Blogs

Green blog archive
19 May 2011


asad.rehman

Asad Rehman

02 Oct

Free The Arctic 30: they're fighting climate change

Today several Greenpeace activists have been charged with piracy in Russia. They face up to 15 years in jail. Their crime? Peacefully protesting against Arctic drilling that poses a huge threat to our climate and us all. more ...

Save the Arctic 30

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

melanie.kramers

Melanie Kramers

30 Sep

Creating better products at London Design Festival

Sampling caterpillar canapés last week was a first for me. I wasn't on a Bushtucker trial, but at London Design Festival exploring how we could live differently to reduce the stresses on our world. Could insect protein be the sustainable diet of the future? There were all sorts of ideas up for awards. more ...

man_looking_at_watercooler


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

katya.johnson

Katya Johnson

26 Sep

Meeting our supporters: Liam Cook cycles to Rome

Have you ever thought about fundraising for Friends of the Earth? Supporter Liam Cook and a group of nine others have just completed an epic cycle to Rome. They raised over £4,000 for Friends of the Earth. 

The Interview

I first met Liam Cook some weeks ago, before the sponsored cycle began. He was calm and excited about the ride.  more ...

Liam Cook

© Christian Sinibaldi


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

lynne.franks

Lynne Franks

23 Sep

Wellbeing: Women are key to a better world

Guest blog: Women's empowerment guru Lynne Franks argues that improving women's status is the key to sustainability.

My belief is that we can only create a sustainable future for the world and humanity when women and men have equal power in all areas of society. Even in countries in the so-called developed world, we are far from any kind of gender balance in most areas of leadership and power. more ...

image of Lynne Franks


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

neil.kingsnorth

Neil Kingsnorth

23 Sep

"Ugly" vegetables? I stick two carrots up at the idea

An apple recently harvested from a tree in my garden that looks a bit like a bum was a source of great joy to my children.  One of the many pleasures of growing food is the wonky harvest that it sometimes provides.  The carrot that looks like a pair of trousers or the potato that looks like my grandad's nose.

So to me, the lines of perfectly straight, perfectly clean, identical and sterile-looking veg we find in too many shops are a sad sight indeed.  The joy of the unexpected is all but banished, replaced by the monotony of the predictable. more ...

heart-shaped potato

© Thinkstock


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

brenda.pollack

Brenda Pollack

20 Sep

Thoughts on the "Truth about Fracking"

I watched ITV's "The Truth about fracking" last night. more ...

Balcombe Cuadrilla fracking site

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

katya.johnson

Katya Johnson

17 Sep

Roger Deakin's "Notes from Walnut Tree Farm"

Roger Deakin, environmental campaigner and Friends of the Earth veteran, died in 2007. But fortunately for us, the spirit of his life is beautifully captured in the posthumous "Notes from Walnut Tree Farm".

I first came across this book on the kitchen table of a friend's house. I opened the first pages and was immediately hooked. Part-autobiography, part-nature diary, it is made up of fragments of writing centred around Deakin's home, Walnut Tree Farm. more ...

image_walnut_tree

satish.kumar

Satish Kumar

16 Sep

Wellbeing: The value of soil

Guest blog: Satish Kumar, Editor-in-chief of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine, previews his talk at Resurgence Trust's Festival of Wellbeing.

We need to embrace an inclusive and holistic concept of wellbeing.

This is something Resurgence & Ecologist will be addressing in its second Festival of Wellbeing, in London on 12 October. more ...

image of children planting

© istock


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

esther.woolfson

Esther Woolfson

13 Sep

Gull Song - Autumn Notes by Esther Woolfson

The award-winning nature diarist Esther Woolfson heralds the signs of autumn in the third of her guest blog posts for Friends of the Earth.

The change from summer to autumn here in Aberdeen is in more than the weather. It's in more than the sudden chills, the brisk rain, the wind that's already whisking leaves from trees. It's in sound too. The gull-clamour of August in a maritime city is over. Everything is - if not exactly silent - then quieter. The lovely, loud and resonant chorus of herring-gull voices at nesting-time has changed from defence to declamation. more ...

image

© Hilarie


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

holly.brooke-smith

Holly Brooke-Smith

11 Sep

When is cheese green?

For the third post in her series celebrating sustainable food, Holly Brooke-Smith gets cheesy for British Cheese Week

Pick a cheese, any cheese

I don't know about you, but when I buy fruit and veg, it's absolutely instinctive to check the label to see where it's come from. But, by the time I get to the cheese counter (my favourite place to be), I still have to remind myself to think about origin and food miles - it can be all too easy to grab branded Cheddar without thinking. more ...


steve.cain

Steve Cain

09 Sep

Making wine - my new hobby

I used to think wine-making was some type of scientific experiment conducted by my Dad. I remember his bottles bubbling away on our windowsills like a scene from a Hammer House of Horror movie.

But now I have the bug. And part of the attraction for me is drinking something that's a bit more special than a bottle of mass-produced plonk, with chemical nasties, and a big old carbon footprint. I can make my own wine with seasonal fruits or vegetables.

It started a few years ago when I heard a programme on the radio. more ...

Making wine

© Cico Books


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

anita.baumgartner

Anita Baumgartner

06 Sep

Grab a screwdriver and fix your broken gadget

There are some things nobody likes to admit. You and I and maybe most people in developed countries have a problem. It might sit in a cupboard, be buried under your bed or in a box in the cellar.

I'm talking about those discarded electronic devices you don't know what to do with. Maybe they developed faults, became really slow or you simply broke them.

Taking them to the repair shop seems too much of a hassle. If our phone or laptop breaks, we need to replace them urgently. So most of us just buy a new device. more ...

people_fixing_hairdryer_restart_party


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

brenda.pollack

Brenda Pollack

05 Sep

Fracking: an important victory but the fight goes on

I've just got back from leave and found out that Cuadrilla withdrew its planning application to extend shale oil exploration near Balcombe for another six months. more ...

Balcombe resident

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

phil.byrne

Phil Byrne

30 Aug

Ultimate swarms: Nature's most powerful secrets

If you suffer from melissophobia - fear of bees - don't watch the first 15 minutes of Ultimate Swarms, which aired on BBC One this week.

In a scene reminiscent of the cult horror Candyman, Zoologist and explorer George McGavin talks to the camera absolutely covered in honey bees. more ...


rachelle.strauss

Rachelle Strauss

28 Aug

Can you take the Zero Waste Week challenge?

Food waste isn't just a waste of money. Producing our food uses up large amounts of our world's limited natural resources like water and land.

Guest writer Rachelle Strauss, My Zero Waste

Here's a challenge for you. Next time you come home with bags of food shopping, stop off at your bin.

Now open the lid and put in one third of the shopping you've just bought. If you've got three bags, put one in there. If you've bought six, put three in there. Now close the lid and walk away.

Sounds crazy, right? more ...

food_waste

© webted


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

fred.pearce

Fred Pearce

22 Aug

Water's running out - is sewage the solution?

In a world of droughts, climate change and rising population, is sewage the answer to stop our taps running dry? Guest blogger, journalist and author Fred Pearce, thinks so - if we can only get over the yuck factor.

Sewage contains two things we badly need: organic nutrients such as nitrogen, and water. Cities once took advantage of this, operating "sewage farms" that used faeces as fertiliser. more ...


jenny.rosenberg

Jenny Rosenberg

21 Aug

Shale gas: we are the fractivists

You'd be hard pushed to find anything nice to say about fracking, but this weekend it did something great.

It brought together thousands of people from all walks of life and from across the UK to stand together against fracking and fossil fuel extraction everywhere. more ...

solidarity fracking march Balcombe

holly.brooke-smith

Holly Brooke-Smith

20 Aug

Raspberries - my green pick of the month

For the second post in her series celebrating sustainable food, Holly Brooke-Smith tells us what's great about raspberries in August.

Who doesn't love a raspberry? When I was growing up they were always the 'easy win' to stem the flow of parental scurvy-nags. They're delicious with ice cream and in a fruit salad. And with the warm summer weather set to continue, they're providing good business for Britain.

Berry background more ...

raspberries

charlotte.chan

Charlotte Chan

15 Aug

Dancing through the Wilderness

Did you know that bees talk to each other by dancing?

If that's the case, I was doing a whole lot of talking at this year's Wilderness Festival in Oxfordshire, while dressed up as a Friends of the Earth bee.

Every day we'd put on our bee suits and wander around the beautiful green grounds, chatting to people about our work and trying to recruit new support for the Bee Cause campaign. more ...

Bees dancing

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

katya.johnson

Katya Johnson

13 Aug

Narrowboating: my eco-friendly summer holiday

Narrowboat holidays offer the perfect excuse for an out-of-city break, plus they save the planet on nasty flight emissions. Gorgeous, green and not too expensive - kids love them too I hear.    more ...


amelia.collins

Amelia Collins

08 Aug

Why I'm behind the people of Balcombe against fracking

Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit the protest site in Balcombe, West Sussex. Lucky is in many ways an inappropriate word to use, given that local residents and protesters are fighting oil exploration by energy company Cuadrilla, which they fear could lead to hydraulic fracturing or fracking. They have quite a fight on their hands. But to meet the people on the ground and show support brings the campaign and people to life.   more ...

Balcombe residents against fracking

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

emma.egli

Emma Egli

08 Aug

Food for thought: are lab-grown burgers the answer?

As a vegetarian of 10 years, when I found out about the first lab-made burger, my initial reaction was, "sign me up, I'll be first in line, tomato ketchup in tow."

I've tried every Quorn, Cauldron, Linda McCartney, mock meat brand you can think of. Some taste like cardboard. But others have had me reaching for the box to double check they are indeed meat-free. So the idea of something as close to the real thing as you can get, but not actually the real thing, sounded appealing. more ...

Food processing plant producing hamburgers

© istock


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

jannat.hossain

Jannat Hossain

25 Jul

Basecamp: my first experience of Friends of the Earth

As a passionate environmentalist, university graduate Jannat Hossain has been following the work of Friends of the Earth for several years but has never really had the chance to get involved - until now. Here she blogs on her first experience of Friends of the Earth's annual gathering for environmental activists, and on her ambitions for Young Friends of the Earth. more ...

image

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

marie.reynolds

Marie Reynolds

25 Jul

Why a plastic bag fee is not a bad plan

Do plastic bags get on your nerves? They do mine.

I hate seeing them stuck in trees and blowing across parks in the wind. I bet zillions have been left on Brighton beach during the heatwave. And whilst they make excellent bin liners in my shared flat, they end up taking over our kitchen cupboards. 

UK supermarkets handed out more than 8 million bags last year, the highest amount in 4 years. I'm sure I accepted one or two of those. more ...

Plastic bag stuck in tree

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

helen.rimmer

Helen Rimmer

24 Jul

We're not giving up on fighting fracking

As the country basked in sunshine last weekend, I was picnicking at Lytham's iconic 19th century windmill. But it wasn't just about relaxing in the glorious weather. This was a community conversation about the big energy issue of the day - fracking. more ...

Gathering on the Green

© Helen Rimmer


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

joanna.watson

Joanna Watson

20 Jul

Bravo Basecamp - We did it differently

Attached to the Bee Tree at Basecamp last weekend was a lovely message from a participant: "You've turned Conference into a little adventure". It summed up the journey we've been on for the last year.

After lots of discussions and recce visits, we made the challenging decision to locate our annual get-together for environmental campaigners at Hartington in the heart of the Peak District. more ...

image

© Joanna Watson


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

andy.atkins

Andy Atkins

18 Jul

Basecamp: new faces, new ideas, and a weekend of inspiration

If you couldn't be there, I'm sorry: Basecamp was brilliant. Friends of the Earth's 2013 annual gathering for environmental activists combined topical issues with space for collaboration and creativity, all based in a beautiful rural venue with a pub just down the lane.

Basecamp was all about engaging new people in Friends of the Earth's work - participants included volunteers from elsewhere in the green movement, supporters who have yet to connect with local groups, and a growing contingent from Young Friends of the Earth, fresh with lots of ideas. more ...

image

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

charlotte.chan

Charlotte Chan

17 Jul

A Paraguay film night to remember: El Impenetrable

This Thursday will be my film night to remember. I'm going to see El Impenetrable.

Not to undermine classics like the sing-along Mulan, El Impenetrable will top all fim nights for me. This is because it speaks of a real issue that my team at Friends of the Earth is campaigning on - land grabbing. more ...

el impentrable paraguay film night


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

brenda.pollack

Brenda Pollack

16 Jul

More shale gas with your tea vicar?

A couple of weeks ago I was enjoying a fine cup of tea with cucumber sandwiches. It wasn't a summer garden party, but a Very British Tea Party protest.

In the heart of England, not on a village green but on a roadside verge, I was sitting opposite a site where Cuadrilla wants to drill underground to test for oil and gas. With me were residents from Balcombe, West Sussex, who are concerned that if and when Cuadrilla find what they are looking for, they will use a process called hydraulic fracturing (fracking, for short) to release the oil or gas from shale rock deep under the ground. more ...

image

© Friends of the Earth


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

marie.reynolds

Marie Reynolds

12 Jul

Community power on the up

Last week the Government announced plans to allow communities to earn cash-back for generating power from larger renewable energy projects. This went by largely unnoticed by the press; picked up by just a handful of trade websites. more ...

Westmill Wind and Solar Farm Co-op

© Neil B. Maw


Share on FacebookShare on Twitter Bookmark and Share

05 Jul - Peas - my green pick of the month - Holly Brooke-Smith

05 Jul - Five reasons why I love jackdaws - Chris Graham

27 Jun - We all called the Bees Minister! - Lucy Pearce

26 Jun - Photo exhibition highlights plight of refugees - Amelia Collins

26 Jun - Bee and Herring: comedians call for a Bee Action Plan - Marie Reynolds

12 Jun - The Extraordinary Banquet: Peer Awards Finalist - Beth Crackles

07 Jun - A sustainable future: what is a farm? - BJ Heinzen

06 Jun - A narrow defeat, but the fight for a clean power target goes on - Oliver Hayes

31 May - Magpies - The Master Builders - Esther Woolfson

29 May - NUS Student Eats gets gobby about food - Agnes Knoll

29 May - How I got £1000 to create a wildflower meadow - Tom Wright

23 May - Get Gobby Competition, Step 3: Using research as inspiration - Aaron Faunch

20 May - Develop clean British energy to create UK jobs - Andy Coleman

14 May - Frustrated by stuff you have to throw away? - Katy Anderson

13 May - Get Gobby competition, step 2: Turning ideas into a plan - Aaron Faunch

13 May - Why are wind developments being met with closed doors? - Philippa Parry

13 May - Community Energy: does the Government protect private energy suppliers? - Philippa Parry

08 May - Sowing the seeds for new life in old earth - Tom Wright

03 May - Get Gobby over our broken food system - Vicki Hird

03 May - Biomass sustainability - key issues explained - Kenneth Richter

01 May - Diary of a beekeeper - bees and the cold weather - Alison Benjamin

29 Apr - Eco adventures - what role in kids' education? - Nicola Baird

26 Apr - Do you know what your pension's up to? - Kenneth Richter

25 Apr - Get Gobby competition, step 1: Wading through the idea minefield - Aaron Faunch

22 Apr - A biodynamic wine guide for the ethical drinker - Andrew Neather

18 Apr - Mining for sea plastic - a new resource - Anna Rosbach

18 Apr - 'Black to green': hydropower cleans up disused Welsh coal mine - Philippa Parry

16 Apr - Come and help me answer some campaigning conundrums - Lucy Pearce

16 Apr - Poems in the Valleys: energy and climate change - Philippa Parry

11 Apr - The Big Green Bike Ride - On the road again - Susie Hewson

09 Apr - Sustainable businesses from tiny Acorns grow - Simon Bowens

03 Apr - Eco-friendly fashion? It's all about supply chains - Nithya Natarajan

28 Mar - Stop the Crop for a sustainable GM-free future - Mute Schimpf

26 Mar - Playing cat and mouse with Apple security - Daniel Ferro

20 Mar - Cutting climate from the curriculum leaves me cold - Rachel Gibbons

13 Mar - Public pressure's finally made EDF Energy see sense over No Dash For Gas - Neil Kingsnorth

12 Mar - Mappiness: why our new Green Britain map makes me happy - Wendy Yuen

04 Mar - Spring Journal - Field Notes by Esther Woolfson - Esther Woolfson

04 Mar - You've been framed... - Amelia Collins

27 Feb - Olympic gold medallist Alex Gregory: get training for The Big Green Bike Ride - Alex Gregory

27 Feb - 10 secrets to charity shop success - Steve Cain

26 Feb - Glass half full: Environmental Photographer of the Year 2013 - Amelia Collins

25 Feb - EDF's legal threat could threaten us all - Neil Kingsnorth

21 Feb - Facing the future: making and saving money by sharing - Benita Matofska

15 Feb - How to make double chocolate cupcakes - Karen Simmons

15 Feb - Learning how to repair and value electronics - Janet Gunter

15 Feb - The future of mobile phone design - Nithya Natarajan

14 Feb - Sneak preview of George Monbiot's 'Feral' in our Book Club - Annabella Macris

11 Feb - Keeping bees part 9: Bees and cold weather - Alison Benjamin

07 Feb - Facing the future: share to survive - Benita Matofska

01 Feb - Big wins on bees, nuclear dumping and Shell - what a week - Neil Kingsnorth

30 Jan - What has nature ever done for us? Q&A with author - Annabella Macris

29 Jan - How to make momo - Shilpa Shah

15 Jan - Tony Juniper's new book: What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? - Craig Bennett

11 Jan - How we created a new bee haven in Brighton - Brenda Pollack

10 Jan - Guilt-free eating - Annabella Macris

20 Dec - List-eria strikes again. Our 10 most popular blog posts of 2012 - Adam Bradbury

19 Dec - Compelling TV: Is our weather getting worse? - Brenda Pollack

13 Dec - Co-operatives - an answer to the economic crisis? - Annabella Macris

05 Dec - Christmas gifts all sewn up - Amelia Collins

29 Nov - Why did we take a giant phone down Oxford Street? - Rich Hines

29 Nov - A World in One Cubic Foot by David Liittschwager - Annabella Macris

29 Nov - Bee Lovely - last chance to sign pesticide petition from Neal's Yard Remedies - Peter Kindersley

29 Nov - 10 tips on keeping chickens - and why they're not just for Christmas - Tom Wright

23 Nov - Bangka - my trip to Indonesia's tin island - Julian Kirby

23 Nov - Climate goals at risk as energy plans unveiled - Andy Atkins

22 Nov - Are the kids putting us to shame? - Amelia Collins

21 Nov - Free Christmas ecards are here - Amelia Collins

20 Nov - Why we need activists: lessons from a life well lived - Brenda Pollack

15 Nov - Soil raked, seeds sown and another wildflower meadow created - Ted Burke