the people's supermarket...

Staying with the foodie theme from my last post, I thought I would talk a little about what could be the future of shopping.

Independant shops? Hopefully. Farmers Markets? I should hope so. Growing your own? Practical for some, but not others. Urban farms? They are coming, but not just yet.

So, what could be the immediate future from our food shopping experiences?

Supermarkets.

Yep. You heard me right. Supermarkets, but not as we know it.

We have become conditioned to shop for everything at one place - cramming our little cages on wheels with essentials every week before we drive home to consume (or throw away...but that is another post). The supermarket is just the way most of us do our shopping. Fact.

Even though many of us try to grow our own, support our local producers and frequent our farmers markets, many of us still use the supermarket model as our main shopping experience.

So if you can't beat the supermarkets, why not join them.

And this is what a few enterprising souls have begun.

Park Slope in New York is a 25yr old co-operative with around 6000 members, who give up 2hrs 45mins per month to work in the supermarket (cashier, cleaner, shelf replenishment etc) in return for wonderfully sourced, local, often organic produce at hugely reduced rates. With (little) wages to pay, the community are actively pocketing the mark-up savings in the lower prices available. If you do not do your shift, you have to make up with double the time next shift, and if you continue to flaunt the rules, sorry, you are out.

This can sound a little harsh, but this kind of model can ONLY work with full communication and trust between all members. Sounds great to me.

It also looked great to Arthur Potts Dawson (who also set up the London eco restaurant Acorn House), who has taken this seed idea and translated it into London's first version of the American model, in Holborn, called The People's Supermarket.

The basic premise is the same - pay your £25 membership, sign up to your 4 hour shift and you are a member - AND part owner - of the People's Supermarket. This entitles you to hugely reduced core produce (large lovely loaf £1.85 to 'regular' shoppers, £1 to members) and 10% reduction on your overall bill.

But being a part owner of the supermarket also means that you are entitled to a say in what is stocked, where from, and how the whole kit and caboodle is run. An ideal situation really - cheaper stuff, a nod to the 'big society' and a say in keeping that local raspberry yoghurt you have come to love as well as the larger decisions.

Not everyone will like the idea of working four hours to qualify for the benefits, but (having worked for a big supermarket to pay my way through university) it can be fun.

And in a time of gloom, surely a few more pennies in the bank, a few more local bits in your belly and a few new friends in your phone can only be a good thing?

Hugh's Fish Fight...

I tend to not watch much TV - usually too busy to watch things live so catch up via iplayer / 4OD and the like, but on occasions, I do pencil in some goggle box time for things I feel passionate about.

And this is why I spent 9-10 last night watching Hugh's Fish Fight on channel 4.

Even though I know about the EU fish allocation system and the 'discard' element, it was very, very hard watching indeed. The sheer amount of perfectly good fish thrown, dead, overboard from our fishing fleet was absolutely disgusting. The poor fishermen were understandably upset - seeing all that food (and money) wash back into the sea due to a ridiculous EU law is truly maddening.

The allocation system was created to help preserve fish stocks and ensure that over fishing does not take place. On the face? Well, sounds good. But whilst watching, it became brutally obvious that this system purely does not work. If anything, it will compound the issue it seeks to resolve.

How? Well, each species has a certain 'catch' allocation which fishermen are legally not allowed to go over, so, if you catch all your cod allocation in a couple of net castings then sorry, any other cod has to go back into the sea - it cannot be landed. But fishermen need to make money, so they continue to fish to fulfil their other species allocation to make a wage. If the next nets hold 90% cod and only 10% say, monkfish, guess what? Yep, the cod go back - dead. And the nets are cast again to try and catch more of the still vacant allocation species, usually with similar results. How can this be preserving fish stocks?

So what is the answer? Many fishermen suggested an allocation free system, where they are legally limited by the TIME they are out rather than the kg of each species. Whatever the answer is, Hugh's campaign needs our help to try and convince the Government to act to change this ludicrous system, so either click on the fishy film clip on the side, or visit www.fishfight.net and sign up.

welcome back....

It seems as though a lot of us seem to go awol around this time of year, with various visits to relatives, illnesses and general rushing about for the seasonal activities.We were no exception, as we have really only just got back to grips at the studio after the mini break.

But we are now back and raring to go, and we are now thinking about what 2011 may have in store, eco wise?

Well, there are many people out there willing to put forward their two penneth worth, so here are a few bits we have found on the web...

The rise of service design - where items are REPAIRED instead of discarded and thrown away - I think this is due to the economic downturn as well as the elements of perceived greenness. The throw away culture of excess that we have grown to take as the norm is now being questioned by many who may not have considered their position before.

The rise of the amateur - again - craft has been enjoying a newly found and well deserved resurgence in popularity as people appreciate the skills and human qualities of hand made design. Perhaps this is another revolt against the large scale industries which we are starting to distrust as we hanker for the nostalgic and simpler may of life? I am all for this prediction and I hope that craft will continue to become a major player in the small scale retail industry. Remember peeps - quality over quantity.

Urban farming is another trend that seems to be popping up all over the shop, and with money belts still tight and a continuing distrust of large manufacturers and the dreaded supermarkets, I reckon this is one which is here to stay for 2011. Will we get back to the war time front and back garden allotments? Perhaps not, but look out for more edibles popping up in your street, and fantastical proposals for mobile, skyscraper and city centre farming utopias. I thought that cutting gardens would also enjoy a resurgence in 2010 as people get used to growing their own and become more aware of where their weekly bunch of flowers come from (we designed two gardens in 2010 for cutting), but maybe I was a little too keen. Maybe this is another one for 2011.

Sharing seems to be another big hitter in the prediction fronts - from skills sharing to bike sharing, car sharing and food sharing. I suppose this sort of goes back to the sort of medieval barter systems which have been resurrected in a time where cash is short. This could be in a 'you can have some of my chicken eggs in exchange for some of your apples' sort of way, or larger scale, involving skills exchange between companies. Our studio has signed up to a skills share programme in Brighton where we offer our expertise and time to design needy charities and social enterprise projects, so again, this is one to stay for 2011.

I think local food and farmers markets will also continue to grow, along with small scale foraging (I spent all of Christmas engrossed in John Wright's fantastic River Cottage Mushroom, Hedgerow and Sea Edibles handbooks) and home preserving.

Green design in general will become more accessible (heard a lot of people asking for eco bits whilst out shopping for pressies) especially now people are questioning the throw away / landfill fodder purchases of old.

Lastly, I am quite optimistic about the design industry in general. The last two years have made it hard to sell something essentially 'invisible' but I think things are on the shift. People and businesses are realising that quality of life is more important that the amount of things you have, and so are looking to designers to maximise their opportunities available and create them spaces to enjoy being in at home and at work. Business are realising that consumers are examining them as well as their products before making a purchase, and are responding accordingly.

Check back next year to see if I am right.

the pull of the Dark Side...

There are lots of thing which seem to remain how they are because we get used to them and there is no real reason to change. Small things - things which we do not even notice.

One such constant in my life is my computer. I occasionally change the desktop image, do a crap clean, defrag and virus check every now and then, but mostly, it remains the same.

I turn on the Internet, and there is the glowing, pristine white of Google, ready to send me to the far flung corners of the Earth to find the solutions to my queries.

And so it has been for an age. Internet, Google, Search, Find. Happy Days.

But then a little report in 2009 tried to quantify the amount of energy every Google search used. The text cried tales of woe, relating every two Google searches to approximately 7g of carbon, or in plain old English, the amount used to boil a kettle for a cuppa.

As you can imagine, the report was littered with selected data, which was disputed left, right and centre by Google and its supporters. On the flip side, the anti Google brigade grabbed hold.

There did not seem, however, to be a definitive answer (it was dependant on searches, servers involved etc etc), and I stuck with Google. Better the devil you know, right?

But then someone introduced me to Blackle.

What I like about this search engine is that the science is simple. It does not baffle with figures, response times and the like. It is based on, and works on a very clear premise.

Black. The screen is predominantly black, with all text grey / white. Serene and slick looking, it is the sophisticated sister to the Google white and multicoloured logo.

So how does a colour save energy? Well, white or light screens use more energy to appear on your very screens than black or dark screens. And if you think how many PCs have a Google or other white based screen as a home page throughout the day, the little bits can really add up. I would love to say that the ecospot is dark blue because of this fact, but I am afraid it is pure coincidence.

The search itself is powered by Google, and for the purists, the above arguments about the big G will still be valid, but Blackle will save you (and ultimately the world) energy, purely on the screen colour. And for those who love numbers, a small counter on the home page tells you approximately how many Watt hours have been saved by Blackle.

So take a look, spread the word and test the inky waters.

Come and join me on the Dark Side...

resolution realisation...

Well, the crimbo limbo is over. New Year has been and gone.

(organic) chicken was eaten, along with unhealthy amounts of venison, duck, pheasant, roast parsnips and home made mince pies. Our elderflower tipple was duly uncorked and consumed.

But now the resolution realisation has kicked in. And with the beginning of a new decade, it sort if feels even more important to look at how I live my life, what I do, why, when and how much - both for my benefit, of those around me and the really big picture which makes my head spin just a bit too fast.

Of course, it does not help that every magazine, supplement, paper and glossy is filled with the 'get yourself thin, young and beautiful for 2010' articles, campaigns and 'buy lists' to aid you along the way. Health, is of course something on many minds after the recent bingeathon, but surely there are other things to add to the resolutions list?

So, when I was pondering the content of this, my 100th post on the ecospot, I thought about what I am going to aim for for 2010 - what are my aims and aspirations?

Firstly I have realised that any huge and massive changes will probably not last much past January 15th. This is something that most people realise but never take on board. Consequently, you feel even worse when the resolution sails past you like a feather on the breeze. Start small and work upwards.

So I begin with my health. I will aim to continue with building up my running which is 1. free, 2. pretty green and 3. will reconnect me with what is going on in the outside world when I am mainly stuck inside. It will also, eventually, 4. take me to places I haven't seen for a while or at all and 5. hopefully make me fitter.

Next, I pledge to streamline what I do. It was not until I was speaking to someone who asked what I did in my free time that I realised that I have none. I seem to run around, head down bum up at such a pace that I am constantly on the go. I forced myself to sit down and read the other day and it was bliss. And I learnt something and felt relaxed for the first time in eons. I also realised that without being centred myself, I cannot effectively do anything for others.

The School of Life is wonderful for looking at these little ideas and how to work them into your everyday ( more on this gem in another post)

As far as pledging for the planet, well, that it a very big ask and one of those head spinny moments. But, as I have said again and again, a little action by each person adds to be a big thing.

So, I am pledging to:

1. ALWAYS have a bag with me when I shop (I have ended up buying approximately 10 reusable bags due to my cotton bag sitting at home) a good option is this little wonder

2. make the most of my local farmers market.

3. throw away as little food as I can (a real wake up call was illustrated in my last post)

4. Smile to people in the street. This will either spread a little happiness about, or I will be sectioned. I am hoping for the former.

So there you go - 2010 here we come. Here's hoping for a better one than 2009 eh?

Iconic Monday...

'Design icon' is a phrase that is bantered about far too often for my liking, but tends to relate to items that stand out for a particular reason - be it representative of a time, a place, a successful solution to a problem or even a particular feeling prevalent at a point in history.

The London Routemaster bus, a phone box, the Le Courbusier lounger, Katherine Hamnett logo T-shirts, the Olympic Rings.....

All of these items, in their own way were created in response to a problem or an issue, and as history has worn on, they have been adopted as stylised logos which represent the foundation of the design itself. This is what an 'icon' is - it is iconic of a time and a place and can be recognised across the world as being itself and as a logo which represents related issues.

So all design is about communication - whether internal and external spaces, graphics, fashion, photography etc etc etc.

The very best design can communicate on many different levels - some obvious and some subtle, yet be accessible to people across different lifestyles and cultures - this is part of what 'iconic design' really is.

Plus, successful modern design also takes the wider issues of sustainability into account - a design can no longer be labelled 'iconic' lightly. Form does not need to follow function, but surely in times of responsibility and frugal thinking, functional design takes priority lest an object be frivolous and surplus to creation?

So - if a design is sustainable, can be read across cultures and lifestyles, communicates loud and clear, is functional and beautiful, can it be labelled as 'iconic'?

Well - today I found this, and it ticks many boxes. Would this be a (tiny) iconic design? It has my vote...

the true price of a posy...

I love to receive flowers. Not only do you have the thought that went into getting them, but the wonderful colour and scent they bring to the darkest corners of the house. They are fleeting, but I enjoy every minute of them.

But, what is the true cost of a bunch of flowers? In monetary value, anything from free up to the hundreds, but the environmental cost? The truth can be a little hard to stomach.

The UK cut flower industry is worth about £2billion – almost the same as our music industry, and yet we are responsible for growing only 10% of them on UK soils. The remaining 90% is imported from areas as far flung as Colombia and Kenya.

In an age where ‘food miles’ are on the tip of everyone’s tongues, surely it seems a bit contradictory to have lovely local cheese, milk and meat in your basket alongside a bouquet of Kenyan roses?

But there are some who argue for the case of buying a Kenyan (or other imported) posy.

It has been widely published that the carbon omissions of an imported bouquet are lower than those of a northern hemisphere grown rose, as less lighting and heating is required in the growth period. But what about the travel, pesticides, packing, even the omissions from decay – the complete life cycle of the flowers – does this still ring true?

And even though the carbon omissions are a very large part of the argument, there are also the issues with worker welfare, wider environmental impact (draining of water from lakes to feed the floriculture industries), and the use of pesticides long banned in the EU countries.

Fairtrade flowers do try and address some of these issues, and of course you are given the reassurance that your pennies are not going to feed some fat cat whilst the workers suffer, but there are still a very low percentage of the imports registered under the scheme.

So, if you are not going to buy an imported bunch, where can you get your hands on some of the 10% that we do actually grow here, and why should you?

The first stop for many will be at the supermarket. Despite how I tend to bang on about how I detest the whole supermarket experience, there are a few that are least trying to support our UK growers.

Waitrose has a great raft of UK suppliers that it works directly with to produce a range of seasonal blooms over the year, and they are so proud that you can read all about it on their website.

Tesco, Sainsburys and Marks and Spencer also have a reasonable selection, and most are marked by a Union Jack or similar. Some even have the county that they were grown in marked on the wrapper.

Otherwise, there are some fantastic suppliers that you can purchase your scented and seasonal lovelies from – mostly directly from the farm itself. Check out Wiggly Wigglers, Country Roses and Scent from the Islands.

So why should we buy British blooms?

It stands to reason that the shorter the time between the picking and the displaying of the flower, the longer the vase life will be. Also, the large scale overseas growers tend to ditch scented varieties of flowers as they are not as productive, so lovely flowers, no smell. The UK growers also tend to be on a much smaller scale than their overseas counterparts, and so are hugely affected by market demand. If we want them, the supermarkets will get them. And, in times of hardship, we are keeping our own economy going. Never a bad thing.

Please don’t just sling a bunch in your basket next time you are shopping. Take a few seconds to look, and see if you can buy British.

food for free...

Not many self respecting eco foodies are without the bible of hedgerow tasties, Food for Free by Richard Mabey.

As I have an obsession with books, I have two copies (different editions and different covers) which move their way around the house, into the car, out and about and back again.


If you have not come across this book before, please seek it out - it really is a classic - full not only of the descriptions and pictures to correctly identify your dinner, but the history of uses and a smattering of other wonderful, mastermind type gems of information.

But, despite the title of this post, I am not going to talk about the book of the same name.

I am going to talk about other food for free.

It is quite right to say that the current recession has left a great deal of people at odds with the super technological, remote and automated world. People are now wary of invisible investments and appear to be reawakening the sense of self responsibility.

Because of this there has been a boom in the crafts trades - knitting, making, mending, thrift. Eco cleaning - scrubbing your taps with a lemon and some bicarb instead of a luminous pink spray bottle with a name fitting a cartoon punch up sketch. Staying in is the new going out, and good clean (and cheap) fun is being made - flying kites, walking, foraging.

And of course, growing your own.

From free seeds given out with magazines, to television programmes and the lifetime wait for an allotment - the grow your own bug has bitten and most of us have been nibbled in one way or another.

Maybe I have never noticed before, but as I was walking the dog the other day I spotted a lone tomato plant in someones porch. One. But the care and attention given to this sole specimen was incredible. It was smothered with tasty looking fruits.

And as I wandered along the road, other edibles sprang up - runner beans up a side wall, lettuces in the front garden, strawberries in hanging baskets, artichokes to die for - all grown on a small patch.

We are all growing our own, and we love it.

But what happens when we grow too much? Well, this is where the title of the post kicks in.

Go into the country and you readily see little roadside stands with produce on and an honesty box. Do you ever see this is in the city? Probably not. So imagine my delight when, on walking the dog once more, we came across a box at the front of a house labelled:

'lettuces. grown organically. free - please help yourself'

The box was full of freshly pulled, wet and tasty little gems. A few slug holes, but hey - free and succulent.

When things are offered for free you do not have to ask me twice, so we picked up two of the little gems to have with some mackerel for tea. Perfect.

This got me thinking - if we are all growing a bit too much, how fantastically we could minimise our food miles by going back to our old swapping, bartering, or, as displayed by a resident in Wish Road, Hove, giving away for free?

Community spirit would be reintroduced - people would talk to one another once more and share not only stuff but conversations. Imagine that.

To waste any food is criminal (apparently we throw away a third of all the food we buy?) but to waste food that you have grown yourself seems to be the worst type of food crime.

So - give it away - have a chat, and just think - you could gain a new chum as well as a free feed.

consumerism conundrum...

I received a link to this article this morning, and it made me think about the difficulties being an eco trader.

As countless people tell us, the way to be truly green is to to consume nothing. But if we consume nothing, people and companies who are trying to give us greater choice by introducing 'green' items onto the market end up coming off very badly - they tend to be smaller companies, very affected by market fluctuations.

With no-one buying they cannot survive. It all harps back to the 'use it or lose it' mantra - how can we moan there is no choice on a shelf when we do not support those who are trying to give us that choice?

Of course the upside is that there are wonderful web-based eco companies who can supply all and sundry to your door, but even as I sit here writing this web based blog, I am aware that not everyone is Internet savvy.

So - use it, don't lose it, but don't use too much, because that is also bad.

Hmmm. It really is not that easy being green.

the guilt of loving paper...

I received a letter last week, and even though I felt guilty for doing so, I read the contents and felt a little sad.

I have been formally informed that The Ecologist is to go paperless after July 2009.

Please do not get me wrong - I understand all of the implications of creating a magazine, printing it, distributing it etc etc. I do not know the kg rating of carbon emissions for each edition, but I'm sure they are significant, despite their best intentions to limit it as far as possible.

So you can understand why I felt an incredible rush of guilt after I was upset that my monthly issue would no longer be plopping through my door after next month.

The letter that accompanied my June edition explained the change, and how I could continue to enjoy The Ecologist.

But I'm afraid I won't read it as much as I do now when it goes screenside.

I'm genuinely excited when my monthly magazine changeover arrives. And I do read them all, and all of the way through. Even the little snippet bits and the long and involved bits. I read in bed, in the garden, whilst eating lunch, when away on business, on trains etc etc. The very times that I am trying to get away from my screen, not attaching myself to it a little bit more. And at the end of the month, the interesting bits are kept and filed (yes I really am that anal) and the remainder either gets composted or lines the bottom of the chicken hutch.

Plus there is the satisfaction of reading it exactly when and where you like. Can I look at my laptop in the bath? Not advisable.

So - I have paper guilt. I am guilty as charged of wanting to consume paper - even if it's recycled and printed with vegetable inks. Is this wrong?

My other worry is that there are fellow subscribers that also feel the same. I will continue to subscribe, but I'm sure that many will not. Will The Ecologist feel the pinch of those who are also paper lovers?

Hopefully not, as it is the message that counts, not the form in which it appears, but I will sigh a little when I open up my laptop to read the first e-edition instead of snuggling down in bed. I'd rather have the cat on my lap than have a laptop...

I went to Chelsea and did some recycling...

Ah, yet another Chelsea posting.

I am truly aware that the blogosphere is awash with the ramblings of both exhibitors, visitors, spectators etc, etc, so now that Chelsea is completed, I thought I'd do a little post about recycling, and the many forms that I saw when I visited last week, rather than my previous offerings.

Firstly - the best sort of recycling - the recycling of stuff. I was extremely pleased when I saw a mass of products, available to either buy at the show, or commission for future delivery. Planters made from old tyres, sculptures made from rubbish and re-made fabric shopping bags. Many lush things, but my vote has to go with the beautiful wares on show from Toby Clayton of HME, which included some re-configured recycled metal planters. Nice.

Secondly - the recycling of waste. At last, there were large bins throughout the show for combined yet recyclable rubbish, from paper to cans to plastic. As shown by the BBC on their coverage, these bins were taken to a large depot to be sorted and split - great stuff, and I only hope that the bins were used responsibly by all and contamination was not an issue. I was also massively impressed by the recycling bins in place during the build up period for the general and varied construction waste, and I only hope that the same were in place for the breakdown.

Lastly, but perhaps the most frustratingly, was the intangible, yet quite obvious recycling of ideas. Some things excited me at Chelsea, were wonderfully executed and conceived and made me whip out my camera in a bout of 'ooh - nice'. Unfortunately, I'm afraid a lot did not. As I wandered around, there were a lot of things that I thought I had seen before, either at Chelsea or other shows over the last few years. And not just little bits, but a lot of things. Some were still done extremely well, but I'm afraid it was been here and seen that.

As a designer, I know that it is incredibly hard, if not virtually impossible, to create something so brand spanking new that it has never been seen before, but I think we should all be trying to push this boundary as far as we can at all times, to progress our profession. There were not many boundaries being nudged at Chelsea this year.

Maybe the blessed 'crunch' has a lot to say for this, as we all hark back to better times when we felt more comfortable in our lives (have you noticed how many ads are reminding us of how long a company has been established, or how many 'retro' graphics are being employed?). We all want the comfort of yesterday, not the uncertainty of tomorrow.

This is sad, as without a tomorrow, there is no hope and excitement left for anything.

And with that in mind, I'll leave you with a picture of a Chelsea recycling bin. (yes, I did get some funny looks as I took it)

Remember - recycling is great, but thinking should be done outside of the kerbside box...

how to argue...

I am a very strong believer (and this blog is indeed proof) that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, on any subject in the world. But there are ways of arguing your point that make you look intelligent and that your thoughts are worthwhile, and there are ways that make you look like you are having a kiddy strop and have thrown not just your toys out of the pram but the blanket and mattress as well.

I think I witnessed the latter whilst watching the latest hour long special edition of Gardeners' World last Friday.

This special was arguing the case for whether to use or not use peat, a subject close to my heart as you may well imagine. Although my mind was made up from the beginning as to what I would continue to use on my little bit of England, I was looking forward to seeing the case from both sides. This is what a debate is, and boy do I love a debate.

The programme rolled on quite well, highlighting the massive decline of the peat bogs, but also how critical it was for especially large scale horticultural growers, who rely on the qualities of peat to produce good plants in huge numbers. I empathised greatly with the dilemma they were faced. They understood the problem, but expressed their own problems with the planned Government switch to 90% peat free by 2010.

My issue with the programme came when dear old Peter Seabrook was brought to the table.

Now, before I get accused of attacking a national treasure, I love Peter Seabrook - what he brought to our screens in knowledge and passion was incredible, and maybe it was the editing, but I'm afraid it sounded to me that he was having a full on kiddy strop when approached on the peat subject last Friday.

He accused the environmentalists of lying about how peat bogs can regenerate, and exactly how much peat is laid down by the spagham mosses each year, and therefore how much we could use sustainably (along with MANY other strops...) I was shocked at how badly he came across when asked his opinion - instead of arguing the case for peat by calmly explaining the benefits, as others had successfully done earlier and later in the programme, he seemed to have a wide eyed rant at poor Toby, who defended the no-peat camp with a look of somewhat disbelief at the barrage being fired from Peter.

Not only was the mattress out of the pram, the pram itself was enduring a battering.

I think this is such a shame - every other argument, on each side, highlighted issues that each party has with using or not using peat, and you could sympathise with each person, even if you sat there and exclaimed that they were speaking drivel.

Poor Peter. Even when you are passionate about a subject, you need to know how to argue your point, lest you be labelled badly. True, passion can sometimes manifest itself in a rant - I myself have been rightly accused of ranting, but there are definite ways to argue. I think we can all learn from this as an example of how not to argue...

keeping our organic heads afloat...

As a general rule, news is not considered worthy unless it is terrible.

It is easy to get depressed about the vast awfulness in the world as you sit with a cup of tea between 6 and 7.

Last night was no exception, but one particular story jumped out at me after being introduced by Sally Taylor on BBC South Today.

To paraphrase the report completely - will the credit crunch kill the organic movement?

This is something that both shocked and saddened me, but tugged at the inklings I had had for a while.

It is easy for people to spend the little extra for organically produced meat when we are in times of plenty, but when the belts are tightened, that little extra may be needed elsewhere. This I understand and sympathise with completely.

And this is the problem for the farmers themselves - feed prices have rocketed, demand has slowed and you do not need to be an accountant to see this little equation is not balanced. The report stated that many were considering giving up the organic tag they had worked so hard to gain, and downgrading to free range or similar.

Now, they will all still care for their animals in the same way as they always have, but something would have to give - for example the feed they have would not be organically produced.

I have another worry - the supermarkets have long been accused of dropping suppliers the minute they become surplus to requirements (take strawberry suppliers at Wimbledon time) - if we do not buy as much organic chicken say, would some suppliers be dropped from the shelves?

So what can we do? If you can, please continue to buy as much organic produce as possible. If things are tighter, consider eating less meat (which will save money anyway), and then buy mostly organic meat. This should help to level out the pennies. Even one organic purchase is better than none, so please do what you can.

Don't forget to support your local butchers and farmers markets - they will be cheaper than the supermarkets and offer a better variety of cheaper cuts as well.

It would be awful if this damned credit crunch made us go backwards with how we think about our food production - lets keep the organic movement alive.

a dedicated follower of fashion...

Those of you who have met me will know that my fashion tastes can only be described as eclectic. Vintage is sometimes thrown in there, along with 40's, 50's and plain old weird. Charity shop chic is another label I am proud to wear on my secondhand lapels, so you may find it odd that I am extremely interested in fashion as a whole, and love to watch the catwalk shows.

Sometimes this is for the sheer spectacle and imagination poured into the event, but I mostly enjoy ogling at the structured shapes of clothes that wiggle their way towards the cameras. I am a very strong believer that all design, across the board of disciplines can be pared down to a few key elements - spatial awareness, form, mass and void, movement (or lack of), colour and functionality. From a jacket to a typeface, these can be applied in one way or another. This is how an inspirational cut for a jacket can manifest itself in my sketchbook as a chair, or a garden plan, and how colour combinations in a shoe end up as the basis of a planting plan or an interior scheme.

All designers do this, sometimes without thinking. We are all a sounding board for each other - designers or not, which goes back to my favourite phrase 'you can find inspiration in everything and if you can't look again' (Paul Smith). We all must see as well as look.

But something else exciting happened at London Fashion Week 2009 - the government has got involved. Our minister for sustainability, Lord Hunt, revealed the spanking new Sustainable Clothing Action Plan at the now firmly rooted Estethica eco fashion element of LFW.

Unfortunately, this is not a set of regulations (give it time), but essentially a code of practices that will be adopted by all those signing up. The action plan will tackle the full loop, from the raw materials and manufacture of the clothes, abolishing exploitative labour, using innovative materials such as bamboo and nettles through to how to wash at lower temperatures and dispose of the clothes responsibly at the end of their life, by recycling or donating to charity. Some 300 retailers have signed their names on the dotted line.

So will this tackle the nationwide and infamous 'Primark effect' where items are bought, worn once then chucked? I think probably not. If there is no perceived value in an item, then we have been conditioned into thinking it is a throwaway. We all should be throwing any unwanted items into the charity bin, but the same questions will always be asked - if you can buy a top for £1 however, how much are those being paid to make it? Does cheap mean unethical and unsustainable? And at the time of a credit crunch, not many will be able to resist the urge of buying ten things instead of one, key item.

We need recondititoning, but at least it's a start.

But as the sun is shining on me, and I am in far to good a mood to end a ranty post with nothing but the vast expanse of bleakness that lies ahead, here are some nice links to some very interesting ethical designers - take a look and don't forget to see...

Beyond Skin - tasty shoes and based down the road from me in Hove

Ciel - lovely structure and also based down the road in Hove

Nahui Ollin - fantastic bags made from sweet wrappers ( got one for Christmas - love it)

Eloise Grey - I love proper tweeds, and Eloise pushes all the right buttons

From Somewhere - upcycling at its best

Izzy Lane - ethical knitted stuff - made in Britain.

Veja - sorry - more shoes, plus practice your French on their website

When is local, local...?

I meant to do a post about this last week, but forgot, so here it is now for all of you who missed it on the news...

Thanet Earth is a massive, salad growing greenhouse facility covering the same area as 39 football pitches, placed, quite aptly in our Garden of England - Kent. The project cost a whopping £80m (that's a lot of lettuces) and it is hoped that the facility will produce around 15% of our UK grown salad produce. It boasts that the greenhouses generate their own power, but the report I saw was a little woolly around the edges with the actual hard facts, and the glasshouses even have their own bees...

So - is this a step in the right direction? I am torn with this one.

Why do you ask? Well on my plus side, it is UK grown, so limiting food miles, is producing jobs in a time of uncertainty and may be quite energy efficient (I would have to look into this one further though, with some good old hard maths...)

On my downside though, it is VERY large, thus taking up large swathes of land that could spell a dispersion of native species, all the crops still have to be delivered to packing plants and driven across the country (even if they are destined for the supermarket down the road), and there is little mentioned about pesticides (a little snippet about 'good insects' but no hard facts again...). I am also very dubious about putting all my eggs in one basket and if this facility will account for 15% of our UK grown produce, what happens to all the little people who were supplying the larger people? With big industry, comes big power, and sometimes lower unit costs due to economies of scale. Will the smaller joes have to decrease their unit prices to stay competitive?

So, this is a toughie. Yes better UK grown than not, but is this the answer? Is it big AND clever? And if not, there is a good bit of greenwashing going on with that name...

I think I'll stick to growing my own and sticking to the seasons thank you. I've never wanted a fresh tomato with my Christmas dinner, and I doubt I ever will. For some this is the answer, but sorry, not for me.

bugger off credit crunch...

I am sick and tired of feeling miserable about the damn Credit Crunch that I have decided that enough is enough. I am not going to get down about it again. (hopefully)

For a designer, a 'sudden economic downturn' can spell disaster. For many, we are a non essential item, something to be explored in times of plenty, and dumped when the belts are heaved in. But I have tended to take (and indeed cling to) another view, so it was with interest I read Stephen Bayley's article in last Sunday's Observer review supplement.

Firstly I liked the phrase he used for our 'sudden economic downturn' - 'straitened times'. How much nicer is that? Instead of the pessimism of the CC phrase which grates on the ear, this implies that we were on a wiggly path to nowhere (which is somewhat true), and we are now entering a time of being more efficient and with a brighter future. I like it.

And I was glad when I read the rest of the article as it solidified my yearnings - there is hope for design, it just needs to be more relevant than ever. But not in a fashion sense. In a true-to-the- rest-of-the-world-as-well-as-yourself-and-your-client sense.

As Mr Bayley so eloquently puts it:

' The great thing about our new constraints is that both mediocrity and excess are now intolerable. Quality in architecture and design will, however, make everyone better off.'

Companies are realising that the times of bling, glitz and luxury are to be replaced with a more honest, pared down and humble life. To not do so would spell disaster as we are all becoming repulsed with visual showerings of cash which nobody has any more.

So take heart all you designers out there. Ensure you are producing excellently conceived, relevant design and not excessive crap and you will stand a much better chance of being ok. Designers will always be needed as long as we are relevant to our times.

PS - if you want a bit of a related chuckle, look also at this article. Sir Terence Conran looks as though he has said something rude to Kirsty Allsopp (who has got a good blush on) and Phillipe Starck is reeling in shock...

goodbye, or a good buy...

New year, new beginnings. New ends.

It was with a strange feeling that I visited our local Woolworth's a few days before it closed. Like vultures picking over a roadkill carcass, we all milled around the already bare bones of the store, searching for the ultimate 'bargain'.

Some were elated at the prizes they had found - cheap Cd's, whole boxes of pick-and-mix sweets, shower curtains with goldfish on.

I however, was very sad. Yes, I got some bargains (a book, a set of mechanical pencils and a good luck card), but I could not help but think of all the times I had visited Woolies in the past.

The time I bought a valentines card for my first boyfriend, the time I bought enough garlic to ward off Dracula when it was reduced to 10p a pack. The time I bought my mother a standard red rose for mothers day...

These times are now gone. A new time is beginning for all, not just the skeletons of abandoned Woolworth's stores. Let's all try and make it a happy, productive and sustainable time.

do something. please

welcome to rant #1. the do something please rant.

Now, we are all told to 'be greener' 'save the planet' 'be responsible' and even though I do preach these things myself (and practice them as far as possible) it can be tricky.

I have caught myself with a takeaway coffee cup and really battled with myself whether to throw it in the street bin after I have finished it. Is this a bit mental? I suppose what is more mental is that most of the time I transport the frothy, leaking mass back home, to rinse it out and put the cardboard cup in my recycling. and yes, it has leaked in my bag, which I then have to clean out, and wipe brown froth off everything.

I'm an environmental mentalist.

I even pick up rubbish outside of my house and put it in my recycling bin.

But, being responsible comes in many guises, and we should not beat ourselves up about not having a solar panel on our roof or wind farm in our back garden. Little things add up.

And, to my delight I have found a fantastic website by the people who brought you 'change the world 9-5' a lovely little book should you ever find it. http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/ is a fantastic list of stuff we can all do to get things happening. Sign up, create your own list, and tick the wee boxes everytime you do something. very satisfying - just like that sheet with stars on you had at school for when you did a good thing...

Yes, there are the usual green actions you can track, like turning down your thermostat (couldn't do this one, as our house has no heating anyway - we just put on more jumpers...), recycle everything and support small and local businesses, but what I LOVE is that there are other good things that you can do easily but we JUST DON'T DO MUCH ANYMORE.

#101 - make someone smile, #97 - say thanks, #77 - show empathy, #73 - leave work at least one a week on time, #60 - remember peoples names. You get the picture. Easy stuff that we were brought up to do and yet some of us have forgotten.

But, the one I love is #82 - 'aspire not to have more, but to be more'.

Food for thought. So - visit the lovely people at http://www.wearewhatwedo.org/, and see what you can do to get things moving.

Oh, and #98 - spread the word.

laters all