Businesses and residents in Bermuda are being encouraged to take part in a major trade fair designed to raise awareness about environmental issues on the Island.

Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson, who launched the project yesterday, said he hoped businesses would think hard about providing products and services which help protect the environment.

The Eden Project, which takes place on February 26 in Number One Shed in Hamilton, will showcase business ideas about the environment.

The event will also feature international speakers and seminars on environmental issues.

Mr. Hodgson, who unveiled the Eden Project at Waterville -- the Bermuda National Trust's headquarters in Paget, said booth prices would be $200 for businesses and $50 for charities.

He said he hoped the products on display would include: low flush toilets and water-saving devices; low energy-consuming appliances; environmentally-friendly cleaning products; solar and alternative energy sources; low or reduced packaging products; and garden products which enhance the environment.

A fund-raising day will be held in the New Year when members of the public will pay a small fee for wearing an Eden Project T-shirt.

Mr. Hodgson said the Environment Ministry agreed to support the project after it was approached by an organising committee of volunteers.

"The organising committee initiated the idea with a view to having Bermudians more environmentally-conscious,'' he said.

"I would like to see public participation and to have businesses and environmental organisations and charities taking up booths. I would like members of the public to come to the show and to participate in T-shirt wearing and fund-raising.

"We have some of the strictest environmental laws in the world, but on the other extreme, we have engaged in galloping development and most of it has come piecemeal.

"For example, the amount of traffic now on our streets. It was not in one fell swoop, but incrementally traffic has increased to the point where it is oppressive.'' Joy Williams, the chair of the event organising committee, said she hoped it would encourage children particularly to realise the consequence of abusing the environment.

"We want people to stop before they drop a can, particularly children, to get them to realise it costs money to get other people to pick it up,'' she said.

The project will concentrate on other issues such as noise pollution, renewable energy, recognising Bermuda can be influenced by environmental problems elsewhere in the world, and ensuring a proper balance between indigenous and invasive species.

"Eden was the perfect garden. We have to keep this Island a beautiful garden for the Millennia to come,'' she said.

The organising committee includes representatives from the Bermuda National Trust, Keep Bermuda Beautiful, several Government departments, and the Bermuda Aquarium.