Big City Small Footprints

Friday 27 March 2009

Earth Hour: lights out for darker skies

Turn to the dark side tomorrow for WWF’s Earth Hour. At 8.30pm on Saturday March 28th, people, businesses and iconic landmarks around the world (including Nelson’s Column, Canary Wharf and the Royal Albert Hall) are set go back to black for 60 minutes as they switch off their lights.

The event marks the start of the WWF’s global deal campaign on climate change. A target of one billion participants has been set for Earth Hour 2009. It’s an eye-catching and easy awareness raiser, so if you’d like to get involved, head over to the WWF’s site and sign up.

One thing did raise an alarm bell though. The WWF is promoting the idea of enjoying an evening by candlelight, either at home or an outside venue. To me, there’s something backwards about burning fuel to support a campaign seeking action on climate change – even if its heart is in the right place.

Candles produce CO2. (Just in case you were thinking of using enough to make your place look like the set of a 1980s power ballad video shoot). Compared to electric light bulbs, candles do not look like such a bright idea. Read More »

Posted in Events, emissions | Comments (0)

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Interview: Julia Smith

Julia Smith is an up and coming designer on the British fashion scene and a Future 100 young entrepreneur. She showcased her autumn/winter 09/10 collection with Vauxhall Fashion Scout at London Fashion Week 2009. Her capsule collection, Made in Africa, is currently in Topshop’s Oxford Circus Store.

How was your first show at London Fashion Week?

It was scary to think that it was just my name on the line, well and Vauxhall [Fashion Scout], but mainly me. In the run up to the show, it’s hard to believe that there’s a whole world going on outside. All I saw for weeks were the four walls of my not so comfy studio. Though sleep deprived, something drove me – creative passion. It won’t let me stop until the look is complete.

During the show itself, all hell broke loose. Quick changes, shoes not being done, up – it was all hands on deck. We got there in the end though, and I’m pleased to say it looked absolutely brilliant!

Obviously there are things to change and improve on - I would not be a designer if I didn’t think like that - but it was a day for me to acknowledge that we did it and we did it good!

What was your inspiration for moving into ethical and sustainable fashion?

I used to work in high street fashion and did not feel comfortable with how everything was so driven by price, with little thought for how it was produced, who by, or how much they got paid. I then began my Masters in Fashion design and technology and started to look into organic cotton production and fair-trade issues. My MA collection was all about sustainability. It’s such a broad subject but once you delve into it there’s just no looking back. Read More »

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Monday 9 March 2009

Building a green future

I wasn’t expecting Ecobuild to be quite so large. Ecobuild is a whole Earl’s Court-full exhibition devoted to green building. And a surprising amount of it was about windows.

I was hoping that I would be blown away by some new developments, but I can’t say I was. However, there was a lot of practical and useful stuff on show. There were lots of efficient windows, boilers, heat pumps, solar panels and a few wind turbines (including a small scale version of Quiet Revolution’s cool looking turbine - but I’d rather have seen the real thing up close). There were lots of stands about different types of micro-generation. I was looking for transparent solar panels, but couldn’t find them anywhere. I did find the guys behind BedZed, with their new pre-made/designed easy to assemble eco- home concepts. I liked the LandArk - a little bungalow that can be used as an office or a home (possibly a holiday home). All you need is a bit of land.

The Green Building Store was there too. I wanted to tell them that the toilets they supplied me are great - but they were one of the busier stands - although one elderly person did seem to be recounting his life story to them (starting from his adoption by a family that owned a fish and chip shop). I decided not to interrupt.

There were also various building materials companies there to demonstrate their products and give them some eco gleam. Plasterboards, paints, woods, toilets, showers. Pretty much everything you might expect from a building show, but with everyone trying to demonstrate their green credentials. I wish I’d gone to this event last year, before going through all the building work on our attempted eco flat. It would have made the research a lot easier.

Posted in Events, changes, green building, house, refurbishment | Comments (0)

Wednesday 25 February 2009

DON’T PANIC

So says the cover of the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. That would be the guide in the book - not the actual book. If you know what I mean. You might remember that Douglas Adams put this in the hands of his slightly inept hero when the world was completely obliterated (as a result of ‘progress’ - in the form of galactic construction work). Well, let’s hope we can avoid needing one ourselves, since it doesn’t appear like we have anywhere to go if our planet gets completely screwed.

Anyway, I thought of the words, “DON’T PANIC” when I read the title of this film: Wake up, Freak out - then Get a Grip. It doesn’t really tell you what we should all be doing to avert climate change, but it is a nicely made educational film. Worth 11 minutes of your time and attention.

Wake Up, Freak Out - then Get a Grip from Leo Murray on Vimeo.

Posted in climate change, emissions, life | Comments (0)

Thursday 19 February 2009

Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 is almost upon us. This time around, the launch event this time will be a free family sports day on the South Bank (22nd February, 11am-4pm, Riverside walkway by Gabriel’s Wharf, SE1).

Winners of races and events will receive a Fairtrade chocolate medal, which should give participants that extra Rocky-esque boost. For those who don’t fancy competing, there will be a host of other activities on offer. Fairtrade farmers will be around if you want to meet the people your buying choices support.

Fans of the fruit of the musaceae family might want to take part in Go Bananas, which is being billed as the ‘world’s biggest banana event’ (6th-7th March). Over 100,000 people have signed up to the awareness raising event so far.

Events and activities will be running through out the fortnight. You can check out what’s going on near you by heading to the Fairtrade Foundation’s website.