bemoreeco

The humble jam jar might not be the most obvious choice of raw material for a crafting session, but with a bit of imagination, a box of scraps, glue and odd-and-ends, it makes the perfect base for some eco-friendly craft making for the whole family! Easy and low cost, make a start by saving your used jars today and put away in your rainy day cupboard or craft box for some fun, interesting projects for children (and adults!) of all ages!

Why Jam Jars?

Jam jars are a great eco-friendly, reusable recourse for kids’ ‘makes’ – they are a manageable size, can be easily dish washed or sterilized before use to ensure clean, safe crafting, and their thickness makes them fairly safe for table-top work (obviously take care on unstable surfaces, and in the event of a crack, no matter how hairline or small, dispose of the jar via the recycling bin). They are also very easy to come by – ask friends or relatives to save them for you, or, if you don’t routinely buy preserves, purchase your jars direct from a glass merchant or kitchen store.

What Can We Do With Them?

Believe it or not, there are lots of fun and imaginative things you can do with your used jam jars! You will undoubtedly come up with your own simple, quick and easy projects to suit the ages of your children, but straight forward ideas could include painting them with glass paints to make pretty pen pots or containers for cotton wool balls, make up brushes or small kitchen tools. Make an effective candle holder by dropping in a tea-light and decorating the outside of the jar with a stained-glass effect for a stunning, reflective finish when the tea light is lit.

Fun Gifts

For different seasons, you can easily make appropriate jam jar gifts: at Christmas time, you could make a snow shaker, with glitter and a snowman figure – simply glue a firm seal around the lid after closing to keep the contents secure! Create a pretty Easter scene with a spring-flower painted jar – think daffodils, snowdrops or tulips, and fill with mini eggs or other small chocolate treats. Beach and miniature garden scenes can also be made – with a bit of patience – inside a jam jar – experiment with sand, shells and small pebbles for a fun effect. Use oasis and artificial flowers to make an enclosed flower-in-a-vase ornament.

Decorated Jam Jars

Use a variety of paints, pens and fabrics to decorate your jars – ribbons, raffia, artificial flowers, card toppers and beads can all be easily glued on to jars, and when finished, they make for an unusual ‘gift bag’ for small items, such as jewellery, home made biscuits or sweets, or small toys.

Children can personalise their jars to make useful storage for their bedrooms, tying in the decoration with their colour schemes, or reflecting their hobbies and interests. Given their dimensions, the jars make the perfect storage solution for small ‘bits and pieces’ that children love to hoard!

Source: Eco Friendly Kids

Photo: Down to Earth Blog

How it works

It’s pretty simple to organise a swishing party. Everyone must bring at least one clean, good quality item of clothing. It’s better to donate more because you are allowed to leave with as much booty as you’ve brought. 

I went to my first party, Swap ‘til You Drop in Bethnal Green, east London, one Sunday afternoon to take a peek.

Let the swish begin

Hoping to come away with some hot nearly-new clothes, I arrived early and things were just getting started. All of the donated clothes are hung on display rails and once most people are there the rules of swish were explained. 

You then have an hour or so to browse and try on clothes you like. One of the rules is that you can’t claim items during this time. When the swish begins, you take what you want. The party I went to also had a sewing machine available someone on hand to help, so people could customise and alter clothes if they wished.

I left with two tops, a skirt and a necklace, and came away converted – by recycling some of my old stuff I could have a guilt-free image update! And any unswapped clothes at the end of the party were donated to charity. 

Reduce, reuse

We’re all guilty of buying too much and with scandals in the news about sweatshops disposable fashion becoming less desirable. Clothes swapping is a greener and more ethical way of updating your wardrobe.

Swapping wearable clothes rather than throwing them away reduces waste and saves energy, as all new things use raw materials, thereby reducing carbon emissions. 

Everyone has something in their wardrobe that they just don’t wear; swishing is a fantastic way to recycle those unwanted clothes and accessories. It’s a great reason to throw a party and doesn’t have any of the hassles of Saturday high street shopping.

More swapping fun

• “VISA SWAP” is a collaboration between Visa and TRAID shop – it’s a pop-up shop that opens on London’s Brompton Road. You drop off your clothes in the first two weeks – in return you get a Visa Swap chip card, which is charged with points. Then on the third weekend it’s Party Time and you can spend all your points on other items.
• Try Swap-a-rama – a London-based swishing club night that also turns up at music festivals and events. At the sounds of a klaxon, people swap clothes with their dancefloor neighbour.
• The clothes swapping concept also works well on the web. Specialising in designer clothes, Whatsmineisyours.com is an online fashion exchange website. All you have to do is register for free, upload items from your wardrobe and link with people who have similar tastes.

A Spanish city has found an unusual place to generate renewable energy – the local cemetery.

Santa Coloma de Gramanet, near Barcelona, has placed 462 solar panels over its multi-storey mausoleums. Officials say the scheme was initially greeted with derision, but families who use the cemetery eventually supported the idea following a public campaign.

There are now plans to erect more panels at the cemetery and triple the amount of electricity generated. The cemetery was chosen for the project because it is one of only a few open, sunny places in the crowded city, which has a population of 124,000 crammed into 4 sq km (1.5 sq miles).

The installation cost 720,000 euros (£608,000) but will keep about 62 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year, said Esteve Serret, a director of Conste-Live Energy, the company that runs the cemetery and also works in renewable energy.  ”The best tribute we can pay to our ancestors, whatever your religion may be, is to generate clean energy for new generations,” he said.

Unobtrusive position

At the cemetery row after row of gleaming, blue-grey solar panels now rest on mausoleums which hold five levels of coffins. The panels will create enough energy each year to supply the needs of 60 homes. The panels face almost due south to soak up the maximum amount of sunshine and are tilted at a low angle to make them as unobtrusive as possible.

City councillor Antoni Fogue said that public reaction was quit negativee when the idea was first mooted three years ago. ”We heard things like, ‘they are crazy. Who do they think they are? What a lack of respect!’,” he told the Associated Press.

But town hall and cemetery officials then waged a public awareness campaign to outline the benefits of the project and to explain the respectful way in which it would be carried out. ”There has not been any problem whatsoever because people who go to the cemetery see that nothing has changed,” Mr Fogue said. ”This installation is compatible with respect for the deceased and for the families of the deceased.”

The solar panels cover less than 5% of the total surface area of the cemetery, which holds the remains of about 57,000 people, but there are plans to install more. Santa Coloma de Gramanet – essentially a suburb of Barcelona that is home to more than 100,000 people – has four other solar parks, mostly on top of buildings, but the cemetery is by far the largest. 

Source & Photo: BBC News

……The Dangers Of Climate Change.

Shortly after Barack Obama spoke out against factory farming, he took to YouTube to preach about the dangers of climate change. In the video, Obama says: “Few changes facing America and the world are more urgent than combating climate change.  The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear —  sea levels are rising, coastlines are shrinking. We’ve seen record drought, spreading famine and storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season.”

Gosh, what a breath of fresh air to see a politician finally speak open and honestly about the dangers of global warming. If you’d like to hear more from the President-elect, check out the video below!

The Video

Source: Ecorazzi

A few months back I discovered a hidden gem just a few minutes from the high street in town whilst out shopping. Whilst everyone knows about farmer’s markets the country markets seem to be a well kept secret.

There are over 12,000 local producers who sell their goods at 400 markets throughout the U.K. The Country Markets are a co-operative with their roots going back as far as 1919 when the Agriculture organisation Society (now Defra) sponsored the setting up of co-operative markets to sell surplus produce.

At my local market I can purchase fresh flowers, herbs and vegetables, home baked pies, cakes and quiches, honey, jams and free range eggs to name but a few. There are also a selection of home made craft items which make for lovely gifts too.

A couple of weeks ago my friend and I went halves on a gigantic pumpkin costing the princely sum of £5 which even included delivery. It was so big we couldn’t have possibly carried it home on our bikes. Two weeks later after it was carved for a haloween party we are still enjoying pumpkin soup and pumpkin risotto.

Visiting the country markets has now become a weekly ritual for me and some of my friends as we can catch up, do our weekly shop and have a cup of tea (costing only 20p) and a fairy cake all in one sitting. It’s great to be able to buy local food in a friendly setting and I urge anyone with an interest in locally produced and home made food to seek out their nearest country market.

Source : Green Girls Global

Written by: Kate, the founder of GreenFinder

Sara at Bemoreeco has 5 minutes with Marianne Tregoning from the award winning Beyond Organic Skincare.

Tell us about your business?

Based in Cornwall in a heart-breakingly beautiful part of the Lizard Peninsula, we hand make all our products in our workshop overlooking St. Anthony’s and ‘beyond’ to St Mawes and Falmouth.
We call ourselves ‘Beyond’ organic as we go further than just being organic and take a holistic, biodynamic, ethical approach to our production techniques.

In our workshops we have used Organic paints, so that no chemicals seep into the atmosphere.  We recycle (almost a full-time job sometimes!), source locally as much as possible, use products that are Fair Trade and community based and have a low carbon footprint.

We are certified organic with BDAA, (The Biodynamic Agricultural Association) giving us both UK6 and European 2092/91 certification.  They take a more holistic and biodynamic approach to natural farming and production.  They are also a worldwide organisation and highly respected.

“Motivated by Rudolf Steiner’s Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture and Goethe’s Conception of Nature, Biodynamic farmers view their farms as individually unique living organisms.”

We have many favourite charities, but currently the Cornish Shelter Box scheme is our local hero.  They do wonderful work worldwide and are one of the few Aid Agencies that were allowed into Burma right from the beginning

What makes the company a great place to work?
We all share the same passions – organic, natural, green, recycling and a philosophy that work should be fun.  Individuals do the work that they enjoy most (and you are good at what you enjoy!). We also value our freedom and our families and friends, and so operate a flexi-time system.  We believe in honest exchanges of ideas and lots of giggles!

Who do you most admire in the green industry?

They are so many people out there doing incredible work – but I think as one of the first ‘green warriors’ Anita Roddick deserves special mention.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?

All of it!  Doing the work I love in an industry I love – with the confidence of offering people an excellent, natural alternative to products containing chemicals.  Networking with other like-minded people. I find people in the ‘green’ industry are usually so friendly and helpful.

If you could change one thing in the green retail industry what would it be?
I don’t like the ‘green-washing’ that goes on in some of the larger companies – people who are not genuinely committed to the green movement but are just trying to jump on the band-wagon.

What advice would you give to someone starting out in the industry today?
Simply do what you are good at – do it from the heart and do it honestly.

What is your vision for an ‘eco Britain’? 
All the obvious things I suppose – no GM crops anywhere – no testing of cosmetic products on animals – no battery farms – no chemicals used on the land – more awareness of biodynamics as well as organics. Humanity is currently alienated from Nature – think of the Demeter myth and that is in essence what Biodynamics is about. Britain should be world leaders in the current ecological crises. As a small island with a history of agriculture and fishing we are ideally placed to show the world that the answers lie in Nature’s abundance that has always been around us – we just need the courage to act and the ability to recognise that Nature has always been superior to the chemicals and genetic engineering of mankind.  One of the biggest things we need to do is stop relying on a few favourite crops to sustain us, and to start again growing a diversity of crops grown by our ancestors.

These ancestors had knowledge of local soil conditions and climate – this would be a first major step to averting hunger and famine.  We need to have the humility to start thinking simply again – thinking locally.  Free Trade should actually mean that those who produce should be able to trade their products freely with others in their local community. The World Trade Organisation prevents Free Trade while calling it Free Trade. People are being forced too buy from globally powerful organisations that are capable of straight jacketing local competitors.

What is your number one Eco Christmas Idea? Tell your friends that instead of giving you a present you would rather they gave that amount to their (or your) favorite charity.

What is the most important piece of information you have ever been told?

I can’t answer this one – I have learnt so much – but still have so much to learn! 

If you were prime minister for the day, what one thing would you do?
Ha ha!  A day would not be long enough – I would re-vamp our Educational system so that our children learnt skills for life.  I would totally re-organise our archaic legal system so that ‘Law’ became ‘Justice’.  I would do away with about three quarters of our current unnecessary legislation and let people and businesses be responsible for themselves.  

Please could you also tell me your top five gifts for Christmas 

Renewable energy developer Eco2 yesterday secured planning permission for its proposed £80m straw-powered biomass power plant in Lincolnshire, in a move the company hopes will help spark a wave of new straw-powered plants.

The 40MW plant at Sleaford in Lincolnshire is expected to generate enough power for a quarter of all households in the county and will be fuelled by 240,000 tonnes of straw, all sourced from within a 30-mile radius of the plant.

The proposals had been rejected once by the local planning committee, but it was granted approval last night in a 24-to-nine vote after Eco2 moved to lower the roof line of the plant, limiting its visual intrusiveness.

David Williams, chief executive of Eco2, said the Sleaford plant highlighted the significant role straw can play as a renewable fuel source.

“All the straw will come from a 30-mile radius, meaning limited transport emissions, and it doesn’t contribute to the food-fuel debate as the wheat has already been harvested,” he explained, adding that the straw would otherwise have been ploughed back into the soil, acting as a low-grade fertiliser, but also contributing to methane emissions.

According to Eco2, straw could provide a plentiful supply of biomass and support a large expansion of medium-scale 40-60MW power plants across the country.

“Between four million and 13 million tonnes of straw a year is just ploughed back into the soil,” said Williams. “The Sleaford plant will only use a quarter of the straw available within a 30-mile radius, so there is huge potential for further plants.”

In an interview with Good Housekeeping Sheryl Growe,  mother of Wyatt, 1, said;

“When my son was 3 months old, I took him to the zoo. At the polar bear exhibit, Wyatt’s face lit up when he saw the baby polar bear. It was amazing for me to watch them connect — these living beings who share a planet. But I also felt panic and overwhelming sadness knowing the impact our environment is having on polar bears and on us.

“Yet I see something very hopeful in kids — the birth of new activists. Kids don’t just feel helplessness and panic but a sense of injustice, too. I sometimes think the thing that keeps adults from acting is cynicism, a belief that we can’t really change things. Kids aren’t like that. They’re awake to what’s around them, so they can actually do something about it. We teach our kids all these ideals: Let’s leave the Earth a better place than we found it. Kids are motivated not just by what’s in their heads but by what they actually see, like a baby polar bear. They can be the ones to motivate us, their parents, to change.”

Green groups may have to rethink at least some of their oppostion to the UK’s largest mining company, UK Coal, after the firm announced plans to turn 14 of its former mines into wind farms.

The company has signed an agreement with alternative energy developer Peel Energy to develop the sites, which could house 54 turbines producing up to 133 MW of energy – enough to power 80,000 homes.

Jon Lloyd, chief executive of UK Coal, said that he was convinced “there is significant opportunity to develop wind farms on parts of our land portfolio“.

The plans are currently in their early stages, and while one site in Nottinghamshire is currently subject to a planning appeal, the other 13 proposed developments are yet to apply for planning permission.

Peel Energy – who’s parent company, Peel Holdings, owns a 27 per cent stake in UK Coal – will now undertake a programme of initial evaluation and assessment, before entering applications for planning permission.

If a site is submitted for planning permission, a special purpose company will be formed by Peel Energy, which UK Coal will grant a 30 year lease on the site. The mining company will then also have the option to acquire a 50 per cent equity share in the new firm.

Steven Underwood, director of Peel Energy, hailed the partnership as “an important step” for the firm, “significantly expanding its onshore pipeline and gaining access to some of the UK’s best potential wind farm locations”.

UK coal is increasingly looking for innovative uses for a number of old mine sites across its 46,500 acres of land, much of which is unsuitable for traditional development options.

The firm still operates six active surface mines, with an annual output in excess of 1.5 million tonnes.

Source: Business Green

Would your parents disapprove of your workday lunch costs?

Try bringing your lunch in reusable containers a couple times a week to conserve cash and landfill space and you could save over a staggering £500 a year. 

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) claims that throwing food and packaging away rather making your own lunch costs the public £5billion a year. WRAP officials reckon if the food and packaging for take away luches was not wasted it would also save 18million tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, the equivalent of taking one car in five off the road.

So raid the fridge every morning to make a much healthier lunch from last night’s leftovers and help save the planet!