Greener living and upcycling in pink

Each drawer on the wooden pharmacy cabinet in the forest climate pharmacy is labelled: lack of fluids, boredom, fever, roof damage, shortness of breath or burn-out are written on the small labels. The cure for this? The forest.

‘One of the aims of our forest pharmacy is to show that people generally feel good when they are out and about in a healthy forest. The pulse rate goes down, stress hormones are reduced,’ says Stefan Befeld from the German Forestry Council (27/210). He deals with the question of how it is possible to maintain a healthy forest even under climatic changes. Visitors to Grüne Woche will learn about different tree species such as red oak, silver birch, sweet chestnut and silver fir, and Befeld will explain how mixed forests are constructed and what climate-healing abilities they have.

Even a forest can only heal itself to a limited extent

If required, the forest pharmacist will even issue a prescription at the stand and give trade fair visitors their own little tree to plant themselves. ‘When the forest is doing well, we are usually doing well too. We all realise this when we are out and about in a healthy forest, even if we don't know anything about forestry or forest management,’ says Stefan Befeld.

The forest can usually heal itself, he says. However, nature's abilities also have their limits. It is therefore important to minimise man-made problems. This is another area where trade fair visitors can get active and find out about upcycling at the numerous stations at the Re-Use Superstore (27/300), an initiative of the environmental administration.

Magical upcycling with ironing confetti

There is, for example, the Green League, which offers reusable packaging and brings a mobile dishwasher to weekly markets with its cargo bike to reduce disposable crockery, or the educational initiative A-Gain from Circular City, which uses its network to help find customised solutions for used clothing.

If you want to repair electronic devices or discover fascinating works of art, head to the Batman Café (27/302). Here, for example, there is a school bag containing an old modem and a computer keyboard. Directly opposite, visitors can work with Ukrainian seamstresses from Compango e.V. to turn old Messe Berlin flags into practical shoulder bags, among other things.

You can't miss Sigrid Ellen Münzberg, owner of Sekundär Schick. With her pink sewing machine and her magical iron-on confetti, which conceals small stains or holes in jumpers, for example, she adds a special charm to the upcycling theme.

Sustainability on several levels

In her workshops, for example on Sunday at 12.00 noon on the Grüne Woche stage in Hall 27, she will show how small and larger bags can be sewn from advertising banners, how a fanny pack can be made from flooring and how lanyards can be used as rucksack straps. Trade fair visitors don't need to bring anything except themselves and the fun of upcycling.

A cookery show on the theme of Green Kitchen Live - health and climate protection on the plate will take place on the Grüne Woche stage on Saturday at 11.00 a.m. and a foodie quiz on the theme of saving food with Too Good To Go will be held at 1.45 p.m. In the theme world grünerleben, you will encounter sustainability at all levels.