The bakers did themselves proud today – a 24inch whopper

keith

It has got to be good – made from hand-picked recycled textiles.

See their website at www.goodone.co.uk

keith

[from the Guardian 10/2/07]

Never been much for wearing jeans myself – just could not take to them. However most people do – and this list of organic or alternative jean ranges is taken from a longer article in this months Organic Life magazine (no website)

www.loomstate.org – 100% organic cotton Flux Jeans (and a funky flash site)

www.prpsgoods.com – 70% african organic cotton (more flash, great denim detail)

www.kuyichi.com – organic and fairly traded street wear (very urban )

www.hug.co.uk – 100% organic and fairly traded (simple site, great clothes)

www.spiritofnature.co.uk – 100% organic cotton jeans for kids (be patient here – may take a while to find them)

www.howies.co.uk – 3 organic styles of jeans (another simple and sweet site)

keith

Was a time when clothing that carried a badge of pride for the eco or fairtrade minded would have been embarrassing to be seen in. Time have changed.

Take a look at the range from this Australian label – who unhappily to point out that sweatshop’s exist in Australia as well as developing countries. Be warned that the photography on this site is not the best – and Winter 05 is the latest update.

www.limedrop.com.au

keith

A great collection of exhibitors gathers at the Green Energy Fair in Gowran, Co Kilkenny on the 28th and 29th October. For more information go to: www.carlowkilkennygreens.com/events.htm

keith

Saw this one in the Irish Independent last week.

Econatural.com – Ann Kelsey set up the business to bring organic and natural products into Ireland. I had a quick look through the site and while some of the products are widely available (Green and Black chocolates for instance) there are others that would make sense to purchase online.

In a similar vein is EcoBaby. This is a business that has been going for at least 9 years (we bought nappies from them for our son who is just over 9!) and their customer support has always been a joy to be at the receiving end of. They are prompt and professional and I would completely recommend them to anyone with young children who is concerned about their environmental impact.

And finally from the Irish Times is bababeag.ie which includes a range of organic clothing for infants and toddlers.

keith

There are a number of challenges in niche markets (the subject of my talk at Barcamp Ireland) and these include:

• making money
• getting your message across
• distribution

Fairtrade has come a long way since the days of what was genuinely horrible instant coffee in the 1980’s. The products these days are acceptable to a western audience while still containing references to the cultures they come out of.

Distribution, especially in a country like Ireland, is still an issue. A couple of years ago Oxfam pulled their fairly traded goods out of the majority of stores (I guess issues around logistics were big there) and focused them on a couple of key outlets in Ireland. Which was great from a quality and presentation point of view but lousy for those of us who do not live in the major cities.

Today they have taken the logical step of launching an online store for Ireland. They are accompanying that with some net savvy marketing techniques (contacting blogs both in advance and on the day and runnng an adsense campaign) so the marketing challenge is (partially at least) being tackled in the digital world.

If you are looking for anything from coffee to corporate gifts to toys for the children for Christmas or even jewellery and crafts have a look at www.oxfamirelandshop.org

Well done to Oxfam Ireland and to Karl Cronin, the webmaster behind this. (originally posted in Pure Play)

keith

Learn to harvest & cook sea vegetables as a healthy, nutritious, tasty, alternative
Kilfaressey strand on the Copper Coast and afterwards at the Bistro in Annestown, Co. Waterford. Saturday the 7th of October from 10.30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Cooking with Sea Vegetables

The Ancient Celts and the Vikings understood the benefits of this nutritious food and used several varieties of sea vegetable in their staple diets. One of the best known of these is the traditional Welsh ‘’Laver bread’’ Saint Columba, records that his monks gathered ‘’Dillisk’’ to help feed his followers. The major consumers of vegetables from the sea today are the Chinese and the Japanese, who appreciate this nutritious food which can be very tasty when properly prepared.

High in minerals and proteins, low in calories, sea vegetables have always been valued for their rejuvenating and purifying properties. They can be combined with other whole foods to from the basis of a very healthy balanced diet. Today in Ireland the main market is in health food stores. In Waterford, Dillisk & Carrageen Moss are still used in some traditional local dishes

The Four Rivers Slow Food Convivium in cooperation with the local community on the Copper Coast in Co. Waterford aims to rejuvenate this good food tradition.

The goals for the day are:

1. Demonstrate to the community and visitors how to make culinary use of the large variety of seaweeds & sea vegetables available on local beaches
2. Encourage chefs to create a range of local dishes making the best use of all the marine resources about them
3. Enjoy great tasting, nutritious, natural, foods, packed with healthy minerals and vitamins

Programme:
10.30 a.m. Introduction to sea vegetables and edible seaweeds, followed by foraging on the beach at Kilfarassey at low tide – Dr Rhatigan of the Irish Organic Centre

1 p.m.  Lunch on a wide variety of local tasty sea vegetable dishes followed by a cookery demonstration.

7.30 p.m. Seafood Banquet,Location: Copper Coast Bistro, Seaview Celtic, Annestown, Co Waterford

Book early to avoid disappointment as seating for the banquet is limited.

Enquires from Margaret Cosgrave at 051-396686

Fee: €60 includes lunch & Seminar
Banquet: €30
Email: margaretATcoppercoastgeopark.com
See: www.slowfoodireland.com & www.coppercoastgeopark.com

One of the things I struggle with is the arguments put forward by learned men (usually economists who detail the case for nuclear power as a saviour from the greenhouse effect. Given that power is up there with food and transport as one of the 3 main spending categories for consumers this is something where a strong contrary voice is needed.

From the  Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) comes a link to reserch published by the German Federal Ministry. The following piece is taken from the TREC page

A new report (‘TRANS-CSP‘) commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety has calculated that solar electricity imported from CSP plants in North Africa and the Middle East would be one of the cheapest sources of electricity in Europe, and that includes the costs of transmitting it. Supplies would be very much less vulnerable to interruption than are current imports of gas, oil and uranium. The main conclusions of the TRANS-CSP report are described in the press release ‘New report shows how Europe can make deep cuts in CO2 emissions and phase out nuclear power at the same time’.

keith

Under the heading of local sustainable tourism (a new one for me here!) I spotted an article in the UK Observer newspaper yesterday.

The business, Under The Thatch, has 9 properties in Wales that it has renovated using traditional methods and that were previously in ruin and thus not used by the local populations. There are some lovely looking (and quiet) properties listed here – hence their tagline “Romantic holiday accomodation in West Wales”!

keith