handful of locals the Pitlochry Garden Share group was formed to start growing their own food with family and share any excess with the rest of the community. They share gardens and work as a team, sharing the tools, seeds, knowledge and time. It is a wonderful way to connect people in their community, great for both physical and mental health and they tackle food poverty and the rising cost of living. This year the group have a project with the local Food Bank at the Atholl Centre and we will provide fresh vegetables from their gardens on a regular basis. The group follow organic principles and look at reusing/upcycling as much as they can to reduce any unnecessary waste.

Diggers Fine Cider are a new family-run business making cider in the traditional way, more akin to a natural wine than modern sweet and concentrate-based ciders. They have planted 2,800 apple trees and while they wait for trees to grow to maturity, unwanted apples are used from local chemical free orchards and gardens. The stall at Earth Day Market featured fresh pressed apple juice and vegetables from the farm.

Local Apples - This is why it all starts in the orchard for them, only using 100% Scottish Apples, foraged in the Carse of Gowrie, once famed for its apple growing.

Wild Yeasts - Whilst some of ciders undergo an in bottle secondary fermentation with a pitched yeast, all of the base ciders undergo a natural primary fermentation in a variety of barrels & stainless steel tanks

Minimal Intervention - Diggers like to leave the yeasts and ciders to do their thing and this is why they opt for low (temperature) and slow fermentations. The quickest cider takes 7 months from pressing to release, though on average ciders take 12+ months before being released.

"Diggers apple juice is delicious! So fresh it tasted like biting into an apple. I can't wait to get more." - Happy Customer

John and Cherrie Ritchie started Highland Health Store in 1986.The Natural Remedies & Wholefoods local shops, are a family story. The first shop to open was our No 7 St. John Street store. When No 16 St. John Street came up for sale in 1989 it was purchased and turned into the Remedies and Body Care shop. John & Cherrie’s son, Darren, joined the business in 1997. Now he runs both Natural Remedies & Wholefoods local shops with a little help from his wife Victoria, whilst John & Cherrie enjoy their well-earned retirement.

Rachel's Willow Designs weaved handmade, eco-friendly, sustainable items for the house and garden from willow. Nature friendly bird feeders and bird pods were popular with guests. People could learn about how the willow designs are made and how to maintain them at home.

Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust delivered a fun filled workshop for kids to learn about tree planting. Hosting a stall at the event also, guests were keen to find out more about exploring nature and the outdoors.

“It was so much fun to work with families in our Tree for Every Child in Perthshire workshop! It was great to share information about the project, and to explore why we want to plant trees. I had some excellent helpers to help me demonstrate tree planting and I was very impressed with the art work that everyone completed. It was lovely at the end of the day to see our art wall full of colourful trees!” - PKCT Discovery Learning and Engagement Officer

“PKCT were delighted to attend the Earth Day Market and it was such a positive day to be a part of! There was a really optimistic bustle to the event, and we chatted to so many people, all keen to explore the outdoors and help to conserve it. I actually ran out of leaflets, which is excellent! We are already looking forward to next year!” - PKCT Discovery Learning and Engagement Officer

Tay Larder is a husband and wife team running a new exciting zero-waste refill shop in Perth, where people can buy unique, handmade eco-friendly gift items, refill household products, cosmetics without the plastic packaging.

The local shop supplies a fantastic variety of baking and cooking ingredients, speciality spices and other household products. They also have a wide range of organic fruits and vegetables, fresh organic milk and gift items. There

Remake is a community reuse charity run by volunteers and staff based in Crieff. their purpose is to promote the reuse of materials for the benefit of the community. Remake is a local solution to a global problem. Remake currently run a number of projects including a second-hand store, a young adult employability programme, a tool library and a volunteer programme.

Dunkeld and Birnam Repair Cafe came along with examples of items to mend from garden tools to a broken toys and darning. Guests could find out how to get involved. New members are always welcome and if you are practical, like solving problems and fixing things then join in. If you have something that needs fixing the group can help you.

West Stormont Woodland Group hosted a stall where you could find out about plans for bringing Taymount and Five Mile Woods near Stanley and Bankfoot into community ownership. The group showcased their ideas for action at landscape scale visit and shared information about West Stormont Connect.

The overarching WSWG Vision is:

“Community Wellbeing and Resilience through Eco-forestry for the Planet and Forest Diversification for People."

The Climate Café® joined in to showcase how people can get involved at climate cafes across Perth and Kinross. These are inclusive spaces for people to get together to talk and act on climate change. Climate Cafés are informal where everyone is welcome. Find out about Climate Cafés®, connect with others, find out how they work, as well as find support and guidance to start your own!

The Earth Day Market allowed us to "Highlight the ways we can tread lightly on our earth, here in our community. A chance to find out about local groups with climate change at their heart" - Blairgowrie and Rattray Climate Café®