City Hippy

The diary of our struggle to live a green and fair life.

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CityHippy has posted its last post now (I now work for EMP plc, run At Home magazine online and more and personally blog over at http://www.altepper.com). Why? Click here to find out. We might be back. Keep our RSS feeds, keep us bookmarked, sign up for the news alert on the right. You never know...


We are dedicated to exploring how to live a greener and more ethical life. City Hippy is a growing collective of writers bringing you two types of content:

ARTICLES: Enjoy real content by real people trying really hard to live a greener and fairer life. Generally in-depth with weekly updates at least. Located in main body below.Subscribe:
 
BOOKMARKS: Follow our web travels & explore our 1400+ links to a greener life across various categories i.e. baby, cosmetics, DIY, furniture, garden & shopping. Short, sharp and frequent updates. Located down to the right. Click here to see our latest three bookmarks.Subscribe:

ARTICLES:

Monday, October 30, 2006

NEWS: Big Oil in Charge of Energy Study (USA)


Sometimes I just don't get what goes on in the heads of our heads of government! I stare at my computer screen and say "WHAT!" Forgive me I'm not trying to be enigmatic and cryptic although one would think that is the case with the current administration; because I can not possibly begin to understand why the former CEO of ExxonMobil, Lee Raymond, has been hand picked to lead a very influential study that will help develop policy solutions to America's energy crisis!

I'm going to try and leave my very pointed opinions out of this posting but will say I have a hard time believing Mr. Raymond and friends (the National Petroleum Council) will provide a fair and impartial study on the use and benefit of alternative energy. Shawnee Hoover (Exxpose Exxon campaign director) said it best, "What's next? Jack Abramoff appointed to solve corruption?"

Environmental bloggers and other groups are collaborating to get the word out for people to send letters urging Bush's Secretary of Energy to take this very important assignment away from the biased viewpoint of big oil. Here's one blogger's viewpoint: Oil Change International

For more details on what's going on click here: Exxpose Exxon Details, and to take action click here.


~Arcadia

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NEWS: Carnival of the Green #51

Carnival of the GreenAll hallows is nearly upon us and the funk of Monday is relieved only by the knowledge that another Carnival of the Green is born and this time we are taken to Groovy Green.

This week I choose the wisdom of General Krang as my pick of the carnival. Hilarious and somewhat scary if you think about it.

More info about the Carnival of the Green re hosting (now booked up into May 07) and posting available here.

Next week the Carnival of the Green celebrates its 1st Birthday right here at CityHippy. And that will also be our last post...

Namaste

Al

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Sunday, October 29, 2006

NEWS: Scotland's first organic food festival

Next weekend the Soil Association Scotland presents an Organic Food Fair at The Old Fruitmarket (cracking venue) and nearby Glasgow Metropolitan College. There are going to be loads of stalls, and not just of the food variety. I may have to relent and get something from the Coco Chocolate stall, I'm very good when they appear at Edinburgh Farmers Market but it can't last, their stuff looks just so very tasty. Bellfield Organics will be there, we get some veg from them when they appear at the market. Black Isle Brewery is a favourite of my boyfriend and whilst I don't eat anything that Summer Isles Smokehouse produce (I'm vegetarian) I have been to their premises on holiday in stunning Achiltibuie and the fish-eaters in my family declared the smoked salmon to be delicious. They also sell smoked cheese from around the country so I may be able to pick up some yummy Grimbister from my home islands of Orkney.

Grassroots are providing the food up at the college, we ate at their cafe last night and it's got to be one of my favourite places to eat. Tasty organic food will also be available at the Fruitmarket.

That's enough to tempt us on to the train and over to Glasgow for the day, sounds like it's going to be a brilliant day.

Katherine
Chatiryworld

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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

NEWS: PVC, the poison plastic!


I love it when readers contact me! It gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside that maybe you are making a difference. Such was the case recently when I was contacted by Eriq Wities and Emily Weinstein of Free Range Studios , to discuss their latest project. In case you aren't familiar with Free Range Studios, they are the production company that brought us the award winning video on factory farms called The Meatrix! Over 20 million have already seen this!

They hope to score another hit with their lastest video called: Sam Suds and the case of PVC, The Poison Plastic. This is another cleverly done cartoon spoof on how harmful PVC can be to consumers. What's worse is how this soft plastic is used in the manufacturing of children's toys!

If you aren't completely familiar with PVC, then this video and it's website is chock full of information that you need to know and ways on how you can help. Here in the USA we have a mass retailer called Target (much like a Wal-Mart), there is a call to action to get Target to phase-out PVC. Many other retailers and manufacturers have already begun the process (Wal-Mart is actually one of them, surprisingly!!.....followed by Nike, The Body Shop, and IKEA).

The Center for Health, Environment and Justice is the non-profit group that's leading the charge. One of the best things you'll find on their site are links to alternatives to PVC. Many people continue to use items because they just don't know a better alternative exists. We at CityHippy know that for every conventional way of doing things there is often a greener and better idea!

~Arcadia

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Monday, October 23, 2006

NEWS: Carnival of the Green #50

Carnival of the GreenI love Mondays...I used to hate them but the Carnival of the Green just cheers me right up.

This week we travel to the venerable How To Save The World blog and this week I choose the coverage of the continued revelations regarding religious revival in favour of our beloved environment as my pick of the carnival.

More info about the Carnival of the Green re hosting (now booked up into May 07) and posting available here.

Namaste

Al

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Sunday, October 22, 2006

SPECIAL: A dad in need - thankyou

Wow! Coby alone raised over £500 for his pyjamathon. Matthew and his family are making local news now and I certainly think we have all done good things here people. One family's massive suffering is made just that bit easier. Let's hope young Matthew makes a full recovery...

Thanks to all of you who sponsored Coby and whilst we did not hit the magic £1,000 here is a pic of him in pyjamas on the day. Enjoy...


Namaste

Al

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

NEWS: Carnival of the Green #49

Carnival of the GreenOne more Monday passes and that can only mean it's Carnival of the Green time.

This week's carnival is to be found at TotalTactics and this week my pick of the carnival is the Kite Sails post over at Interesting Thing of the Day.

More info about the Carnival of the Green re hosting (now booked up into April 07) and posting available here.

Namaste

Al

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006

NEWS: Google goes Solar!

I'm sure most of you may have heard by now that Google is going Solar, as in power. They will be converting six of their Bay Area headquartered buildings to solar power. No other US company has undertaken such a large project and they hope others will follow in their footsteps. It's speculated that this project could cost Google somewhere around $10 million dollars, and it should be operational by early 2007. They hope to capture at least 30% of it's power use from the sun by using approximately 9,200 panels! WOW! It is also speculated that with the surplus of energy they create; they could potentially sell it back to California's energy company - Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)

I had no idea Google was so green: they offer cash incentives to employees who purchase hybrid cars, serve organic food in the cafeteria, and use recycled materials to equip its offices; and I get the feeling it's not going to stop there!

~Arcadia

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NEWS: Recycle Green Waste


With landfill space becoming a problem, and the inability to dispose trees in such spaces (because it's unlawful), what's a person to do with green waste? Go to the Green Waste Recycle Yard. They provide the San Francisco Bay Area a centralized location for recycling salvaged and reclaimed urban forest. This is an idea long overdue. They even create wood products from trees that would've been removed anyway! The list is long: you can get wood for cabinets, furniture, flooring, pulpwood for paper products, wood chips for landscaping projects, and speciality items such as burl for unique woodworking projects, just to name a few. This is a do-it-yourselfer's dream! I like how they call their mulch "Treeincarnation". So if you got a whole tree in your backyard whose roots may be causing problems with your homes foundation (that's one possibility) and need to get rid of it but don't know where to go, call them; because they are the ONLY ones in the Bay Area that offer this kind of service.

Contractors, Landscapers, Project Managers, Golf Courses, Tree Companies, Education Facilities, Municipalities....these are some of the people who need to bookmark their website!

~Arcadia

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Sunday, October 15, 2006

REVIEW: Edinburgh's ethical eateries

Over the past few weeks my boyfriend and I have had the pleasure of being treated to a meal at two of Edinburgh's excellent restaurants, which also happen to try and run things as ethically as possible. Locally sourced, organic, fairtrade food is the name of the game here and whilst finding something that fits all three of those may not be that easy they give it a fair go.

Back at the beginning of September visiting friends wanted to take us out for a meal and we thought we'd all enjoy Iglu, winner of a fair smattering of awards, within walking distance and aiming to sell ethically produced dishes. The menu tells you what's organic and what's not and also which ingredients are wild. There was also a warning that the game dish may contain stray bits of bullet, a challenge which did not put off the meat eaters in the party (which, ok, was everyone except me). There weren't many vegetarian options (you get used to that in most restaurants) but those that were there sounded so good I still had trouble deciding. In the end I went for the special, which was a baked squash with vegetable chilli. The meat eaters enjoyed their dishes (including pork and pheasant) before we ordered pudding. As we were there on the final Sunday of the festival Iglu had obviously been pretty busy the night before and a few puds were off the menu, unfortunately this included the Green & Black's chocolate delight so some of us went for the yummy apple crumble option and very good it was too.

Iglu is in the New Town on Jamaica Street and also has a bar downstairs. The upstairs restaurant is very cosy (but not claustrophobic) and displays some stunning photographs of Skye by Alan Campbell on the walls.

Last weekend my boyfriend's mum wanted to take us out for a meal and we thought a return visit to Iglu would be in order. Now let this be a warning to you, if you want to eat at Iglu on a Saturday night, book earlier in the week. By the time I called on Friday there was no availability. Brilliant for them, but not so good for us.

However, round a couple of corners at the bottom of Hanover Street sits Urban Angel, who are also into serving organic, local and fairtrade food. They (just about) had room for us so off we went there, and yet again, were not disappointed. This time there were lots more vegetarian options (and enough to please the meat eaters, my boyfriend had a locally sourced rib eye steak which he loved) and I struggled to decide, finally opting for a sweet potato, baby spinach and spiced pumpkin seed risotto. Yum! Plus you could choose between a small or large portion. I went for a small portion to ensure room for dessert, and I'm very glad I did. I had a delicious chocolate pecan pie with Guinness ice cream (I'm still not sure about that!) and it tasted wonderfully comforting and real. Jon had cinnamon and apple pastry and his sister opted for fruity ice cream, all equally gorgeous.

Urban Angel also has a deli and take-out area at the front, and is open from 8am in the morning should you want your breakfast to be of the more ethical sort. It's also handily near Henderson's Farm Shop (and cafe/bistro) and Neal's Yard Remedies if you're on a bit of a green shopping splurge.

Katherine
Chatiryworld

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Wednesday, October 11, 2006

NEWS: Urgent!!! Save our TucTucs!

It wasn't very long ago that I was telling you all about the exciting new tuk tuks that had burst onto the Brighton & Hove scene.

Alas, after just one month of operation, they are already in trouble. The TucTucs have a bus operators licence and The Taxi Trade Forum is alleging that they are not sticking to the strict timetable that this licence requires. The matter is now going to a public inquiry.

As you know, this is a very new company and we want to give them a chance. As Dominic Ponniah, founder of TucTuc Ltd, said in this month's 'Rocks' magazine: "We are a small, independent company pioneering the first service of its kind anywhere in the world and feel extremely disappointed that a handful of individuals in the taxi trade have complained about a service less than one month old. Our small fleet represents no competition to taxis and we will defend robustly any allegations they, or others, make. We hope that the fantastic people of Brighton & Hove will support TucTuc by signing our online petition."

If you want to save the TucTuc, sign the petition now. I'll keep you updated!

Take care,

Katie
ethicalweddings.com

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Monday, October 09, 2006

NEWS: Carnival of the Green #48

Carnival of the GreenOne more monday arrives and that can only mean it's Carnival of the Green time.

This week's carnival is to be found at EnviroPundit and this week my pick of the carnival is the awesome coup by Treehugger to get next to Martha Stewart. Check out Treehugger on her show here.

More info about the Carnival of the Green re hosting (now booked up into April 07) and posting available here.

NOTE: Next weeks Carnival will appear this Friday as Gillo is off on a mission. Get your submissions in early.

Namaste

Al

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Sunday, October 08, 2006

SPECIAL: A dad in need

My son Coby goes to a musical babies group and my wife just brought the following to my attention - it just broke my heart. If anyone can help please email me and make a pledge. There but for the grace of god go I...

During the week commencing 16th October, The Music Train are asking all children (and any grown ups brave enough) to attend in their pyjamas. The teachers will all be in their nightwear too so it should be an interesting week all round!

They want everyone to get sponsored as they are raising money to help a lovely family who have attended for many years.

Matthew, who will be 3 years old in November, was suddenly diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer in August 2006 and is undergoing treatment which is likely to span many months.

His father initially had to take time off work and can now only work reduced hours. Unfortunately, he only gets paid for the hours actually worked, and as a result, financial concerns are beginning to put serious extra pressures on the family at a time when they least need it. They are hoping to raise enough money to see the family through this difficult time, with any extra raised being donated to a cancer charity.

Coby will be joining in to help Matthew and will attend his Music Train class on Thursday 19th October in his PJ's.

Astonishingly Coby has raised nearly £100 already (he has a very persuasive smile).

As an incentive to all you CityHippy readers if this blog gets pledges for £1000 in total then I will publish a picture of Coby on the day in his PJs as a thankyou...and trust me his PJs are seriously cute.

So come on, dig deep folks...we need 100 people to pledge £10 each...hardly a fortune. And if it was you...well, we would try and be there for you too...

Namaste

Al

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Saturday, October 07, 2006

SPECIAL: Au revoir not goodbye

Some good news and some bad.

GOOD NEWS
For a while now I have enjoyed a great relationship with NaturalCollection.com.

That relationship has just stepped up a gear and I am delighted to announce that as of Nov 1st I will be Natural Collection's first Head of Marketing. I am really looking forward to the role as you can imagine. The best part, apart from working for the Ethical Retailer of the Year of course, is that the position is home-based meaning I get to enjoy my family more and restore some much-needed work-life balance.

BAD NEWS
This job is going to consume almost all of me and so I have decided to suspend all my other time-consuming and mentally demanding activities where possible to devote myself fully to the role.

That means no more being the Blog Editor for the Ecologist and, sadly, I have taken the decision to freeze CityHippy for the time being.

I may well come back to it one day but for the forseeable future the CityHippy blog will cease to publish new content. I considered letting some of the Editors carry it on but CityHippy is just too much of me to let others carry it forward. All good things must come to an end I guess. Please continue to link to it though as it still remains a valuable resource with over 530 articles and 1400 bookmarks. And keep the feeds in your feedreaders as you never know what might happen.

BEYOND CITYHIPPY
Some of CityHippy's Editors have decided to start their own collective blog carrying on from CityHippy and I am very excited by what they are talking about doing. I totally support and applaud them and look forward to reading what they have to say. More on that new blog when I know more.

THE LAST POST
CityHippy's swan song will be on Nov 6th when I will bow out by hosting the 1st year Anniversary edition of the Carnival of the Green. Seems an appropriate moment to leave the stage. From then on the Carnival will be run by Nick Aster of Treehugger.

So there it is folks. Nov 6th. Put it in your diaries. We are gonna have quite possibly the first and biggest blog retirement party so let's show the blogosphere that greens know how to party. Please do join me on that final post and leave your thoughts.

My struggle to be green is not over but my family and I have come along way and without you all there is no doubt in my mind that we would not have come this far. For that we thankyou.

Please do stay in touch via email or via:

Call me!
or

View Al Tepper's profile on LinkedIn


Namaste

Al

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Wednesday, October 04, 2006

San Francisco: Future Sea Level



This is really interesting. There was a collabrative art project going on called Future Sea Level which shows the impact global warming will have on our city. An artist-designed blue tape which is suppose to illustrate "water" had been placed around our famous tourist spot "Fisherman's Wharf". This water had been placed at a level that shows how high our sea level could rise if we don't begin to address the global warming issue. Some spectators found they had to jump up in order to reach the "tape"!

This art installation was a joint effort with the Sierra Club and SF Environment. I'm so sorry I missed it, but I just heard back from their press dept. there might be another one around town soon!

~Arcadia

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INTERVIEW: Allan McKie from River Nene

You may remember me mentioning River Nene Organic Farm in my post called ‘Desperately Seeking Veg’ back in August. At the time I talked about how I had found it so difficult to find an organic veg delivery scheme in Nottingham but named River Nene as one which operated nearby.

Since then however I have been talking to Allan McKie who works for River Nene and indeed runs the business for the east side of Nottingham. So impressed was I by his description of the farms, their customer service and by the fact that they are branching out that I wanted to interview him for City Hippy.

So here’s what Allan had to say about River Nene

V: Hello Allan. First of all can you tell us a little about the history of the River Nene farm?
A: River Nene’s first Organic Farm sits in the Nene Valley, in a village called Sutton. The River meanders along the farms border and occasionally, if you’re lucky, you will see the Nene Valley steam train chugging through the farm. Stan Cliffe, the farm manager, has managed the farm organically since April 2000 and River Nene joined him in 2004 to launch the box scheme. His 44 years of growing experience and tremendous enthusiasm gave him the perfect springboard to take on the organic challenge.Stan sees growing for the vegboxes as a wonderful opportunity to connect thefarm with its customers and communities throughout the East Midlands and tomake fresh, healthy, organic vegetables widely available. We also work with agroup of local organic farmers to share expertise and make sure we keep theboxes full of exciting vegetables all year round. All our farmers are committed toprotecting wildlife and the British countryside and we meet regularly to shareideas, plan production and consider ways that we can improve. The fruit and vegetables from our growers are currently packed in Yaxley, though we haverecently taken over a 500 acre site at Sacrewell Farm, just north of Peterborough. This site adds to our existing available organic land and it is from here that the boxes will be packed and distributed.

V: Where do you come in and how does River Nene Nottingham branch of the business work?
A: River Nene’s organic produce is distributed to customers through an enthusiastic and dedicated franchisee network who employ local people to promote and deliver the produce. The customers order either online, by phone or e mail up to 2 days before their set delivery day. These orders are communicated to the farm the morning before delivery and the boxes are then packed and prepared. They are then sent to the franchisee hub, ours is just outside Nottingham where they are stored overnight before delivery takes place the day after. So if you receive your delivery on Thursday, the box will have been packed and prepared the day before, on Wednesday at the farm.

V: Any plans to expand into other areas of Nottinghamshire?
A: Yes, we are currently preparing to open up delivery into Grantham and Newark areas, this is on schedule to happen in November 06.

V: What would you say is River Nene’s mission statement or main ethos?
A: Our ethos is quite simple. To bring high quality organic fruit and vegetables to the communities of the East Midlands at prices that are affordable to the customer, give fair reward for the farmers’ effort and investment, and to do it all in a sustainable ethical manner that will do least damage to the environment.

V: River Nene organic farm was set up in February 2005. What would you say is its proudest achievement since then?
A: Without question it is the achievement of becoming the fastest growing box scheme operator anywhere in Europe within its first 12 months. From a standing start 18 months ago, the farm now distributes over 7000 boxes every week to an ever growing and loyal customer base.

V: What would you say makes River Nene stand out from other organic farms in the Midlands or in fact the UK?
A: There are a number of things. The first is the quality of produce. The produce is supplied through a cooperative group of 10 farms all farming on highly fertile Fenland with its rich peat soil. These farms have diversified away from supplying supermarkets and now rely largely on River Nene for their livelihoods so top quality is essential. The second is quality of service. Each franchise area covers quite a small geographic area and this enables each business to provide its customers with a fast and responsive service as well as a wealth of knowledge and experience from its grower group. The third is award winning web site where customers can manage their orders and accounts online with ease. The fourth is flexibility and affordability. We don't insist on a regular order, if you only want a delivery on an ad hoc basis that is absolutely fine. With our smallest box retailing at £7.50 which includes delivery, we have very few complaints about value for money.

V: Farming organically is very hard work. Is there anything City Hippy readers (or anyone for that matter) can do to support organic farms?
A: Organic farmers do work very hard but they will all tell you they enjoy their work tremendously now that they are seeing a reasonable reward for their effort instead of fighting for every last penny when supplying the large supermarket chains. Don’t get me wrong, they are not on a ‘get rich quick’ scheme, but at least they are no longer operating largely tenant farms at close to breakeven. City Hippy readers and others can best support UK organic farmers by transferring their buying habits away from the supermarkets and toward box scheme deliveries, be it River Nene or any other supplier. This will encourage more farmers to convert and it will both improve the quality of the countryside and the life of its wildlife occupants and reduce the use of environmentally damaging fertilisers (8 tonnes of oil make 1 tonne of fertiliser)

Thank you Allan. So, once again check out the River Nene website if you’d like to know more or get in touch with Allan.

Also, good news for Make Noise members is that next week River Nene will be offering an exclusive discount. So if you haven’t already, join Make Noise NOW! Then look out for the newsletter in your inbox and on the Make Noise website.

Vicky
Make Hay - Web design making a positive difference

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Monday, October 02, 2006

NEWS: Carnival of the Green #47

Carnival of the GreenOne more monday arrives and that can only mean it's Carnival of the Green time.

This week's carnival is to be found at GreenerMiami. Now I love Sushi but am concerned greatly by the lack of eco credentials that industry has so this week my pick of the carnival is the Sustainable Sushi post over at EcoStreet.

More info about the Carnival of the Green re hosting (now booked up into April 07) and posting available here.

Namaste

Al

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