Green Awards Celebrate in London + Other Enviro Winners of the Week

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:12:03 GMT

The best environmental advertising and marketing campaigns of the year were celebrated last night in London at the Green Awards. Taking the Grand Prix, presented by Jonathan Porritt, was the latest Keep Britain Tidy campaign called Food on The Go which targeted 18-24 years old and their horrible litter dropping habits. Apparently due to successfully partnering with McDonalds and Greggs Bakers there was a 31% reduction in litter at the sites they worked with. Pretty good going! So let's see what other enviro winners there are out there in the blogosphere this week.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ascension Opens The First Ethical Fashion Store in Central London

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:00:17 GMT

Images via Ascension This year Adili, one of the UK's favourite online ethical fashion sites, have renamed themselves Ascension and with that, taking their new name quite literally, have promptly ascended to new heights of fashion fabulousness! With a new name comes not only a new look, but also a new prime time location in the middle of London's chicest shopping district. Ascension has set up shop just a handbag swing away from Bond Street in the beautiful St Christopher's Place off Oxford Street. Let's take a look inside....... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Cameron Sinclair Awarded in London and More Architecture Stories of The Week

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:00:41 GMT

This week was a big one for TreeHugger friend Cameron Sinclair as he travelled to London to receive the Royal Society of Arts' Bicentenary Medal. Cameron flew into his home town to pick up the honour, jointly awarded to him and his partner Kate Stohr, as co-founders of Architecture For Humanity. The Medal is usually awarded to 'a person who, in a manner other than as an industrial designer, has applied art and design in great effect as instruments of civic innovation'. This year Cameron and Kate were honoured for "increasing people's resourcefulness". So three cheers for AFH from the TreeHugger team and here are five more architectural stories of the week to celebrate!... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Book Review: The New Economics - A Bigger Picture

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:04 GMT

The publication of 'The New Economics - A Bigger Picture' by David Boyle and Andrew Simms of The New Economics Foundation is well timed. Over a year after the collapse of Lehman Brothers many are beginning to feel optimistic about coming out of the recession. However there are a few, those who were gleeful during the darkest days of the credit crunch, who are now glum. People who had hoped that the collapse of the economy would produce a more sustainable system, are now concerned that in fact we're back to business as usual. Where are the new economics we were hoping for? ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Carbon Ration Books Issued by The Ministry Of Trying To Do Something About It

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:38:43 GMT

Images by Tim Mitchell The Ministry of Trying to Do Something About It sounds like a fantastical invention that's just flown straight out of a Harry Potter novel, but in fact it's a collaboration between the excellent New Economics Foundation and inspiring artist Clare Patey. This newly formed Ministry revealed itself at The Bigger Picture, a recent event organised by NEF which took place on the International Day of Climate Action just up the river from where Londoners gathered to create the number 5 of 350.org. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

A Week of Hilarity + Hijinks From The Yes Men Delights The Blogosphere

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:52:00 GMT

After rounding up posts on the beleaguered US Chamber of Commerce in last week's TH Blog Love, we couldn't have imagined what would happen next. The Chamber does a 180 on its climate policy? Seriously? For a moment there was an optimistic suspension of disbelief from many corners of the blogosphere and mainstream media. But that was replaced with a strange mixture of awe and hilarity when we discovered the Yes Men were back in the driving seat! But punking the Chamber is not all those crazy climate pranksters got up to this week - ever heard of a Survivaball?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Incredible Interactive OLED Installation Lights up London Art Fair

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:36:24 GMT

Image by author An incredible OLED installation delighted art fair goers at the weekend in London. 'You Fade To Light' is an interactive art work by London based design studio rAndom International, developed in collaboration with Philips. Using a total of 1064 Philips warm white Lumiblade OLEDs the rAndom International team created a suspended wall of light which reacted to people's movements as they walked in front of it. This is what it looked like...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Top 5 Reports on US Chamber of Commerce + Impact of Its Climate Policy

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:32:30 GMT

As the US Chamber of Commerce comes under more and more pressure for its out of touch climate policy our own Daniel Kessler reported on the Chamber's bad PR week and TH Blog Love took a tour of the blogosphere to see just how bad the flak is. So let's see who is saying what about the CEO's who are taking a stance on Climate Change and the exodus of top flight companies from the Chamber. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

"In Praise of Shadows" Low-Energy Lighting Exhibit at London Design Festival

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:00:36 GMT

Image by author - Fragile Future by Drift One of the most magical experiences during the London Design Festival last month was 'In Praise of Shadows', the fantastic low energy lighting exhibition on show at the Victoria & Albert museum. From start to finish this show was an illuminating adventure, which slowly revealed hidden treasures in the mysterious depths of this wonderful museum. The British curator Jane Withers, she of the 1% Water exhibition, made the unusual choice of showing her selection of works by 21 European designers in a darkened gallery. To look around the exhibition, and indeed to find the exhibits, we needed the assistance of a hand powered dynamo torch. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

London Design Festival: Top 5 Eco Highlights Across The Blogosphere

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:04:41 GMT

The London Design Festival was as diverse and wide ranging as ever this year with lots of independent satellite shows alongside the big guns: 100% Design and Tent London. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get to see all of them as this TreeHugger was stationed in the DeTnk TV studio interviewing the best in show. Watch this space for our LDF 09 interviews, but in the meantime check out these top 5 eco-design highlights picked up by a bevy of eagle eyed design bloggers.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

London Fashion Week: Christopher Raeburn's Digital Rainbow

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:00:00 GMT

As the rain pours down on this grey London day we can't think of anything better than the joyful rays of colour that Christopher Raeburn brought to London Fashion Week this season. After his recent success with Worn Again, Raeburn presented his SS10 collection, aptly named Digital Rainbow. This selection of men's and women's macs, ponchos and parkas, as well as hoodies and dresses, will brighten up anyone's rainy day. Here's the full spectrum...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

London Fashion Week: Bird Textiles' Eye Catching Prints at Estethica

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 07:00:34 GMT

Alongside many of our Estethica favourites this season including People Tree, From Somewhere, and Makepiece, we were delighted to see some fresh fashion talent on these UK shores in the form of Bird Textiles from Australia. Their eye catching prints and popping colours certainly brought some southern hemisphere sunshine to the show. After Warren's post on Bird back in 2006 it is great to see the brand going from strength to strength, not only on the fashion front, but also feathering our nests with their homeware collection.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Ecouterre Launches + Other Top Sartorial Statements From Fashion Week

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:48:50 GMT

This was the week where Climate Week in New York battled for media attention with both New York and London Fashion Weeks, and on top of that Inhabitat launched the sparkling new ethical fashion site Ecouterre. As Tamara Giltsoff argues in her post for PSFK, the fashion world and climate policy world are totally at odds with each other and yet inextricably linked. While mainstream fashion is completely unsustainable, it does know, unlike those dry policy advisors, how to create a following. If only the two could have a positive influence on each other! The great news is the ethical fashion industry continues to grow in stature and influence, even Dame Vivienne Westwood made an environmental statement with her show this week.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

London Fashion Week: Plight of Bees Inspires Stunning SS10 Collection

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 04:14:05 GMT

All photos via Paul Persky www.persky.co.uk A fashion collection dedicated to the plight bees is creating a buzz at London Fashion Week. Talented young designer Ada Zanditon, who we championed at Estethica earlier this year, has created a beautiful collection inspired by Colony Collapse Disorder. Surely when environmental issues become key themes of fashion collections we must know that we're getting somewhere! After hives were welcomed into the new White House garden and the success of the Tweehive experiment on Twitter, the plight of our buzzing friends really is the height of fashion! Click through to see more images from Ada Zanditon's Spring/Summer 2010 collection.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Do Lectures 2009 - Bonfire Brands

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:55:47 GMT

Image via: www.neilcocker.com Bonfire Brands is the fifth and final lesson in our series on The Do Lectures 2009. If you've been following our coverage of this amazing conference, you'll know that so far we've highlighted four themes that spanned across the event. Each theme brings us a step closer to tackling the important stuff. First we set ourselves a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, then we Turned off the TV to optimize our time, next was the simple challenge of Taking the First Step, then we examined The Axeness of an Axe, to understand what the essence of the job is. Today we look at the concept of Bonfire Brands to see what attracts people to a bright flame.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Do Lectures 2009 - The Axeness of An Axe

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:13:02 GMT

Axe man Gabriel Branby explains the essence of his craft. The axeness of an axe? What on earth does that mean I hear you ask? Well it's about starting with the essence of something, stripping things down and taking away anything that is superfluous. As Gabriel Branby, the Swedish axe manufacturer told us at The Do Lectures last weekend "Less is More". This Dao philosophy of reduction and living with nature is really embodied by The Do Lectures in every way: a small conference, in a simple tent, on a rural farm, with a small number of attendees, who sleep under canvas, and are fuelled by delicious local food and inspirational conversation. Nothing more nothing less, it's all about beautiful simplicity.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Do Lectures 2009 - Take The First Step

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:15:08 GMT

Image via www.neilcocker.com - Thinking about taking the first step at The Do Lectures So you've set your BHAG - the Big Hairy Audacious Goal and you've turned off your TV. It's a good start and now you're ready to start doing, but how? Why? Where? With what? Arghhh... the fear of the blank white page can scare the bravest among us into inventive procrastination. So, lesson no. 3 from The Do Lectures 2009 is 'Take the first step', otherwise known as 'Laughing in the face of fear!' Yes, in order to start you've got to begin, or is that the other way around?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Do Lectures 2009 - Turn Off Your TV

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:14:12 GMT

All images by author - Travel Writer Rolf Potts' Little Do "Turn off your TV", "Get Rid of your TV", "I haven't owned a TV in years!" This refrain was heard throughout The Do Lectures this year, putting a damper on our nights slobbing out in front of the box. Right out of the starting gate came graphic designer Geoff McFetridge with the statement "Never watch TV it's just not good for you!" "But", came the response, "What about good TV?" And then, almost in unison, everyone said "But what about The Wire?" Nope, it seems that if you are a Doer TV just doesn't cut it, not even The Wire. So folks what shall we do instead?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Do Lectures 2009 - Big Hairy Audacious Goals

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:53:24 GMT

All images by author. The Do Lectures tent bathed in Welsh sunshine How do you get 100+ people from all over the world to attend a five day conference in a tent in a remote corner of West Wales? The answer is: with difficulty, but 'Big Hairy Audacious Goals' are what The Do Lectures are all about! So planes, trains and automobiles were enlisted, oceans, continents and countries were crossed, and a couple of brave souls spent several days peddling there. In short, in order to get to The Do Lectures you had to be a Doer. And wow what Doers we've met over the past five days, an extraordinary array of talent, enthusiasm, energy and passion was on show from speakers, attendees and staff alike.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Movie Review: Fresh Offers New Thinking About What We're Eating

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:00:46 GMT

Images via Fresh The Movie Disaster, devastation, destruction: Those are the none too cheerful themes of many environmental movies, e.g. The Age of Stupid, 11th Hour, The Day after Tomorrow. While the fear factor has its purpose, we don't think it motivates people nearly as much as the power of possibility. In short there's been a conspicuous lack of optimism on our screens and acknowledgment of all the amazing work that's going on to create positive change. But now, I'm delighted to say that Fresh The Movie has come along to fill that void in our lives. Here's a film that revels in the joy of growing good food sustainably.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Red Hot + Stylish - Worn Again Teams Up With Virgin + Eurostar

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 11:06:49 GMT

Images via Worn Again They've gone and done it again! Funky designs, great collaborations and innovative materials, those clever folks at Worn Again always know how to pull it out of the bag...so to speak! For their latest collection Bon Voyage Worn Again have teamed up once again with Virgin, though this time they've moved on from airline seat covers and gone for the retired Virgin hot air balloons that take trips over the UK. Staying with the travel theme Eurostar has also donated old staff uniforms to be upcycled into new stylish travel accessories. And who, you may ask, have Worn Again brought in to design the collection?... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Tributes Paid to Green Champion Ted Kennedy Across the Blogosphere

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:07:36 GMT

Image via Sunfiltered In the week that Senator Ted Kennedy's death closed a major political chapter in US history TH Blog Love looks at his influential role in the environmental movement. Yesterday Brian paid tribute to a "progressive green champion" and made a strong case for the "liberal lion's" commitment to clean energy and wildlife protection. Today we travel around the great green blogosphere to see how other environmentalists have paid tribute to Ted Kennedy's life.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Po-Zu Designs Wellington Boots to Save The Rainforest

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:02:14 GMT

Images via Po-Zu How can a pair of Wellington boots save the rainforest I hear you ask? Well let me tell you about Po-Zu's new Well boots, yes that's Well for Wellington - geddit? Launching as the stars of Po-Zu's A/W 09 collection the Well boots are being produced in collaboration with the super chic Brazilian brand Amazon Life. These sturdy yet stylish boots are made out of 'wild rubber' collected by Kayapo Indians rubber tapers working deep in the Amazon rainforest.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Bill McKibben on Colbert Report + 5 more Enviro Media Posts of the week

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 12:32:40 GMT

This week environmental activism met political satire as the founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben braved the rapier wit of Stephen Colbert on live television and emerged virtually unscathed, or rather in McKibben's own tweeted words, "survived with at least 40% of my dignity intact." Well done Bill! TH Blog Love takes the comedic momentum and jogs around the blogosphere to find some more great green media stories of the week.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Queen's Postbag Becomes A Battleground For Credit Crunch + Energy Debate

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 11:34:33 GMT

Image via Flickr by memake A new UK consultancy group called Abundancy launched on a royal wave last week with an open letter to Her Majesty The Queen. HRH Elizabeth II no doubt receives bag loads of mail every week so why should she pay special attention to this one? Well, not only does the letter have high profile signatories such as Alain de Botton, Jonathan Porritt, Jeremy Leggett, Rob Hopkins and Jules Peck (letter's author and co-founder of Abundancy), but the letter is actually a response to a question The Queen asked herself about the credit crunch - "Why did no one see it coming?"... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The BBC's Spending on Bottled Water + and 5 More Water Stories of the Week

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:05:46 GMT

This month has been named Blue August on TreeHugger and Planet Green with tons of content dedicated to the state of our oceans, coral reefs, sealife and waterways. Use the Blue August tag to discover all our great posts on these subjects, like Jaymi's revelation this week that the BBC are spending $670 000 annually on bottled water! This week on TH Blog Love we take a swim around the blogosphere to see what other water worlds we can find.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Need to Get Something Off Your Chest? The Nag is Here to Help

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:26:28 GMT

The Nag has been revamped and relaunched! The social change platform, that ranks alongside Do The Green Thing as the UK's most creative motivating force, is back with a new format and bigger ambitions. As winner of Yahoo! Ethical Finds of The Year in 2008 The Nag was doing brilliantly at suggesting simple changes that people can make everyday for a greener lifestyle, but now The Nag is asking you 'the crowd' to join in the fun and have a good ol' nag yourself about the things you'd like to change. There's room for a bit of brainstorming and taking action too!... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Do Lectures: It's Like TED In A Welsh Field

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 07:45:23 GMT

Images via The Do Lectures Are you ready for the outward bound version of TED? For the second year running the team behind one of our fav eco-fashion labels, Howies, are presenting The Do Lectures and happily TreeHugger will be reporting directly from the field. Yes, quite literally, it's in a tent, in a field, in Wales! We'll be putting our wellies on, and hopefully our sun hat, to bring you the latest from the front line of 'Doing' in sustainability. But don't take my word for it, you can be there too. Just click through to find out how...... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Carbon Gold Promote Strict Regulations With World's First Biochar Methodology

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:11:23 GMT

Image via Carbon Gold Today the world's first biochar methodology has been published for public consultation by the Voluntary Carbon Standard. This ground breaking paper has been submitted by the UK based biochar project developers Carbon Gold. They are confident that their methodology will help create an ethical and sustainable structure for a potential biochar offsetting industry. This method of turning waste biomass into charcoal has been lauded as a miracle solution to rising CO2 emissions, but skeptics have also warned that there is plenty of room for error and exploitation. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Leonora Oppenheim, London, UK