Goes Greener Blue Peter

BLUE PETER GOES GREENER CBC A399Y/01 BRD000000

Today's show is all about nature.

And caring for the environment.

And cycling!

Oh, no.

CRASHING

RE-cycling!

-Recycling?

-Yeah.

I knew that, I was just cycling in to be environmentally friendly.

Ouch.

-Hello!

-Hello!

Welcome to live Blue Peter!

Today's show officially kicks off the Green Season,

And we're celebrating all things green badge, my friends.

That's right. And because we love nature and the environment,

look where we are! We're outside, live in the BP garden.

And as I walk this way you can see we've got a lovely crowd here.

Hello, guys!

We've got some trees, some plants, and... Oh, hello!

And Naomi Wilkinson just standing here!

Make some noise!

APPLAUSE

It's great to be back,

especially to celebrate my favourite badge of all.

I'm looking forward to all the green goodness that we have coming up!

Well, there's going to be a lot of that,

because I go and join the Springwatch team

to do a spot of bio-blitzing.

Does anyone know what that is?

ALL: NOPE!

I didn't know either, but keep watching and you will find out.

Later on, we're going to be showcasing some fantastic outfits,

that are all made entirely out of recycled materials,

on our green catwalk.

-We're also going to be giving...

-Nicely said.

-Say it again, Naomi.

-Green catwalk!

-I like it!

We're also going to be giving the green badge

a little bit of a make over. Make it greener!

You know what? I can't really say anything else,

you'll have to keep watching if you want to see it. This is the old one.

-What is the new one going to look like? Keep watching.

-Ooh!

Now, am I right in thinking the vegetable garden has had

-a little bit of a makeover? Was that your handiwork?

-Oh, yes.

We would like to say it was but actually, no,

we had to hire in this amazing expert.

Check this out.

Last year, the BP veg garden looked great.

We planted some amazing vegetables and got some great food from it.

But so far this year we've been a little bit busy.

Which means the good old garden is looking a little worse for wear.

Better sort that out.

I need the help of a gardening expert.

And who better than ten-year-old George?

In 2014, he won the Royal Horticultural Society's

Young Gardner of the Year award.

I first got into gardening when I was about four,

because my dad influenced that and also my mum.

I think it's good to be outside in the fresh air where you can

enjoy something, which is also good for you.

It is like growing a money tree - gardening.

Because you can grow your own produce.

Sometimes when you get something from the supermarket it is

a waste of money when you can grow it at your house for free.

He certainly knows his onions

and he's got a plan to get our veg patch looking great again.

What are we going to do?

Well, I think we need to add a little bit of nutrients to the soil.

-OK, sounds good. So what is the plan?

-Horse manure.

-So, poo?

Yes. Why is it important that we get the poo into the garden?

Well, it is like food for the plants.

Because it is bare and it hasn't got nutrients in the soil,

it's good to have a bit of food there.

It needs some help, doesn't it?

Come on, let's go and find that manure and get started.

-Basically, Lindsay, we're just going to get a bit off.

-Yeah.

-And just chuck it on.

-Oh, we really are just going to chuck it on. OK.

I like the sound of that.

Since he won the Young Gardener of the Year award, life has been

pretty busy for George, and he's now an RHS young ambassador.

So what comes with that job? What responsibilities do you have now?

I think the main responsibility is to try

and inspire other young people to get into gardening.

And what have you been doing since you won Young Gardener of the Year?

I've been doing speeches at Parliament, I've been meeting

-the Queen at Chelsea Flower Show.

-Oh, right. Nothing big, then.

-No.

It's been easy.

-What are we going to do next? Work the ground?

-Yep! What does this do?

-Just mix it all in, George?

-Yeah, just get all the nutrients in there.

And, plus, it will loosen the soil for a bit

when we are planting later.

Who would have thought poo could be so useful?

Right, George, I think that's done. What's next?

I'm thinking we could get some veg, fruit, plants and herbs.

-Sounds good. Let's do it.

-Wait, wait, wait. We need a plan.

-We do.

George's top tip is not to rush. Take time to lay out your plants and

decide where you want them to go and don't put them too close together.

Allow plenty of growing room.

So, George,

We've put all the hard work in. Now it's time to get planting, isn't it?

-I don't know how to do that. Do you?

-Yes.

-Thought you might. Go on.

-Show me how it's done.

-When you're planting anything,

you've always got to make a hole bigger than the plant.

-Oh, just to make sure there's room for it.

-Yes.

George, that looks like a massive hole. How big does it need to be?

It needs to be reasonably big.

And how much you need to squish it down?

Quite a bit to make sure it's in and it won't come out.

-And, voila!

-That's how it's done.

-Happy with that?

-Definitely.

George thinks the garden is at its best

when it's both pretty and productive.

So we've planted marigolds, strawberries, runner beans

and rosemary. So, George. Why are herbs...

especially, like, rosemary, really important in the garden?

I think they smell nice and they're also very good for cooking.

That's true. If you've got herbs in the garden,

you can just chuck them into anything, can't you?

Yeah, my mum does it with chicken.

The problem with growing all this tasty produce is there's

plenty of garden pests who also love a nibble.

But George has a secret to help keep them at bay.

We've got our runner beans here.

And why is it so important that we plant them near the marigolds?

Well, the marigolds attract the insects that will eat

the pests that will eat the runner beans.

Oh, so to get all the pests away from our amazing runner beans

-they all go over that way, basically, don't they?

-Yes.

-And that is called companion planting.

-There we go.

I'm learning here, George. I am learning.

Well, George, thank you so much for showing me everything you know.

Today has genuinely been awesome I think the garden looks

a lot better. So I guess now we just kind of stand around and wait.

Lindsay, it's going to take months to grow.

I knew that. George!

He is so cheeky and so great, isn't he?

Remember that time he poured poo all over this bit?

-And now we're stood here, aren't we?

-George, you are a hero.

If you at home would like to get some tips about your garden

from the man himself, simply jump onto the Blue Peter website.

Now I think it's fair to say

that George has earned his green Blue Peter badge,

but if you haven't earned yours we want to hear from you.

What are you going to do to earn it?

Leave all your comments on the Blue Peter website and we will

read out as many of those as we can at the end of the programme.

Now, if you love nature you'll know

that BBC TWO's Springwatch is back.

-Yes!

-Yes!

-Last weekend, I went to hang out with Chris and Michaela.

We are so excited about the brand-new series of Springwatch,

starting again on BBC TWO,

that we've asked all of you lot at home to get onto the

Blue Peter website and let us know

your questions for Chris and Michaela.

Thank you for joining me today.

Now, these are weird and wonderful, and we've had so many of them

we thought we'd try and get through

as many as we can in 90 seconds.

-Oh, OK.

-How does that sound?

-Sounds good.

-Do you want to go?

-Yes.

Three, two, one.

So, MaroonWigglingMillipede, good name, says,

have you ever had an animal who just doesn't want to be filmed?

Many times. Hedgehogs. They never want to be filmed.

-They just go into a ball.

-That's a good one.

CitronCheekyFootball says, what is better -

-a lamb or a chick?

-Oh, a chick. Definitely.

OpalCuriousReindeer, what's your favourite pizza topping?

-I like it with an egg. Fried egg in the middle.

-Oh, yeah.

-Just cheese.

-Just cheese for me.

-Cheese in general. Good. NavyBlueSpikyCow -

-do you prefer scrambled egg or poached egg?

-Scrambled.

-Poached.

-OK.

Tanzanite Giggly Peach says, what was your favourite

animals of all the spring animals?

Oh, Spineless Si, the stickleback from last year.

-No, no, the dreaming water rail for me.

-Oh, yes, I remember.

CarnelianChocolateBaker says, who is the best at spotting animals?

Oh, gosh. Well, our eyesight isn't very good these days, is it?

Your eyesight is not very good.

One of the younger members of the team, probably.

Let's not fall out over the quickfire round.

-No, it's probably Chris.

-This is a nice one. PurpleSewingPuffin,

-How'd you become relaxed in front of the camera?

-You don't care.

-I do a bit of yoga beforehand, you know.

-That's not a joke either.

-A few diamond dogs.

-Yoga. Don't care.

-There are yoga movements taking place before the broadcast.

-Good.

BerylTennisJaguar says,

if you had to choose between a koala or kangaroo, what would you choose?

-And why?

-Kangaroo. Faster.

-Cool.

-Yeah, definitely.

-Koalas are actually quite boring.

-OK, we haven't got long.

AmethystSwimmingOtter says

if you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Home to see my poodles. It's their birthday today.

Oh, happy birthday, poodles.

Time for a last one. SunstoneSingingClownfish -

-scariest animal ever?

-ALARM

-Michaela Strachan.

-That's so rude!

-That was a very good quickfire round.

-Did we get through a lot?

You... Well, yes. A good amount. Under 10, I think.

But still very good. So thank you so much.

And we're so excited for the new series of Springwatch.

-Any gems to look forward to that you know of yet?

-Of course.

We've got loads of gems.

You know, it is interesting actually because the biggest drama is

happening with the bird we're all familiar with. Well, two birds.

The bluetits and the great tits,

and they're in a woodland just over there and, yeah,

it's already got dramatic and we haven't even started the series.

And that drama could really hot up, because

they are nesting very close to their arch predator, the sparrowhawk.

We've got cameras on a sparrowhawk nest as well,

so we're going to be very interested to see what happens around there.

Another thing we're doing this year is Do Something Great For Nature.

We're trying to encourage people to get out into their community

and volunteer to improve things for the wildlife there,

and everyone can get involved.

I love that. Because you can do something great and earn

-your green Blue Peter badge.

-Well, exactly. I did exactly that.

I got the long straw out of the three presenters and I went

to the RSPCA centre in Stapely Grange

and I got to help with loads of different British wildlife,

and I got to release some animals back into the wild as well,

so definitely something very, very rewarding to do as a volunteer.

We are huge fans of that on Blue Peter,

and if you're really excited for the series check out this sneak peek.

What's the rehab recess?

What we would do, we would get small cubs like this,

and even smaller, and look after them

and then we pair them up into a group of about five family groups.

Then obviously the process would be integrating them into that

social group and then we move them outside to the rehab cages.

Those cute foxes are enough to make me watch that

without a shadow of a doubt.

Now, when you think of fashion icons, you probably think of...

Anyone but Radzi!

That is probably true, but if you put recycling and fashion together,

then you should think of the founder of Junk Kouture.

Please welcome Elizabeth!

-Welcome to Blue Peter.

-Thank you.

-Junk Kouture, it sounds amazing.

What is it?

So, Junk Kouture is a recycled fashion contest where we

challenge secondary school children to create wearable art

-and couture dresses from junk.

-It sounds incredible.

I know you do a competition every single year

and the photos of some previous winners are off the charts.

In fact, check this out.

We have a picture here, can you talk us through some of these?

Yes, so this Le Paon Majestueux

and it's made from peacock feathers, papers and old broken jewellery.

Fantastic, we have another one here. Is that corks?

Entirely made from thousands of corks, all pieced together

and reshaped to make this amazing dress.

-Was it made from County Cork?

-I don't know about that!

-Awful!

What's this one?

This one was, the kids found old builders tape in skips

near a building site and it is completely made from builders tape.

It really is absolutely fantastic.

This year, you have another competition.

What were the entries like for that?

The standard is incredibly high and the creativity...

These kids are only 14 and 15 and it is just amazing.

-Our judges this year were Louis Walsh.

-Louis Walsh!

-And Vogue Williams.

-There he is.

They had a tough job this year picking the winners.

We know there were some masterpieces.

I know that because I've seen some of them. Shall we start the catwalk?

-Absolutely.

-Would you please welcome Jewel in the Nile!

Eleanor wears this stunning dress and intricate headpiece.

The headpiece is made from recycled pieces of wood

and the simply irresistible dress is delicately made from crocheted

and knitted recycled ladies tights.

The designers were highly influenced

and inspired by clothes worn in the 1920s no less.

A truly eye-catching piece.

Now it's time to welcome Out of the Woods!

Caitlin models this dress inspired by the life cycle of trees.

Made entirely of paper, the book pages were once

grown in a forest and represent the journey of the paper.

The discarded books and forgotten stories are brought to life

again through the outfit and Caitlin resembles a forest queen

to symbolise the importance of that journey and of recycling.

It's a truly wonderful story.

Put your hands together for Stop, Rewind and Play!

Lauren wears this stunning dress which is an historical classic,

utilising the old technologies of yesteryear.

Lengths of black film have been

taken from the inside of videotapes - ask your dad -

to create a beautiful flow to this masterpiece.

To embellish this retro design further,

the insides of floppy disks,

CDs and telephone wires have been sewn on to make a dazzling creation.

Divine!

Now, make some noise for Reborn!

Ola designed this magnificent masterpiece by herself.

It's made from paper, mattress packaging, dust sheets,

thick elastic from old leggings and skirts,

garden canes and scratched CDs.

There is nothing that hasn't gone into this outfit.

The inspiration for this design is a Phoenix rising from its ashes.

The materials which were once junk to be thrown away are now

reborn with a new purpose and destiny, just like the flaming bird.

This design is made up of 12,072 paper feathers, all handmade,

painted, cut out and trimmed, to make them

appear as realistic as possible.

Stunning!

Ladies come and show off your wonderful creations.

I think you all deserve medals just for wearing them.

They are incredible!

Elinor, you were part of the overall winning team for the Irish

competition, how did you come up with the idea?

We go to an all girls secondary school, so everybody has tights.

We have a lot of tights for you at home, if you want.

So I could make my own little outfit.

Yeah, we could be matching!

What a great idea. I love it. You did well to wear it in the wind.

Caitlin and Lauren, I hear you'll be

hitting the red carpet later this year. How does that feel?

It's unbelievable that something which started as an art project

will be on the red carpet.

Your eyelashes are amazing.

Where will the red carpets be?

We are going to the Royal film premiere in London,

so we will rub shoulders with celebrities and royalty.

-It'll be amazing and I can't wait.

-I do that every day(!)

Who do you hope to meet?

I'd love to meet the Duchess of Cambridge so fingers crossed.

Hope you do. Orla, you made this all by yourself and you won the Scottish

-competition, congratulations, how did that feel?

-Thank you.

It's incredible to have your work admired by so many people.

-It was really wonderful.

-As it should be!

-How long did it take you to make this?

-Six months.

I'm not surprised. Can I just say, while Barney is not here,

I want one. I want all of them.

Elizabeth, can she have one?

Unfortunately, she can't. These are prized possessions and they will be

showcased across the country and at Cannes Film Festival

and the Royal film premiere.

A very good reason, Naomi, you can't I am afraid, but a massive round of

applause for Elizabeth and all the fantastic models.

Amazing job.

If that has got your creative juices flowing,

jump onto our website to find out

how to find how to make a plant pot out of recycled bottles.

-Lindsey, how creative is this show today?

-Those are ridiculous!

Girls, they are beautiful, amazing! I love them.

But now, onto some more masterpieces,

have a look at this week's green badge wall.

Covered... Thanks, Naomi! ..with your environmental goodness.

It's looking fab.

Isabel from Litchfield has sent in this ginormous green badge!

It's made from loads of milk bottle tops!

You must've got through lots of cups of tea this week, well done, Isabel.

Zoe, from Hertfordshire, I think you can read minds! Look at this...

This is myself and Naomi who was on the show today,

cleaning out the pond!

Me saying...

-I got confused.

-I love that. Amelia, 8,

-from Nottingham, you sent us this 3-D picture of a family of owls.

-Oh!

This has been made out of bits and pieces from your walk in the forest.

-That is so good.

-Thanks to all of you for sending your posts.

You've got yourselves a green badge!

A word of warning. Now any green post we receive after today,

you won't be receiving one of these green badges, Oh, no!

Time to make that very important announcement. Radzi, do the honours.

We've decided to give the green badge a green makeover

to make it even greener, feast your eyes... Drumroll please...

There it is there!

It's not just how it looks that makes it special, check this out.

The green Blue Peter badge!

We all know and love it, but how do you make it better?

We have made it even greener and I'm not talking about the colour.

It will still be green, but it will be greener. As in... green.

The first step is producing them in the UK.

So I am in Cornwall to visit this

solar-powered factory where the new badge will now be made.

But it's not just where they are made that is important, it is

what they are made out of.

This is the first Blue Peter badge to be

manufactured from recycled plastic left over from yoghurt pots.

What?!

Just wanted to make sure the plastic was clean.

The process starts with a new mould,

which was expertly created by design engineer, Simon.

We start off with the 2-D shape. Give it a bit of depth.

We then end up with a complete badge.

Then we send some code to the milling machine which cuts away

the surface of the metal,

leaving lots of impressions of a Blue Peter badge.

It takes 45 hours to cut out a mould,

which can make 36 badges at a time.

The device holds the mould ready for the recycled plastic.

Many of the machines run off solar power.

The plastic is then heated to 240 Celsius. Let's make some badges.

It then presses the plastic into the mould

and can make 3,500 badges an hour.

So here we have our box filled with badges.

All they need now is a bit of colour. I think they're "all white".

It's like "all right" but it...

To transform them into green badges, a printer similar to one you

might have at home is used and 72 can be printed at any one time.

Which means only one thing, my friends!

# 72 green badges lying next to me

# 72 green badges lying next to me

# But if one Blue Peter viewer sends in a nature picture for me

# To see, there'd be 71 green badges lying next to me. #

OK, I'll leave the music.

Finally, despite all these machines,

every single badge is finished by hand.

Andy, lovely to meet you.

-Hi, Radzi, you OK?

-Yeah. What are you doing here?

Just putting the pin onto the back of the badge.

-Ah!

-The hot soldering iron melts the pin onto the badge.

-That is why every single badge is

-handmade. That's right.

-You just need a clasp on the back...

-Can I put it on?

-Course you can.

-Thank you very much.

The clasp is now on. There we have it, the finished product made

here in the UK from recycled plastic by machines powered by the sun.

I think it looks absolutely fantastic.

It is so shiny and new and beautiful!

So if you haven't already got a green badge yet

and want to earn your very own one of these,

find out how through Naomi's handy online guide.

-There I am!

-There you are!

One of these could be swinging its way to you in the post ASAP.

And remember, the badge still gets

you into over 200 attractions across the UK!

-BOTH: For free!

-We're so good!

And as some of you are on half-term holidays grab your badge

and a grown-up and do check all the details online before you set

off as the offers can change and we

-don't want you to be disappointed.

-No, you want to have a good time.

Time now for me to show you how I earned some mega green badge points,

when I got involved with some bio-blitzing.

-Who knows what that is?

-I don't.

-Me neither. Watch this...

Today I'm going on a special walk.

It is not any old stroll because I am going to bio-blitz.

-That's right. Bio-blitz. Does anybody know what that is?

-We do!

I thought you might. Let's go.

Bio-blitzing involves counting as many

different species of wildlife in a single area.

Today, we are on a hunt for bugs in a small part of the forest

near the Springwatch HQ at Minsmere.

-There is one.

-What's that?

-A beetle.

-Shall I get it?

-Yeah.

-Come here.

Counting the number of different insects gives the rangers

a really good idea of how healthy the habitat is.

A worm!

But as well as counting, we are

also collecting them for a closer look later on.

-The beetle things flew out.

-Did you lose it?

There are some interesting ways of doing it,

including using a device called a pooter.

Found one!

-Wait, this one?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Where?

'You collect the insects by sucking them through a tube. Nice!'

Only one went in my mouth, to be fair. Yeah. we've got something.

Yay! Well done. And you didn't eat it!

'So bio-blitzing is a great big wildlife health

'check as Springwatch presenter, Chris Packham explains.'

The more you find, the healthier that community is.

If you have lots of bugs, mammals, birds, plants you know

you have a good, sustainable, healthy community.

That's why we count them.

It is something anyone can do, pretty much anywhere.

You don't need a big posh garden,

you don't need to be on a nature reserve,

you can do it in a window box.

I am quite excited now to have my first bio-blitz.

-Wish me luck.

-Good luck.

-Good luck with the new series.

-Thank you.

'After a couple of hours we've collected a huge variety of species

'which indicates this woodland is very healthy indeed.'

-Maddie, what have you found?

-A beetle and two woodlice.

This area is made for these bugs.

You just lift up one of these logs and everything is underneath.

Before we return our bugs to the wild, we're heading

back to the Springwatch studio to have a close look at them.

But on the way back we came across this fascinating creature.

-What is this? It's huge!

-It's a hairy bear caterpillar.

It's so hairy!

Am I right in thinking we should not touch him?

-Yes, the spines can cause a skin rash.

-OK.

I've seen a caterpillar with black spots,

but I've never seen a hairy caterpillar.

He has a bit of orange as well. His hair is longer than yours.

THEY LAUGH

Like a tiny but long-haired dog.

Look at all his little legs moving around. It is pretty awesome.

Up close and personal, I love it.

Back at base, we can get a really good look at our discoveries.

This is where they get these close-up shots of all the insects.

It is almost like they had set up a little studio just for bugs.

It's so cool. The results are incredible.

You can properly see like, everything.

It's really cool. The scales on his body and on his head.

-You get some nice wiggly shots.

-Yeah.

-They are quite speedy.

-Well, not too speedy.

'These cameras really help us to see

'all sorts of details we would never have noticed in the woods.'

He's got a web, look! He is hanging off the tree with his web.

If you look closely you can see his legs have little hairs on them.

-Did you see that?

-Yes.

-Look at that.

-It is so cool.

'It's been a successful day

'bio-blitzing and the data we have gathered will be shared with the

'Springwatch team to get a better idea of how healthy

'the wider nature reserve is.'

It's been amazing being behind

the scenes and meeting some of

the Springwatch crew to see how they put those shots together,

and it has shown me what a diverse selection of wildlife

can be in just one little piece of land.

So get outdoors, grab a grown-up, and get bio-blitzing. Why not?

Yay! So now we officially know what bio-blitzing is

and Springwatch are doing a

big bio-blitzing weekend on June 4th

and 5th, that's this weekend coming.

So get involved, get your green badge and do something great!

Do it!

Earlier in the show we asked what you'll be doing to earn

your eco-friendly green badge.

Loads of you have been in touch. Naomi, what's the first one?

CyanNeonHippo says, "I've recycled my Wellie boots into plant pots and

"planted strawberries and colourful flowers to attract more bees."

I've done that in my garden. Well done.

This is good. CyanRaindropDaffodil says, "I'm going to write a poem

"about Radzi turning into a vegetable hero."

I'm a vegetable hero!

LimeNetballPapaya says, "I'm growing framberries which are

"strawberries crossed with raspberries." Amazing.

SalmonMashCat says, "I'm

"going to make a bird house for those birds who need a cosy home."

I've done that my garden too!

Yay, well done!

-That's all we've got time for.

-Thanks for all your comments!

If you've been on the fan page today, you know that we've been

playing Presenter Bingo. I said the secret phrase "green goodness"

and the first person to shout it out

first was TealWaterElephant.

-Well done!

-Remember we've got Fan Club hour straight after

the show so get online and

get involved because we've got a

live webchat with the finalists of

BBC's Young Musician 2016. It's BBC Music Day tomorrow. Great.

-It is. Plus, remember Kelvin Jones from last week?

-Yes.

He's got a very funny song online so jump on the website for that.

Look at him laughing away.

That's all we've got time for today, but don't miss next week

when Radzi and I try our hand at indoor skydiving!

Look at the face!

-Look at my face!

-Look at those cheeks, lovely!

Plus, Tilly from Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch

will be baking up a treat.

And we have an electrifying performance. It's going to be good.

Are you going to be there, Ned? What do you reckon?

-See you later.

-Bye-bye!

-Bye!