Keep me appdated

All the social media mentioned yesterday are of course available as apps on your smart-phone too. If you haven't got a smart-phone yet..... What are you waiting for? I promise you'll love it and you'll be wondering what took you so long....

There are some great apps for keeping up with your organic life-style. These are just a few;

Don't ever print papers again. Share your documents with friends,
family, colleagues and business-partners. On your phone or on your computer.





 



Vegetarian recepies to use on Meat Free Monday.
Good inspiration!





Photos - so many apps to choose from;

Hipstamatic, Camera+, Pixlromatic,

Disposable, Instagram. 

Add filters or flashes to create unique pictures.

Saves your pictures in one place

and no need to print them out.











Lists Swedish farms shops.

Easy way to find locally produced greens, meats and more.

 Complete with a map function and short information about each farm.





Norwegian app. Scan the barcode of a cosmetic product
and the app will tell you if that product contains

 ingredients that can mess with you hormones.

There's a list of common chemicals and products. Such a great idea!

Play a game about climate change,
read the latest green news or donate money.

I only found a Swedish version.
Gives information about Fairtrade products
and where to find them.
Read stories from farmers,
and find out what you can do to help.

Green Guide (in Swedish only unfortunately).
From The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. 

Has tips about what to buy, how to recycle, how to travel

and a smart way to find an eco-friendly store close to you.

App from from Swedavia, the Swedish company in charge of all major
Swedish airports. It's a game where you help passengers to reach their flights.
It should be quick and with as little environmental impact as possibile.

Social media

I'm a social media geek and I use and explore all those fab social media sites for up to date information.

Twitter is my new drug and such a great source of information. Every minute, every day you can keep yourself updated with news, sports, fashion, politics, food, environment, health, economy, weather etc etc. You can interact with you favourite popstar, follow the race between Obama and Romney, watch Greenpeace trying to stop Gazprom or look at Anna Dello Russos beautiful outfits. What can possibly be better?

Twitter, blogs, Facebook, Google +, Flicker, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc etc. For inspiration, keeping up with friends, share ideas, getting hired, share your photos, share your stories -  you name it, they've got it!

A great way to be more environmentally friendly than buying newspapers that are outdated the minute they are distributed. And you get the news faster, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than newspapers and magazines with all that paper, ink and emissions during transportation.

Just perfect!

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.

Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood has always had a strong sense of social and environmental responsibility, and in her collection Red Label Summer 2012 she introduced a cooperation with Cool Earth. This organization is protecting our rainforests, and their main goal is to save those parts of the forests that are in immediate danger of being destroyed. They are working together with local communities to provide a sustainable future for the people of the rainforest.

Scary fact - The Amazon rainforest provides 20% of the world’s fresh water and a fifth of the world’s oxygen.
Still 400 000kvm (100 acres) of rainforest is being cleared every minute! Cool Earth caluculated it like this - In the next 24 hours, deforestation will release as much CO₂ into the atmosphere as 8 million people flying from London to New York. That really puts it into perspective, doesn't it?

Vivienne Westwood is also involved in another important project. For the winter 2012/2013 she has designed a collection of handbags made from recycled materials and handmade in Kenya. This project is carried out with support from the U.N. Ethical Fashion Program designed to empower women in some of the poorest communities in the world.

Check-out and shop Viviennes cool outfits and accessories on her homepage. 

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.

Diamonds are forever

If you want to make sure that your gold and diamonds come from a sustainable source there are a few things to consider.

The Kimberley Process is a social initiative that started in May 2000 to stop diamonds from conflict areas, so called Blood Diamonds. Many countries and companies in the diamond trade participate in this important task and they have reached great results in just over ten years. You can read a lot of interesting information about the process in the webpage. Since the KP certification is not legally binding for the participants every consumer plays an important role. The Kimberly Process really emphasis the importance we all play as consumers and what we need to ask for when shopping jewellery.

You can also look at Fair Trade Gems for more information and finding retailers.

Coalition for Green Gold is an interesting initiative on sustainable mining. Working against rainforest deforestation and mercury, cyanide and arsenic contamination this is extremely important. For example; mercury is used when extracting gold, and it's poisoning the water, the animals and the people living close to the mines. You can also find information about this work on Fairtrade and on Alliance for Responsible Mining.

If you want to shop some gorgeous jewellery, check out these websites;

Noën is a german company making beautiful jewellery in organic gold and diamonds. They don't want to compromise between beauty and social responsibility, and they really manage to mix those two together. The gold is extracted without chemicals and their diamonds are certified through the Kimberley Process. On their homepage you can even watch a video from one of the sites where they extract gold.

Ekoguld is Sweden's first Fairtrade certified goldsmith. Their gold are Fairmined certified and their gems are from sustainable and fairtrade sources. They even offer their customers to use recycled gold if they want to.

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.

Power of consumption

Nobody can do it alone, but with the small steps and choices we make every day, we can all do our part. That's the most important thing I want to show with this blog. We can really do it together. All consumers of food, drink, clothes, fuel, skincare etc etc can put the pressure on our governments and all companies to work for a better and more sustainable future for all of us simply by choosing what we spend our money on.

-Buying organic milk/wine/juice/coffee instead of regular shows our farmers that we don't want to drink chemicals and hormones.
-Buying toys painted with non-toxic paint or made of non-toxic plastic shows our toy-stores that they need to produce and sell things that won't give off poison when our children put them in their mouth.
-Buying organic skincare will tell the producers that we don't want to rub chemicals on the biggest organ we have; our skin.
-Using public transportation whenever possible and buy cars with alternative fuel-sources will show the oil-industry that enough is enough.

If we keep asking at our local stores for those products and keep buying the things that are good for us those things will be produced in a larger scale. We can make the power of money work in our favour.

Yes we can!

Cosmonova

Today I watched a preview of the movie To the Arctic at Sweden's only IMAX-cinema. IMAX uses the largest existing format for film and in Cosmonova it is shown on a dome-shaped screen that's 760m². It gives you a completely different movie-experience, like you're a part of the movie somehow. The tickets are the same price as in regular cinemas, and it's well worth a visit to see any of the different movies shown.






The movie To the Arctic is hopefully going to air in september, and it's a movie that speaks to all of us. It shows how the animals of the Artic is struggling to survive in this cold, pristine and inhospitable area of the world. Some of them, like the polar bear, will never be able to live anywhere else but here. For them this is paradise and they thrive far out on the ice. Unfortunately, if the temperature continues to rise these amazingly beautiful creatures will die. It's an important film to show, and I hope many schools will go see it. We were joined by a nine year old, and he really liked it. Even though it wasn't translated to Swedish yet just the pictures of polar bears, walrusses and seals were exciting. I hope those wonderful creatures will still be around when he's old enough to travel and see them in the wild. It was a great movie narrated by Meryl Streep with music by Paul McCartney.

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.

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.

WWOOF

There is an organisation called WWOOF which stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. It links together Organic farmers with volunteers. You can stay at any farm and help out. In return you recieve food and accomodation.

It's such a perfect way to sustainability; keeping it simple and helping each other out.
You have the possibility to visit many countries all over the world and to learn about organic farming. It's very simple. You find a country and one or several farms that you like to visit and stay at. You contact them directly and you agree on when it's a good time to come.

From building barns for alpacas in Alaska to growing strawberries in Korea to clean water programs in Sierra Leone, there is something for everyone. And your help is most welcome.

Read more and book your own stay at WWOOF

Organic or locally cultivated?

How to choose between the two? Is it better to buy locally grown produce than have fruit, vegetables, meat etc transported all over the world? Or should you choose organic non-toxic produce no matter how it's transported? The transports takes its toll on the environment but, on the other hand, locally grown produce may still have a lot of chemicals in them.

It's not an easy choice to make. It's not the same thing, and it's not always easy to find locally grown produce that's also organic.

I've decided to choose organic every time, and in doing that giving organic farmers all over the world a chance to sell their produce. It's important to me to have as few chemicals as possible in my food and drinks. Maybe in the long run there will be more to choose from when it comes to produce that's both organic and locally cultivated.

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.

To build or to grow

Every person can choose between two ways; to build or to grow.

Those who build can spend many years with their project, but one day the project is finished. When they stop building they realise that they are locked in between their own walls. Life loses it's meaning once the building is finished.

Then we have those who grow. They may be afflicted with thunder and change of seasons and they rarely experience peaceful times. What differs from a building is that a garden never stops growing. Because it constantly demands it's growers attention it always makes life a great adventure.

The growers recognise one another - they know that each plants history contains the history of the whole planet.

-Paulo  Coelho

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.