orenda an eco-living magazine
lifestyle | travel | fashion | products
Issue 01 | Winter 2016 | 2 GBP
orenda [aw-ren-duh] (n.) a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or to effect change in their own lives.
welcome to orenda We are thrilled to share the very first issue of Orenda magazine with you.
Emily Hoyland Editor
We are an eco living magazine and our aim is to show you how to live a greener life, without breaking the bank or setting unrealistic goals because as a generation we need to act now and change the way we live for future generations to come. We all share an interest and a passion for living a sustainable life but we know how hard it is to balance budget, time, studies, social life... doing this all while watching your carbon footprint isn’t easy and we’re here to help. We’re a team here at orenda, so this letter is from all of us to say thankyou and to also invite you to get involved. Follow us on Twitter, we’d love your feedback @orendamag
Lucy Chapman Sub Editor
So what’s in store this issue? Have you ever wondered how your favourite products are tested? On page 20 we’ve got some Ugly Beauty for you and you’ll get a startling insight into the world of animal testing. Or maybe you’ve been tempted to get your dinner out of a supermarket bin before now? I’m guessing the answer is no. The Real Junk Food Project do just that though and we try to address the stigma surrounding it on page 16.
Alice Brown
Creative Director
We also give you some brilliant, easily implementable tips and hacks on page 8, as well as a quick guide to some of the best (and cheapest) eco events around the country on page 27. Go ahead... Change your life.
The Orenda Team Conor Crozier
Features Editor
what’s inside? bloggers we love page 3
let’s talk about plastic page 4
photo credit: peter bennett/ali hashisho/algalita marine research and education
top ten tips to lead a low impact life page 8 photo credit: author/ frauke feind (pixabay)
swap it, don’t shop it! page 10
photo credit: emily orpin/si eng fung
fast grass page 14
photo credit: miyukiutada(flickr)
i’m going to feed the world page 15
photo credit: shamaila burhan (FB- TRJFP Exhibition)/author
products page 19
ugly beauty page 20
photo credit: author
sustainable skies page 23
photo credit: leo lin tang
lilac
page 25
photo credit: andy lord
eco events near you page 28
blogs we love
by Emily Hoyland
This could go on for days.. but here’s a random selection of our favourite green living blogs that you might not have heard of!
beauty
eating
All Natural Aspirations Started at the end of 2013, UK based blogger Rachel gives realistic natural options on a reasonable budget. She even gives a section on “Ingredients to avoid” for those baffled by the idea of green beauty!
The 9 to 5 foodie Lucie created this blog to help people to take control of their health. She gives brilliant day to day tips along with easy recipe ideas. The clean diary Londoner Caitlyn combines her creativity and her passion for real food to produce versatile recipes for you to follow. She recreates traditional dishes with natural and unrefined ingredients.
Clean Beauty Co Not just a blog, they also produce their own natural beauty products and recipes, along with tips on how to avoid the animal testing brands on the high street.
fitness Student vs fitness Written by a student, for students, it motivates and inspires with workout tips and recipes to get you into shape. Gymbags & Gladrags A realistic and honest insight into getting fit the right way including beauty, food and fashion as well as fitness.
lifestyle/wellbeing A lazy girl goes green Recipes, facts and general ramblings, this is a brilliant yet relatable blog about trying to live a more sustainable life. Curiously conscious We love this blog. Full of healthy practices and alternatives, it is a combination of everything green! Namaste, Rowan A blog that is more focused towards minfulness and mental wellbeing, it encourages readers to make positive changes in their own lives.
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fashion Eco vintage Created by a textile design student with a passion for the environment, check this out for tips on Londonbased fashion events and buying sustainably sourced clothing. Oxfam fashion blog This one is a no brainer for anyone who cares about sustainable fashion, with DIY tips as well as posts about items you can find at Oxfam stores
Our favourite this issue; Moral Fibres Combining food & drink, travel, life, home & garden and style, this blog has it all. It’s our favourite at the moment and we think you’ll love it.
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let’s talk about plastic Conor Crozier sits down with blogger and activist Beth Terry to discuss the effect our plastic consumption is having on the earth, and what we can do to change it.
P
lastic is a modern day phenomenon. the largest mass of rubbish in the world From it’s first synthesis in 1907, the and is the killer of hundreds of thousands polymer has made its way into almost of animals every year. every aspect of daily life. Birds are among the many species that Its incredibly cheap production has instinctively eat floating objects, only to allowed businesses and products to die when their stomachs become filled flourish, and from crash helmets to with household plastic objects. defibrillators, it has become a key ingredient in life saving technologies. It was a picture of this exact scenario that Many of us owe what we do to the ease changed Beth Terry’s life. of life plastic has created. This magazine, “One night I read an article online about for example, may not have been possible ocean plastic pollution and I saw a photo without the laptops and printers used to of a dead albatross full of plastic pieces. create it. The carcass and the body was full of But our overconsumption of plastic has plastic. I looked inside that bird and I saw a very dark side; Businesses choose it for things I was using on a regular basis.” profit over safety; Governments go to
“Every piece of plastic that was ever made still exists in some shape or form”
war over the oil it is derived from; and the fact most modern weapons couldn’t be made without it is too harrowing to be labelled as irony.
After seeing the picture, Beth began to wonder how easy it would be to cut plastic out of her life for a week or two and blog about it. That was eight years ago, and she has since maintained her Over the last ten years we have blog, My Plastic Free Life, and has wrote produced more plastic than during the two books on the process of going whole of the last century. And due to plastic free. the undistinguishable amount of time it takes for plastic to decompose, virtually Once her small experiment began, every piece of plastic that was ever made she soon realised that most things she still exists in some shape or form, mainly purchased contained some form of in our oceans. plastic. This can be a hard fact to digest when you can’t see the waste yourself. But if you were to take a trip to the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, you would find the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a ten metre deep vortex of waste thought to be the size of North America. So large in fact, it has its own Wikipedia page. Thought to be 90% plastic, the Patch is
“Milk and ice cream cartons and coffee cups are lined with plastic, chewing gum is made out of plastic, even glass jar [lids] and metal cans too. Our food is becoming infused with plastic; almost all sea salt has plastic in it because the sea full of plastic, so of course there is plastic in fish now too. Then there is all the plastic that came before that and
packaging that you don’t see, like the palates that get shipped to the store, with tonnes of plastic wrapped around them. Even the food that ends up loose on shelves will have got there via plastic packaging”
right now. Saying “I want this right now” and not being able to wait. I remember before everybody had the convenience. When Evian started being advertised and we wondered why would people buy bottled water. Water is so easy to get, why would you pay money for it? Starting out as an environmental issue Kids growing up now don’t even know over her love of animals, it wasn’t long what a water fountain is or they think before Beth began to understand the they are disgusting” negative health impact plastic has on humans too. Although her life is nearly 100% plastic free, with the exception of a few essential Bisphenol A (BPA) is a key chemical in products, Beth claims her transition plastic that inevitably breaks down into has had a healthy impact on her bank the food/liquid within the plastic and is ingested by the consumer (93% of children and adults test positive for BPA in their system). Doctors and researchers have linked BPA in numerous studies to hormone and thyroid problems, behaviour issues, obesity, cancer, diabetes, asthma, and even kidney and heart conditions. “We don’t have the right to know whats in our plastic.” Beth explains, “because manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients in their formulas.” “But now because BPA is getting such a bad reputation, a lot of companies are advertising the cans as BPA free but some companies won’t say what they are using instead, and we don’t know that the alternative is any better because they are less tested” “I have changed how I eat which is a really good thing. I get to eat real food now instead of processed food. I used to live on frozen dinners. I just wanted the convenience; I think that’s the reason why most people buy plastic packaged food.”
account. After a few initial investments like stainless steel containers, she saves by making her own frozen meals and simple cleaning solutions. Beth challenges her blog’s readers to track their own plastic footprint by collecting all of their plastic waste for a week and taking a photo and uploading it to her site. Through her website, a growing global community have been doing their bit to cut down on plastic consumption.
“Another way to become more aware is “The thing about plastic packaging to do litter clean ups. When you collect is people not getting what they want
it yourself, then you realise you’re part of the problem. But one of the bigger problems with plastic pollution is the pre production plastic that ends up in the ocean as pellets when its being transported from one place to another. We don’t even see that, that has nothing to do with us, but the more we support the plastic industry the more that is likely to happen.”
loss of flavour quicker than other gums. They got this huge outcry from people saying he only reason they were buying the Gum was because it did not have plastic in it.”
“We need people to reach out to companies. Not only the companies that are doing things that we don’t like, but to thank companies for doing it the way that we want them to, so that they Making small changes at home is Beth’s know that people at using their products best advice for personal consumption. not only for the product but for the Simple things like buying a stainless steel packaging too.” bottle or never taking a carrier bag could “We need to focus on reducing the amount of plastic we are producing in Plastic Figures the first place, and only use it for things that are necessary and important. Things Packaging accounts for 35% of the UK’s that are going to last for a long time, that plastic consumption we want to last for a long time and then finding ways to recycle those materials The UK disposes of 13 billion when they are no longer useful. We as plastic bottles per year a culture need to think about how much we are consuming, because I don’t think that all the consuming that we are doing 80% of plastic waste is sent to landfill - only is making us happier anyway. So much 7% is recycled of us can be happier with so much less.”
Internationally, less than 1% of plastics are recycled
have huge impacts if everybody were to do them. But everybody is different and there are many plastic-based products people could go without that others couldn’t. But for Beth, the real change needs to come from businesses attitudes. “I keep coming across companies that I have advocated in the past switch to plastic. There is a gum brand called Pepper Smith that was not made out of plastic it was all natural and just this year they switch to a plastic gum because people were complaining about the
To see how you can do your part to help the world’s plastic crisis, visit Beth’s blog www.myplasticfreelife.com or find her book Plastic Free on Amazon for inspiration. Or visit www.plasticfree. co.uk to find plastic free groups and events local to your area and get involved. Change can, and will, only happen through our direct action.
top ten tips to lead a low impact life The easiest ways to reduce your environmental impact in every day-to-day life. Lucy Chapman TURN OFF ELECTRONIC DEVICES
REDUCE WATER CONSUMPTION
This is a simple one but it categorically does make an enormous difference.
2.5 gallons of water is wasted for every extra minute you stay in the shower.
Everybody is guilty of this, watching TV and switching it to standby when you’re done. Unplug your devices at the wall instead and you’ll save a lot of energy.
To help save water in other areas, a handy tip is to place a few buckets or containers in your garden to collect rainwater, so when your garden needs watering or any house plants you might have, you can use the water you collected outside.
RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE It seems simple but really do it whenever you can. Paper, plastic, glass, metal and cardboard are all recyclable so it’s something we can do every day. It’s so much better for the environment than landfills are. CUT DOWN ON PLASTIC BAGS Plastic bags are actually illegal in India because they are so bad for the environment and hard to dispose of. Try to use backpacks your own bags whenever you can to cut down on plastic consumption.
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If you really really want to save water, you might want to look into investing in an ‘eco shower’. A popular eco shower company called Triton sells electrical shower products that -reduce water consumption and help to reduce water. ECO WASH It’s always best to wash your clothes on a colder temperature or an ‘eco wash’. Also dry your clothes on radiators and drying racks as tumble dryers use up tonnes of energy.
orenda | eco living
GET A FICUS PLANT
EAT LESS MEAT
They are pollution-fighting plants as they absorb gas and antimicrobial activity. One study found they can even remove formaldehyde, one of the most intoxicating chemicals, from the air. Not only will they make your house look nice there are health and environment benefits to this plant too.
One meat free meal per week has a similar impact on the environment as driving a hybrid car. The meat industry, in particular cows, generate 20% of man made greenhouse gas emissions. Mainly because cows omit methane which is bad for the environment. The grass cows eat needs gallons of water too.
RECYCLE CLOTHING Buy vintage and second hand clothing whenever you can, even hunt around your local charity shops to find a bargain-basement.
RE-USE TEABAGS There are hundreds of ways to re-use teabags from adding flavour to pasta or rice (jasmine teabags) to cleaning carpets and rugs. You can store your used teabags in the fridge in a cup of water, then open the bags and let the leaves dry out slightly, sprinkle the loose tea over the rug and leave until they are dry.
One mans trash is another mans treasure and all that. Wearing pre-worn clothing saves cotton and also protects the clothes from landfill. See page 10.
Hoover up the leaves and voilà , you’ll have a clean fresh smelling carpet.
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swap it, don’t shop it Clothes swaps are growing in popularity. Alice Brown looks at the ethical fashion trend sweeping the UK and asks... ‘Do we really need new’?
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T
he shiny billboards, bright lights and shelves bursting with dresses, shirts and shoes make the walk down any UK high street a test of willpower. Even the most resolute are not always immune to the temptation of £10 t-shirts.
fashion-obsessed to tackle their unethical consumption habits.
Fast fashion brands, characterised by their low cost, short lifetime garments, make up one fifth of the UK market. Leading retailers such as H&M, Uniqlo and Inditex (parent company of Zara) have brought fashion-forward style to the masses.
The LCCE began seven years ago as a collaboration between sustainable clothing boutique ReMade in Leeds and Antiform, an ethical fashion label.
“Our members love being able to keep in touch with fashion and maintain a fashionable wardrobe without having to consume,” she says.
The first LCCE involved a handful of people and a The average UK notebook to tally the “Our members love being number of clothes household now owns around £4,000 able to keep in touch with exchanged. Now run worth of clothes. by Barry and a team fashion and maintain a Thirty per cent of of volunteers, the fashionable wardrobe this has not been without having to consume” LCCE has graduated worn in a year. to a larger venue and an Excel spreadsheet. This culture of throwaway fashion comes at a cost. The Department At last count they had over 1600 of Environment, Food and Rural members and 121 volunteers. These Affairs estimate that UK consumers figures, and the exchange itself, are purchase over two million tonnes only expected to grow, with 40-60 of clothing a year and dispose of new members joining each month. one million tonnes. All of this has a gigantic ecological footprint. The concept is simple and the format intended to mimic a retail Clothes swaps have emerged in environment. You can bring up to the midst of this wastage boom, 20 items to swap, with all clothes offering consumers the thrill of checked for quality and exchanged owning something ‘new’, without for tokens that work like money. the environmental side effects. Then it is time to swap till Liz Barry, organiser of the Leeds you drop. Shoppers are able Community Clothes Exchange to exchange as many items (LCCE), believes that clothes swaps as they have brought with are one of the best ways for the them, no matter their value. 11 orenda | eco fashion
At the last exchange, 2181 items were swapped. Clothes range from H&M dresses to Monsoon ball gowns and vintage fur coats. The LCCE committee also continually work to extend the event’s environmental reach. Currently, everything that cannot be accepted into the exchange is donated to local charities that either sell the items or recycle the fabric, ensuring that nothing goes to landfill.
“My sister swapped 20 items at one exchange,” says Barry. “They were all high street branded clothes and we worked out their approximate value. It came to about £250.” “Another lady told us that she was in very bad debt from her shopping habit. Knowing about the clothes exchange and that she could come at the end of every month and get new, good quality clothing helped her avoid shopping on the high street and get out of debt.”
Barry and her team have also managed to involve other sections of the local community in the event. Clothes exchange members have the option to donate their excess tokens into an account that supports Women’s Health Matters. This Leeds-based charity works with women in vulnerable situations, including ethnic minority groups and victims of domestic violence. The tokens in the account accumulate, enabling women supported by the charity to shop at the exchange. “It would have been possible for us to just put together bags of clothes to give to these women, but we really wanted them to come down and feel part of a group and be able to choose the clothes for themselves,” says Barry. On top of this environmental and charitable good, the exchange also offers huge financial benefits for participants.
This combined environmental, financial and social conscience of the LCCE is something this is also being replicated online. Swishing.co.uk is a retail and clothing exchange website steadfast in their dedication to rehoming unwanted clothes and reducing what goes into landfill. The site’s director, Heather Stewart, explains that “swishing” (a fancy term for clothes swapping), came to the United Kingdom in 2009. 12 orenda | eco fashion
Similar to the Leeds Community Clothes Exchange, the site also has a strong social conscience.
Initially conducted as swishing parties, where clothes were swapped amongst friends, Stewart saw an opportunity to take the concept online.
“We are about to enhance our eco-credentials further with an upcycling initiative to re-purpose items into new pieces for our Swishing boutique,” says Stewart. “10 per cent of the profits will then be donated to ethical charities.”
“When we came across ‘Swishing. co.uk’ as a fledgling website on eBay, we acquired it,” she says. “As a concept, it neatly plugs into the current zeitgeist for both saving your pennies and saving the environment.”
As the United Kingdom becomes a nation filled with increasingly overweight wardrobes, clothes swaps are establishing themselves as a viable alternative to cheap chic. Whether online or at an exchange event, they offer consumers a way to shop sustainably without contributing to landfill.
After securing financial capital, Swishing.co.uk was overhauled and the e-commerce platform updated. It is now the only UK clothes swap site that doesn’t require members to swap among themselves. Swishing. co.uk instead takes responsibility for the quality and delivery of all items. 13
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fast grass
By Conor Crozier
Here at Orenda we love bamboo. It is stronger than steel, more sustainable than wood, and creates infinitely softer products than cotton. It is also incredibly healthy for the planet, so no doubt our big blue marble loves it too.
It also absorbs more carbon dioxide and releases 35% more oxygen into the atmosphere than trees, meaning the more we plant, the more we combat global warming. It can be used for a multitude of purposes such as construction, flooring, paper, clothing and furniture. As a building material, it has been tried and tested for thousands of years in Asia, and it’s production can provide economic sustenance to developing countries across the continent.
At a speed of 1-2 inches an hour, Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth and can be harvested 3 months after plantation - whereas hard wood trees can take up to 40 years - and that single harvest can yield 20 times more building material than wood.
bambooee
the environmental toothbrush
tomoto
One roll of Bambooee can replace up to 286 rolls of standard kitchen towels. The bamboo sheets are ultra strong, washable, wallet and eco friendly. And for every roll you buy, Bambooee plants a tree.
One dentist’s biodegradable solution to the 30 million toothbrushes disposed of in Australia each year, equating to 1000 tonnes of landfill. Bamboo, vegan friendly and compostable.
Leeds based clothing label Tomoto have been printing their designs on t-shirts made from a premuim blend of bamboo and organic cotton. Not only are the materials ethically sound but they are amazingly soft too.
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i’m going to feed the world Emily Hoyland took a trip to the little cafe in Armley that has started a global food movement. Welcome to The Real Junk Food Project.
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H
ave you ever wondered what happens to out of date food from supermarket shelves? Maybe not. But one chef from Leeds couldn’t shake the thought, after witnessing first hand the food waste on farms in Australia. So Adam Smith came home and did something about it. He set up a cafe run entirely on food waste. Nice thought? Maybe not. Armley Junk-tion was initially set up as a café with the aim of abolishing food waste. The café operates a ‘Pay as you feel’ system, which does pretty much what it says on the tin. concept of recycled food and there There’s no emphasis on monetary have been arrests made in relation to payment, you can turn up, eat, then taking food from supermarket bins. give back whatever you are able to give, be that washing However, Adam up, clearing plates argues that the grey away, donating food, “We’re not donating DIY supplies… radical. It’s just area around the laws relating to waste food the list goes on. common sense.” has allowed the project to feed over 100,000 Adam Smith set up people, without a single the café in December 2013. The person getting ill as a result. process is refreshingly simple. He also insists that if that was to happen, they would take full responsibility, but due to the “Pay As You Feel” concept, they are not technically selling out of date food.
“We take food waste from anywhere and everywhere. Whether it’s food banks, whether it’s supermarket bins, whether it’s from somebodies house, it doesn’t matter. We use common sense to determine whether it’s fit for human consumption and then we allow people to pay as they feel. It’s as simple as that.” “We’re seen as quite radical, we’re not radical, it’s just common sense.”
“The sell date. throw
law says that you cannot anything past its use by It doesn’t say you have to it away”, Adam explains.
“But we break the law. We feed food that is has expired, that is past its use by date, to the general public, in a commercial environment. But we never lied about it.”
If you’re new to the concept of the Junk Food Project, one word will have jumped out at you there… Bins. There is a big stigma attached to the 16
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That is the important point about this project. It isn’t a secret. Adam has been open since day one about the whole process, they have even been known to take photos of the food and send them back to the supermarkets.
Project, he realised the importance of community led projects that not only educate, but help local people to feel a part of something. Armley Junk-Tion welcomes anyone and everyone, which is what makes it such a valuable asset to the The project grew exponentially community. Many groups meet at despite the grey area around the café, including Armley Men’s the legality, people group and a writer’s group “We break the run by café regular and still wanted to be involved. And Adam Armley local Rich Jevons. law... tells me that that’s But we never lied the power behind it. “It’s become a community about it.” hub where people “You can arrest meet to exchange me, you can throw me in prison, information and ideas”, he said. I could step down, but the network would continue. The An important point for Rich and movement would continue.” many others is that people who may feel excluded from other The project is at a stage now where local establishments or community big companies such as Morrisons groups are always welcome and Nando’s are showing their and always offered support at support and supplying waste Armley Junk-tion, as long as they food to cafés all over the UK. don’t upset other customers. It’s in their best In the UK we throw away A regular customer interests though, as 15 million tonnes of at the café, who Adam explains; “Every will be referred to food every year time that the big as John* for the supermarkets throw purpose of this food away, it costs them money, and article, spoke about the way that they don’t want to do that. They the project has changed his life. don’t want to be wasting food.” “I have been coming here for Food waste is an important issue, a year. I was referred by Patient according to lovehatefoodwaste. Empowerment Projects, it’s for com, in the UK we throw away people suffering with a mental illness. around 15 million tonnes of If you’re alone a lot and you’re isolated food every year 7 million tonnes they give you links to local groups.” of that is from our homes. “They put me in touch with the Armley Despite the shocking statistics, the Men’s Group and we met here every project isn’t just about the food. Thursday. I’ve made friends and it’s Adam explained that through got me out of the house. You get a the creation of The Junk Food good sense of community here.” 17
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Another service that the Armley café provides is the food boutique. In the back of the building is a huge storage of vegetables, rice, lentils, tins… Families or individuals can visit and take home a food parcel in return for anything they are able to donate, be that time, money or a straight swap for other food items.
“A global network can be achieved. It’s starting with the people, its a very simple concept and it’s about using common sense. If everyone does it and proves the safety of it, there’s absolutely no law or legislation in the world that can fight it. Because it’s people power. You can’t fight a movement.”
“I’m going to feed the world”, Adam told me. “I’ve said that all along. I’m still determined to do it.”
Adam is determined to encourage a big student involvment in the coming months. All around the country there are Junk Food Cafe’s that people of any age can get involved in, but as Adam points out, “If any university should be getting involved in the project, it should be a university within Leeds, because this is where it started.
“You can’t fight a movement.”
There are already Junk Food Cafe’s in Israel, Nigeria, South Africa and Australia, to name a few. Next, Adam plans to launch in New Zealand, Canada and America. He readily admits that he has never even met around 70% of the people that have cafe’s and that the project is very much a network that has been formed through empowering people to do themselves what they believe is right.
One point that he can’t stress enough, is that you don’t have to be homeless, you dont have to be living on the breadline. If you have skills or time to offer, they have food to give in return. No one should be going hungry and this is where the project is bittersweet for Adam. “People come in here and say that it’s amazing what we’re doing. Is it really amazing? Should we even need to be here? Should we have a system where we have malnutrition, obesity and food waste right on our doorstep?” Food for thought, don’t you think? If you want to be involved in The Junk Food project, want to pay a visit to your local cafe, or simply want more information, visit: therealjunkfoodproject.org 18
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products bobble Slash your plastic consumption with one simple, healthy solution. This super durable bottle comes with a carbon filter so you can enjoy chlorine-free water on the go. 8.99
www.waterbobble.uk
Energenie Timer Plug This simple plug adapter could save you a whole lot on your energy bills. With it’s variable 3-hour timer, it switches itself off when you want it to, so you don’t have to feel guilty about leaving your phone plugged in all night. 12.99 www.energenie4u.co.uk
Bios Urn Bios Urn is quite literally the greenest way to go. The biodegradable Urn uses the nutrients from the ashes to grow a seedling. You can even choose what tree seed you desire. Imagine if all graveyards were forests… 100
www.urnabios.com
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ugly beauty If I told you to picture a monkey, the first image that probably springs to mind would be a free spirit in the wild, with lots of space to swing from tree to tree in its tribe. But sadly there is a cruel side to the cosmetics industry that means this isn’t always the case. By Lucy Chapman o when EU law made it illegal S for animals to be tested on for cosmetics in Europe, many
Some of the major beauty companies have completely abandoned animal testing on their products and no longer use such ingredients that are tested on animals. But, there are always loopholes in such landmark decisions. The global cosmetic market makes things a bit tricky not only for companies but also consumers as although companies cannot sell animal tested cosmetics in Europe, they can still test cosmetics on animals outside of Europe and sell them on in other markets.
people felt they could rest assured that there would be less monkeys cooped up in cages to be tested on. This law, passed in March 2013 made selling animal-tested cosmetics illegal in Europe, including if the testing is done outside of Europe. The result has seen shops like Lush and The Body Shop, who are famously known for their non-animal testing methods, become more and more popular.
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Because of this, some major companies will still be immorally profiting from such cruelty to animals.
was generated after March 2013 and was for a cosmetics application, L’Oreal cannot retain the ingredient. If the data was generated after March 2013 but was for a usage other than cosmetics, then L’Oreal can retain the ingredient.”
This is extremely important as massive markets like China demand that their cosmetics should be tested on animals. This leads to major companies using this as an excuse to continue to test their products on animals.
One controversial fact that not many people realise is that the Body Shop is corporately owned by L’Oreal. The Body Shop is infamous for its anti animal testing policy so will its customers be happy about it being owned by L’Oreal when the public still don’t really know if they test on animals outside the EU?
Many cosmetic tests are most commonly performed on mice, rats, rabbits, and guinea pigs, including skin and eye irritation tests which involve chemicals being rubbed on shaved skin or forced into the “Are L’Oreal basically animal’s eyes without confessing that they are PETA say that, any pain relief at all. “The Body Shop’s L’Oreal is one example testing their products a n i m a l - t e s t i n g of a major company policy has not on animals?” that sell in the UK and changed and all its are surrounded by products remain huge debate regarding their animal cruelty-free. We feel it’s imperative testing policy. In one of their animal for consumers to continue buying testing FAQ’s L’Oreal state that personal-care products from The their company, “no longer tests Body Shop in order to support any of its products or any of its the company’s strong anti-testing ingredients on animals, anywhere stance and show L’Oreal the market in the world. Nor does L’Oreal for cruelty-free products is huge. delegate this task to others.” When a massive corporation buys However, the statement continues on a smaller, more compassionate to say, “An exception could be made company, the big company learns if authorities required it for human from the smaller company’s success safety or regulatory purposes.” that consumers are concerned about issues such as animal testing So are L’Oreal basically confessing and cruelty to farmed animals. that they are testing their products on animals in places like China Large corporations now for ‘regulatory purposes’? The recognise the expanding market company claims that: “When a of compassionate consumers supplier proposes us an ingredient, who want cruelty-free food, we ask to examine its safety cosmetics and clothing. dossier. If the dossier contains data generated by means of animal We hope The Body Shop’s notesting before March 2013, L’Oreal testing policy and its support can retain the ingredient. If the data of projects which are friendly to
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animals, the environment and native peoples will persuade L’Oreal to abandon animal tests across the board.” So PETA defend The Body Shop as they personally do not test on animals. But does it still feel wrong that they are owned by a company rumoured to test on animals when they are so famous for not doing so? The charity Cruelty Free International says that: “The Body Shop is a certified company under our International Leaping Bunny certification.
consumers that a product is free from new animal testing L’Oreal has told many news outlets: “In China, the regulatory authorities carry out within their evaluation centres animal tests for finished cosmetics products before these are placed on their market.
This certification applies to all products and their ingredients across a company’s own-label range. The grounds for which Leaping Bun certification can be revoked relate to any failure to comply with the rigorous process and audit requirements that guarantee to
We think these tests are unnecessary but we cannot prevent them.”
“Large corporations now recognise the expanding market of compassionate consumers who want cruelty-free food, cosmetics and clothing.” 22
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sustainable skies From comparing flight prices to deciding what to pack, booking air travel requires a lot of thinking. Looking at the environmental impact of your trip might not be a priority, but airlines are making this an increasingly practical option, writes Alice Brown.
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F
lying makes up a large component of an individual’s carbon footprint. A round-trip between London and New York accounts for 1.02 tonnes of carbon emissions. If travelling first class, the carbon footprint becomes nine times larger than this, as the seats take up more space and increases fuel use per passenger. This is all a lot of carbon when you consider that the average annual emissions of a person in the UK are 9.4 tonnes.
Flying Virgin Atlantic on the London to New York route above costs only £10.60 to offset. This money is then invested into renewable energy projects.
The unfortunate truth is that to completely reduce emissions caused by air travel, we would all have to stop flying. For most this is unrealistic, with flying often the only practical way to get from point A to point B.
For those flying with airlines without carbon offset programs, there are alternative solutions to ensure a trip across the Atlantic doesn’t send an individual’s emissions sky high.
Eco air travel, however, is no longer an oxymoron, with an increasing number of sustainable initiatives being implemented by airlines around the world.
Climatecare.org calculates flight emissions for any route and travellers can pay the equivalent in offset costs. This money is then used to fund carbon management projects in developing countries.
The exact nature of these projects varies according to the airline. EasyJet invests exclusively in United Nationscertified projects, whilst Virgin Atlantic participates in a range of initiatives, including wind power implementation and energy efficiency schemes.
Purchasing carbon offsets has become an easy and cost-effective way for travellers to reconcile their ecological consciences while also reducing their carbon footprint.
For frequent fliers, Tree-nation.com offers plans from £5 a month, with the company regularly planting trees in one of 10 plantations around the world to match an individual’s emissions.
Many airlines, including Virgin Atlantic, EasyJet and Lufthansa, all offer passengers the option to add carbon offsets to their ticket price.
Whilst offsetting flights through an airline or external orgaisation won’t single-handedly stop global warming, it is a reliable and painless way for eco-conscious travellers to reduce their carbon footprint.
These schemes work in the same way you might add in flight insurance or opt to upgrade to a more spacious seat. Carbon emissions are calculated at checkout and passengers can add the equivalent in costs to their ticket.
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Frequent flying and planet pollution do not have to go hand-in-hand. Book your flight, pack your bags and add in carbon offsetting for an eco-friendly takeoff.
orenda | eco travel
lilac: low impact living affordable community Lilac’s community encourages the public to learn how to live ecologically in an affordable manner and tells all on how co-housing is the perfect way of living. By Lucy Chapman from around the world.This is an example of cohousing, a way of living that originated in Denmark in the 1960s, and is slowly becoming more and more popular in the UK.
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ituated on a little road in Bramley is a clutter of modern looking buildings that stand out from the rest of the houses in the area. Positioned in a circle, with lots of green space in the middle, a pond and allotments filled with vegetable patches and blooming flowers.
Lilac is a pioneering cohousing project set up in 2007 and completed in 2013 in Bramley, Leeds. It boasts 20 homes and a shared common house built from straw bales and timber. It is a rare community that is a member-lednot-for-profit co-operative that aims
There’s a shared common house which is used for socialising and dining, filled with tables and chairs, the walls adorned with decorations
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to promote its values to others. Laura Smith, a resident of Lilac sums up the community: “People wanted to live in a better way and people who are drawn to here recognise the major crises are climate change,
for cooking together. The residents have communal meals twice a week, so that one person prepares dinner on one cooker for lots of people and in doing so reduces the amount of energy used.
the housing crisis and a break down of the community. So what we’ve tried to make is a community to address that and we reduce our carbon footprint in lots of ways.”
These communal meals also allow people time to socialise and eat together as a community.
Laura says, “It’s a very good way to live and it was very hard to set up but Lilac is a sort of self built hopefully it gets easier, one of our cooperative, in terms of being founding members Paul Chatterton directed by the community, and is has written a book which has lots built around cohousing principles, of useful information in it and we maximising interaction got lots of councillors with neighbours, with visiting and seeing that it the houses and flats built “It is possible is possible to live like this facing each other with and isn’t just some sort of to live like shared outdoor areas. radical idea.”
this and it
All of the residents have Lilac only has space for ten their own house or flat, isn’t just some cars in the car park as they providing them with a sort of radical share cars between them level of privacy, however so again that reduces their the principle of maximising environmental impact and idea.” group interaction builds they don’t have to give a strong community and lots of space over to cars. helps to develop a low impact unit by sharing resources, such as cars They have three bike sheds, which and tools. are wooden structures and have space for 50 bikes and most people There are two 4 bed houses and six cycle as they’re close to the city 3 bed, six 2 bed and six 1 bed which centre. house 36 adults and 12 children. The site has a big play area and a lot “Having the cars separate from the of shared space including a pond, site is also part of the co-housing a decking area and all the houses principle so that the space is have their own small private garden. designed to maximise interaction.” Most of the gardening at Lilac is Laura explains that usually houses shared over the site and allotments. have drives and roads separating them and it makes it hard for The whole site is south facing so neighbours to properly interact with it is able to soak in the sun for it’s cars getting in the way. allotments and the solar panels get as much sun as possible. In the Lilac is affordable so it differs from shared common house is a living other eco living communities in the area, a kitchen and a dining room UK. The houses in Lilac are 18%
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less than the standard cost to build houses in the UK and they have a radical finance model as its an equity based lease hold scheme, a mutual home ownership society so between them the residents own the whole site. The amount of equity residents purchase is not related to their particular house. It all depends on income; they pay only 35% of their income.
the housing ladder.”Lilac really does sound like the perfect way of living; it’s no wonder cohousing is so popular in Denmark. As well as socialising more with neighbour’s, residents save so much money in the long run by reducing energy costs, they use about an 8th of that of a usual link Lilac to household in the UK.
“We don’t the property market.”
The closest eco community to Lilac is in Lancaster, but Laura says: “The biggest difference is affordability because they don’t know if the price of their houses will go up. Part of our finance model is we don’t link lilac to the property market so the prices go up in line with our wages and not the property market.
It’s not affordable for everyone at the minute, but it’s aimed at people who are in the middle intermediate market which is at the moment those not eligible for social housing but can’t get on
Maybe more communities will follow lead and try to reduce the impact of climate change whilst tackling the current housing crisis like Lilac has done and continues to do.
eco events near you
By Emily Hoyland
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Birmingham Green Fest- 12th March 2016 Taking place at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens, the festival promises to be a fun day out that promotes sustainable lifestyles in an interactive way. £2 for adults on the door and free for under 16s! Visit www. birminghambotanicalgardens.org.uk for more information.
Newcastle Community Green Festival. 2 Leazes Park- 4-5 June 2016 A mix of stalls including food and drink, craft and therapeutic healing as well as live music. The festival also welcomes volunteers. Read more at: www.newcastlegreenfestival.org.uk
Live a Better Life fair, 3 Liverpool- 19th March 2016
St Georges Hall offers 120 stalls boasting a range of delicious Vegan food, organic beauty products and handmade gifts. Admission is only £2, more information is available at labl.org.uk
Don’t forget! The UK Green Film Festival takes place in May 2016 at various locations nationwide. Sponsored by Friends of the Earth, it is a celebration of environmental films and the 2015 festival took place in over 25 locations across the UK. Check www.ukgreenfilmfestival.org. uk for your closest venue!
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Green Scythe Fair, Somerset- 12th June 4 2016 An authentic country fair set in beautiful coun-
tryside with camping available nearby. Live music, skills stalls and organic food on offer for all ages. greenfair.org.uk
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Bristol’s Big Green Week! June 2016. 5 With various Green events taking place all over Bristol, there’s sure to be something for everyone. Details for this year haven’t been released yet, but keep an eye on biggreenweek.com for more!
Carshalton Environmental 6 Fair- August Bank Holiday Monday 2016
Held in Carshalton Park, South London, the fair host a range of stalls as well as interactive demonstrations, farmers market, a real ale bar and cinema showcasing local filmmakers. Only £5 entry for adults, more information is available at www. envfair.org.uk
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This magazine is printed on sustainably sourced paper. It can live on as a paper aeroplane, gift-wrap for small presents or to balance a wonky table.
@orendamag