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I have fallen well and truly in love with my new iPhone. There is an application for everything. Some, like the beer-drinking app, are just silly, but there are others which are a godsend. The public toilet locator, for example. Ingenious! So I thought I’d check out whether there are any useful eco-related applications on the market.

It seems that there are loads of good ones in the States already. An app like 3rdWhale, which… Continue reading

I tried to find out a little more about the annual Namibian seal cull over the weekend. It was in the headlines last week because two journalists who were trying to film the cull got arrested last week.

I’m ashamed to say I didn’t even realise this seal cull took place in Namibia. In my ignorance, I’d always associated seal culls with cold places like Greenland. But turns out 90,000 fur seals – mainly cubs – are killed off Namibia’s coast each year for meat, skin and fur.

Ironically, the blood bath takes place in a supposed… Continue reading

I was alarmed to read an article on the Independent’s site today about local produce and food miles. It refers to a Defra report which says that it is more environmentally-friendly to import certain produce from overseas than it is to grow it here in the UK.

Along with Pimms and Wimbledon, the British strawberry is something to really look forward to in summer. When they come into the supermarkets, I can’t bear to leave them… Continue reading

Love it or hate it, celebrity culture is here to stay, so it’s good that some of them are putting their fame and fortune to good use by coming out green. Here are my favourite eco-celebrities.

1. Leonardo Di Caprio

Yes he’s made some insufferable movies, but he’s one of the most active eco-warriors on the celeb circuit. He’s got his own foundation, and is on the board of various organisations like Global Green. He puts most of his time, effort… Continue reading

I’ve just commented on William Skidelsky’s column on guardian.co.uk about food waste.

I try to be careful with my shopping, and am pretty good at cooking big batches and freezing meals for later in the week. But all it takes is for my evening plans to change last minute, and I end up with a fridge full of manky vegetables by the weekend. There’s also all the peelings, tea bags and left-overs that end up in the bin.

Skidelsky’s column prompted me to look at how… Continue reading

The biggest green news this week has been the government’s new Low Carbon Transition Plan, revealed on Wednesday. Key points include that, by 2020:

• more than 1.2 million people will have green jobs
• 7 million homes will have had green makeovers
• 40% of electricity will be from renewable sources, nuclear or clean coal
• gas imported will be halved
• cars will emit 40% less carbon than they do now
• carbon emissions are to be reduced by 34%

I did ‘Meat Free Monday’ again this Monday (and Tuesday in fact). I wrote about it last Monday and how the idea, supported by Macca et al, has its critics.

I’ve since found an interesting article on Treehugger relating specifically to beef, which says eating beef could actually slow climate change.

Humans produce more methane than cows, the writer maintains, and the grass they graze on sequesters carbon:

“Cattle must be saying, “Stop pointing fingers!  You single-stomached humans are contributing more methane emissions than… Continue reading

Did you see Vivienne Westwood’s interview with Jonathan Ross on Friday night? I thought she got the message about climate change across pretty well.

She was draped in seven metres of fabric, fixed with a belt, in line with her ‘DIY’ fashion ethos – using what you have lying around instead of buying lots and lots of disposable clothing. Jonathan said surely she’s doing herself out of business by discouraging buying new clothes.

She said if… Continue reading

The Independent has a story today about the amount of packaging that supermarkets produce – local authorities say it adds £1.8 billion to tax payers’ bills, and undermines recycling efforts.

The LGA has called for them to have to publicly disclose every three months how much packaging they’re producing.

They’re obliged to report to WRAP, the Government’s waste reduction body, but only Morrisons, Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have gone public.

Just last night we were looking at exactly how much stuff we… Continue reading

Today was officially Green Britain Day – part of a Team Green Britain campaign to make the country greener before the Olympics in 2012.

Energy giant EDF Energy is behind the campaign, and there’s been major controversy because the green Union Jack logo they’ve used is very similar to the one of Ecotricity, a renewable energy supplier. Ecotricity is trying to sue EDF for what it claims is a misleading of consumers.

EDF describes itself as Europe’s “lowest carbon-producing energy company”… Continue reading