Dena Smith Ellis had a great deal to shout about last week after the Unlock Net Zero awards in London.
She explained: “I’m so proud of Graham as he has recently won a sustainability award in London. We were both shortlisted on the Unlock Net Zero 2023 Climate Champions Power List so we travelled up to the awards ceremony at the ExCel Centre.
"Graham was one of the sixteen winners and was recognised for his lifetime achievements in sustainability and climate action. It was much deserved and was such a joy to see the surprise on his face when he won. Many thanks to Jane Brook chair of the Rye Chamber of Commerce who came with us to give her support and took the photos."
A little bit about this fascinating man:
Graham Ellis has spent over four decades studying and pursuing sustainable lifestyles. While living in a tiny Caribbean island village in the 1970’s, he experienced subsistence farming before moving onto a sailboat powered by wind and solar. He then co-founded a workers’ cooperative in Canada, operating a wholefoods bakery and natural foods distribution business.
In 1981, he moved to rural Hawaii, foraging and gleaning local foods, then homesteading ten acres of jungle where he lived totally off-grid, on rainwater catchment, and practising agroforestry. In 1987, he founded an artistic eco-village where he directed a renowned community circus program that led to the building of a community centre which - with its energy, food, economic, and socialist ideology - became one of the most sustainable in the world. It hosted a school, a farmers’ market, performance arts programs, neighbourhood events, and even a church…and it’s still thriving today. As a champion of sustainability, Graham has been acknowledged by Hawaii’s governor, as well as other federal, state, and county officials.
Since returning to the UK in 2017, Graham has written a book about his thirty years of living in a sustainable community experiment and has had numerous articles published in international magazines. He currently sits on two panels for Southern Housing as a resident representative focusing on sustainability issues. In Rye, he’s a prominent member of two community gardens; he cofounded the citizens' action group Sustainable Living Forum; and recently formed a CIC, Community Compost Solutions, while giving talks locally on ‘sustainable living’ and ‘the virtues of composting’.
Dominic Manning, who is a founder member of the community garden, said of Graham: “Graham is a true pillar of the community, a force for good. His many initiatives in Rye are transformative, delivered with joy, skill and wisdom. The award is richly deserved.”
