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Blogs from my recent trip to the New Forest are now live on Greentraveller.co.uk, as part of an in-depth guide to sustainable tourism in the New Forest district:

A Q&A with Anthony Climpson OBE, tourism manager of the New Forest

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Canoeing in the New Forest

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 was at a holiday park in Cumbria on Saturday as part of Haven’s Big Green Weekend, and got chance to speak with environmental campaigner David Bellamy, who was there to host a wildlife ramble for kids.

Bellamy has come under lots of criticism for his controversial views on climate change – he’s said previously that he doesn’t believe in man-made global warming, and that glaciers are actually advancing, not retreating.

I certainly don’t agree with him on this, but the Green… Continue reading

[This article first appeared in TTG]

Despite a thorough explanation from instructor Derek on how to hold my paddle and how to slow down and change direction, I was still concerned about losing control and smashing up my kayak on the rocks. But Derek assured me the kayaks were practically indestructible. “You might hit into each other, though – the kayaks have got magnets in them,” he warned us.

I’d have thought magnets would make the… 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 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

The ‘Meat Free Mondays’ campaign was in the news again recently, as Paul McCartney gave it his backing.

I think it’s a really great campaign – something everyone can achieve with little effort – and I have gone meat-free again today.

The difference that reducing meat consumption can make is staggering. The main factor is deforestation in Brazil for grazing. The Food and Agriculture Council of the United Nations said in 2006 that livestock’s contribution to gaseous emissions and climate change “currently amounts… Continue reading