As the economy gradually recovers from the past year’s big slump, changes are expected in consumer behavior: according to a recent survey, in 2010 UK and American shoppers are to pay much more attention to transparency and ethical responsibility in their food and beverage purchases.

A survey by market research organization Mintel reveals that, despite a widespread growing confidence and adaptation to overcome the previous restraints, consumers will be adapting to the new economy, moving away from excessive spending toward moderation and higher attention to ethical sourcing and sustainability. (more…)

Think how much time you spend inside: sleeping, working, watching TV, eating… Some of us spend as little as 1 hour per day outside.  Why all the fuss?

Everyone knows about the dangers of outdoor air pollution from car exhaust fumes to emissions from factories.  But did you know that your home environment is actually worse? Sometimes by up to 5 times the levels found outside. (more…)

As you may or may not know 96% of the Universe is “missing”.  Please kindly check your cupboards to see if you are unwittingly hiding some of it.  Thank you!

OK so scientists can’t explain why the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate rather than slowing down as you would expect, so they have come up with the idea of dark matter and dark energy to explain it.
There’s no proof of either, but it’s a nice idea and helps justify spending billions on  Hadron Colliders that might blow us all up, but hey it’s all in the name of science isn’t it so it has to be worth it right?

And scientists have recently detected signs of what they believe might be evidence of what dark matter might actually made up of.
They call this stuff – Weakly Interacting Massive Particles or WIMPS for short.  It’s true, check it out if you don’t believe me!

And they have recently detected some anomalies from deep space that might be signs of these WIMPS existing they say.

However why they needed to spend all that time, effort and money looking for WIMPS is a bit baffling really when all they had to do was fly to Copenhagen for the COP15 Conference and find a whole plethora of them there!

In case you are wondering what these weakly interacting massive particles might themselves be made of then the egos of all these so called world leaders could be close.  And the bigger the egos the less time they spent there.

The only person who seemed to have any decent grip on the need and the urgency of the situation was the Danish Environment Minister who was hosting the event and she was fairly quickly replaced by, yes you guessed it, a man with a rather large ego because other men who also had rather large egos didn’t like the way she was handling the conference!

So looks like WIMPS make up 96% of the known Universe!

So what might the other 4% be made of?
How about – S.T.U.F.F.?  – Strong, Tiny, United, Free-Radical, Forces
They may all be tiny but together they build a future where everyone is included and  everyone is part of the solution.
And although it might only make up 4% of the Universe that’s still quite a lot of STUFF to be getting on with!

WIMPS might not give a STUFF about the rest of the world, but who knows before you know it, 
“S.T.U.F.F. the Future” could be the new logo for the next decade?

Tony Kearney
20/12/09
www.whoownsthefuture.com

The festive season is the worst time of year for paper waste. From wrapping paper to gift packaging and Christmas cards.  All is not lost, you too can be mindful of your paper use of the holidays following these tips:

• Wrap presents in old newspapers & string for a traditional look
• Buy recycled or FSC wrapper paper
• Wrap presents in something reusable: cloth string bag, scarf, fabric
• For something rather artistic, learn the art of ′Furoshiki′, similar to origami this is wrapping presents in folded fabric
• Reuse old Christmas cards as gift tags
• Dig out some old maps, housing blueprints or wallpaper samples and wrap your presents up with these, quite unusual & striking
• Opt for E-cards to cut out paper completely
• Recycle all of your paper waste
• As friends and family not to give cards this year, just think of the paper you′ll save
• Watch what you throw away or recycle – is there something you could use it for to ′upcycle′ it?
• Look for gifts that have little or no packaging.

It may not sound like “tree-hugging,” but cutting down a real tree for Christmas is actually greener than going with the artificial kind.

Because of concerns over deforestation around the world, many people naturally worry that buying a real tree might contribute to that problem, Springer says. But most Christmas trees for sale these days are grown not in the forest but on tree farms, for the express purpose of being cut.

Live trees actively photosynthesize as they grow from saplings, which removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The tree farms that grew the trees also replant after the trees are cut.

Artificial trees, on the other hand, don’t come out even in the carbon balance. Petroleum is used to make the plastics in the trees and lots of carbon dioxide-creating energy is required to make and transport them.

So get chopping guys and enjoy your beautiful real christmas tree without any guilt!

via:  www.enn.com

I am delighted to see that the magic of a good Christmas market is casting its spell over more and more Irish towns each year. Traditional Christmas Markets, held in cities, towns and villages throughout the country, are becoming increasingly popular. Not only do they evoke an enchanting festive atmosphere but in the ever present economic doldrums, they present the perfect and powerful answer to supporting your local economy!

For my book, I can simply not think of a better way of getting hold of that unusual or rare Christmas pressie that doesn′t smack of commercialism.  These markets are full of craft work, artisan foods and gift ideas that are not mass-produced but guaranteed real quality. Add to that a good splash of mulled wine and your favourite Christmas carols and I think you′re in for a real treat!!  Below I have listed the Chrismas markets I myself know about, and also those that our readers have kindly flagged to me!!  No doubt I have missed lots, so if you know of one that isn′t listed here, please drop me a quick email and I will be happy to add it! (more…)

In the last few weeks the UK Government has announced that it has given the green light for 10 more nuclear stations to be built to help cover energy supply over the next 30 to 50 years and help lower its CO2 emissions.  Or so they say.

Well done team, you have once again shown impeccable leadership where denial of the realities is concerned. (more…)

What if you knew where your cotton socks came from?

Or knew about the person who picked your coffee beans?

What if you knew how fresh green beans come to sit on the supermarket shelf all year round…? Would you stop buying them? Or would you in fact start buying them?
(more…)

Fancy meeting some like-minded souls, or networking with other green thinkers and green businesses?

If you’re in Dublin next Tuesday evening (November 3rd) then why not come along to the Science Gallery for this month’s Green Drink (6-8pm).

Green Drinks is an international movement, providing an informal space where people interested in the environment can meet to exchange ideas and information.

The Dublin event has been meeting for a year or so, on the 1st Tuesday of each month. It’s a very friendly gathering, organised by Jarrod from LeafLiving.com, and all are welcome.  Don’t worry about not knowing anyone — just take a seat and you’ll soon strike up a conversation with people around you.

But here I should declare an interest, as I’m the guest speaker at the November event. Given the location in TCD’s science faculty, I’ll be looking at how knowing a little science can help us to live a little more sustainably. In the 20 minutes or so that are allowed, I hope to give people some practical techniques for saving time and money, based on the 101 tips in my book, Drive like a Woman, Shop like a Man: greener is cheaper.

Admission is free, and there’s a special 10% discount on the price of the book.  And if you do come along, don’t forget to come up and say Hello!

(c) MaryMulvihill.net 2009

Recently, I have been reading various inspirational books on how a low-carbon, energy efficient planet can be achieved.  The important thing to realise is that change is already happening at a much faster rate than previously thought possible.

‘Plan B 4.0’ from Lester R. Brown’s ‘Plan B’ series of books quotes environmentalist Paul Hawken in a 2009 college commencement address.  In recognising the enormity of the challenge facing us, he said: “First we need to decide what needs to be done.  Then we do it.  And then we ask if it is possible.”  Download the book as a free e-book or click here to buy it

Globally, the Transition Towns network (which began in Ireland by the way) is growing rapidly.  It is not a ‘we are doomed’ movement but a brilliant concept of how groups and communities can get together to create change and work towards a greener, healthier future. The name is perhaps misleading because ‘towns’ is not what it is all about – communities in areas ranging from small rural areas to large cities are all involved. To read more on this exciting movement check out the followling links; http://transitionculture.org and http://www.transitionstowns.org.

If you ar more of a book worm Rob Hopkin’s book ‘The Transition Handbook’  takes an in-depth look at the concepts behind the network, or Richard Heinberg’s book ‘Peak Everything’ offers more insight in to the background of the initiative. You should be able to borrow them both from your library.

Finally, and probably most importantly you can get involved in your local network by checking out http://transitiontownsireland.ning.com

More will be found on this and similar subjects later in my GreenMe blogs and at www.landmarkdesigns.org.uk