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Who wears the green trousers in your house?

Anna Guyer | 26.03.10

Men may be from Mars and women from Venus, but whatever truth there is in that divide between the sexes may be biodegradable when it comes to who drives green living in a household - my own house being a case in point.

There seems to be a prevalent belief that women are the green advocates at home, from recycling to saving water to canceling EDF in favor of a green electricity supplier. That is so not the situation in our relationship, which leads me to wonder: is it just a myth that women are usually the domestic eco leaders, or are we an anomaly?

I have the feeling it's the former, though I'd be interested to know your experience.

Matthew, my smart and wonderful husband, is an my Eco Guardian, there are no two ways about it. He is the one who ensures that our family lives as environmentally-friendly as possible and he walks the walk, from raising the chickens to growing our veggies to teaching our children about the importance of protecting our planet.

His role brings enormous benefits and interesting challenges. I was not a natural. As much as I believe in green, I have to work at living it. Matthew would be happy with a wooden hut for a home. I would not. He doesn't enjoy or crave expensive consumer luxury items, taxis, dinners out, new clothes, hairdryers. And I, well, sometimes I struggle.

My biggest challenge in living with Mr. Green Jeans is that he suggested that we make a commitment not to fly. A single airline flight would so drastically reverse any progress we make to keep our carbon footprint low, that air travel is out of the question and off the agenda.

I understand it, but oh, is it difficult sometimes. I do still find myself yearning for a mini break in the sun or daydreaming of a luxurious holiday somewhere tropical with white sand and turqoise sea. But I know it is not to be.

I've built my career around advocating eco issues, and I feel it's vital that everyone do their part to protect the planet. I guess reversing years of non-eco conditioning from childhood has just taken me longer than others. Maybe that's one of the reasons I was led to meet and marry Matthew.

Rachel Halliwell wrote in the daily mail a couple of weeks ago that her husband is an "eco bore," which is what got me thinking about the green men I know. I wouldn't call Matthew an eco bore. I say he's a sort of eco guardian, and really, he's my eco conscience. He can rattle off facts and figures about the environmental impact of things, which in actual fact is a big help to me at home and at work. It helps me, and it is good for the children to grow up aware of the impact that we have on the planet.

His commitment to green living is monumental, highly ethical, admirable, and sometimes challenging... and I love him for it.

What's the story in your house? Who wears the green trousers? Would love to know.

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Eco Hero: Alys Fowler

Anna Shepard | 12.04.10

The 'grow your own' movement is getting a lot of attention lately, and there isn't a better advocate for it than Alys Fowler. Alys is a gardening superstar, but without a star's ego. Naturally warm, modest, eclectic and funny, she's the gardener next door -- who just happened to train at the Royal Horticultural Society, the New York Botanical Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.

Alys is a presenter on BBC Gardener's World, and a widely published journalist whose work appears in The Guardian, The Garden, Gardeners' World Magazine, Gardens Illustrated and Horticulture Week.

Her latest book 'The Edible Garden: How to Have Your Garden and Eat It' is currently the number three book in the Gardening category on Amazon UK.

We've chosen her as our Eco Hero for this edition because not only do we love her utter willingness to share her knowledge of all things horticultural -- and tie that into your health and wellbeing -- she also understands the positive impact gardening has on communities and the environment. She gets it. So one minute she's teaching people how to pot vegetables on a fire escape, and the next she's planting guerrilla allotments at Heathrow to protest runway expansion. She's a rebel in a pair of Wellies.

As guest blogger Anna Shepard found out in the interview that follows, what's not to love? -- ed.

How would you describe yourself?

Gardener and cyclist.

What is your mission?

We’re going to need more skills in the future and one of those is growing food. I want to pass on knowledge about how to do this. I’m very aware that my role is simply to pass on the things that were taught to me. Having trained at Kew and New York Botanical Garden, I’m one in a long line of gardeners. Many have come before me and many will come after. I’m just handing on the knowledge.

What do you care passionately about?

I care most about finding a way for all of us to become part of our environment. I don’t like this idea that man is pitted against nature and that we have to change ourselves to make it better. A lot of environmentalism is about ‘not doing’ things. Stop this; reduce that; cut back on the other - it can be quite negative. What I love about gardening is that it’s not negative. All that matters is that you do more of it.

Why is organic so important?

You can call it organic, natural, or whatever you like, but what matters is that we have the most gentle approach to our environment and that we try to have the least impact possible. Organic is a word that has become complex because it’s used in so many different ways.

In gardening terms, it means no chemicals, no pesticides, no herbicides, no man-made fertilizers and as little water as possible. I try to think about the fact that yes, it’s my garden, but all the little insects and animals don’t know that. To them it’s just a bit of ground.

What is the next big challenge?

To build up soil fertility, particularly in urban areas where there’s no endless supply of farmyard manure. It is so necessary if we’re going to grow food in our cities. On a lighter note, I am setting myself the challenge of learning to love slugs. When you’ve had plants eaten by slugs, it’s hard not to want to annihilate every single one of them. Of course, if a slug comes too near me, it’s probably going to get squished, but I am trying to learn to live with them. It’s an important lesson; it’s about realizing that you are part of a wider eco system. The more you can accept that, the easier it is to garden because you learn to accept it’s not all about you.

What would you like to achieve in your lifetime?

If I knew the answer to that, wouldn’t that be perfect happiness? No, seriously, one thing I would like - although maybe it’s a little idealistic - would be for society to move away from being so consumerist. Instead I’d like more people to be engaged with bigger issues. If everyone did things they were truly passionate about, wouldn’t it all be a lot easier? Apathy is a big problem. People do things without even realizing why they’re doing them. They go shopping because it seems like a nice thing to do, but if people could really focus on what they were truly excited about, we might all be happier.

What top green principles do you live by?

I cycle as much as possible and eat as many homegrown things as I can. The other thing is that I believe in walking to happiness. This is something my cousin said to me the other day, that we should keep the things that make us happy - whether it’s people, hobbies or work - as close to home as possible.

What one thing do you wish everyone would do?

Make more things. It could be some jam, a knitted jumper or a thank you card; the things you make and do yourself have meaning for a really long time.

And in the garden?

Plant an apple tree, preferably an English variety. Within five years, you’ll be cropping your own apples, you’ll also have lovely blossom in late spring, and you’re doing it for the next generations as well.

How long have we got to save the planet?

No time at all. We need to do it immediately. This is partly why I don’t want to have children; we need to be more sensible about our population. But I’m not naturally pessimistic about the future. If everyone did one small thing, such as One Pot Pledge [link] this would have a huge effect.

Who is your Eco Hero and why?

I’m totally in love with the work of Wendell Berry. He’s an American farmer and philosopher who writes about agrarian issues. He looks at how many of our problems began when we moved away from being close to the soil. Every time I pick up anything written by him, I think he’s absolutely on the money.

Photo:

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World Oceans Day: Saying No To Plastic

Sally Hill | 09.06.10

Yesterday was World Oceans Day, an event that both celebrates the richness, biodiversity and beauty of our world's oceans, and asks us to confront our own complicity in the devastating pollution that threatens them. I wonder: do we love our oceans enough to end our very personal love affair with plastic?

As you read, there is a growing, swirling, apparently indestructible, swarm of plastic in the North Pacific Ocean. What is referred to as 'The Great Pacific Garbage Patch' or sometimes the 'Pacific Trash Vortex', is an area where an extremely high concentration of waste - plastic, chemical sludge and other debris - has been drawn together in the sea.

Reports of its size vary from 'the size of Texas' to 'larger than the continental United States'.

In fact there are over 6 million tonnes of plastic in the North Pacific Gyre and 100 million tonnes worldwide. Nearly every food and household item we buy is made of petroleum plastic and here - front and centre for the world's life-giving marine ecosystems - we have the fall out from the industrialised world.

While the volume of plastic is enormous, much of it cannot be seen without close observation as the plastic has been broken down into small plastic particles or what are known as 'nurdles'. Each 'nurdle', or fleck of partly broken down plastic, attracts and absorb heavy metals, toxins and industrial chemicals hanging around in the ocean. These get ingested by fish, birds, marine life and the pollutants can enter the food chain ready for human consumption.

The Pacific albatross has become an endangered species as they mistake the brightly coloured plastic for food and feeds it to their young. Photographs of dead chicks with bellies filled with fragments of plastic have become a common illustration of the problem.

The responsibility for this monstrous garbage and plastic pollution lies with us. Both the cause and the solution lie in the most mundane corners of our everday lives. The styrofoam packaging that doesn't get a second glance as we throw it in the bin, the bottle top lost at the beach, the wrapper that blows from a garbage truck. Plastic has infiltrated our existence.

While approximately 20% of the rubbish in the Pacific patch is from shipping, fishing and harbours - 80% is the 'out of sight out of mind' by-product of modern consumer society, and consists of thrown away plastic bags, water bottles, toothbrushes, food packaging, toys and tyres.

Captain Charles Moore, who first discovered the garbage patch, believes that a clean-up is impossible. The clean-up cost would be enough to 'bankrupt any country' according to Moore.

There is no hope for the plastic that currently sits in the water, but surely we can eaach take personal decisions not to use or buy plastic and cast it aside so liberally.

We can consider the inappropriate use of plastics in the design and manufacture of products, we can reuse and recycle some plastic and we can make changes in our lives to move toward being waste-free. We can begin to address our society's complete disconnection from where on earth our things come from before we use them, and where on earth they go after we use them.

Our every day behaviours are significant. This is our responsibility and we need to change the way we behave and the way we package most of our products if this planet is to survive. We will be looking at some of those solutions and alternatives in a series of blog posts. If you have views on this too - we would love to hear from you.

Let's continue the spirit of World Oceans Day with a commitment to look at what we use from the Earth and where it goes to - it is a hard habit to break but let's say NO TO PLASTIC!

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pollution, green living, plastic, choice, great pacific garbage patch, consumption, gyre, ocean

Eco Hero: Joanna Yarrow

Anna Guyer | 18.06.10

If green is the new black, surely Joanna Yarrow is one of the reasons why. She makes "green" glamourous, from her fashionable wardrobe made by ethical designers and sourced on eBay, to her home which showcases how smart interior design can co-exist with a low eco footprint. Joanna is the quintessential example of the elegant environmentalist.

Her ethic came to her organically, handed down to her by her parents who worked in environmental arenas and were committed to living a self-sufficient and eco-friendly lifestyle. She went through school feeling somewhat different: her healthy and organic meals were in sharp contrast to her friends' crisps and snacks, and she made do mending her clothes when all her friends were into throw-away fashion. But she survived and, in fact, thrived from those experiences which became the foundation of everything she's about today.

Joanna went on to study sustainability with Forum for the Future, and now runs an inspiring and trailblazing consultancy, Beyond Green. She has an impressive list of broadcast credits which include her role as GMTV's environmental expert, and she is a published author whose work includes 1001 Ways You Can Save the Earth, How to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint, and Eco-Logical!

Not one to rest on her eco laurels, Joanna has recently left London to take over Wilderness Wood, an award-winning working woodland which hosts more than 30,000 visitors a year, inspiring and educating the local community and school children about sustainable living.

Green, glamorous, astute, committed and challenging: Joanna Yarrow is this edition's Greenhouse Eco Hero. Writer Anna Shepard gets her take on the issues. -- ed.


How would you describe yourself?
My official title is writer, broadcaster and consultant. I set up a sustainability consultancy called Beyond Green and also property company Blue Living. I’d also like to add injured runner, recent ruralist and constant juggler.

What is your mission?
To make sustainable living attractive and accessible to a broad range of people.

What do you care most passionately about?
I want sustainable living to speak for itself. In other words, I want people to feel as passionately about it as I do - not just because its green or eco or good for your carbon footprint, but because it tastes good, makes you feel good, saves money and makes you fit and healthy.

Is organic important?
Whether in farming or any other kind of horticulture, organic production methods make a lot of sense. It’s about respecting the systems we rely on. I’m not a farmer, but rather alarmingly, since I took on my parents’ wood in Sussex and moved there with my family, I am a recent forester (www.wildernesswood.co.uk). I’d love to manage the wood completely organically, but the soil is poor quality, which is why the land is still woodland, otherwise it would have cultivated long ago.

To grow Christmas trees - our main crop – we’ve had to use petrochemical based fertilizers and chemical weed killers. One of the things I want to do is cut back on that by introducing sheep to graze around the Christmas trees. The idea is that the sheep will do the weeding. There’s a certain breed that don't eat Christmas tree shoots, or that’s what I’m hoping.

What do you think is the next big challenge?
One of them is to create some inspiring success stories. In the UK, people are starting to get very clued up about problems, but there are still so few examples of good solutions. Most people don’t even have a picture in their mind of what ‘doing things differently’ might look like, whether it is a house or a low-carbon community. It’s really difficult to find sources of inspiration that will appeal to a broad range of people, not just natural-born treehuggers. That’s one of the things we’re aiming to achieve at Wilderness Wood. We want to get lots of people coming here from different walks of life to get a taste of sustainable living.

What would you like to achieve in your lifetime?
What’s important to me is to be involved with projects that inspire people to live in a different way - it could be a book or TV program or a place like the wood that reaches out to people and makes that emotional connection. I grew up lucky enough to have a personal relationship with the natural world. Obviously not everyone can grow up in a 60 acre wood, but there are lots of different ways that you can touch people and inspire them to make changes.

What top green principles do you live by?
One of the big ones is travel. In my twenties, to my shame, I clocked up a pretty nasty carbon footprint. These days, I don’t fly - except if it’s unavoidable for work. All our holidays are by train. Last year we went to Morocco: we took the train to the south coast of Spain, then the boat over to Tangier, then we explored Fez, Marrakesh and up into the Atlas Mountains.

I don’t own a car or a driving license. Everyone keeps telling me that I won’t survive in the countryside without one, but so far, three months in, I’m doing fine. In terms of food, I'm vegetarian and I have ambitious plans for growing my own. In London, we grew herbs and salads in the garden, but here in Sussex, I’m hoping to do a lot more.

On the energy front, we use a green energy supplier. All our heating and hot water comes from wood, and I’m hoping in the future to install solar hot water heating and PV (photo-voltaic) cells for electricity.

I’m also a massive fan of ethical fashion – I like the Ascension boutique in central London and also Equa in North London. For everything else, I pretty much live on eBay.

What one thing do you wish everyone did?
Try to holiday overland. I’m hoping that the silver-lining to the volcano ash drama will be that people will realize they can get to places easily and in an enjoyable way without flying.

How long have we got to save the planet?
The planet is going to be fine. It’s a silly idea that we’re saving the planet; it’ll sort it itself out, it just won’t be very comfortable for humans. I say that having written a book called 1001 Ways to Save the Planet (Duncan Baird)- which I’d like to mention, wasn’t my title. But in terms of making the planet habitable, we have a ridiculously short window of opportunity to act. I worry that we’ll look back in twenty years time and realize how much easier it was now.

Who is your Eco Hero?
Al Gore - his film was a turning point which made it ok to talk about all this stuff. He managed to get green issues on so many people’s agendas.

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Weekly Greenhouse Round-Up

Sally Hill | 09.07.10

It has been a week of exciting events and developments for sustainable transport.

Here in the UK, Greenhouse kept a close eye on the Eco Rally, which showcased a hoard of new alternativelly-fuelled vehicles.

And more fascinating still, there was news of a solar-powered plane which took a 24hr flight in the darkness. The story was first reported here by Inhabitat that the plane, the Solar Impulse, was about to embark on a trial journey. The plane successfully completed the trip and landed in Switzerland 26 hours later.

The flight will progress investment in solar-powered aircraft, with particular emphasis given to the fact that the plane was able to store enough energy to fly in darkness. While a commercial solar flight is still a long way off, this is a trail-blazing design and a huge step forward, and shows that the seemingly impossible can be done. You can follow Solar Impulse flights in real time on Solar Impulse TV.

Here are the links we loved this week:

'Glastonbury's Call to Eco-Conscious Arms'
Daisy Dumas seeks out 'eco-ness' at the festival and discovers it is built into the design of the festival.
(The Evening Standard)

'Eco Rally: A Green Car Race from London to Brighton'
Profile of Dale Vince's wind car entry into the 2010 Rally.
(Greenhouse)

'Healthier Office Spaces Benefit Everyone'
The 'Living Office' at the Chelsea Flower Show designed around research that shows the link between plants and fresh air and productivity.
(Treehugger)

'What Does the UK Public Want to Drive?'
Gap exists between those who want to be sustainable and those who would be willing to buy an electric vehicle.
(Eco Rally)

'Greenpeace Names, Shames Companies Over Deforestation'
Tesco named among those responsible for large scale forest destruction and species loss in Indonesia
(Yahoo Finance)

'Take Up of School Lunches Rises in 2009-2010'
Release of figures shows uptake growing in both primary and secondary schools
(School Food Trust)

'Eco Rally Sparks Conversation About the Future of Transport'
What participants had to say about the 2010 Eco Rally and what it means for transport.
(Greenhouse)

'European Union Could Cut Emissions by 95% With Renewables - Greenpeace'
Report from Greenpeace says savings would easily outweight investment in renewables.
(The Guardian)

'Gordon Brown's Vegetable Patch Goes to Seed'
The Brown's beloved vegetable patch has been overlooked by David and Samantha Cameron.
(The Telegraph)

Oh My God What Happened
'The Book for Everyone Who Wants to Move Into the Digital Era of Awesomeness'

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6 Winter Home Improvement Tips That Will Save Energy and Lower Your Bills

Greta Jonyniate | 20.01.12

We love this article from inhabitat, which shows that with a few small changes, we can stay warmer, save more money and reduce our energy consumption in our homes!

It probably doesn't come as a surprise, an uncomfortable home also comes at a high monetary cost. If winter has sent a deep chill throughout your house, you've also probably received an equally bone-chilling heating bill from your utility company. But you don't have to huddle up the family under the blanket just yet - we have a few suggestions that will help make this winter much more comfortable, and maybe even less expensive. We've rounded up some handy tips on how you can easily save energy on heating, and lower your electricity and gas bills to boot. So whether you're a renter or homeowner, check out our top 6 nifty and low cost ideas that will get you saving real bucks over the winter season.

TIP 1: Upgrade or tune-up your heating system

The first plan of action is to actually have a plan. 30% of a average home’s energy cost is for heating and sometimes a lot more if you heat with electricity, gas, or oil. A furnace or boiler tune-up is a good place to start. Changing the air filter and diagnosing for problems that lead to inefficiencies or even carbon-monoxide poisoning is a top priority.

TIP 2: Get an energy audit

Don’t think that getting a new heating plant will solve your comfort and efficiency problems. Heat can escape a home in hundreds of different ways, so it’s worth investigating how your home’s shell is performing, as well as the condition of your ductwork. A BPI certified home energy audit (or assessment) provides the critical information needed to get the biggest bang for your buck, and usually finds important things you may never even have noticed. Contact your utility company to see if they offer a discounted audit and weatherization. After, follow up those recommendations with a quality, professional energy retrofit.

TIP 3: Button up your windows

If you don’t have the money, or are a renter, don’t despair. While new windows and a furnace would be great, what you have now may need only just a little help to save cash and improve comfort. Even new windows are often just marginally more efficient than old ones (compared to your wall’s r-value for instance), but a good set of insulating blinds can double or triple a window’s efficiency.

Reflective bubble wrap foil also works well for a window cover and dramatically reduces radiant energy losses that can make even a warm room feel cold to bare skin. And don’t neglect caulking around the frame if you feel a draft coming through. In a pinch plastic film will get you through the season, and storm windows are often a good compromise.

To read more, go to inhabitat's website, or click HERE

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Meatout

Anna Guyer | 19.03.12

Fancy free food? This week, The Vegan Society will be giving out free food as part of Meatout, an international vegan campaign that promotes a meat free diet. On or around March 20th each year, Meatout supporting organisations attempt to get consumers to go meat free for one day and try out vegetarian and vegan foods. The UK Vegan Society is organising this year’s UK events.

Meatout is part of the USA not-for-profit organisation FARM’s campaign to end the use of animals for food. And FARM is not adverse to openly bribing consumers in order to attract them to their campaign: their Pay Per View van tours the USA, paying people one dollar to view a four minute film that documents some of the worse treatment animals have to suffer in a modern factory farm. The campaign also publishes how many people watched the film at each event the van visits.

FARM has also set up Meatout Mondays, a campaign that supports consumers to…well, the title says it all. This simple idea has its roots in the Meatless Monday campaign, set up by marketer Sid Lerner to be part of the Monday Campaigns (there is also Man Up! Monday, which supports young men to have STI tests, and Move It! Monday, which supports people to be more active). The Meat Free Monday campaign, set up by Paul McCartney, has a similar aim and the idea seems to be a core principle of the Green Party.

Regardless of how you feel about animal ethics, Meatless/Meatout/Meat-Free days have a positive affect on the environment. According to the United Nations, emissions of CO2 created by the livestock industry could account for 18% of global emissions. While meat production does not in-of-itself lead to environmental destruction (if done properly, it can lead to environmental biodiversity), our demand for cheap beef is leading to widespread rainforest destruction, as forests are cleared for new grazing ground for industrially farmed cattle. The meat industry can be wildly inefficient in terms of resources: for feedlot beef, it takes 33 calories of energy from fossil fuels to make just one calorie of energy for food.

So if you’re going to choose a day to go without a Big Mac…today would be the day.

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It’s not easy being green…

Richard Lemmer | 25.04.12

Guest blogger Julia Hailes discusses the best way turn a property green...

In 1986, when I bought my London flat, I re-painted and re-carpeted it throughout. Since then it’s had a few minor makeovers, some carried out by tenants, as the property has been rented since 1995. But in 2010 I decided to do a major overhaul – and the key objective was to make the flat as green as possible.

I’ve worked as an environmental consultant for 25 years and have written nine books on eco-issues, including green building. Yet despite all of my experience, I missed “Superhomes” status on this project by just 1 per cent. Superhomes is a scheme that promotes eco-renovation. To obtain their accreditation, the carbon emissions of a property have to be reduced by 60 per cent or more – my rating was 59 per cent.

The pivotal factor in falling short appears to have been my windows. The Victorian sash windows had been in a terrible condition, rattling in places and with large gaps that let the air in and the heat out. I got them repaired and draft-proofed, which did reduce the heat loss, but clearly I should have had them double-glazed.

My mistake was to repair the windows before eco-renovating the entire property. I subsequently discovered that I could have used Slimlite double-glazing in the existing windows. One compensating factor is that I’ve installed insulating blinds throughout the property (although they can only retain heat when they are pulled down).

Insulation is the key to eco-renovation. Given that my flat is at the top of the building, I wondered if I could exclude insulating the floors and instead benefit from the heating in the flats below. “Definitely not,” said my architect, Jerry Tate. There were two reasons why. First, insulation provides acoustic benefits, reducing noise transfer between flats. Second, the flat below could be vacant and would therefore not send warmth through to my floor. Taking account of both performance and eco-credentials, I chose a range of insulation products from Knauf, including glass fibre wall insulation, 85 per cent of which is composed from recycled glass bottles.

Choosing the flooring was one of the most challenging tasks. In the sitting room and kitchen area I wanted something that was durable, sustainable and looked good. I opted for bamboo, one of the fastest growing plants on earth. I chose one that wouldn’t get dented by high heels and so will last a long time. It looks good, too: the bamboo has been squashed flat, so the natural ridges are visible.

Of equal importance is the sensible disposal of waste materials from the flat. Keen to avoid landfill disposal I tracked down DS Smith Recycling, who took all the waste, including carpets, wood and plasterboard, and recycled it. The clean wood was made into chipboard and some of the gypsum powder in the plasterboard was incorporated into new boards.

I started on this project with the huge advantage of being an environmental expert and yet I struggled. Despite using an eco-architect, the research we all had to carry out to find the right products was extremely time-consuming. I am delighted with the end result, and I’m sure it will be cost-efficient to live in, but I don’t think I’ll be able to increase the rent.

Domestic eco-renovation needs to be much easier and more cost efficient if it’s going to make any serious contribution to reducing the UK’s carbon emissions.

A version of this post originally appeared on FT.com

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