Leading mens underwear brand C-IN2 has been offering greenish undies for a while now, not just in the colour green, much to my surprise. Who would have thought that you could buy underwear with a conscience that looks and feels so great, but are they truly green? Hence my use of ish with green.
They offer two lines of "eco-undies" in their collection from made from Bamboo and Seacell.
Rayon derived from bamboo is produced from regenerated cellulosic fibers. The Bamboo is broken down, then treated and made into rayon derived from Bamboo. The fabric has natural anti-bacterial functions.
Seacell fibers are manufactured from natural materials only. It is said that the natural elements found in Seacell such as Vitamins and Amino acids are passed on to the body when worn. Cotton is combined with seaweed to make the Seacell fiber.
However in each line cotton is used as a major fabric in the construction of the underwear. Whilst this is from US producers they do not say if this is organic, hence it most likely is not (they have yet to prove me wrong). Which is a shame, considering they have gone to the hassle of calling them "eco-friendly" on their site, but maybe sometime in the future we could see organic cotton in the collection.
Stella McCartney has created the most fashionable charity t-shirt around for Red Nose Day 2009. Exclusively available from TK Maxx, the limited edition t-shirts feature iconic images of The Beatles and Morecambe & Wise.
Stella McCartney has come a long way since the launch of her very own label in 2001 with Gucci Group.
Today her name is on everything from luxury women's wear to organic skincare to the performance range she creates for Adidas and her flagship stores are a highlight of high streets around the world. As an ardent vegetarian, she's just as well known for not using leather or fur in any of her collections.
Stella's latest fashion feat is creating the first ever designer Red Nose Day t-shirt for this year's Comic Relief campaign.
The T-shirts have been wholly manufactured in Africa, and for the first time 100% of the cotton has been sourced from organic Fairtrade certified cotton co-operatives in Senegal. Which ensures gorgeous, pesticide and GM free cotton and a fair price for farmers in developing countries.
"It's a real honour to be involved in such a tremendous cause and be a part of the Red Nose Day campaign 2009. The designs of the t-shirts were inspired by iconic images of iconic people by iconic photographers and adding an element of humour to them. I wanted to focus on photographs where people are happy and create a charity t-shirt that would become a staple of a person's wardrobe." Stella McCartney
Tees are available to buy online, with approximately £5 to £8 going to charity per adult tee.
What's wrong with our Western style diet, in a fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.
My diet has long perturbed me, and from this excellent Ted Talk, with Mark Bittman, it does put it into perspective how much meat I (and probably the rest of the world) eat. Not only is it beneficial for our bodies and the environment but no doubt for the health service of the nation who as even Jamie Oliver has said is crippling under the pressure of dietary related illness (or something similar to these words.
I'm going to attempt to change my diet, over the next few weeks and months which in itself is pretty difficult, as I work in the food industry, where there is an abundance of meat related products. My attempt is to reduce meat consumption to half a pound a week. Wish me luck.
According to New Scientist (13th September 2008), a bowl of cereal has the same carbon footprint as a 7km journey in a 4x4. According to reporter Bijal Trivedi, our shopping baskets are spewing greenhouse gases, but it's easy to cut out the culprits.
333g of CO2eq is emitted to make one hard-boiled egg. Compared with a bowl of cereal with milk at 1224 grams.
There's lots of other exciting reads in the feature article, for more information, you can check the New Scientist website.
Since the early 90's, milkmen have struggled to remain competitive in the market against the convenience of 24/7 supermarkets with loss leading pricing tactics. This has inevitably saw a decline in the number of milkmen in the UK by over 10 000 in the last ten years, as more people turn to the supermarkets and existing clients (as they were often elderly) pass away. It's a tough life for milkmen rising as early as 2am, to go to the dairy to load their floats with the milk for the day. A job they love, but under the pressure from the supermarkets, one which pays a standard wage. Self-employed, to make a living they need to sell at least 500 gallons a week, they have little time off, even during bereavement and illness.
But as people try to green their lives some are turning back to the milkman as a way of receiving their milk fresh and green daily (or we hope).
The latest figures from WRAP, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, suggest that the UK milk industry is responsible for 130,000 tonnes of plastic waste, every year. To put that into perspective this is the more than the amount of plastic that is required for the total annual use of plastic bags in the UK.
Or ... 19 066 667 600 bags ... to be precise is the milk industry equivalent.
Plastic is a funny substance and can't really be recycled more than once, so there are limitations as to the amount of times it can be reused, and even more limitations on the types of products that they can replace, not to mention the way in which the plastic is collected, sorted and recycled. It takes 1.75 kilograms of petroleum (in terms of energy and raw materials) to make one kilogram of HDPE.
Or ... 228 229 285 litres of petroleum ... enough to power a Peugeot 107 for 3.08 billion miles.
Milkmen use cute clinky glass bottles (not all, best to ask first, avoid shock later), these can be reused twenty times before they need to be recycled. They also are virtually infinitely recyclable, although quality tends to degrade after the seventh time. The added advantage is the milkman collects the empty bottles on his next delivery, this allows the bottles to be effectively removed from all waste streams.
Most milkmen in the UK travel on clean green electric milk floats which emit no CO2 emissions other than those from electricity generation, and the milk floats are exceptionally efficient in terms of energy used, compared to petrol or diesel vehicles. One manufacture of these vehicles is Smith, who have diversified into other electric powered commercial vehicles.
We know know the packaging is greener and the distribution, but what about production, either way it is the same, but should we be consuming diary products at all? They are after-all renowned for the carbon intensive farming. The carbon footprint of 1 pint of milk is 596g of CO2.
1.05g of CO2 / 1ml of Milk
Now comes the real choice in what you consume and how it can affect your carbon footprint, organic milk uses three times less energy to produce because it doesn't require energy-intensive fertiliser. This should in effect reduce CO2 emissions by 55%, assuming 83% of CO2 is from production.
0.47g of CO2 / 1ml of Organic Milk (estimated)
So if you don't have a milkman already, it might be an idea to find one, I went in search, if you live in Northern Ireland, you can contact your local dairy, or visit Dale Farm. For the rest of the UK, you can try Find Me a Milkman or Deliver Milk.
Whilst delivered milk is slightly more expensive, this added cost also means you will likely never run out of milk, it's fresh, it's delivered and when saying I'm just going to the supermarket for milk, you categorically spend twenty times that of what you intended to buy in the first place, half an hour in the store and another 15 minutes driving there and parking in the packed out supermarket, and it doesn't come in a cute clinky glass bottle.
If you have a milkman I'd love to hear your comments and the price you pay for a pint of milk to debunk the ideas that milkmen charge exorbitant prices! I have faith.
It bemuses me as I shop that some organic products are cheaper, especially as we are use to the profiteering of such eco-credentials, however one product that I have noticed remains consistently cheaper than its non-organic counter-part is Ambrosia Creamed Rice. Yesterday at Tesco, it was a cool 23p a tin cheaper for the organic version, certified by the Soil Association, that means less nasties used to make your food. The ingredients in the product that are organically grown are "Full Cream Milk", there's a glass and a half in each 425g tin, I'll have you know. Rice and Sugar.
Founded in 1917, as an infant nutrition company, Ambrosia has grown to become one of Britain's best known and loved brands, number one in both the custard and creamed pudding markets. You'll find a large range of their products in supermarkets across the UK, all made using high-quality milk delivered fresh to their Devon dairy and containing no artificial colours or preservatives.
Ambrosia is a trademark of Premier Foods, the UK's largest food producer. More than 99% of all UK households bought a Premier Foods brand last year and 43 million people eat one of our branded products every two weeks. At the forefront of their corporate mantra is efficiency and carbon management setting their main goals of;
10% energy reduction target in 2009 from a 2008 baseline
Zero waste to landfill by 2015
20% water use reduction by 2020
I have contacted Premier Foods about this to ask about this issue further, and will update you should I get a reply. I'm quite glad that some companies, whether intentionally or not have price decisions which ultimately encourage consumers to be more environmentally friendly. Why would any one opt to pay the extra 23p per tin for a product which in my opinion tastes the exact same, but is easier to swallow knowing that the product was produced with organic ingredients, helping to reduce harmful chemicals from entering the food supply and effectively us.
We have three beautiful Zara organic cotton tees available to win worth £15 each (all in size medium, and all mens), all you have to do is tell us what you think of organic cotton by posting a comment below, the best three will receive a tees, the closing date for comments is the end of October. Make sure you include a link back to your blog or your blog profile so we can contact you, if not send an email to support(at)howtosaveenergy.co.uk, outlining the post you own immediately after posting. Competition is open to all, in any country.
Here's the Zara Eco Warning for those of you that missed it featuring the song Baby by Austalian dance group Pnau.
Tesco, have introduced their new lines of school uniforms, with a green theme throughout,with recycled, Fairtrade and organic cotton ranges.
Tesco's recycled uniform range. Stylish and easy to care for, the range also helps to reduce landfill as it's made from old plastic bottles, which are melted down to make raw polyester and turned into fibres and yarns for fabrics that are used to make the clothes. Through our recycled uniform range we have diverted over 40,000 x 1 litre bottles from landfill (about 1.5 tonnes of waste diverted). It takes 6 x 1litre bottles to make a skirt and 17 bottles to make a boy's fleece.
The process of making this recycled fabric uses 84% less energy than making new material and as a result the CO2 emissions are around 77% lower. Surely all polyester should be made this way.
Girls' Recycled pinafore from £5 - sizes: 3/4-10/11 years 2 pack girls' Recycled short-sleeve shirt from £4.50 - sizes: 4/5- 15/16 years Boys' Recycled hooded fleece from £4.50 - sizes: 3/4-15/16 years 2 pack boys' Recycled short-sleeve shirt from £4.50 - sizes: 4/5-15/16 years Boys' Recycled trousers from £4.50 - sizes: 3/4-15/16 years
Tesco's Fairtrade uniforms supports small scale cotton farmers, ensuring that they get a fair price from sales of seed cotton, which helps them to develop their communities.
Tesco use Fairtrade cotton sourced from cotton producers certified by Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) and processed through FLOcert. The Fairtrade scheme offers traceability of seed cotton supply back to farmer level, to ensure the cotton used is truly Fairtrade and is benefiting farmers directly.
With organic cotton, producers aim to cut chemicals, improve soil fertility and help conservation and animal welfare in both its growth and manufacture. The organic cotton used in our uniforms is sourced mainly from farming co-operatives in India. Find out why organic cotton is better for the environment?
Now an initative which is very ethical. In Kenya, many children don't go to school simply because they can't afford a uniform. But you can help change that. Buy trousers for Save the Children from Tesco and, for each pair sold, Tesco will give a Kenyan child either a school skirt, shirt or pair of trousers. By producing the trousers in Kenya, we are also benefiting local trade.
By working together, you, Tesco and Save the Children are providing Kenyan children with the chance of a brighter future.
Now your only decision to make is which one is greener, more ethical, or lower in carbon footprint?
International clothing retailer Zara, have officially launched their Organic Cotton range with an "Eco Warning". You can view their promotional movie on their website. Below is stills from just that, and includes some of the tees for men and women you can find instore now.
So why is organic cotton eco chic and so much environmentally friendlier than your standard cotton. Non-organic cotton is considered to be one of the dirtiest crops in the world, to produce one cotton tee would require 150ml of potentially leathal pesticides, so deadly one drop could kill you.
Organic cotton is obviously made without pesticides, environmentally sound, and safer for those who pick the cotton.
So what has Zara got to offer ... (lets hope that they move to 100% organic across their entire clothing collection in the near future)
Wester Lawrenceton Farm have a long established loan scheme, where members lend against the value of organic dairy cows, with the interest paid in cheese. The idea originated from a neighbour of Wester Lawrenceton Farm in 1997 who said, "I wouldn't mind owning a leg of a cow".
The whole farm is a Company Limited by Guarantee, owned and controlled by (and employing) the farmers. Members lend money against the value of the herd. They have no voting rights and members are paid interest at a set rate in cheese. The Rodways, owners of the farm, are currently drawing up a legal agreement for the cow sharing scheme. Lenders are encouraged to participate in the work and life of the farm. The Rodways would like to develop a group (or an individual) to take over the scheme's organisation. One drawback of the scheme so far has been that, until responsibility is devolved, it adds to the workload. However, the farmers consider it to be a good scheme and a core group of members has emerged, from which offers to take on the work voluntarily have already come.
This legal set-up provides a useful structure that allows people's money to be invested in the organic herd. Some extra work that falls to the Rodways is generated by the scheme but it has nevertheless increased the capital available to them.
21 people have lent money to the farm, in units of £500. Lenders do not own individual animals but collectively their loans are equal to the value of the herd. They are paid interest at a set rate of 8% per year. The interest is paid in cheese, valued at £10/kg, which is more than the wholesale price but less than the retail price. They receive 4kg of cheese per year per £500 loan, which they usually come and collect in large quantities. They can have their loan repaid at a few months notice but in practice most people regard the investment as part of a long term relationship with the farm. Six months notice is required to leave the scheme, preferably having found a replacement.
For legal reasons, these cow shares cannot be advertised or offered direct to the general public; instead they must be offered only to specific individuals who have shown an interest.
The social, cultural and educational aspect of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is important to the farm. Although one aim of the scheme was to improve the farm's finances, another was to address social issues. The farmers believe in the need to reconnect with the rest of society and to educate the public about farming (some do not realise that cows need to have calves in order to produce milk).
There are newsletters and events on the farm about 3 times per year (either festivals or an open day). Most years there is a meeting of cow sharers too. Keeping people involved requires more effort than, for example, box schemes where members visit the farm each week. Holding events is one way in which to sustain people's connections with the farm. This is important because, while some cow sharers visit the farm to pick up their cheese regularly, others collect it infrequently, just before Christmas, for instance.
Festivals are usually celebrated annually, attended by about 50 people (more at Christmas). They draw on ancient Celtic, pagan and Christian traditions at St Bride's day, Christmas Eve and Harvest time. On St Bride's day, families join in with singing, weaving reeds, making blessings and walking the boundaries of the farm. There is a resident artist who helps with events such as a fire sculpture. Everyone shares in traditional farmhouse food and children enjoy eating festive, wholesome dishes as part of the celebration.
On Christmas Eve, carols are sung in the cowshed and to the sheep in the fields, after which mulled wine and mince pies are available. This event is very popular and is held in the early evening so that children can join in. It is seen as a way to remind children of Jesus's birth and get away from the materialism of Christmas. Pam Rodway commented that CSAs and similar schemes allow people to see what the origins of celebration were; that they are both practical (based on food production) and spiritual. They also benefit the farmers, providing support and validation of their work and breaking the isolation of farming.
Participants also learn about the Ayrshire breed, lactation, calving and other farm issues. They give names to the cows and the herd currently includes Rhubarb, Custard and Crumble. There are work days where groups of people tackle jobs such as clearing ragwort, path building and fence repairs.
More people would like to lend money to the scheme but places are limited and people are chosen who will participate in the life of the farm. They are a wide range of mostly local people who knew the farm or had heard of the initiative through word of mouth. The area is home to people with traditional values as well as people associated with an alternative community. Wester Lawrenceton is next door to another CSA (Earthshare), with whom they have a co-operative relationship and some people are members of both schemes.
The Rodways are happy with the scheme and how it has worked and have no plans to change how it operates or its size. The farm is considering introducing other traditional breeds and expects to continue with the current CSA arrangements.
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