Archive for August, 2008

Newcastle Green Gathering is back, bigger, better and, erm, greener than ever! It aims to raise awareness of environmental issues and living ethically by providing a creative and educational environmental at an arts and music based event.

There’s a Kids Area and Healing Zone as well as a plethora of local and national bands performing - ensuring there’s something for everone to be entertained by. As well as this there will be a whole host of stalls and pitches around the site in Exhibition Park inspiring the ethical consumer and green living enthusiast in all of us.

 As the official site says;

‘The festival will be taking place in Exhibition Park, Newcastle Upon Tyne on the 30th & 31st August. Featuring 5 stages of local and national music, arts, community groups, alternative therapies, stalls, food, drink (please note – no alcohol to be brought onto the site - drinks available through event bars) and much more. All dedicated to making sure that everyone in the city and beyond can make small but practical steps to change the environment we live in for the better; and have a great time while learning a bit as well.’

For more information check out the Green Gathering website

Photo: BBC

Somethign witty

Yes that’s right, this coming weekend (30-31 August) is officially European Bat Weekend. So tear yourself away from your allotments, or from the big screen version of everyone’s favourite Bat, and get involved with one of the Bat Conservation Trust’s events.

They’re happening up and down the country and include bat walks, bat talks, and more!

Bats are fascinating animals and are the only true flying mammal. According to the Bat Conservation Trust, ‘bats are an important part of our natural heritage, and indicators of a green and healthy environment, so their future is directly linked to our quality of life and the quality of our environment’.

In the UK we are resident to 17 species of bat, but sadly, numbers have been declining the past century due to more buildings going up and less places for bats to nest. However, you can provide a safe and warm habitat for those great British Bats by buying a bat box online at EthicalSuperstore! It’s made from FSC Certified timber and can house approximately 100 Pipistrels!

So forget Batman, look after your local bats this year by investing the price of two cinema tickets in a home for hundreds of loveable rogues in need of your help.

Keep an eye on other green, eco-conscious events in your area by checking out the Guardian’s Green Agenda.

(Thanks to Mosdave for the photo)

So what exactly is the Wottle…? This would perhaps have been a valid question a few weeks ago, but for the up to date, green-living, environmentally friendly eco-drinker, Wottle is the new buzz word.

For those who are not yet in the know, the Wottle is a brand new refillable water bottle, the inspired result of a collaboration between Brita UK and Orla Kiely, the prominent contemporary UK designer.

Brita proudly presents the Wottle as ‘the world’s first designer reusable water bottle’, intended to be a handy way to always have Brita filtered water with you when you’re out and about and on the move. And for fans of Orla Kiely, her signature leaf design is instantly recognisable, which ensures that this funky little bottle is fashionable too.

The only question which may need to be adressed is what other than its designer kudos makes the Wottle stand apart from your average water bottle, any of which are admittedly as refillable as the next container, pouch or tin can canteen…?

What we really love about the Wottle is that it is launching a massive campaign to encourage everybody to do their bit when it comes to reducing waste created by massively popular disposable water bottles. Back in February, the Mail Online reported on the Environment Minister’s estimation that us Brits throw away around 10 million water bottles a year, equivalent to about one water bottle per head, per fortnight, for the entire UK population. So although your average bottle is refillable, the unfortunate fact is that people just aren’t reusing or recycling, which really is bad news environmentally.

The Wottle can be seen as following in the footsteps of the highly sought after ‘I Am Not A Plastic Bag’ canvas tote bags created by prominent designer Anya Hindmarsh, which contributed massively towards the campaign against the disposable plastic bags. High profile designer Katherine Hamnett is another big name in fashion who is beginning to realise that organic credentials and sound ethics really does stir up public interest, and has brought out her own line of very recognisable male and female slogan t-shirts which shout out their ethical ideologies in print as well as in through their production methods.

With such high profile associations, this stylish little bottle is unsuprisingly being hailed in both eco-friendly and fashion circles as the ultimate portable water solution for 2008, not to mention for years to come.

So whether you fancy a Wottle for its eco-friendly and sustainable recycled and recyclable credentials, or are more concerned with combining your Brita filtered water with up-to-date Orla Kiely style, it really does strike us as a great idea.

The only question left now is: ‘Have you got the Wottle’?!?

You can buy one of your own soon, at Ethicalsuperstore.com.

Ethical Superstore presents this exclusive book extract of the new, and hilarious true tale of one man's journey from self-confessed planet-killing lad to eco-friendly, green-crusader There’s A Hippo In My Cistern. Caught between his conflicting London life of lads and lager and his developing relationship with a radical eco-babe, Pete May tells here of parties at George Monbiot’s in the embryonic days of the Oxford Green movement, as part of his slow conversion from bad football-crazy lad to good greenie a decade later.

In my new Oxford circles the guru of the Greens is George Monbiot. Everyone speaks about him in awed tones and refers to him as simply ‘George’. He’s a Fellow (is that the academic version of being a lad?) at the university and writes columns for the Guardian.

George is the most intellectual man I’ve ever met. His parents are rumoured to be keen Conservatives, but then so are mine. George is a radical with a great grasp of figures and an incisive mind, dedicated to fighting planetary pollution.

He isn’t exactly a football fan though. He says he went to an England game at Wembley once and it epitomised everything he disliked about xenophobia and nationalism. At one of the regular Green picnics we discuss TV. George says there’s so much he can do without watching TV. He could write a column every day there are so many issues to research. He claims that TV is like a boxed fire in the living room. Humans used to tell stories around the campfire but now that oral tradition has been lost.

I discover just how different the Oxford Greens are to my usual acquaintances at a dinner party one night. Everyone speaks of Papua New Guinea as if it’s a suburb of Oxford. The après lentil-bake conversation moves on to private schools and bizarre initiation rituals. One of our party mention something involving a cardboard box and a banana. When my turn for an anecdote comes I have to confess that actually my school didn’t have an initiation ritual. George Monbiot is fiercely anti-public school and decries them for producing ‘emotionally stunted’ members of the ruling class. The revelations about my state school education cause some interest. Suddenly I’m studied with as much interest as if I was an indigenous person from some obscure tribe, which I suppose in a way, I am.

My true inauguration into the Green set comes with an invitation to George Monbiot’s party. No one drives to this venue. In the front garden of George’s two-storey house is a huge mountain of mating bikes. Racing bikes, granny bikes, mountain bikes. Piled on top of each other like a bizarre cyclical sculpture. The sort of thing the EU should do something about.

Inside it’s squeezing room only. In one corner of the living room stand a group of bearded Newbury veterans and members of the Donga Tribe, jamming on bongos, violins and harmonicas singing in pseudo-folkie voices and occasionally blowing tin whistles.

Many guests appear to have been issued with ethnic trousers with drawstrings. A man in a rainbow jumper is slumped on the stairs. Collarless shirts, tweed jackets and endlessly patched trousers are everywhere. This party would never feature on a Glossy magazine’s lifestyle pages. Not a high heel, short skirt or a glass of champagne in sight.

George is unfailingly friendly, performing introductions as if he’s on Question Time. The guests appear impressed by the mention of my commissioned book, but there’s a silence when I mention it’s on something called football. At times it feels less a party and more like a convention of anthropologists. No wonder we have global warming; it’s because the Oxford Greens are doing so much flying around the world studying deforestation, indigenous tribes and Fairtrade fruit.

It does make me wonder if my split existence can really continue. It’s football and TV versus Green picnics and story telling, showbiz parties in London versus tin-whistle affairs in Oxford. Is love worth a future of drawstring trousers? The only solution is to try and not think too hard about it and to gratefully sup several bottles of organically-brewed beer.

There’s A Hippo In My Cistern, published by Harper Collins, is available at Ethical Superstore, priced £7.99.

Green news we loved: In case you missed it first time around, here’s our August round-up of the most talked about, most innovative solutions or simply the most awesome green news to hit the headlines.

One-third of China’s emissions come from exports
Often dubbed the country to overtake the US in carbon emissions, a new study revealed this month that China’s growing export market is responsible for one-third of their emissions – much of it from manufacturing ‘advanced’ electronics goods for developed countries. With International policy at the moment tending to penalise the country that produces rather than the one that consumes the goods ¬- such as US and Europe – we must ask, is it time for a policy change?

Ikea want cheap green tech
Ikea stated they are to invest in green technology in order to apply their familiar low-cost furniture approach to domestic power generation. They are said to be plummeting nearly £40 billion into technologies such as solar, water conservation, efficiency meters and alternative lighting, and are hoping to get products into stores in two to four years time. Will this be affordable green tech for the global masses? Let’s see. Keep an Allen key at the ready.

Dubai’s eco architecture continues
Not only does Dubai boost both Brad Pitt’s and Pamela Anderson’s new eco-chic hotels, numerous eco-cities in the making, and some of the most advanced green architecture in the world – if you overlook the, ahem, luxurious indoor ski resort in the desert. This month saw plans to build a shopping centre that adheres to tough eco-credentials with energy-efficient lighting and cooling systems, reflective roofs, recycling resources and facilities to encourage cycling. Can an oil state really become the home of green innovations – or is this greenwash on a massive scale?

Dictionary goes green
Once green buzzwords for those in the know, a collection of terms have now become part of our popular culture as they join the latest Chambers Dictionary released this month. Environmental terms such as ‘carbon footprint’, ‘food miles’, ‘green tax’ and ‘eco-village’ made it in the eleventh edition ¬– a sure reflection of our changing times.

Google invests in more sustainable technology
Smart company and superpower of the Internet Google, have committed to invest $10m (£5.4m) in a technology to make widespread geothermal power more universally attainable. As a company, they have already invested tens of millions of dollars in solar and wind energy. Experts think geothermal could be the energy of the future as it is clean, carbon-free – if it can be tapped efficiently – and potentially available 24/7 over much of the world.

Psychology for better green living
A conference this month of the American Psychological Association focused efforts on how psychology can encourage green behaviour. Experts say they want to launch a national initiative promoting media messages to help people reduce their carbon footprint. Psychologists have found ‘negative feedback’, such as confronting consumers with the fact that they might not doing enough, may prove sufficient to make them quit whereas informing them of what can be done has positive results.

Electric bikes are big hit
Electric bikes are popular in China, but they are now starting to catch on in the rest of the world. In the US, sales have doubled partly due to rising fuel prices while in Europe – which already has a strong bike culture – sales have risen fast in France, Germany and Holland according to figures released this month. A wide range of electric bikes are now available, the cheaper offerings often use lead-acid batteries, while the more expensive but lighter weight and longer ranging use lithium ion batteries.

Prince Charles most outspoken yet?
Charles is not one to mince his words, and has stated this month that the widespread use of GM crops would be the ‘biggest disaster environmentally of all time’. Charles accused multinational food companies of conducting a ‘gigantic experiment with nature’ pointing out that it would hurt small farmers and the environment. In the face of those who think GMO crops can raise yields, cut costs and feed the world’s hungry, he said what we should be talking about is ‘food security, not food production’.

Want to comment on some of these stories? How do you feel about an oil state becoming the home of green innovations – can Dubai set a global standard? Is it time for consumer countries of China’s exports to burden more responsibility? Share your views below.

The latest threat to the American way of life. Photo by Glenn Loos-Austin

In a post snappily titled “The latest threat to homeland security: Bicycles” Timbuk2 (makers of excellent recycled messenger bags) explore one of the more unlikely issues caused by rising “gas” prices in the good ol’ US of A.

High gas prices = cars coming off the road.
Cars off the road = more bikes on the streets.
More bikes = more “obstacles” for inattentive SUV drivers to contend with on their drive back from the liquor store.

This cannot be tolerated. Get these pesky bikes off the road now!

In this current climate of the credit crunch, with fears of a looming recession, and with bills on the increase, it’s easy to see why people have taken to monitoring the amount of energy they use with a view to reducing what they can.

There are various makes and models on the market at the minute, claiming that they can show you all those silent but deadly energy guzzlers, and suggesting that they will help you cut your energy use and electricity bills.

So here are my Armchair Activist Top 5 Energy Monitors – one for every budget!

Read the rest of Armchair Activist: #5 - Energy Monitors on a Budget . . . »

Summer is a great time of year to get stuck into the gardening or to flex those green fingers down at the allotment.

The National Allotment Gardens Trust shares our love for all things home grown, and is celebrating National Allotments Week with the nation between the 11^th and 17^th August. Sadly the week is drawing to a close, but at last the rain has stopped and the weekend is almost upon us, so it’s time for us all to get our wellington boots and trowels out and get digging.

This week’s allotment promoting activities are all about getting people out and about, encouraging good health, exercise and local community education. And a handy added extra is that if you’re growing your own vegetables there’s no need to be buying them – a great credit crunch busting move!

If you’ve got your own allotment already and are hoping for some added inspiration, you can buy all sorts of clever garden gizmos online. One of our favourites is the paper potter, a handy device for making eco-friendly, fully biodegradable seedling pots. There are plenty of other great outdoor accessories and gadgets that can be bought online too, from solar powered lights to unmissable novelty water cans!

Check out the Ethicalsuperstore.com blog for further thoughts and comments on National Allotment week.

And if you’re not fortunate enough to have your own allotment, you can still order locally grown fresh fruit and veg online, which we think is a great idea.

Photo credit to Lucy Crosbie. Here’s the original.

Daniel Radcliffe, Lewis Hamilton, Ricky Hatton and Dame Judi Dench’s shoes are all up for grabs!

I know how mad that sounds but it’s true, and it’s all in the name of charity. The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation is running a ‘De-Feet Cancer’ campaign and a host of stars have got on board to donate their footwear to the cause.

Ecorazzi have attributed the following quote to champion boxer Ricky Hatton “I am used to defeating my opponent in the ring, so I’m delighted to get behind the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation’s De-Feet Lung Cancer campaign. By getting involved with De- Feet, you too can help give lung cancer the knock-out blow.”

Nice pun Ricky!

The shoes are going to be auctioned off starting on September 12.

If charity footwear floats your boat, why not check out Ethical Superstore’s great range of ethical and Fairtrade footwear; designed and manufactured in a planet-friendly manner, meaning that your feet can be encased by eco-friendly, comfy, and stylish trainers!

There has been a significant amount of excitement reverberating around the office today, as this brand new Morphy Richards Ecolectric Toaster burst onto Ethicalsuperstore.com.

So it looks good, but what exactly is so ethical about this particular eco-friendly toaster?

Well, this little toasting device is truly cunning in the extreme; whilst being aesthically pleasing for those who like to have a trendy kitchen, more importantly the rather snazzy design incorporates a smoothly sliding fully closing lid which keeps the heat in and cooks your toast extra-fast. When monitored with the assistance of a handy Ecosavers Energy Monitor , second for second it does use around the same amount of electricity as the average conventional toaster, but the significant fact is that our new favourite domestic appliance cooks a fantastic slice of breakfast perfection in less than half the time. Ergo – less energy consumption, top notch eco-friendly energy-saving credentials, and great for people such as myself who are rather impatient for their hot and crunchy snacks…

And we should know - a significant proportion of this morning was dedicated to ‘crucial product testing’ and ‘vital experimentation’, involving a rather large loaf of bread which was quickly browned and subsequently demolished.

The results of our rigorous research were conclusive - this new energy-efficient Ecolectric Two Slice Toaster is a must.

And to add to all of this toastalicious excitement, here are our top ten toasty facts for you to consider:

• 1 -  Toast cannot be faxed
• 2 -  Toast can never be eaten raw
• 3 -  Toast is biodegradable
• 4 -  Toast will not stick to sellotape
• 5 -  Toast could be made into a hat
• 6 -  Toast is not USB compatible
• 7 -  Toast could be Mr. T’s surname
• 8 -  Toast is not to blame for the weather, blame it on the boogie
• 9 -  Toast can be used as a frisbee
• 10 - Toast is its own plural

For these and more insightful toast related facts check out toastfacts.co.uk. And get munching!