We’ve decided to keep it local this week to remind people that the leaders in what is emerging as a global green movement aren’t always just politicians, businesspeople or writers.

Let’s face it; we’re all addicts, economically speaking. We get up, we go to work, we socialise, we take a holiday.. and with little or no conscious effort, we are polluting the earth and increasing our carbon footprints. To beat any addiction, its always good to hear the stories of those who have conquered the mountain. And no one in Ireland has done that with more success that Rebecca and Dan Hillman of Irish Sally Garden fame.

Having moved from their ‘average city life’ to rural Ireland in order to run a carpentry business, they soon found that paid work got in the way of what they truly had a passion for: ‘providing our own food with minimal impact on the environment … no food miles, no carbon footprint, just fresh organic food with a journey of only a few meters and minutes to our plates.’

Today they make a comfortable living sharing their knowledge and experience to help others live the dream as well as selling their surplus produce to local people. What we at Edenbee love about their new lifestyle is that it is not all about denial, denial and more denial. They are not leaving comforts behind to blindly follow an ideal. What they are doing is taking on a far more fulfilling lifestyle, one that they have a strong belief in.

‘We want to think small, keep it local, not expand but develop our food supply within a local network and maintain business on a personal level.’

Despite all the work of the aforementioned politicians, visionary businessmen and campaigners, we are only going to see a true green industrial revolution if we get to a stage where the ordinary person on the street (or in the fields) is physically able to live out their daily lives in respect of the earth. As such, Rebecca and Dan stand as an example to us all.

We hope to do a full feature on various eco-pioneers dotted throughout the country but in the meantime you can follow their exploits on their blog.

Thanks Rebecca and Dan. Keep up the good work.