Welcome to this week’s Carnival of the Green, powered by the good folks over at Treehugger, and hosted this week by us, here at How Ethical!

If you’re a regular How Ethical reader and this is your first carnival, then let me explain. This post is a travelling fairground of posts, rounding up the best of last week’s environmental, green and sustainability news.

So, without any further ado, let’s get straight on to the submissions (in no particular order)!

Vancouver’s City Council has approved an “EcoDensity” policy. Adam, from Market Urbanism, asks “How is EcoDensity different from regular density, which already comes pre-equipped with environmental benefits?” in a post called EcoDensity: Scary Name, but Not-so-Bad »

Tiffany Washko presents posted at Natural Family Living Blog.

A big box store gives preferential parking for carpool and high efficiency cars … but the mainstream SUV guys don’t quite get it yet!
Prefered Parking for Gas Sippers (in theory) »
via Betsy

Inspirational story from Ametrine all about Gardening For A Sustainable Planet posted at Ways To Simplify.

The joys of Summer Simplicity.

via GP at Fish Creek House

Introducing The TwoFlush from Aquanotion, a dual flush conversion kit for standard North-American style toilets. It can potentially save hundreds of liters of water by providing a choice between a full flush and a low-flow option every time you flush. Complete with installation photos!
via Andrew Davidson

Tiffany asks “Is green guilt good or bad? Is green a new religion?” in a post called Is It Green, Religious, Or Just Smart?

Here’s a great idea to help save water: Dear Housekeeping: Please Don’t Change My Towel by Elizabeth at Go Green Travel Green

Jen from the Daily Mitzvah posted on a neat company called TerraCycle that upcycles juicepacks, grocery plastic bags, cookie wrappers, and soda bottles into useful products — everything from totebags to organic plant food to natural household cleaners. They’ve rejected standardized packaging — your natural window cleaner might be in a Coke bottle or a differently shaped Dr. Pepper bottle. All their packaging is either another company’s rejects or material from elementary school drives, in which TerraCycle pays the kids per item. And they’ve gotten their products into “big box” stores, to reach audiences that don’t typically buy recycled.

Read more: TerraCycle Happily Sells “Trash” »

Glastonbury starts next week, and (if you believe the mumblings) this year aims to be the greenest Glasto in recent years. Ethical Superstore explores How to Have an Ethical Music Festival.

And finally, our host from last week not only wants us to Grow Organic Sprouts Sustainable Wisdom For All, she also wants to give us an eco fashion update in a post called Eco-Fashion Euphoria: Prairie Underground. Both posts via Victoria Everman :: Sustainable, Creative, Enlightened Living :: San Francisco. Nice blog that one, very good.

That’s all for this week!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this read, there are some great articles in there, and thank you all for your submissions.

Remember kids, spam blogs don’t get no love from me!

Thanks for popping by. Until next time, which will be some time in 2010!

Do you want to know more?

Find out more about Carnival of the Green and how to host it yourself! »

You can check out last week’s Carnival of the Green over at Victoria E »

Next week’s Carnival is hosted by the Two Hands World Shop »

Perhaps you’d like to check out How Ethical’s most popular post of all time? It’s got some really nice photography…

Is Honey Good for You?

Radiohead are doing it. Pearl Jam are doing it. Now Jack Johnson is doing it. These are musicians listening up to the fact that making music means making tonnes of CO2 and are actively reducing their carbon footprint. It’s estimated that UK music festivals alone – attracting around five million revellers every year – are emitting a whopping 84,000 tonnes of CO2.

Fortunately, festival organisers are working hard to cut the carbon. This year sees a major focus on everything from car-share schemes (audience transport is responsible for two-thirds of carbon emissions); to biodegradable tent pegs and solar-powered stages, to make the whole green field experience, well, greener.

Music indeed ‘has the power’ and it’s hoped that knock-on effects will resonate. Glastonbury told us: “We have a chance to let a receptive audience know that the things we do – like running on renewable energy and avoiding plastic packaging – are things festival goers can carry on in their regular life once they've gone back to their cities and offices.”

So, with musicians and organisers doing their bit, what can regular festival goers do to have a greener festival experience?

Minimal impact is the key. Or as eco-watchdog Ben Challis puts it from NGO A Greener Festival: “The best festival goer is one that leaves no trace.” So, our advice is to opt for items that biodegrade before the memories of good times fade – bag some compostable plates and cutlery for your nosh. Or take something reusable like these durable resealable containers.

When you’re packing your survival bag a wind up torch is a must to get you through the night. For those gadgets you really can’t leave at home, a portable solar charger will keep your mobile, MP3 player or iPod fully powered up. And for a little indulgent festival luxury, slip under a solar powered shower. Music to any green festival goers’ ears.

Top ten tips for a greener festival

1. If you can, travel by public transport – if you can’t, car or lift-share
2. Take your tent home – please!
3. Buy durable products, returnable bottles and containers that can be re-filled – a bottle of water can be re-filled at taps on-site
4. Look out for recycled goods and those packaged in recycled materials
5. Cut down on packaging by buying your fruit and vegetables loose
6. Please save water on-site
7. Buy local, fair trade and organic food, drinks and products, at stalls if possible
8. Use re-sealable containers to keep your food fresh
9. Use rechargeable batteries or buy a portable solar or wind charger for your mobile, MP3 player and radio. Get a wind up torch – they don’t run out!
10. Remember: reduce, reuse and recycle!

Top 10 was provided by Ben Challis at A Greener Festival.
 
Ethical Superstore has a Summer Festival Survival Kit for a greener festival, priced £49.95.

Kick your carbon habit . . . in 60 seconds.

June 5th is World Environment Day. It’s big. It’s been running since 1972 and it’s the UN’s way of getting us focused on the environment. This year, they want us to kick our CO2 habit.

When do they want it? Now.

So, with no time to waste, Ethical Superstore has waded through their lengthy wish list to deliver – in a nutshell – the speedy no-nonsense guide to going low carbon.

Just do it. Saying you will do something about it is half the battle. If whole countries such as Costa Rica, New Zealand and Norway can aim for carbon neutral, so can you.

Find out where your gases are coming from. A good carbon calculator will work out the nitty gritty for you.

Set yourself a target. You should be able to reduce 10 per cent without too much problem. Focusing your efforts on the energy and fuel you are using are the first big steps.

Think ‘low carbon use’. Everything we do or use embodies carbon of some sort. An estimated 20 per cent of emissions contributing to climate change globally are a result of deforestation so use certified products like FSC – not only charcoal, but everyday items such as greeting cards and bathroom products are available.

Think ‘low carbon travel’ such as public transport or getting on your bike – make it a super-sexy folding bike and you can cleverly do both. And, why not make a pledge to swap your energy-expensive travel for a bike once a week and change your world. If you can work from home one day a week, consider it.

Switch your home energy. Generally, coal produces twice the amount of emissions of gas; six times the amount of solar; 40 times the amount of wind and 200 times the amount from hydro. So, if you haven’t already, switch to a green supplier pronto. Check out the grants available if you need further financial incentives.

Carbon offset or use a company that does .

Reduce, reuse and recycle. The 3Rs are more relevant than ever. Why not get that sought after recycling bin, use reusable nappies, sleep under a recycled fibre duvet, use recycled kitchen towels, glasses, office paper, aluminium foil, laptop bag and toothbrush. You can even get a razor from recycled plastic – how sharp is that?

Eco design is the future. Designs that are energy-efficient, such as the eco-kettle, as well as those that consider overall carbon count are the way to go. Opt for organic food, hand-produced Fair Trade fashion and natural materials like jute. Energy-efficient rated products will help you do more with less such as the standby buster. And if you still haven’t fitted energy-efficient light bulbs, where have you been? – Obviously in the dark. Get some fitted throughout your home and offices, now.

Consumers want to buy green – it’s proven – so businesses help us please. Support companies that offer low carbon products and make it fun and easy to do.

Read the original version of how to ‘Kick Your Carbon Habit’ from UNEP for World Environment Day here.

The genius inventor behind the famous wind up radio, Trevor Baylis OBE, talks to Ethical Superstore about getting off your backside; his brand new Mini Eco Radio and having an ego as big as a truck.

Ethical Superstore: How did the wind up radio come about?
Trevor Baylis: You don’t get up in the morning and try to invent something – ‘chance favours the prepared mind’ as they say. I was, by pure chance, watching a programme on HIV/AIDS in Africa and how they needed the power of education to stop the spread.

ES: Radio being the perfect way, right?
TB: Yes, but most of Africa was without electricity, and batteries were horrendously expensive. Now, picture this  – I was in my 60s, sitting with a pipe, and a wind up gramophone at my side with a great big horn on the top – colonial I suppose (laughs) – and I think to myself, if you can get all that power by winding a spring, surely you can generate enough to turn a dynamo which would power a radio.

ES: So what did you do?
TB: I did the right thing and got off my backside! I started playing around in my workshop with a small motor and an old transistor radio. Then, I had this genius idea. I took a bucket of water and wound it up over a tree with a rope and pulley, and as it slowly descended it drove a gearbox that powered a radio. I eventually made my first radio, which ran for a few minutes on a one to two-minute wind. Not a great trade off, but proved it could be done.

ES: So from idea to marketable product, was it an easy ride?
TB: I filed for a patent and got it, but then came the hardest part. I went to all the government authorities and the Design Council – who said they help inventors – but got rejection after rejection. It was awful. But, I’ve an ego as big as a truck, which helps (laughs), and carried on! I got in touch with the BBC – they were enraptured – and the Tomorrow’s World team featured me. The rest, well, went like clockwork.

ES: Do we support inventors enough in the UK?
TB: No! We are brilliant in Britain at inventing, but not so good at bringing the products to market. Think about all the great and famous inventors – they died in poverty.

ES: So we have the inventive minds: are you optimistic that we can develop the technologies to cope with global problems such as climate change?
TB: Absolutely, yes.

ES: What green technologies inspire you?
TB: I believe that one of the biggest potential is tidal movement. You can’t stop the tide rising twice a day and the potential energy is colossal. Sunshine and wind we must harness, sure, but I believe water energy offers the greatest potential.

ES: Something you could put your inventive mind to?
TB: I’m going to stay focussed on what I’m best at – wind up technology!

ES: Your new wind up Mini Eco Radio has arrived in the era of the iPod, is this why you delivered something so compact?
TB: Well that is just it! The new wind up radios are extremely energy-efficient, and run for a considerable amount of time. New technology is getting better and energy requirements smaller – I’m improving the designs all the time. You can’t see the circuits these days, as they are lost in a chip. Wind up technology is going forward and there are some blinding new products coming through. We’re also looking at ‘satnavs’ and wind up phones.

ES: You didn’t come up with the idea of the wind up radio until you were 60. What were you doing before then?
TB: I’ve always followed my heart. It’s like kids on skateboards, we don’t always understand why they do it, but they do (laughs). I was a stuntman for most of my life and I worked in the Berlin circus as an underwater escape act. I’ve always done what gives me a buzz.

ES: What’s in the future for you Trevor?
TB: I want to continue to help inventors – it’s my first love – and prevent others going through the same hardships that I did.  I want to make sure the ideas of today’s young inventors are properly protected from vulture capitalists. I want to bring invention as part of the national curriculum and change the image of inventors – we’re not all fruitcakes (laughs)!

Trevor's latest invention, the Mini Eco Radio is available for £24.99.

This is Trevor's smallest wind-up AM/FM radio to date, with an integrated LED torch and red LED map reading light. The Mini Eco radio is not only wind up but also solar powered and USB rechargeable. The USB lead also lets you use the radio as a mobile phone charger.

Find out more about the Trevor Baylis Mini Eco Radio here »

See the complete range of Trevor Baylis products here »

Ethical Superstore: You initiated World Fair Trade Day – what is it for?

Safia Minney: It’s actually a huge celebration! World Fair Trade Day isn’t simply about consumers in the so-called North, but about strengthening the Fair Trade producer groups in the Southern countries. Celebrities, media and politicians will be involved, but it’s really about the producers themselves. Whether they are going to gather around the Taj Mahal in India, in Peru or in Zimbabwe, it is a day where Fair Trade and everything it stands for will be expressed. That’s the excitement of it.

The theme of this year’s World Fair Trade Day is Fair Trade and ecology – why?

SM: With the increased concern over climate change, what has become really apparent is that the disadvantaged communities supported by the Fair Trade movement, are the ones living in areas that are now more affected by flood and draught. So we are seeing the adverse effects of climate change on the very organisations that Fair Trade is targeting. But poverty alleviation and environmental protection go hand in hand – with one we are able to support the other.

What about the carbon footprint of Fair Trade products when they travel so far?

SM: It’s important that we look at the overall carbon footprint. The communities that Fair Trade aims to assist are people that have an incredibly tiny environmental footprint. They key is that Fair Trade is supporting hand production, processes that are organic, or use natural and biodegradable materials – all low carbon. Furthermore, Fair Trade producers are given long-term business commitments allowing farmers to invest in such energy-efficient activities as organic farming, low impact forms of dying, or using solar energy.

As ethical fashion is now noteworthy for its style alone, are we at risk of overlooking the role of the Fair Trade producer?

SM: Yes, we sometimes forget about the producer dimension today. It’s healthy that more people are starting to buy ethically and appreciate the extra benefit that is added. Where I do have an issue is when the term ethical fashion is used to talk about mass, factory-produced fashion where only the very minimum labour standards are met with income levels that can’t sustain a living wage in so-called ethical factories.

Is Fair Trade fashion mainstream enough?

SM: Fairtrade cotton fibre is becoming more available on the high street. Brands like Top Shop do have a Fairtrade cotton range, but of course the manufacture isn’t Fair Trade. So Fair Trade fashion is not yet as mainstream as we would like. There is a still a lot of work to do.

You got into bed to do business with Top Shop recently, are you happy that you have made an impact for Fair Trade?

SM: The objective of People Tree has always been to provide as many livelihoods to disadvantaged communities around the developing world as possible. In five years time we may ask whether it will be the ten thousand people that we’ve provided incomes for, or the fact that we have been a catalyst for changing the way that conventional fashion does its business. Perhaps the latter will have more overall impact. But the point is we’ve been able to show the Fair Trade model works on the high street, putting both the people that make the clothing and the environment at the top of the agenda.

What can we do to get involved on World Fair Trade Day this May 10?

SM: It will be really exciting to build more awareness of the Day by rooting out the brands online and learn more about the Fair Trade movement. It isn’t only about the FLO Mark, but also those initiatives that run around it like the International Fair Trade Association organisations.

And the future – what are you looking forward to?

SM: People Tree is continually working to re-educate consumers. Things like encouraging washing at 30 and not 60 degrees whilst using environmentally-friendly brands such as Ecover. Without that, People Tree and Fair Trade groups can’t introduce new and exciting natural dye fashion collections, such as those we have in Japan. I look forward to the day when we have a more informed consumer.

Green godliness is easy – it can be as simple as knowing your postcode.

If you’re looking to make a whopping dent in your carbon footprint, you can’t go far wrong if you start shopping locally. Getting food to fork without the fuel-heavy distribution, refrigeration, processing and packaging that the big supermarkets are guilty of, is one of today’s top ethical challenges. But – and this is the good bit – it can be the easiest green campaigning you’ll ever have to do, and it can be done online. Going local is a sure way to go green.

The local food scene is buzzing. Whether you are in town or country you’ll no doubt have noticed some of the 550 farmers’ markets springing up over the UK peddling their curious jams, oversized pies, and well, fresh fruit and vegetables picked and packed before most of us have finished our breakfast. New shop and drop vegetable box schemes will also deliver local food with fewer food miles, come wrapped in brown paper bags (remember those?) and invest direct in the local economy. And you’ll happily discover umpteen recipes for pumpkin along the way.

But in an age when supermarkets are undergoing the great green makeover, need we worry about supporting the retail giants? Well, yes. It’s not just weirdy-beardys that boycott Tesco, there are good reasons to shop local. Tesco’s current 30 per cent claim over the UK grocery market could be set to rise, Friends of the Earth’s Vicki Hird tell us: “With planned expansion in stores, and a large emphasis on the huge out-of-town hypermarkets, it is hard to see any ethical food marketing make a real dent in their operations.”

To halt the Tescopolisation of the marketplace is in part down to us as ethical consumers. Joy Carey, head of local food at the Soil Association tells us: “We think the key to future changes lies with us – the public. For example, in Cornwall, we calculated that if every tourist, resident, or business switched just 1 per cent of their spending to local items, it would put £52 million into the local economy every year. This sounds ambitious, but getting a small swing in spending patterns is very achievable.” Indeed, every little does help.

But we must keep the pressure on. The Soil Association is nervous about a Catch-22 situation arising if insufficient consumers buy local farm produce. A lack of consumers means a lack of farmers wanting to supply them, which leads to a lack of facilities, and so on. “Farmers need to feel confident that if they make changes to what they produce and where they sell it, they won't get left with unsold goods,” argues Joy.

Tracy Holland of North Country Organics , is optimistic about the future. They supply over 6 tonnes of produce each week to homes in the North of England. “People are now seeing what damage the supermarkets have done, and quite rightly want to do something about it. Our customers want to buy ‘real food from real people’ who can tell you when and where it was grown.”

And we have the technology on our side. Reducing your carbon footprint is at your fingertips. Innovative ‘postcode searching’ for your nearest vegetable box scheme or farm shop are simple ways that you can reconnect with your local producers and make your way to their farm gate. Who knows, you may even find you can walk there. How’s that for reducing your carbon footprint? Or get a box delivered to you. Either way going local is sure to put you on the path to green godliness.

To find your local box delivery company by your postcode, visit:

www.ethicalsuperstore.com/category/food-and-drink/fresh-foods/

Fresh from River Cottage, Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall cooks up a seasonal pumpkin recipe perfect for those chilly autumn nights.

Serves 4-6, generously

1 medium (3-4kg) pumpkin or several small squashes
Up to 500g Gruyère cheese, grated (depending on the size of your pumpkin)
up to 1 litre of double cream
freshly grated nutmeg
a knob of butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Slice the top off the pumpkin or squashes three-quarters of the way up and retain – this is your lid.

2. Scoop out the seeds and surrounding fibres from the pumpkin and place the scooped-out pumpkin on a baking tray or in an ovenproof dish.

3. Put enough grated Gruyère into the empty cavity of the pumpkin to fill about a third of it, then pour in double cream until the cavity is two-thirds full. Add a few gratings of nutmeg, a little salt and plenty of black pepper. Throw in a knob of butter and replace the lid so the pumpkin is whole again.

4. Place in a fairly hot oven (190°C/Gas Mark 5) and cook for 45 minutes to one and a quarter hours, depending on the size of the pumpkin. Test by removing the lid and poking at the flesh from the inside. It should be nice and tender. At this point, the skin may be lightly burnt and the whole thing just beginning to sag a bit.

Hugh’s advice: "When the pumpkin is completely soft and cooked through, there is a real danger of collapse. The larger the pumpkin, the bigger the danger. Don't panic if it happens – it will look a bit deflated but will still taste delicious."

5. Serve small squashes individually in bowls, with spoons to scoop out the flesh. Serve the larger pumpkin by scooping plenty of flesh and the creamy, cheesy liquid (the Gruyère comes out in lovely long, messy strings) into warmed soup bowls. Either way, serve piping hot.

Reproduced with kind permission from rivercottage.net

Three more great ways to shop local

1. Visit a Farmers’ Market.

For a bona fide market, visit www.farma.org.uk where all market produce is guaranteed to come within a set mile radius and be producer made.

2. Order a regular fruit and vegetable box.

The ultimate green shop and drop with year-round seasonal delights.

Visit our fresh foods section to order an organic box.

For more seasonal recipes try www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk

3. Support local shops

Make your money go further in the local economy. To find your local farm shop, try www.bigbarn.co.uk