Strawberries

In Sweden strawberries are the biggest sign that summer has finally arrived. Ask any Swede and he/she will tell you that there is absolutely no strawberries anywhere in the world as good as the Swedish ones. We eat them for breakfast, lunch and dessert and we put them in salads for dinner together with grilled meat. We eat them as snacks, as appetizers together with feta-cheese, or in smoothies. The best thing ever is to go to your local farmer and pick them yourself. You spend hours in the fields eating as many as you're picking and leave sunburnt with red fingertips and many, many liters of bright red berries. Those get in the freezer to enjoy wintertime or they are turned into jam or cordials.

Pesticides used when growing strawberries in Sweden are Betanal SC/Kemifam SC. The company that sells these products in Sweden (Bayer CropScience) writes on their own website that whatever is left of the pesticide after spraying the fields shall be kept away from children and animals and separated from food. I really don't see how that goes together since we serve those sprayed strawberries to our children later....

In a test carried out in 2009, 94% of the conventionally grown strawberries (Swedish and others) contained traces of pesticides. Several of the pesticides discovered are suspected to cause cancer.

The good news is that the industry is working to find solutions that allow less harmful farming, so I hope it will soon be easier to find organic ones. Strawberries grown organically will meet challenges like weed, fungus and different pests, so you need to grow tough species and to put in more work to keep your plants free. It's definitely worth doing so though since studies have shown that organic strawberries can actually prevent cancer. Makes the choice quite easy... You can read more about this at krav.se. 

According to a recent study made at Lunds University in Sweden, bees really like organic strawberries. They pollinated 45% of the strawberry-flowers on the organic farms and only 17% on the conventional farms. So you can basically turn one wrong into two rights and have bee-hives next to your strawberry-farm.

Eat!

Eat! Ekostore is a fantastic little store in the centre of Stockholm that has everything you need, just as your regular supermarket. You can find milk, meat, juice, vegetables and grains. They have a selection of schampoos, detergents, baby-products and sunscreens as well as chocolate, candies, nuts and much much more. So there is nothing you can't find in here. It feels good to know that you don't have to check for the organic labels, instead you just buy what you need and you'll know it's not harmful in any way. They are open 7 days a week with really generous opening hours, so there's no reason to shop anywhere else. It's also nice to support the local community and to make sure we keep wonderful places like this one open.

If you're a company they're able to deliver fruit to the office; a nice and easy way to care about your employees. They will even bring coffee, milk or other products if you want to. Of course your shopping will be delivered in a car that runs on biogas.

As an ECOmmunity member you'll get special deals and invitations to events, and if you're on Twitter or Facebook you'll get all the latest news and offers. Also, check out their website were you can read their blog and find some delicious dinner inspiration in the recipes section.

Earth from Above

The French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand takes truly amazing pictures of our earth.

What's important to this photographer is to show the impact humans have on the planet, and his book Earth from Above has sold millions of copies all over the world. I have a version of that book called Earth from above - 365 days. It's a fantastic book with amazing photos and next to each picture he talks about the beauty of that particular place but also what difficulites they face and what steps needs to be taken to take care of the planet, the people and the animals that lives here.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand is also the creator of Goodplanet Foundation that aims to raise awareness on environmental issues. They have several interesting projects including "7 billion Others". In this project they have interviewed 6000 people in 84 counties about their daily life and their hopes and dreams for the future. It's meant to show what unites us, to make us reach out to each other and to realize that we're all in this together.

Check out his website and browse through many spectacular pictures. The book Earth from Above is a perfect gift to friends and family.

Bike to Work Day

Today it is Bike to Work Day in Denver. The League of American Bicyclists promotes this all across USA every year in may. May is Bike Month, last week of may is Bike Week and Bike to Work Day is Friday in Bike Week. Denver choose June instead of May, and 17904 persons took their bikes to work in Denver today.

Anyone can arrange a bike to work day together with their company or organization. If you email about your event to the League they will post it on their website to promote it and to encourage others to join in.

Some of the major cities that arranges this event have refreshment stations, they give out t-shirts and maps and arrange competitions. People ride bicycles with their kids to school and teach them about safety on the road at the same time. Races are arranged to see if you get to your destination the quickest by bus, car or bicycle during the rush hours.

Such a cool way to do something for your health, for the environment and together with the people of your company or community at the same time.

Read more on Bikeleague.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Indoor air pollution is not something we come across very often in the western world. But according to WHO, indoor air pollution kills over 2 million! people each year from diseases like pneumonia, lung cancer and heart disease. More than half of them are children under the age of 5. That's 5500 persons each day or 230 persons each hour that dies because they are cooking a meal for their family.

This is due to the fact that half of the worlds population cook their meals on open fires or stoves that burns biomass (wood, agricultural waste, charcoal, animal droppings etc). When cooking on inefficient stoves in poorly ventilated homes the fumes is highly toxic to both people and the environment. It can reach up to 200 times the level of toxins that's safe to breathe. In you own home!

Apart from being dangerous to your health it also highly impacts our environment. When those fuels are being burnt it creates carbon dioxide and methane which is a factor to climate change. Cutting down trees to use as fuel also leads to deforestation and erosion of the soil.

In a larger perspective, having a better way to cook food would benefit the economies of developing countries. Instead of spending up to 20h a week collecting fuel, women could work and children could go to school. That would benefit the entire family and in the end the entire country.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is an initiative started by U.N. in 2010 and is meant to bring together governments, the private sector and other actors in a joint effort to develop and produce new stoves that will be cleaner, more efficient, more durable and cheaper. Their goal is that, by the year of 2020, there will be 100 million households using this kind of stoves.

In an effort to empower women it's also one of the goals that selling and repairing these stoves will create new business opportunities for women all over the world.

To work locally and share your knowledge globally is the best way to sustainability I can think of.

Read more and work together with Julia Roberts and Hillary Rodham Clinton and many many more to reach the goal by 2020 on Clean Cookstoves.

Eleven.se

I buy almost all my skincare products from eleven.se. It's such a great place to shop! They have a fantastic range of organic products including many I've written about here; Burt's Bees, Bulldog, Naturligtvis and Luxsit

It's easy to find out which products are organic and there is a great variety of make-up, skincare, nail-polish, perfumes, shampoos, brushes etc.

You get your products within a few days - I've never had to wait more than three. Even if you have questions or special requests you get a reply from them in just half-an hour, and they listen to suggestions about products that you would like on the site. The prices are good and you always get samples of products with every purchase. Check it out!

Dandelion is spelled with three E:s

Dandelion Sportswear is a Swedish company based in Stockholm. The three E:s stands for Ecologic, Ethic and Esthetic and is the foundation of the entire company.

Dandelion encourage their customers to consume less and recycle more and they adjust their collections according to this principle. The clothes are beautiful and functional and once they are worn out you can return it to them for recycling.

All clothes are 100% organic and they make sure that everybody in the supply chain gets a decent pay for their work and that no producers use child labour. No toxic dyes are being used which not only is beneficial to the environment but for the employees as well. The design and function is not compromised with and comfort is the main goal.

Nicole, the designer and founder, has a genuine design background from some of the most prestigous schools in the industry. She is also the founder of Strömmingsloppet (The Herring race). It's carried out each year in the city of Vaxholm in the archipelago outside Stocholm. The race has recieved the eco-label Håll Sverige Rent (Keep Sweden Clean)and 100SEK of each participants fee is donated to WaterAid.

Recycling

In Sweden we have a great tradition of recycling. Everybody does it and there have even been reports of fights or discussions between neighbors if someone happens to put something in the wrong container. We take recycling very seriously...

We bring our soda cans and plastic waterbottles to the supermarket to recycle them and get a refund.

There are recycling areas in every neighborhood where you can dispose of;

-Newspaper
-Clear glass
-Coloured glass
-Metal
-Clothes for charity
-Plastic
-Paper
-Batteries

If you have larger items like tv:s, computers, products with built-in batteries, furniture, paint etc etc those can be disposed of in separate areas available in every county.

Kung Markatta

Kung Markatta is a Swedish brand that has been working with organic food since 1983.
They sell about about 2000 different articles and 150 of them are produced under their own name Kung Markatta. The articles range from olive oil to bread to tofu to sweets and everything in between.

On their homepage you can read the fun story about how the company started with the driving spirit of Lennart that did it all in his own apartment in the beginning. There is a full list of their products and also recipes where you can choose if you want products without for example gluten or milk.

Apart from providing us with healthy food they are active in their own industry trying to influence their competitors and cooperation partners to do more. They are affiliated to several different eco-labels and they compensate for all their emissions during transportation.

Kung Markattas products can be found in most of the supermarkets in Sweden and also in health food stores of course. It always feels good to support a local brand and being able to be healthy while doing so is even better.

Education

If you want to work with environmental issues there are some different educations to choose from in Sweden. Most universities offer different undergraduate- and graduate studies. Below are some of them.

Stockholm University has the Department of Applied Environmental Science; Itm. You can study to the level of Bachelor, Master and PhD and you can also do undergraduate studies. You choose orientation of the above exams and will be specialized in biology, chemistry or geoscience.

At Lund University there is the Centre for Environmental and Climate Research; Cec. You can study to the level of Bachelor, Master and PhD and you can also continue on with research after you've graduated.





Uppsala University have several different educations to choose from. For example at Swedish Biodiversity Centre; CBM. There is a Master in Sustainable Development and various undergraduate studies. Read more here.

At Gothenburg University you can study at the Department of Earth Science, GVC. You can study Geology, Marine Geology, Physical Geography or Climatology.








Linköping University has a Masters Degree in Environmental Science. It's multidisciplinary and aspires to find and study various aspects of how to to create a sustainable future.






In Visby, at Gotland University, you can study Environmental Science with focus on energy and society. Read more here.

Books

I love books! I've been reading a lot since I was a kid, and I continue to read and discover new authors all the time. Right now I'm not allowing myself to buy any new books until I've finished the ones I have. I've also been thinking about all the paper and transport needed to produce these books.

I've been buying all my books for years from Adlibris. It's such a fantastic website, and you really can find everything there. They have books in a lot of different languages, they get delivered quickly (you can choose to have them delivered in a carbon neutral way) and my favourite thing - they have a great wish list. My wish-list is over a hundred books long at the moment (see why I need to stop myself?). This wish list is also available on their App (of course I've got it) and you can email it to your family for tips on birthday- or christmas gifts.

So how do I get more books and being nice to the enivironment at the same time? I've  never been one to throw away books so my bookshelves keeps filling up. I love to give books as gifts as well so friends and families bookshelves are also getting full.

This is what I've decided;
Give away the books that I've read and no longer need. I save my favourite ones and those from my favourite authors, but the rest has to go. It's time to get a library card and get books from there instead. Saves money as well as paper. The broken ones goes to the recycle bin. For beeing such a nerd for gadgets, it's really a shame that I haven't tried downloading books yet. I promise I'll start after I get myself an Ipad. There are also some books marked FSC, and it feels better to choose these when possible.

Today I read an article about book-exchange in Sweden. For the fourth year in a row there will be a possibility to exchange your used books towards other ones. This event takes place on the 25th of may in a lot of different places in Sweden. Read more and find the place closest to you at Storabokbytardagen.

Buzz about Burt

Burt Shavitz used to work as a photographer in New York but wanted do something different with his life. He moved to Maine and started to sell honey made from his hives up in the hills outside of Dexter. A woman named Roxanne approached him at a local flea market and they decided to join forces and started to produce and sell candles made from Burts stored beeswax.

What started out as selling honey and candles of beeswax is now the largest company for organic skincare in North America and it finally arrived in Sweden in 2011.

Burt's Bees products contain no sulfate, parabens, perfumes or phtalate and the ingredients are 99 percent natural. They belive action speaks louder than words and applies this approach in every part of the company. From recycling the packaging and not testing on animals to educating consumers and taking good care of their employees. They also have a strong local committment and are involved in several different projects working for a more sustainable community.

I use the lip-balm with acai-berries; smells great! I've also tried the Naturally Ageless facial moisturizer with pomegranate and the Radiance Body Lotion.

Check ot Burt's story here.

Farmers Market

Farmers Markets are getting more and more common all over the world and Sweden is no exception. The largest one is called Farmers Own Market and can be found in 19 cities around Sweden.

All their produce is from Swedish farmers and a very important rule is that everything that the farmers sell should be produced on their own farms. That rule applies also to the key ingredient in produce like jam or sausages. Everything that's sold comes from farms within a radius of 250 kilometers, and thus considerd to be locally produced. Many times the produce is harvested on the same day that it's sold and it doesn't get much fresher than that. A lot of the produce is organic and the consumer has the opportunity to talk directly to the producer about the meat or the vegetables they are buying. That teaches the farmers a lot about what their consumers want, and it teaches the consumer how their food is produced.

A Farmers Market allows the consumers to find local produce that they may not be able to find otherwise. In the era of supermarkets a lot of local specialities get lost and this is a way to keep traditions alive and to introduce them to a new crowd.

On the homepage you can find more information and opening hours for the Farmers Own Market, and there are also some food recipes to try.

Rooftop farming New York

In USA the art of rooftop farming is picking up. It sounds simple enough to start gardening on your own roof to get fresh vegetables and fruits, but you have to consider the impact of wind, sun and rain and plan accordingly. The rooftop farms are carefully planned to protect it's harvest and produce as much as possible on the limited space.

There are a lot of different reasons why people want to start a rooftop farm. Some value the marketing potential of a rooftop farm, some are interested in managing stormwater, and others want to supplement their commercial kitchens with locally grown food.  

Gotham Greens is situated in Brooklyn and sells their produce to local chefs, markets and retailers. They started in 2008 and their goal is to produce over 80 tons of fresh greens annually. They care about keeping the entire chain sustainable. From fair treatment of workers to biodiversity and preserving water. Their main goal is to produce tasty, safe and nutritious greens. The greenhouses are powered by solar-panels and they have an advanced computer systems to manage heating, cooling and plant nutrition.

Brooklyn Grange is another rooftop-farm. They sell their produce directly to the local people and businesses. Everybody is welcome to visit and to participate. They visit different markets to sell their produce, and in the sping of 2012 they will start an apiary project which will include 25 bee hives and produce over 1000 pounds of honey.

Follow up on their projects and read about the driving spirits behind them on Brooklyngrangefarm and Gothamgreens

Allotment gardening

An allotment garden is a piece of land that has been divided in to smaller pieces and made available for individuals to rent. The size of the plot usually range from 50-400 quare metres and may include small sheds, greenhouses or small garden houses.

Most of the allotment gardens in Europe started out as a way for the poor to get acces to fresh vegetables and fruits. This was especially true during war-time when access to fresh produce was limited and prices high.

Denmark was first country with allotment gardening in Scandinavia in 1778. Sweden established their first allotment garden in 1895.

Today when most people have busy working days and many live in an hectic urban atmosphere, allotment gardens are more popular than ever and have turned into recreational areas. It's your own green oasis in the middle of the city that provides relaxation from the stress of work.

Many families sees it as an opportunity to come together and have a meaningful leisure activity and for the children to learn about gardening and nature. Allotment gardening also helps providing the community with a better quality of urban life through the reduction of noise, the binding of dust, and conservation of biotopes.

To get your own mini-garden visit one of the many homepages found on the internet or use this page to start from (Scandinavia)

High Line

The High Line is a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan's West Side. It was founded the 1930s, as part of a massive public-private infrastructure project called the West Side Improvement.



 

No trains have run on the High Line since 1980 and in 1999 the structure was under the threat of demolition. Friends of the High Line was founded by the local community to save the historic site and transform it into the beautiful public park it is today. The park is located on Manhattan's West Side and runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues.

Friends of the High Line works very actively to keep the park open and to involve the community in this project. On the High Line you can find a lot of green areas to just relax, you can find cafées and restaurants and different art projects. They have tours for the local schools to teach children about the history of the High Line, about the plants and ecosystem of New York and about the history of Manhattan's shipping industry.

It's a really great example of recycling, turning something old and run down into a beautiful place that everybody can enjoy.

Read more about the High Line. And don't forget to visit when you're in New York.

A Positive Greenhouse Effect

By 2050 up to 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. In the same time the population will increase with 2 billion people. How will we provide food for everybody?

Plantagon is an interesting Swedish company working on a solution. They have developed architecture and technology for urban agriculture.

They've designed several different types of greenhouses; from houses used only for farming to solutions integrated in already existing office buildings. They've taken into consideration both the architecture itself and also ways to provide as much natural light as possible.

The entire farming process is based on a sustainable system with organic fertilisers, water recycling and ways to convert waste into biogas. They want to integrate farming with cities in ways that saves both money and the environment.

Their first greenhouse is currently being built in the city of  Linköping in Sweden.
They will be the first city in the world to test this new technology and break new grounds for future cities to develop sustainable farming solutions.

Read more about Plantagon's truly amazing inventions here.

Exciting  information about Vertical Farming can also be found on Verticalfarm.

Whole Foods - Whole People - Whole Planet

Whole Foods Market started their first store in 1980 in Texas. Today, there are 310 stores in North America and the U.K and WFM are the world leading retailer when it comes to natural and organic food.

Apart from the actual stores they also contribute in spreading the message of a sustainable future. Among other things, they work together with farmers to get meat free from antibiotics and to reduce the use of pesticides in the fields.
WFM take great pride in not only caring for the animals and the planet but also to educate their customers in ways to reduce their impact on the environment. That includes discussions about animal cruelty, sustainable agriculture and why we should use environmentally-friendly cleaning materials etc. There is an extensive program designed to educate children, teachers and parents about healthy eating and to give children access to nutritious food.

They have also started a foundation, Whole Planet, that deals with micro-lending operations and sponsoring af neighborhood events to support organic farmers and expand the market for organic produce.

Whole Foods Market's vision is a sustainable and holistic future where we all work together with an in-depth knowledge of the environment and that we all are connected to each other. A future where everybody accepts resonsibility.

They see this vision as something that's going to seep through every company, organisation and individual and they lead by example through sustainable and ethical business practices.

It's a grand vision, and one for all of us to believe in to make it happen.

Read more; Wholefoodsmarket

Six Senses

Apart from beeing absolutely amazing resorts, their spas and hotels are something out of the ordinary when it comes to environmental issues, and they are highly involved in reducing the impact of their activities.

There is a very extensive program to try to achieve this in every possible way; from waste management to energy saving, from environmental concerns during constructions to raising awareness among staff, guests and the local community.

Apart from the smaller things, they are also involved in sustainability issues on a larger scale.

They have a fund, SERF, that is to be used primarily for social and environmental projects and initiatives in responsible development. All of the resorts and spas contribute 0,5% of their total revenue to this.

Six Senses is also dedicated to a water saving project. Half of the sales of water on their resorts are invested in organisations that helps to provide clean water for people around the world who doesn't have access to that.

In 2008 they started a symposium called Slow Life. The hope for this is that politicians, philosophers and influential people, sharing insights and making connections, can make way for a better and more sustainable future. Some of the speakers on the 2011 symposium were; Daryl Hannah, President Mohamed Nasheed and Richard Branson.

Read more and dream away at; Sixsenses