Festival season has arrived, kicking off with Barcelona’s Primavera Sound Festival followed by a rather wet Isle of Wight Festival last weekend and Glastonbury just around the corner (along with, fingers crossed, some sunshine).

But though dancing around what is essentially a field may seem like all kinds of green fun this summer, it’s easy to leave a hefty carbon footprint during the festivities. So before you don your backpack and buy some cider, read on for a few ways of how you can be eco-friendly while you party the days and nights away…

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How to have an eco-friendly festival

Getting there

Packing up the car and filling it with expensive petrol is not the only way to get to your destination. The Big Lemon is a Brighton based initiative which makes bus travel fun and sustainable; who knew it could be either? The buses and coaches in this community-run project are fuelled by recycled cooking oil from local restaurants, which is then turned into biodiesel, a plant-based alternative to the regular stuff. The bus project offers coaches to and from most of the UK’s southern festivals so you can do your bit and travel across the country without leaving a mark.

This year, Glastonbury is taking responsibility for its carbon footprint with the Green Traveller campaign. Turn up using public transport or on your bike and all sorts of rewards await, from having your luggage transferred to the site to exclusive solar showers, compost toilets and discounted meal vouchers.

Toilets and showers? Where do we sign up…

Gadgets and equipment

The thousands of tents that are left behind after a festival make for a huge amount of landfill space. There are plenty of savvy companies out there who have it all figured out; from  myhab who offer a far more comfortable and green alternative, to The Green Tent Company who make fully recyclable tents which you can even collect on arrival instead of carrying (handy if you’re choosing to cycle there as suggested before).

If you can’t live without your gadgets, don’t spend your festival fretting over a lost phone call. Sites such as All Things Green have a whole host of geeky gizmos to keep you plugged in and powered up using solar power so you can keep hold of your mates stay connected to the outside world.

Friendly Food

From festivals that are dedicated to organic food to those who are doing their best to embrace it, there is usually more than just a burger van available to you when the munchies strike. Seek out stalls selling local produce, fair-trade goods or organic delights to try and eat with a conscience. Glastonbury for one encourages traders to use biodegradable plates and cutlery as well as giving out Green Trader Awards to say thank you.

What tips do you have for making a festival trip eco-friendly? Let us know what your must-haves are (apart from the wellies) in the comments.

Frankly, considering some of the unethical activities of supermarkets, this is no bad thing.

Food co-ops are created when groups of people get together to bulk-buy products and share the savings. They buy large quantities of food from local suppliers, then the members share them out between them. It’s something that’s been big in the US for a while now, but it’s now starting to make its way across the pond.

If you’re in the UK, you might have heard about it through The People’s Supermarket, a recent TV series on Channel 4. The series followed Arthur Potts Dawson as he tried to launch a co-operative. His intent was to “to offer an alternative food buying network, by connecting an urban community with the local farming community.”

As Arthur states, creating a co-op within your local community means you can benefit financially, as can local producers. He took the concept a little further by opening an actual supermarket run by the community (including asking members to commit to several days working in the People’s Supermarket each month), but it’s still an idea that every community can try.

How to create your own food co-op

So, if you fancy creating your own co-op, you can do so by visiting the food co-op tool kit on Sustain Web. The tool kit gives you all the information you’ll need on finding local wholesalers.

Then, you’ll need to find members. Consider popping flyers up in your local shop, hall or noticeboard. It might also be worth adding something to Streetbank or Gumtree. Facebook and Twitter is always handy for getting the word out too.

Once you’ve got a list of members together, you’ll need to let them know what products are available. Once they’ve all put their orders in, you can put the total order to your wholesaler.

Consider payment methods. Is it better to collect payment before or after? Arguably it’s easier to collect payment before so you’re not out of pocket, but this can involve a lot of chasing.

Once the order has been distributed to your home, you can ask your members to drop by on an agreed date to collect their order.

If you decide to set up a co-op, do let us know how you get on! And we’d love to hear from anyone already part of a co-op.

The thing is, the concept of getting to know your neighbours is one that’s been on the decline for a good few years. Fifty years ago, you knew exactly who your neighbours were, and knew them well enough to ask to borrow something. Nowadays, we struggle to even conjure up their names.

Co-founder, Sam, discovered that asking to borrow things from the people in his community meant he got to know and like them better. After much discussion, the boys decided to utilise the internet to create an easy way for people to share things, skills and services in their community. Like a mutual Freecycle. They pooled their resources together, and Streetbank was born.

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Both a borrower and a lender be

I’ve been a member of Streetbank for a while now, and I’ve seen it grow from just one person in my community (erm, me) to 10 or 11. I can borrow everything from a pick axe to a box set of Six Feet Under (thankfully, not from the same person. That would be decidedly creepy.) I could also pick up two armchairs, and even learn how to tap dance — all for free.

The site really comes into its own in cities like London though, with more people signing up and a much wider variety of services and products on offer. It’s a really simple sign-up procedure, and you can offer anything from a small thing like a DVD, all the way up to a ladder or toolbox.

There’s a great opportunity for a small start up to offer their services to a select few to get some proof of concept before going properly live . Services don’t have to be free; you can ask for a small fee in exchange for your skill and time.

I like the idea of getting to know my community more, and the concept is sustainable, fun and interesting — which makes Streetbank a winner in my books.

What do you think? Like the idea of getting to know your community more?

The expedition, known as Paraguay 2010, to an area of virgin forest called the Dry Chaco, will involve at least 60 people, who wish to look at the local plant and wild life. However, leaders of indigenous groups who have moved to the ‘outside world’ have condemned the move.

It is believed that intruding into the virgin forest, where a small community is believed to reside, could have a dangerous, and potentially fatal, result. Therefore, the indigenous peoples groups have joined forces to bring a halt to the research trip. This includes sending the museum a report by Paraguayan indigenous rights NGO, Iniciativa Amotocodie, detailing the potential risks.

When indigenous groups are contacted for the first time from the outside world, the results can be serious and detrimental.

Socially, the impact is life-changing and immensely confusing for the members of the community. The medical implications can be severe too. Uncontacted communities are cut off from a lot of common illnesses, so they haven’t had the opportunity to build up an immune system against viruses as simple as a cold. These viruses can be caught from anything as basic as rubbish or clothing left behind.

An interview with one of the Ayoreo leaders, who has left the forest, demonstrates the resentment the Ayoreo people have for this research project. The situation is made worse by the fact the researchers have allegedly not got in contact with the Ayoreo leaders to request permission or find out more information. Therefore, the leaders feel they must ask the Paraguayan Government to deny the researchers permission.

Watch the interview below.

Interview with Ayoreo leader about NHM expedition to Dry Chaco from Coiled Spring on Vimeo.

It’s yet to be confirmed whether the museum will be continuing with the expedition.

What do you think about the case? Do you think the researchers have a right to visit the virgin forest?

Image: [Emmanuel Dyan]

Source: Guardian

If you’re unable to get an allotment, there is an alternative method for gathering the benefits of home-grown fruit. Fruitshare is a project that aims to match up those with an abundance of fruit in their garden with those who have the desire to get cooking with fresh apples, pears, plums, cherries and other orchard fruit.

Anyone with an apple tree will be aware how much fruit can go to waste. There’s only so many cooking apples you can stew up and freeze before you’ll run out of space. Fruitshare allows you to give others the benefit of your harvest.

Those without a garden, allotment or orchard will benefit from gathering enough apples to make crumbles, jams and ciders for the entire winter from their kindly neighbours. For the community, the scheme can help reduce fruit miles and increase local food sustainability, while strengthening neighbourhood relationships.

It’s easy to get started. If you’re seeking fruit in your local area, head to the Fruit Seekers section and post your requirements. If you’ve got fruit to be picked up before winter kicks in, head to the Fruit Sharers section.

In a couple of months time, you could be enjoying a warm cider, or a warm fuzzy feeling when someone else has benefited from your orchard harvest.

Image: Christian Plochacki

Fast growing, on-the-go, fast food and food waste is the language assigned to attract our attention to food, be it for positive or negative motives.

Back in January, I posted about my New Year’s Resolution to grow my own vegetables. In limited garden space, the past few months have seen seedlings pleasantly clutter the kitchen window sill and pots sporadically building momentum on our patch of turf. It’s only when you realise how much effort it takes to grow that one red lettuce and those two strawberries against time and the forces of nature (cats, foxes, slugs, cold spells, dry spells) do you truly appreciate not only the sheer fortune of food variety but also the quiet connection that food and the environment undergoes . The same is true for artisan producers who tenderly and determinedly continue to produce the rare and often disappearing crafts of making unique, local specialties of cheese, bread, wine and other foodstuff.

Stuffed: Positive Action to prevent a global food crisis, edited by former editor of The Ecologist Pat Thomas and published in partnership with the Soil Association is an excellent new book presenting the global perspective on food production and agriculture. The book allows us to see the current political aspects of food and how our choices are currently influenced through heavily promoted just-in-time culture.

With essays from experts including Eric Schlossser (author of Fast Food Nation and recent film documentary Food Inc), Indian activist Vandana Shiva, and Britain’s applauded gardener Monty Don, the book provides inspiring steps for how we can personally be involved in taking back control of our food systems. It provides statistics on everything from bees to orchards to allotments to chickens to the UK’s National Health Service, showing how interrelated food, health and being part of a community can be.

Growing your own in an urban environment is suggested, as is advice from Geeti Singh, founder of London’s number one organic gastropub, on how to cook a feast with leftovers. It also considers the state of our children with insider knowledge from Jamie Oliver’s favourite school dinner lady Jeanette Orey. It’s a bright and colourful publication to be dipped in and out of as you slowly digest all the information.

Meanwhile, if you are keen to diversify your plate, consider 1001 Foods You Must Try Before You Die: A global guide to the best ingredients, by general editor Frances Case. With an in-depth look into each ingredient, it’s a hefty book that will teach you much about the history and local traditions of food and how they are clinging on within the current post-industrial mass-produced model. Beautifully presented, there are chapters on cheeses, meats, fish, fruits, dairy, aromatics, sweetmeats and even grains, which detail the taste, the variety and the cooking methods from across the world.

The Isles of Scilly offers a multitude of activities, and with many local galleries and studios opening their doors during the month of May to a new festival called ArtScilly 2010, it’s a good time to go. Highlighting culture and distinctive art and crafts within Cornwall and the South thorough demonstrations, displays, exhibitions, events, talks, walks and workshops, your imagination is bound to be stimulated.

Take your bike with you and aboard the passenger ferry, Scillonian III, to sail to Scilly slowly. Or you can hire a bike at the other end. With plentiful scenery to explore with panoramic views and few steep hills, the ideal day is spent cycling around before finding a quiet spot for an authentic Cornish picnic.

On these peaceful islands you’ll find spring cleaning for the soul, with an intimate community amidst a unique environment of archipelago, sapphire seas, white sands and gardens with exotic plants, all enriched further with historic heritage including castles, pottery and gastronomy.

At ArtScilly 2010, you can enjoy beach rambles, colour therapy, silk painting and dance sessions, an opportunity to meet the makers, musical concerts and plentiful craft demonstrations including enameled jewellery and stained glass.

Additional opportunities can be found through talking to the locals: “Our signs are subtle, our approach is time-honoured, and our attitude is relaxed. We help you discover an individual get-away, with a “what suits you” (not one-size fits all) approach. Many of our artisans, guides, and hosts organise their activities around a laidback and traditional lifestyle.”

Activities could involve a visit to Troytown Farm, Scilly’s only dairy farm where you can sample its homemade ice cream, or a tour of St Martin’s Vineyard, Winery, Visitor Centre and Shop, or an opportunity to go snorkeling with seals at St Martin’s Dive School.

If you want to just relax, go to Fraggle Rock Bar, voted a “Best British Boozer” by Jamie Oliver, where many exhibitions of ArtScilly will be happening so you can soak up the art too!

Don’t forget to send a postcard to us!

ArtScilly 2010

Within Ecuador traditional producer groups carefully select the local, sustainable and organic toquilla palm grass grown within a community-owned plantation that encourages biodiversity to then weave the hats. Any fibre not suitable for weaving is then used for roofing on the houses of the coastal regions.

Pachacuti, now a reputable label that shows at London Fashion Week’s estethica, serves and supports the community through providing a Western and mainstream market for the fedora or panama hats, made popular by a celebrity following that includes Naomi Campbell, Brad Pitt, Keira Knightley and Jude Law.

Panama hats have been noted in the history books since 4,000BC and have been an integral part of the quintessentially British summer since they became popular by Royalty in the early 1900s.

Set up by pioneer Carry Somers in 1992, Pachauti means ‘world upside-down’ in the local Quechua language. For them it is about the panama wearer feeling enriched “by seeing a different way of life through the cultures, places and people you encounter” and supporting the heritage and craft that goes into the hat.

Cary Somers explains: “A great deal of expertise is required, not just for weaving but even in the selection and splitting of the fibres.  If any darker or mottled fibres creep into a fine hat, the value will be considerably less.  Our weavers have learnt weaving from childhood and most of them can easily weave a standard grade hat, but there are only a handful of weavers who can make the grade 8 hats and just a few who weave grade 12 and 14, which can take two weeks to make.”

Unlike the majority of mass-produced panama hats that incorporate a lot of chemicals and use middlemen or “perros” (“dogs” in Spanish), Pachacuti guarantees a natural, cooperative approach that guarantees fair wages to the 1200 artisan weavers. The dyes that produce the gorgeous colours are AZO free and support water-recycling. The whole production process also reduces and prevents pollution and emissions,  mapping the journey from the growers to the weavers to the wearer. Aside from the speed of the growing grass,  it is a salute to Slow Life– with even the transportation of the coastal grass taking its time travelling to town by donkey.

Somers adds: “The women typically rise very early, going to milk a cow for instance and prepare food before sending the children off to school.   The main meal is at lunchtime so the women will weave a few hours in the morning, prepare some lunch, eat with the family, then maybe fit in some more weaving on the bus whilst taking some blackberries or guinea pigs to sell in a the nearest town.  Weaving really is a supplementary activity: the women weave as they walk, talk, travel.  Only when weaving the fine hats do the women have to sit in one place to weave, now made easier by the provision of ergonomic benches to one of our weaving cooperatives. The pace of life seems unhurried, but is far from being laid back. “

Pachacuti recently became the first Fair Trade organisation to the pilot for the new World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) certification process, allowing its hats to wear the proud assurance label of  ‘Certified Fair Trade and Sustainable’ which demonstrates social, economic and environmental responsibility through accredited EU auditors. So, unlike most Fair Trade certification that certifies only the commodity, these hats have had the entire supply chain guaranteed.

“Pachacuti provides sustainable livelihoods for the women: work which fits around their agricultural cycle, meaning that they can earn an income working from home between sowing and harvesting their crops. The women live in very remote mountainous communities, coming to the association centre every Sunday to turn in their week’s work. The women earn approximately 50% of their income from agriculture and 50% from weaving.”

There have been fears that as many young people migrate towards urban life in search of opportunities, the art of weaving could be lost, so the cooperative have begun a training scheme for young weavers to keep the tradition alive and has brought new members to the hat-weaving cooperative.