Leaf Living Green Photo Competition

Well hello Leaf Lovers,

Exciting news afoot! We are teaming up with award winning Green Peace photographer Dave Walsh to run a Green Photo Competition that will get you thinking about sustainable living. The lucky winner will get their hands on a Freeloader Solar Charger that charges hand held devices using energy from the sun – including your digital camera!

Typical 21^st Century living is becoming increasingly incompatible with the health of our planet. Leafliving.com is a company that exists to challenge the notion that modern life has to be destructive to Mother Earth. We promote practical change by providing consumers with organic, fair trade and low energy products.

And this is where you come in: we invite you to think outside the box and show us what being ‘Green’ means to you. Are you doing something photo-worthy to lower your carbon footprint? Does nature inspire you to lower your environmental impact? Whatever it is, capture it through your lens and share your Green thinking.

The ‘Green Photo Competition’ will be judged by the expert eye of Dave Walsh. Dave is a Dublin based environmental and fine art photographer whose work has featured everywhere from Green Peace International and The International Polar Bear Foundation, to the comedy series ‘Flight of the Conchords’. Read more about Dave Walsh, view and purchase his work at http://www.davewalshphoto.com/

Participation is simple: submissions are welcome via our Flickr group, ‘Green Photo Competition’. Full Terms and conditions are available on Leafliving.com. Applicants should email their contact details (name, Flickr username, address, phone number) to marketing@leafliving.com by 30^th June 2010.

For more information on eco-friendly living, visit www.leafliving.com.

Diary of a Reluctant Vegetarian...

My name is Jude, I work for LeafLiving.com, and I am a committed carnivore. My gloriously high metabolic rate means I can (and will) eat whatever you set in front of me - but I’d prefer if it was wrapped in bacon. Not the healthiest long term dietary plan, I know, but what can I say? I adore food. I’ve just never seen the point in discriminating between food groups. The stomach of Jude Crozier is an equal opportunities establishment, thank you very much.

So why, you might ask, am I going veggie? Let me explain how this insanity came about. We were scratching our heads in the office one afternoon, trying to come up with ideas for future Green Drinks themes and speakers, when I had a stellar idea: veganism. I didn’t know a huge amount about it, but this environmentally friendly and über-ethical way of life certainly appealed to my sense of curiosity. I mean, without meat or dairy, what did they actually eat? The Green Drinks regulars were sure to love it, and at the very least, I’d end up with some crazy new vegan recipes to try out.

I then took my lunch break, during which I consumed a large slice of lasagne; archnemisis of vegans everywhere. The delicious irony of my lunch hour led me to reconsider my ways. At Leaf Living, we do everything possible to smoke what we sell, so to speak. We work in a paperless office, and when paper is absolutely necessary, we use a stapleless stapler. Everybody walks or cycles to work, we shun the dreaded plastic bag and recycle religiously. But when it comes to matters of food (glorious food, light of my life) it seems I have little right to comment on anyone else’s dietary habits.

And so I’ve been convinced, cajoled and partially tricked into a vegan experiment. In an attempt not to give my body the shock of its life, I’m easing myself into veganism with a few weeks of vegetarianism, first. Please feel free to comment with advice and recipes (marketing@leafliving.com) to help me along the way, because as much as I’m going to miss my beloved bacon sandwich, part of me desperately wants to disprove my mother’s single, solemn comment concerning the next few weeks of my life: ”Judith… You will be hungry all the time”.

Plastic Bag Levy, ahoy!

September of this year saw an announcement from the department of the Environment that has got us thinking about the plastic bag issue. Mr Gormley has declared that the plastic bag levy will be doubled by the end of this year to 44c per bag.

Initially introduced in 2002, the 15c plastic bag levy raised a good few eyebrows. Some thought it ridiculous that they should pay for the privilege of carrying home their groceries, and others criticised it as a government ruse – just another tax feebly shrouded with environmental concern.

Lucrative though it has been for the Irish government (the figure raised is 120 million so far!) we think the levy was a priceless move where protecting our environment is concerned. Whatever outrage was felt at having to shell out for bags has gone a long way. Up unto that point, the Irish people were consuming 328 bags per person, per year, a shocking figure that dropped dramatically to 21 bags per year, immediately following the introduction of the levy. Treehuggers everywhere rejoiced!

Seven years later and as we get used to the idea of bag tax, our bag usage per person is creeping steadily upwards. 33 bags per person per year isn’t too shameful when you look at where we’ve come from, but there’s always room for improvement. What I wonder is this… is another bag tax really the answer this time around?

Don’t get us wrong; bag tax has been incredible for Ireland’s green credentials, but how about changing Irish attitudes to green living by thinking outside the box? Does anyone remember this Tesco advert from a few years ago to encourage people to use fewer plastic bags? (I did – which just shows what a good ad campaign it was!). Instead of charging more for the privilege of being environmentally unfriendly, let’s educate and promote the green alternatives! (Speaking of green alternatives… check this one out! It's Fair Trade and everything!)

If people can see past the supermarket checkout and are better informed of the environmental consequences of using plastic (and paper) bags, then they will change their lifestyle in response to that knowledge – not because they have to pay an extra few cent each time. Because let’s face it, if you’re willing to pay 22c for a Tesco bag, you’ll probably pay 44c without too much fuss.

So by December we’ll probably be forking out more for bags, and hopefully something good will come of it. But maybe some of the hundreds of millions to be raised from the plastic bag levy should be invested into raising awareness of ecological issues - because in our humble opinion, it is by changing consumer attitudes that we can make Ireland the Emerald Isle in the very best sense!

New Animated Map brings Global Warming to your PC

Google, Britain's environment ministry and the country's Met Office have joined forces to produce a new animated map of the earth from space.

The project, Climate Change in Our World, brings the potential impact of climate change to your own pc.

Based on Google Earth which uses NASA satellite images, viewers can watch the effects of global warming up to 2100 for the Earth as a whole or can zoom in on countries and cities.

"This project shows people the reality of climate change using estimates of both the change in the average temperature where they live, and the impact it will have on people's lives all over the world," said environment secretary Hilary Benn.

"By helping people to understand what climate change means for them and for the world we can mobilize the commitment we need to avoid the worst effects by taking action now."

Even though last year leaders of the major world economies agreed that carbon emissions should be cut by 50% by 2050 from 1990 levels there remains disagreement between rich and poor nations over who should move first.

The map illustrates shows the world heating up over the years, with some of the largest temperature increases visible at the poles where vast areas turn red indicating rises well into double digits. It also details information on local impacts and steps people can and in some cases already are taking.

Scientists say global average temperatures will rise by between 1.8 and 4.0 degrees Celsius this century as a result of growing carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels for power and transport, causing floods and famines and threatening millions of lives.

The map, which can be viewed from http://earth.google.com/outreach/kml_entry.html#tClimate%20Change%20In%20Our%20World , illustrates that within this global average there will be significant local and regional variations.

Climate change is arguably one of the biggest issues facing the world today," said Met Office chief John Hirst.
"Merging the Met Office's unparalleled climate science expertise with the exciting technology of Google Earth is a great way of bringing the impacts of a warming world to life."

Source: Reuters

Eco Highlights

Every week we bring you our favourite eco news, articles, blogs and more from around the world!

Launch of Eco Search Engine

Ecocho says that for every one thousand searches made on its website, it plants two trees - offsetting 1 tonne of greenhouse gases. It uses Yahoo technology and pays for this from ads placed on the site.

World Species Dying Out Like Flies Says WWF

LONDON - World biodiversity has declined by almost one third in the past 35 years due mainly to habitat loss and the wildlife trade, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said on Friday... Click here to see full story

10 reasons to ground the plane!

Plane Stupid is a network of groups taking action against airport expansion and aviation's climate impact. In "10 reasons to ground the plane" it gives us a comprehensive look at the affects of flying.

From fur to flippers: Endangered and threatened mammals

Click here to view this gallery of endangered mammals…

Mark Bittman – must watch video: What's wrong with what we eat?

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

Click here to view video

Photos of Panda Bear Growing Up, First Three Months

Treehugger has beautiful photos of the first three months in the life of the panda. Click here to see the photos.

National Geographic: Changing The Climate One Advert At A Time

This month’s edition of National Geographic is dedicated to climate change. However, according to The Unsuitablog, this is a blatant example of greenwash! Click here to read more