The Eco Rangers are a team of fancy-dressed volunteers, originally established by Aylin McNamara at Sunrise six years ago. Their ambition is to engage festival attendees concerning the environmental impact of Cloud Cuckoo Land, a temporary community confronted by the same sustainability issues as a household, business or village. They’ve pledged to work tirelessly to ensure our little festival stays beautiful, achieving as low an impact as possible through the inspired and engaged actions of all who participate.

Chris Hardy, #1 Eco Ranger and cycle touring legend, is inspired by his experience of environmentally conscious festivals and the people who attend. That’s you, folks!

When people come to a festival, they’re removed from their normal life,

everyday constraints and preconceptions. Their minds are opened to suggestion and, consequently, a festival can be a powerful learning opportunity for all involved.

The ExChange has been primarily developed by Chris. This is a collection of salvaged or donated objects that were once destined for the bin. The Exchange is a base for the Eco-Rangers at the festival and is another tool for public engagement in the issue of waste. They collect, clean and ‘upcycle’ whatever they find, creating gifts to be treasured in return for small donations or exchanges.

Check him out, waxing lyrical in our extended Cloud Cuckoo Land promo film:

Chris is currently looking for volunteers to support these projects on a UK cycle tour this summer, via his brand new social enterprise, Upcycle. Upcycle combines the Eco Rangers with the ExChange and Chris’ love of cycle touring, ultimately aiming to inspire, support and encourage young people to make more environmentally conscious and socially responsible choices about their life styles and careers.

Stay tuned for full details of Upcycle’s 2012 UK festival tour, or visit http://facebook.com/upcycleUK to ‘like’ his page and sign up for updates.