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So, after six years living in North London a hop, skip and a jump from the Duke of Cambridge organic pub in Angel, I finally made it there for dinner this week…now that I live four miles south of the river.

The pub has a staggering list of awards and credentials, including being the only UK pub certified by the Soil Association; creator of the first fish policy to gain Marine Conservation Society approval; London Dining… Continue reading

At a tourism conference in Panama last week, I got chance to catch up with the Rainforest Alliance and hear about its latest news.

Federico Solano described a new scheme called Tour Operators Promoting Sustainability, or TOPS, for both local Latin American tourism companies and those sending customers from the UK and other countries.

After bringing together travel companies that have made a commitment to sustainable practices, the Alliance hopes to launch a group-wide marketing campaign, creating one of the world’s first networks of green-certified operators… Continue reading

We’ve finally got our shiny Eco Kettle up and running. We got it as a free gift from Ecoswitch.com when we changed our energy supplier to Ecotricity a few months ago; I’m not quite sure why it took three months to arrive but it’s here now and that’s the main thing.

It’s estimated that overfilling your kettle can waste as much power in a week as it’d take to light your house for a

I’ve just got back from a fascinating trip to Copenhagen – it was my first visit to the city and I was blown away by the commitment the city and its residents have made to sustainability. I visited several fantastic organic restaurants, including BioMio, where menus emphasise the immune-boosting, energy-boosting or libido-boosting properties of every dish, and even an organic hot-dog stand, Doep.

It was intriguing to compare the terms and concepts we use to… Continue reading

Switching to a green energy supplier is something I’ve been meaning to do for a couple of years now. I think I’ve been putting it off as I knew it might require a fair bit of research. I had to write a presentation for a course I was on at work this week so decided to do the green switch as part of a research project, killing two birds with one stone….

First off, I wanted to work out how much energy we… Continue reading

I’ve just received my next box from Farm Direct and it’s another corker. Some of the new products I’m trying:

-  Free range eggs from James Murdoch’s Duck Lane Farm in Cardington, Bedfordshire

-  An amazing walnut and apricot loaf from Matt Jones’ Flour Power City Bakery in Surrey Quays

-  Red, green and yellow peppers from Ted’s Veg Farm in Bennington, Lincolnshire. Hurrah for these being in season in… Continue reading | 2 Comments

My first box of fresh produce from Farm Direct arrived yesterday which was hugely exciting.

Joining a ‘veg box’ scheme has been on my list of green things I really ought to do for a couple of years but when I checked it out it seemed extremely restrictive – having to commit to the same thing every week, prohibitively expensive, or limited in what they offer.

But at the Camden Green Fair a few weeks back I visited the Farm… Continue reading

I went to Chelsea Flower Show for the first time last week and, considering how little I know about plants and flowers (see earlier failed attempts to cultivate herbs on my balcony), I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was a guest of the Malaysia Tourist Board, which won Gold for its rainforest-inspired garden, designed by James Wong (off the Grow Your Own Drugs programme on TV).

The garden was really beautiful… Continue reading

I enjoyed this piece on Mother Nature Network which listed 10 animals that are bad for the environment…

I knew about the impact elephants can have, tearing down vegetation.

I’ve read about the impact of cattle and invasive species like cane toads and crown-of-thorns starfish too.

But it was news to me that the common carp is also a bad guy! Apparently they uproot vegetation and can majorly affect their environment. They… Continue reading

I was out in the Caribbean last week at CHTA Marketplace, an annual trade expo for Caribbean tourism, and attended a press conference by Green Globe – one of a burgeoning number of eco-certifying bodies for the tourism sector.

CEO Guido Bauer revealed the difference that a Green Globe certificate can make to a hotel’s bottom line: having the certificate lets hotels increase their room rates by 3-7%, reduces their operating costs by 3-11%, and adds 1-3% to the property’s value.

It’s great that they have proof of the financial benefit – in a cash-strapped economy like… Continue reading