So my partner was away for a few days and I was chain-watching trash television. This always includes the modern equivalent of The Chart Show, which at the moment is The Official Top 40 on MTV. This has an ad break at a rate of every 4-5 videos, so I spend a lot of time on fast forward.
But every now and then an advert stops you in its tracks. The ad started with this tweet:
So, ah yeah. I was left with the impression that MTV had just commissioned a gardening show starring up-and-coming urban stars from run-down areas setting up community gardens and hosting gigs in them. Yeah, that. And it's called Concrete Green. Sponsored by Timberland. Happening in cities across the world. Partnered with local parks and greens. Starring locals like Loyle. Sounds awesome, thought I, just the thing now Gardener's World has shut up shop for the winter. After all, you can green a nice toasty urban space at any damn time of year.
And of course I deleted the recording and now I can't find any evidence that this show even exists. Maybe it's just that little trailer spot, maybe I was in a Katy Perry-induced fugue state.
The Timberland campaign (celebrating a new boot with some recycled elements) seems real enough though, and pretty far-reaching. They're even doing one of the really big bits of green engineering that has been mooted for a while; planting the green river of trees across Africa to draw coastal water inland and combat expanding desertification. According to the theory (and there's some evidence to back it up, but nothing on this scale) it'll need human intervention (gardening) until it becomes self-sustaining, and then the trees will water themselves, and the crops and livestock too.
Hope for a green planet on MTV, trees flowing incontinently out of vast marketing budgets, rappers ripping the vape-fouled ceilings off their clubs and replacing them with triple-thickness polycarbonate greenhouse vaulting, ferns crawling up the walls to play with the stage lights, local kids made good going back to their estates with seed bombs and tree launchers, inspired kids using their knives as bulb planters, taking abandoned white goods for tree planters and filling their balconies with pigeons, geraniums, herbs, bees.
But this is a Twitter story, after all. So let's not get carried away. I'll give the last word to a grumpy local councillor, who I bet has given some holes in the road hard stares in his time, and his thoughts about the Local Community, accompanied by Loyle getting his fidget on:
But every now and then an advert stops you in its tracks. The ad started with this tweet:
And ended with this one:Yo I’ve been looking into this thing called urban greening lol. Where you take a space that’s run down, kinda concrete jungle and turn it into a green space for the community. Can anyone think of a spot that needs it? Preferably in south London— Loyle (@LoyleCarner) July 16, 2019
You can choose how you use your influence. Everyone has some influence. Loads of positive energy in #ThorntonHeath yesterday. #collaboration @LoyleCarner @LondonNPC @Timberland_EU @yourcroydon @urbangrowthlg #Natureneedsheroes pic.twitter.com/6Js5sX5NEJ— Ben Smith (@Smithster76) October 18, 2019
So, ah yeah. I was left with the impression that MTV had just commissioned a gardening show starring up-and-coming urban stars from run-down areas setting up community gardens and hosting gigs in them. Yeah, that. And it's called Concrete Green. Sponsored by Timberland. Happening in cities across the world. Partnered with local parks and greens. Starring locals like Loyle. Sounds awesome, thought I, just the thing now Gardener's World has shut up shop for the winter. After all, you can green a nice toasty urban space at any damn time of year.
And of course I deleted the recording and now I can't find any evidence that this show even exists. Maybe it's just that little trailer spot, maybe I was in a Katy Perry-induced fugue state.
The Timberland campaign (celebrating a new boot with some recycled elements) seems real enough though, and pretty far-reaching. They're even doing one of the really big bits of green engineering that has been mooted for a while; planting the green river of trees across Africa to draw coastal water inland and combat expanding desertification. According to the theory (and there's some evidence to back it up, but nothing on this scale) it'll need human intervention (gardening) until it becomes self-sustaining, and then the trees will water themselves, and the crops and livestock too.
Hope for a green planet on MTV, trees flowing incontinently out of vast marketing budgets, rappers ripping the vape-fouled ceilings off their clubs and replacing them with triple-thickness polycarbonate greenhouse vaulting, ferns crawling up the walls to play with the stage lights, local kids made good going back to their estates with seed bombs and tree launchers, inspired kids using their knives as bulb planters, taking abandoned white goods for tree planters and filling their balconies with pigeons, geraniums, herbs, bees.
But this is a Twitter story, after all. So let's not get carried away. I'll give the last word to a grumpy local councillor, who I bet has given some holes in the road hard stares in his time, and his thoughts about the Local Community, accompanied by Loyle getting his fidget on:
Come along to the Ambassador House forecourt in #ThorntonHeath before 6pm to find out more about how @LoyleCarner @LondonNPC @urbangrowthlg and @Timberland are going to be working with the community about plans to bring urban greening to the space #natureneedsheroes @CllrTony pic.twitter.com/nbFiBu5lUk— Your Croydon (@yourcroydon) October 17, 2019
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