Stop Junk Mail. Be Eco Friendly. Do Good. The GreenDimes Blog

KEEP YOUR VEGGIES CLOSE, AND YOUR FRUITS EVEN CLOSER

Gordon Ramsey is known for his fiery tongue but as long as he’s not firing yet another waiter in his kitchen, its absolutely fine.  In a recent BBC interview he waxes lyrical on the need for every British restaurant to respond to the seasons and serve on the fruits and vegetables available at that time. 

"Fruit and veg should be seasonal," he said. "Chefs should be fined if they haven't got ingredients in season on their menu.

"I don't want to see asparagus on in the middle of December. I don't want to see strawberries from Kenya in the middle of March. I want to see it home grown."

Ramsey claims that chefs have a social responsibility to lead the nation in a movement towards healthy eating where substance and quality prevail over food fads.

On the other side of the debate, Oxfam’s head of research, Duncan Green said he was sure ‘"the million farmers in east Africa who rely on exporting their goods to scrape a living would see Gordon Ramsay's assertions as a recipe for disaster". Read more here

What on earth are food miles?
They are the distance that your food travels from the grower to your plate, including travel to and from processor and retailer.

Why should I want to reduce them?
Because transporting your food long distances involves lorries and aeroplanes. And lorries and aeroplanes use lots of fuel and emit tons of CO2 emissions, contributing to global warming. But that’s just the starting point. Other reasons why we should be reducing food miles wherever possible include wanting to eat fresher food, in season; supporting local and regional producers and the economy; and preventing 3rd world countries from cutting down forests and losing their own food, because big companies see food as a commodity, rather as a way to feed the people of that country.

How to reduce food miles:

1. When shopping in supermarkets, check the labels. Buy food that comes from the country you live in. Failing that, look at the options and buy the product that comes from the nearest source, i.e. choose Mexican rather than South African apricots. Carry a small world map in your handbag or pocket for these occasions.

2. Eat what’s in season. It won’t have travelled as far as out-of-season fruit and vegetables.

3. Visit your local Farmers’ Market. Most towns have one, and they are a great source of truly local produce, not to mention a fun outing.

4. Find your local farm shops, producers and pick-your-own farms.

5. Get a veg box delivered to your door.

6. Grow your own. Get an allotment, or start a veggie patch in your back garden. If you have leftover seeds, give them away as gifts to local neighbours.

7. Support your local greengrocer, butcher and fishmonger, and ask them to stock more local produce.

8. Visit your local Country Market for really local produce.

9. Some rare breeds farm parks and city farms offer their local, non-intensively reared meat for sale. If you have one near you, ask them.

10. Walk or take the bus to your local shops. This way you won’t add to the food miles already accrued.

Via Ecostreet

 

38 billion plastic bottles in the bin

The crusades of celebrities to stay on trend was mocked at its most ridiculous when we saw the shift of Paris Hilton clutching the prettiness of a Fiji plastic bottle of water, and later boycotting any establishments who served the stuff, because well, Britney, Linsdey and the rest of the gang were trying it on for size.  In America, tap water is given out free at every diner, cafe and restaurant.  In Britain, on asking, you are snubbed, much the way a cat looks at a dog. 

This wave is hitting restaurant owners like Richard O’Rourke at Gastor’s food hall in England who has said he has not sold a single plastic bottle since opening over 6 months ago.  They invested in a £5000 ($10,000)  system to filter tap water into glass bottles producing fresh and preservative free water.  Having saved up to 17, 686 half litre plastic bottles, a ton and a half of carbon emissions from transportation and 1,474 packaging containers, bottles are served in glass bottles featuring the Gastor logo and been received extremely well by the public.

Cindy Crawford has just involved herself in a collaboration with PUR  Water Filtration Systems for a similar endeavour by designing a reusable water bottle for the company which could allow us to eliminate up to 3,200 plastic water bottles each year.

"Environmental issues are on the top of everyone's mind, including my own," says Cindy. "As a mom, I'm particularly concerned because I want my kids to grow up in a healthier environment. I filter my tap water with PUR.  It's a really simple yet impactful way to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic my family uses while also ensuring that we always have access to clean, great-tasting drinking water."

According to Fast Company, more than up to 38 billion plastic water bottles are discarded every year.  Cindy’s efforts with PUR to design the limited-edition water bottles which sport the phrase ‘Thirsty for Change’ is a clear reaction against such numbers

All proceeds for the campaign will go to Procter & Gamble’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program which helps to reduce water related disease in many developing countries.

Read more about water filtration from Thirsty for Change

OOOH BLOODY MARVELOUS

In a world of T-shirts made of unnatural fibres and toxic chemicals to the environment is a collection right here at TONIC produced on opposing standards with mystical designs by our lady, Luella Bartley.

Having returned home to London after a design sabbatical of 6 years showing at New York Fashion Week, she takes on her rightfully revered place back home as, what American Vogue has termed, ‘a star….a poster child for London cool’. 

She has been hailed to emulate the styles of Biba and Mary Quant fashions, with her young, quirky style winning the hearts of Lily Allen, Kelly Osbourne, Kate Moss – only but modern Britain’s most fascinating and spirited individuals today. 

Grasping the romanticism of English country-sides, horses and war iconography, Luella has maintained traditional influences, even calling her first collection, ‘Daddy I Want a Pony.  Still she entwines the punk and rebellious elements attributed to other sub-cultural movements of rock n’ roll Britain by seamlessly fusing bold colour, plaid and tuxedo elements throughout her years of design.

In the land of rain, wellie boots and cucumber sandwiches, Luella injects heritage with contemporary emblems.  For TONIC, she has pioneered our first collaboration project by designing four T-shirts called
Stag, Sun, Scary Douglas, and Robin.

Buy them here at Tonic and contribute to a cause of your choice.

The Art of Junk Mail

Make art out of junk mail.  That’s what the artist Schimmel has done. She has created quite gorgeous mosaics out of recycled junk mail and greeting cards.  I would have never fathomed that such beauty could come out of quite literally, “trash.”

      

(2 pieces of Shimmel’s art made out of recycled junk mail: portraits of Venus and Twiggy)

In her own words from her Web site, “I am a rabid recycler – I am compelled to utilize unusual resources to create my art. To reuse materials – and give others’ images and words new life in my work.” I recommend that you check out her entire collection on her Web site: Schimmelart.com. You really have to see it to believe it. 

For those of you who are “crafty,” here’s a How-to Recycle Junk Mail into Art……on A Little Hut Blog.

And for those of you who prefer to shop, check out the Junk Mail Gems web site, where you can buy wallets, bookmarks, gifts, and other necessities which have all been made out of junk mail.

Whether making museum-quality portraits or funky magnets and fun wallets, there’s no limit to what you can do with your junk mail.  Now, I’m convinced that creative people can make something beautiful out of anything…even ugly and annoying junk mail.

~Melissa