by Eleonora Anello
4 hours a day, only in the late afternoon. Then the lighting of the Christmas tree that is located in the City Hall Square in Copenhagen, renamed on the occasion of COP-15, "Hopenagen Live", will be entrusted to the goodwill of all those who would turn on the lights, pedaling. In the city that boasts over 350 km of cycle paths, this year the tree will be lit by human energy. The establishment of the eco-tree is part of Hopenhagen, the "open source" communication campaign promoted by the UN that accompanies the Conference on climate. A webcam allows you to admire it throughout the world.
The “pedal tree” is a must for Christmas 2009 but it is not new. Last year in Barcelona and London the first models appeared. In Placa del Mercat Santa Catarina, the decorated tree with LED lights, which provides a great energy saving, advertised the Bicing, the system of bike sharing of the Catalan capital, using its bikes. In London, the Tate Britain Art Museum, commissiones an eco-tree each year. The 2009 one has a wooden structure and is decorated with recycled materials. 8 bicycles of various sizes, allow also a younger audience to be involved.
And December 5th, 2009, the day when the high speed railway line crossed for the first time Bologna, in the Piazza del Nettuno, the Mayor Flavio Delbono rode one of the used bikes around the “Tree of re-cycling" and, pedaling, he lit the Christmas lights together with other personalities, such as Cesare Cremonini (famous Italian singer), Susy Blady and Patrizio Roversi (tv characters), Nicoletta Mantovani, wife of Luciano Pavarotti, assessor for cultural promotion of the city. On Internet you can monitor the energy produced by bicycles in real time. «On this page every bike has a name», explains Francesca Lenzi, creator of the project, with Mario Nanni, and president of the Cooperative Le-Ali on charge of the initiative, «and each name refers to a model of light produced by Viabizzuno, one of the sponsors. Thanks to the wireless network we can transmit the data on the amount of energy produced by each half and their total. For us it’s essential that the individual understands how much energy can be produced in an environmentally responsible way. This transfer of information wants to be the most concrete and tangible possible».
After the Christmas period, the bikes will be transferred to the "Parco Cavaioni" in the middle of a recovery, the first and unique Italian experience where people are self-assessed to redevelop an area of their city. Vehicles will produce the energy required for night lighting of the green area. The fir will instead firewood while the plastic decorations will become warm sweaters that will be donated to needy children.
Milan also has been busy. Until the Epiphany in Piazza Cairoli the Eco Christmas will be illuminated. It is a Christmas installation whose 100 meters in multicoloured LED lights are powered by 9 BikeMi bicycles, the bike-sharing of the city.
Pedal Trees represent a practical way of raising awareness on environmental issues and, specifically, on the alternative energy, while promoting socialization and, most importantly, physical activity that, in view of the Christmas binges, can only do well.
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