Tag Archives: environment

Wonderwater Café asks ‘How much water do you eat?’ at London Design Festival

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A striking pop-up café designed to highlight the water footprint of food will be unveiled at the London Design Festival by not-for-profit organisation Wonderwater, and staged at the popular Leila’s Shop in Shoreditch in September.

Wonderwater Café raises awareness of the water footprint of food, asking visitors ‘How much water you eat?’. The pop-up event is designed to raise awareness of the critical relationship between water and food. Its supporters include World Design Capital Helsinki, Arts Council England and King’s College London.

Following critical acclaim in Helskinki and Beijing, the Wonderwater Café arrives in the UK for the London Design Festival to demonstrate the impact of visual design in communicating complex issues in an engaging, interactive way. The Wonderwater Café menu indicates the breakdown of the water footprint of the dishes and drinks on offer, showing how much water is used to produce the different foods and where it comes from in the world.

“The Wonderwater Café brings complex water scarcity issues to life in a highly visual, compelling way, and is designed to inspire people to make responsible choices,” explains Jane Withers, Co-founder, Wonderwater. “By telling the story of the water footprint of food with creative, image-led design, we hope to stimulate conversations on the fundamental issues surrounding how our food is produced.”

The greatest impact of the water footprint occurs in the global food growing and production supply chain, which affects the world’s delicate global balance of fresh water.

* The average UK citizen consumes 4,645 litres per day, which has a significant impact on resources in water-scarce countries.
* Food is one of the top contributors to UK consumers’ daily water consumption and represents a far greater proportion than domestic water, which accounts for just 3% (150 litres).
* More than 60% of the UK’s water consumed through food is derived from outside the UK, according to the Water Footprint Network.
* As the global population swells to 9bn by 2050, water scarcity will have a significant impact on food security, with scientists predicting that we will need to consume less meat and more vegetables.

“Armed with the right information, people can begin to understand the global flows of water in food production, and opt for dishes with a low water footprint or select food stuffs produced in regions where water resources are not dangerously strained,” says Kari Korkman, Co-founder, Wonderwater. “Agriculture represents by far the largest slice of global water consumption, so the most effective way to enhance the sustainability of our water footprint is through the food and drink choices that we make.”

Visitors to the Wonderwater Café at Leila’s Shop will be able to enjoy a mouth-watering selection of responsibly sourced food, while digesting information from the vibrant infographics, dynamic visual displays and raindrop-shaped blackboards, all of which convey mind-blowing facts and figures on the water footprint of their meals. The displays will be integrated into the existing shop, with bespoke water footprint menus for the duration of the festival.

Customers will be able to choose low, medium or high water footprint foods on the menu. Water bottles conveying important water footprint messages will also be placed on each table. For further information please visit www.wonderwater.fi or www.londondesignfestival.com.

O-Food – Environmentally Friendly and Healthy Fast Food

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One of the O-Food founders Jens Hannibal in the blue shirt

On Thursday Frost went to the launch of an exciting new restaurant concept, O-Food. This was the most inspiring event we’d been to for a long time. O Food is a new eco friendly healthy fast food restaurant. They serve seafood and vegetarian food but no meat. O-Food believe that by changing the way we eat we can change ourselves and the planet.

It’s not long before we meet one of the founders of O-Food, the friendly and passionate Jens. Jens tell us that their main aim is to create great food. ‘Everything else is just something we think everybody should be doing’, he says.

‘We’re not people who think that meat-based fast food is inherently bad. We just think that someone needs to take the lead  to show people delicious, low impact, alternatives to meat and mainstream choices of fish.’

O-Food sources all its produce from local sustainable sources. The fish it uses are non- ‘Big Five’. The so called  ‘Big Five’, Haddock, Prawns, Tuna, Cod and Salmon, are being terribly overfished and this is becoming increasingly unsustainable.

Jens tells us more, ‘It’s very sad, because people don’t know about these other delicious sustainable alternatives and there’s no demand for them, many of them just get thrown back into the sea’.

One of the O-food founders. Roel Philippart

It’s a major problem but people are starting to realise and O-Food is leading the way in raising awareness. Both Sainsburys and Morrisons have recently helped promote alternatives and they’ve seen a surge in demand for alternative fish.

Jens is so passionate and enthusiastic that eventually someone has to drag him away from us and take him to see some other guests.

As Jens disappears we turn our attention to the all important question of the food. Everything we tried was delicious. The chef who had put the recipes together was clearly extremely talented. What was particularly evident was the exceptional quality of the ingredients particularly the fish.

I was I confess surprised at just how good the fish tasted. The fish actually tasted better than the mainstream ‘big 5’ fish I was used too. We had two favourites, mine The Hastings

Fishy patty, Romaine Lettuce, Tomato, Gherkin, Curry Sauce

I don’t even like gherkin or curry sauce and yet this combination was simply divine, everybody we spoke to loved it. I urge anyone to go and try it if they can.

There are no sandwiches left! A common theme of the night as soon as the food was brought out it was gone.

My colleagues favourite was The Portobello

Portbello mushroom, mature cheddar, roast pepper relish, red cabbage, romaine, nordic pesto.

This was also delicious, a wonderful combination of flavours.

You can find a full menu and more information at the O-Food website. Everyone we spoke to from O-Food was full of passion and energy. This is a great concept and they’ve created some fantastic food. I hope this is the future of fast food. O-Food is far more exciting, tasty and healthy than your than standard pret or eat sandwich.

They are currently testing the concept and will be open until the 23rd of September with their pop-up restaurant. It can be found at 54 Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3QN. Open from 8am to 4pm Monday to Friday. Go along and try it! You won’t be disappointed.

Pukka Herbs Peppermint and LicoriceTea | Drink Review

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Peppermint and Licorice is one of those things that you don’t really expect to go together, but in the land of tea, they do. Made with peppermint & FairWild licorice 20p from every pack of this goes towards supporting WWF conservation projects. Tasty and good for the environment: Frost approves.

The blend of the two flavours really works. It tastes fresh and refreshing. The peppermint soothes the digestion and naturally sweet, soothing licorice calms and nourish. I don’t put sugar in herbal teas but this tea is great for people with a sweet tooth. It definitely doesn’t taste bland. If you love licorice you will love it. It is a good, delicious, healthy tea. Get someone to try it if they think herbal tea is boring, it will prove them wrong.

It is caffeine-free and ethically sourced with 100% organically grown ingredients.

A really great tea.


Pukka Herbs celebrates 10 years in business

This year marks the tenth birthday of herbal innovators, Pukka Herbs.

Founded in 2002 by Sebastian Pole and Tim Westwell based on their mutual passion for natural health and wellbeing and the principals of Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine), Pukka has grown into an international success story, employing 45 people in the UK and is sold in around 40 countries across the globe including the United States and throughout Europe.

Over the last decade, Pukka Herbs has used the finest organic herbs to optimise health and wellbeing. One of only a handful of totally organic businesses (certified by the Soil Association) Pukka inspires and educates people to live healthier, more sustainable lives. Their portfolio includes 23 premium herbal teas, a collection of skincare (11 products) and over 75 food supplements.

Everything that Pukka produces is inspired by Ayurveda – ‘the art of living wisely’. This ancient Indian wisdom empowers us to look after our health in harmony with nature and, as a result, all products have a functional benefit that is drawn from the high quality herbs used in each blend. Everything Pukka is free from synthetic flavour and colour.

As an ethical business, Pukka strives to be responsible for its actions. Their commitment to the environment ensures that they plant over 20 million plants and trees every year and invest in renewable and sustainable energy projects as well as reforestation programmes with Climate Care. Pukka works with farmers on long term regeneration projects and uses FSC certified and recyclable materials for marketing literature and product packaging.

NEW for 2012 – Revamped Original Ayurvedic blends

Pukka has rebranded their original teas – Relax, Refresh and Revitalise – that were launched when Pukka started in 2002. Retaining the vibrancy and iconic recognition of these incredible teas, we have updated the design and copy to reflect the importance of our heritage in Ayurveda and to educate consumers on the authenticity of the blends.

NEW selection pack

In response to consumer demand, Pukka launches a selection pack of award-winning teas as part of its 10th birthday celebrations.

Containing four sachets of five bestselling blends Three Mint, Three Ginger, Three Tulsi, Three Green and Three Fennel, Pukka’s selection pack offers first-time consumers an exciting introduction to Pukka’s tea portfolio.

This selection pack will be launched at a time in which the herbal and green tea categories have seen a lift in consumer spend (up 2% and 5% respectively in 2011 to £74m*). *Source: Mintel Feb 2012

Pukka Herbs and WWF UK ‘Create a beautiful World’ together in 2012

Throughout 2012, as part of their 10th Birthday celebrations, Pukka Herbs is working with world famous conservation charity WWF UK to help ‘Create a Beautiful World’ – one that is vibrant, integrated and healthy.

Every year Pukka creates hundreds of acres of organic land for growing herbs that creates jobs for farmers and collectors, but also brings beauty into our everyday lives. Every pack of Pukka tea makes the world – whether on the shelf in your kitchen, or farmland in rural India – a more beautiful place.

In supporting the work of WWF UK, Pukka aims to raise in excess of £50,000 for conservation projects across the world – initially through a 20p donation from each sale of their special Peppermint and Licorice tea, and then through a year-long fund raising campaign and viral public film competition to be premiered in November 2012.

Throughout the summer, Pukka will be inviting the public to upload photos and clips to their Facebook page of their own personal ‘beautiful world’ – anything from their children laughing, to a sunset, to a merry-go-round, to their pukka tea shelf – whatever they believe brings beauty into their world. Combined with footage from Pukka and WWF, the clips will be created into 5 minute short films by students and filmmakers. The most popular films as voted for by the public will be screened at an environmentally friendly premier in November.

To support sales of the organic Peppermint and Licorice tea (certified FairWild licorice) in the health food trade and retail industry where the brand has grown, Pukka will be providing support in the form of promotional materials to help create theatre in store and build momentum and awareness of the charitable aims of the partnership.

Pukka will also be bringing out their first range of gorgeous, environmentally sensitive merchandise to showcase the campaign – once again helping people to ‘Create a Beautiful World’ in their every day lives. Profits from the sale of these exclusive items will go to WWF UK.

Sebastian Pole, co-founder and herbal director of Pukka Herbs, says: ‘When we started Pukka in 2002, we wanted to create a totally organic business that inspired people to live healthier, more sustainable lives. It seems only natural that as we celebrate ten years of bringing the power of plants into people’s lives, we also take the time to remember and celebrate the amazing planet that lets us do this.

Each year, we plant over 20 million plants and trees and invest in renewable energy, sustainable projects and reforestation programmes. We work with our growers, customers and consumers on a one to one basis to ensure that everyone profits from being involved with Pukka: sensually, healthily, ecologically and socially. Most importantly, we strive to leave nature in an ever richer, more glorious state than how we found her.

Partnering with WWF to promote our shared conservation values seemed the perfect next step. With a whole host of exciting activities going on over the next 12 months we hope to exceed our target of raising £50,000 to support their important international work.’

Commenting on the partnership, Rachel Bloodworth from WWF said: ‘We are delighted to be working with Pukka Herbs in their tenth birthday year – their dedication to supporting the natural environment and creating a beautiful world is perfectly aligned with our goals. Over the past 50 years, WWF has achieved countless successes from preserving existing species such as mountain gorillas, polar bears and giant pandas, to helping the development of international agreements for the protection of the planet – none of which would be possible without the continued support of dedicated individuals and companies like Pukka.’

“This is Pukka’s first ever consumer campaign and so they sought out the skills and expertise of communications agency Neo to help develop the campaign ideas. Neo only work with organisations that are changing the world for better and have worked with WWF UK on previous projects including their 2012 global ‘Earth Hour’ campaign. Account Director Nicole Bradfield comments on working with Pukka, “Creating an engaging platform for Pukka to bring their brand story to life and share their commitment to creating a beautiful world is a fantastic project. Their work to protect and enhance our natural world is a brilliant story and we’re delighted to be helping Pukka communicate it. We’re especially looking forward to seeing the public’s interpretation of their beautiful worlds weave together to become a stunning piece of filmmaking.”

You can find out more about these projects and how you can get involved at www.pukkaherbs.com/beautifulworld

Lib Dems take major stand on low carbon growth

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Responding to a Lib Dem party conference motion from Danny Alexander supporting a legal commitment to a carbon-free power sector by 2030 as a means to support growth in the low-carbon sector, Joss Garman, senior campaigner for Greenpeace UK said:

“Danny Alexander deserves praise for standing up for our low-carbon sector, which generated a third of all growth in our economy last year. This issue goes to the heart of the coalition’s growth and infrastructure plans. A clear commitment to a carbon-free power sector by 2030 will boost clean industries, create jobs, get energy bills under control, and get us on track with reducing carbon emissions.”

Sell An Old Cell Phone

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Unfortunately the economy doesn’t seem like it is going to recover anytime soon. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t make money. Most people upgrade their cell phone every year so the number of old cell phones around your house will really add up. A large number of the population has old cell phones rattling around drawers. Some of these are top notch phones but technology moves so fast that when the new iPhone comes out you will want to take any old iPhone and sell iphone for cash.

You will want to get the best price for your old phone so check out price comparison service sellcell.com. You will be able to sell any old cell phone for the best price possible. Since most people have quite a few old cell phones there is money to be made.

When you Sell An Old Cell Phone you are not just putting some money in your pocket. You are also being good to the environment. The green movement has been going for decades but it shows no signs of abating anytime soon. Recycling is in. Old cell phones are really bad for the environment.

sellcell.com compares the leading US phone buyers to help you get the best price whilst helping the environment.

Sounds good to us!

Disclaimer: Sponsored Post.

Milk: The Carbon Footprint Culprit

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Milk poured down kitchen sinks every year creates a carbon footprint equivalent to thousands of car exhaust emissions, according to a new study.

Scientists say 360,000 tonnes of milk are wasted in the UK each year, creating greenhouse gas emissions amounting to 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

The University of Edinburgh study said this is the same number emitted by about 20,000 cars annually.

Researchers looking into the environmental impact of food production said eating less meat and cutting down on food waste would save significant greenhouse gas emissions. They also suggest the food industry could reduce emissions by seeking more efficient ways to use fertilisers.

Dr David Reay, of the university’s School of GeoSciences, who led the study, said: “Eating less meat and wasting less food can play a big part in helping to keep a lid on greenhouse gas emissions as the world’s population increases.”

Researchers also said halving the amount of chicken consumed in the UK and other developed countries to levels eaten in Japan could cut greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to taking 10 million cars off the road.

The research team said figures show if average chicken consumption in developed countries fell from the current level of 26kg each every year to the Japanese average of about 12kg each by 2020, global emissions from poultry would fall below current levels, despite increased output from the developing world.

This would cut the predicted global output of nitrous oxide, a key greenhouse gas, from this source by almost 20%, based on current growth rates, they said.

The study, carried out in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen and partners in Europe and America, was published in Nature Climate Change.

The team arrived at their findings by examining data for global agricultural production of greenhouse gases together with consumption of food in various regions of the world.

 

STARS LAUNCH SAVE THE ARCTIC CAMPAIGN

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Greenpeace to plant a million names on seabed beneath the pole

Stars from the worlds of music, film, TV and business are today launching a campaign to save the Arctic.

Sir Paul McCartney, Penelope Cruz, Robert Redford, One Direction, Alexandra Burke, Jarvis Cocker and Sir Richard Branson are among dozens of famous names who are asking for a global sanctuary in the Arctic. They have joined forces with Greenpeace to demand that oil drilling and unsustainable fishing are banned in Arctic waters.

Others demanding that the uninhabited area around the North Pole is legally protected and made off-limits to polluters include Edward Norton, Woody Harrelson, Jude Law, John Hurt, Rita Ora, Thom Yorke, Tim Roth, Thandie Newton, Bruce Parry, Lawrence Dallaglio, explorer David de Rothschild and Cilla Black. (Full list below.)

They are among the first one hundred names to be written on an Arctic Scroll, which is launched by Greenpeace today at the Rio Earth Summit. When a million others add their own names Greenpeace will embark on an expedition to plant it on the seabed at the North Pole, four kilometres beneath the ice. The spot will be marked by a Flag for the Future designed by the youth of the world.

Anybody in the world can add their name to the Arctic Scroll and have their name planted beneath the pole by visiting www.SaveTheArctic.org

The huge expanse around the pole belongs to all of us because it is defined in international law as the high seas. But as temperatures rise and the ice melts the Arctic states – Russia, Canada, the US, Norway and Denmark – are making territorial claims on the seabed so they can open the door to oil companies. Arctic sea ice has retreated dramatically in recent years and scientists say the North Pole could soon be ice free.

The campaign is formally launched today at the Rio Earth Summit at a press conference (details below) hosted by Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo, Sir Richard Branson and actress Lucy Lawless, star of Battlestar Galactica and Xena: Warrior Princess. Lucy will be sentenced in September after scaling oil company Shell’s Arctic drilling rig and blocking its operations for 72 hours in New Zealand in February.

Sir Paul McCartney said: “The Arctic is one of the most beautiful and last untouched regions on our planet, but now it’s under threat. Some countries and companies want to open it up to oil drilling and industrial fishing and do to the Arctic what they’ve done to the rest of our fragile planet. It seems madness that we are willing to go to the ends of the Earth to find the last drops of oil when our best scientific minds are telling us we need to get off fossil fuels to give our children a future. At some time, in some place, we need to take a stand. I believe that time is now and that place is the Arctic.”

Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said: “The Arctic is coming under assault and needs people from around the world to stand up and demand action to protect it. A ban on offshore oil drilling and unsustainable fishing would be a huge victory against the forces ranged against this precious region and the four million people who live there. And a sanctuary in the uninhabited area around the pole would in a stroke stop the polluters colonising the top of the world without infringing on the rights of Indigenous communities.”

As part of today’s launch, polar bears have been appearing in cities around the world.

Shell is due to begin exploratory drilling at two offshore sites in the Alaskan Arctic in the coming weeks. If Shell is successful this summer, an Arctic oil rush will be sparked and the push to carve up the region will accelerate. Russian oil giant Gazprom is also pushing into the offshore Arctic this year.

In 2007 Russian explorer Artur Chilingarov planted a Russian flag on the seabed beneath the pole and ‘claimed’ it for Moscow. Wikileaks documents later revealed he was acting on the instructions of the Russian Government. Now Greenpeace is planting the names of a million global citizens beneath the pole and marking the spot with a Flag for the Future designed by children in a global competition organised by the ten million-strong Girl Guide movement.

The campaign will initially focus on pushing for a UN resolution demanding a global sanctuary around the pole and a ban on oil drilling and unsustainable fishing in the wider Arctic. The campaign was launched today because the Arctic Circle is defined as the area of the globe which on the longest day – 21 June – experiences 24 hours of sunlight. On 21 June the sun never sets on the Arctic.

Rodion Sulyandziga from the Udega People and First Vice President of RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North) said:

“At present, the Arctic – one of the last unique and intact places on Earth – is facing a real threat from active oil drilling. A large scale oil exploration ‘development’ can irreversibly destroy the virgin purity of the Arctic region, putting at stake the physical existence and survival of Indigenous Peoples who, without their traditional living patterns, without their eternal habitat, will have no future.”

Three Arctic states, the US, Canada and Russia were responsible for sinking an Oceans Rescue Plan in Rio which would protect the vulnerable marine life of the Arctic’s international waters and enable the establishment of a sanctuary in the area around the pole.

Kumi Naidoo added: “We’re drawing a line in the ice and saying to polluters ‘you come no further.’ People ask me why I, as an African, care so deeply about the Arctic, but the answer is simple. The Arctic is the world’s refrigerator, it keeps us cool by reflecting the sun’s energy off its icy surface, but as the ice melts it’s accelerating global warming, threatening lives and livelihoods on every continent. Wherever we come from, the Arctic is our destiny.”

A new short film written and produced by advertising legend Trevor Beattie and released today uses stunning Arctic footage shot by world-renowned ‘Earth from the Air’ photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The film is narrated by Golden Globe-winning actor John Hurt and can be viewed at www.savethearctic.org

PATAGONIA: REDUCE, REPAIR, REUSE, RECYCLE AND REIMAGINE.

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Frost Loves Patagonia’s new initiative. Check it out below. 


PATAGONIA ESTABLISHES A PARTNERSHIP WITH CUSTOMERS TO CONSUME LESS
AS PART OF THE COMMON THREADS INITIATIVE IN EUROPE.
THE INITIATIVE MUTUALLY PLEDGES WITH CUSTOMERS TO BUY AND USE CLOTHING MORE SUSTAINABLY AND FOCUSES ON 5 “R’S” –REDUCE, REPAIR, REUSE,  RECYCLE AND REIMAGINE
Patagonia launches its Common Threads
Initiative focusing on the first “R”: REDUCE.
Today, Patagonia is the only apparel brand
to tell its consumers not to buy what they
don’t need. The picture on the following page
was published as an advertisement in the New
York Times by Patagonia on November 25th as consumption in the USA is reaching a peak just
after Thanksgiving.
In 2006, Patagonia was the very first apparel
brand to ask its consumer to RECYCLE with
our Capilene® Baselayers, when the Common
Threads Program was launched. Extended
season after season, Patagonia is now taking
back every Patagonia garment put on the
market, recycling what can be and keeping what can’t be recycled yet. By giving back, consumers pledge to keep
all this stuff out of the landfill and incinerator. But this “R” comes at the end. Recycling is what we do when we’re
out of options to avoid, repair, or reuse the product first.
Patagonia in turn commits, with its REPAIR “R”, to make products that last and help repair quickly anything
that breaks. Our policy is to get repairs unpacked, done and back in the mail to you within four weeks, including
transport. We pay for repairs that we’re responsible for and charge a fair price for repairs due to normal wear and
tear.
To help customers put back in circulation used clothes, and set up the REUSE “R”, Patagonia and eBay Inc.
have joined forces to launch a new marketplace for customers to buy and sell used Patagonia gear. Only available
for the US market for now, we are already thinking about a similar partnership for Europe. “eBay and
Patagonia have created this unique store to encourage customers to go into their closets, find the Patagonia
garments they don’t currently need, and list them on eBay to continue their useful life,” notes Rick Ridgeway,
Patagonia’s VP of Environmental Initiatives.
The goal is to get more and more pledges and therefore meet our fifth “R”, REIMAGINE. Reimagine a world where
we take only what nature can replace. At this point, 8,500 people already took the pledge. Our goal is to reach
50,000 a year.
We are now using the resources of one and a half planets on our one and only planet. The environmental
cost of everything we make is astonishing. Consider the R2® Jacket shown, one of our best sellers. To make it
required 135 litres of water, enough to meet the daily needs (three litres a day) of 45 people. Its journey from its
origin as 60% recycled polyester to our Reno warehouse generated nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide, 24 times
the weight of the finished product. This jacket left behind, on its way to Reno, two-thirds its weight in waste.
“The Common Threads Initiative addresses a significant part of today’s environmental problem – the footprint of our
stuff,” notes Yvon Chouinard, Patagonia’s Founder and Owner. “This initiative first asks customers to not buy
something if they don’t need it. If they do need it, we ask that they buy what will last a long time – and to repair
what breaks, reuse or resell whatever they don’t wear any more. And, finally, recycle whatever’s truly worn out. We
are the first company to ask customers to take a formal pledge and be partners in the effort to reduce consumption
and keep products out of the landfill or incinerator.”
To get more information and/or take the pledge visit www.patagonia.com/eu/enGB/common-threads