Tunstall has an Eye for environment

Published on Sunday 20 November 2005 00:15

SINGER songwriter KT Tunstall has put her money where her mouth is and bought a forest for her fans.

The 30-year-old star's debut album has given rise to 5,000 trees in the Scottish Borders, and growing.

Tunstall, whose Eye to the Telescope has already sold more than a million copies worldwide, has so far planted almost eight acres of native trees to offset the carbon pollutant used in the CDs' production.

They will form part of the Carrifan Wildforest in the southern uplands of Scotland, where a local trust is recreating an ancient woodland.

The singer, from St Andrews, returned this week from America, where she performed in New York.

Speaking yesterday, she said: "I recently made my album carbon neutral, which means trees are planted to offset the carbon emissions generated by all the little KT CDs out there.

"And when they're big I shall hug them. My new forest is near Peebles and I'll be letting you know where it is if you fancy popping in for, well, a walk or something.

"I can now say that producing this album hasn't harmed the environment at all. It's going to be carbon neutral for me from herein. Each time I use the tour bus, each time I play a gig, more trees will be planted.

"You will pay a paltry 15p extra on the ticket price to make the tour a hippy tree haven."

Tunstall, who once busked in Princes Street, will be headlining alongside Texas in front of 250,00 at this year's Hogmanay party in Edinburgh.

This year she was nominated for the Mercury Prize and picked up the Q award for Track of The Year.

Willie McGhee, head of the Borders Forest Trust, said: "We're delighted to get the publicity which will do us the world of good in raising our profile. KT Tunstall's contribution is part of a wider work to create this forest."