Low carbon dating came to the borough this week when a worker at a Teddington-based aid agency hosted a special Valentine's Day dinner.

Ben Clowney and girlfriend Ari Dejonge had a carbon-free dinner date on Valentine's Day with food from local farmers markets eaten by the light of a wind up lantern.

It was the end of a week-long spell, from February 8 to 14, where Ben, who works for Tearfund, one of the UK's leading relief and development agencies, became low carbon man, surviving on minimal amounts of carbon.

Tearfund joined Bishop of Liverpool James Jones and Bishop of London Richard Chartres in calling for a cut in personal carbon use for each of the 40 days of Lent, which began on Wednesday, February 6, and Ben's week-long carbon fast was one part it.

He moved out of his house, threw away his car keys and lived in his tent, pitched in his parking space outside Tearfund's head office in Church Road.

He also visited a wind farm, invited Twickenham MP Vincent Cable to a meeting by his tent to lobby for changes to the climate change bill, canoed up the river to Richmond and bought food from a farmer's market.

He was able to cut his carbon emissions down to what an average Malawian farmer emits in one month.

Ben said: "I wanted to take it to extremes to highlight the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions.

"Obviously people don't have to sleep in a tent and canoe to the shops to cut their carbon emissions, but the carbon fast is a good place to start with lots of east energy saving ideas."

  • For a copy of Tearfund's Carbon Fast call 0845 355 8355.